Last week I started a series of articles designed to help someone who is new to the weightlifting world. I focused on some basic tenets that I thought should form the basis of any serious attempt at bodybuilding. This article is a continuation of my thoughts and I am going to discuss a few crucial topics that are often made too complex.

Protein

There is always a lot of detailed talk about protein; whether it should be whey or soy, how many grams per pound of bodyweight, how much the body can process, etc. The bottom line is that the best kind of protein depends on what your goals are. If you are trying to put on weight then the best kind of protein is found in whole foods, steaks, eggs, chicken etc. Protein supplements should be taken as supplements and not as the primary source of protein because, unless you are talking about weight-gainer formulations, the shakes lack sufficient calories. For a novice trying to put on weight, I suggest you eat a great deal of normal foods but that you mix your protein sources at each meal such as steak, eggs and milk or chicken and milk, etc. Drinking a protein shake with a normal meal is a good idea to help improve the amino acid profile of the over-all meal.

If you are attempting to reduce fat and increase your lean body mass then a protein supplement becomes more important because you are concerned only with protein intake and not caloric intake. Protein has 4 calories per gram so a decent shake will have under 200 calories providing you are drinking a pure protein blend with no carbohydrates. I think that when you are dieting you will find that a much higher percentage of your protein intake comes from supplements as opposed to whole foods. There are a few reasons that this happens; first of all it is easy to count calories and grams of protein using shakes as opposed to trying to weigh out each meal. Secondly, protein shakes are convenient and keep you out of the kitchen where the temptation of food lies. Lastly, a protein supplement is going to be a more efficient source of ideal proteins because the bio-availability (a fancy word for how much useful protein a food has) is higher then that of cooked meat.

I do not endorse a particular brand of protein powder, but my recommendation is that you find one that you enjoy drinking. I used to buy economy protein blends online (you know, 44 pounds for 200 bucks) and they tasted so vile it was a punishment to choke them down. So I would drink a few shakes then just stop and the protein would end up being useless. Now I buy expensive pre-mixed protein drinks (Isopure if anyone cares) that I think taste great. Not only do I not have to mix anything up but the drinks are delicious and nutrition; well, they are convenient and taste OK.

The Workout

I am not some legendary Russian strength coach, I do not have the secret keys to unlock the ultimate training routine. I do, however, understand the basic processes by which muscle growth is stimulated. The keys to progress are as follows: overload, variation, and recuperation.

The overload principle is the training philosophy espoused by many systems, I mean training until muscle failure on almost every set. I am not going to go into much depth on this issue because Anabolic Extreme has already addressed the training system we use. I am also not interested in getting into much debate over the proper training methodology. I am, however, going to say that unless you are training to complete muscle failure (and central nervous system failure if you like) you are not going to continue to progress.

Variation is important because muscle growth is an adaptive response. The "failure" of the muscle is ultimately responsible for hypertrophy. Practically this means that the workout you use today is not the workout you should be using in 6 weeks. By changing not only your exercises but also your rep range and rest period between sets you will continue to keep the body "guessing", which amounts to gains in the gym.

Recuperation is essential, muscle is not built in the gym under the heavy load of the iron. Growth occurs with adequate food intake and rest. The period immediately following your workout is the most crucial feeding time and I recommend a meal within 20 minutes of leaving the gym. This meal should consist of 40-60 grams of whey protein, creatine, glutamine, and some simple carbohydrates (I use sports drinks like Gatorade). Two hours later, I recommend a full meal of "real" food. In the period right after exercise the body is primed to absorb nutrients which is why the first post-workout meal consists of easily digested proteins and insulin-spiking sugars. The body needs a constant supply of amino acids which is why frequent meals are important.

The second component of recuperation is sleep. If you are actively weight-training then you need at least 8 hours of sleep but more is better. The dilemma with sleep is that, unless you are very talented, you cannot eat and sleep at the same time. Some people advocate waking up in the middle of the night to eat and I think this will work for some people (keep a shake by the bed). However many people cannot wake up, chug a shake, and go back to sleep. Therefore, I think that the meal immediately before bed is crucial. I recommend a meal that consists of a variety of proteins including caseinete (which is slowly processed and rich in anti-catabolic amino acids). Cottage cheese is an ideal pre-sleep meal. Some authors, like the late Paul Borreson, advocate eating a meal that contains a lot of fat right before bed. Their rationale is based on the fact that fat slows gastric emptying which means the meal takes longer to digest and results in a steady release of vital nutrients. Well, the problem with this theory is that most of the absorption occurs in the intestinal tract and it takes hours for a meal to move through said tracts. I think that a pre-sleep meal should be high in protein with as few calories as possible unless weight gaining is your goal in which case eat whatever you want!

A quick word on fiber is in order here. If you are following a low-carbohydrate diet then you need to be taking a fiber supplement. In the next few weeks I will release an article all about the topic of fiber because, frankly, I am terrified of colon cancer. I have a friend whose friend won the Teenage Mr. Florida but then was diagnosed with colitis. Anyway, I will save my paranoid ranting for later. Let me just say that I recommend ample fiber supplementation to anyone who does not want to have to carry around their waste in a bag!


Hopefully I have given a few more clarifications to the otherwise confusing world of beginning weight-lifting. I think that people get so caught up in the details that they forget the most crucial simple components of success. I mentioned before the people who are obsessed with the perfect supplementation regime but forget to sleep enough or eat enough whole foods. At its heart, weight lifting is a fundamentally simple process, as an ex-girlfriend of mine once said "all you do is pick up heavy things and then put them back down, you don't even move them anywhere!" I guess you see why things didn't work out. My hope is that this series of articles will be sufficient to dispel some of the confusion and, because my suggestions are simple, you can actually follow them for more then a week. Until next week, Grendel out!