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Don’t Be As Lazy As Your Muscles

Posted April 10, 2008 at 05:00 PM by Donnell Peavy

Section: His Fitness, Strength Training, His Health, Physical Health, Lifestyle Health, His Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Diets

Getting big muscles is a fairly simple process. You work them for a few minutes and they grow, right? Not quite. Many people hit the gym on a mission for muscle and often they end up falling short of the mark they set for themselves. Where did they go wrong? Could be a number of areas, but the two most likely are nutrition and intensity of the work performed.

Nutrition
Ya gotta eat. And, if you want to get big, you have to eat big. In order to gain weight, you must consume more calories than you burn in a day. Simple enough, right? Somewhat. You can’t just eat recklessly, or else the only thing that will be getting bigger is your gut. You need protein. Lots of it. Ideally, you want to take in 1 – 1.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight. This translates to plenty of fish, beef, chicken, pork, eggs and protein shakes.

But wait a minute; all of those meats also contain fat!
That’s correct. But don’t sweat it. Fats are necessary in the diet. Eat them, but don’t overindulge in them. Fat does the body good in that it sends a signal to your brain to tell you when to stop eating. Lack of fat in the diet is part of what leads to the binge eating we sometimes see in people on fat restricted diets. The body is made of fat, from your brain to your skin cells – don’t be afraid of it. Also, something to keep in mind – foods low in fat are often high in sugar and / or sodium – that’s not that great of a trade off.

Intensity
You can lift weights till the cows come home and never gain an 1/4th of an inch of muscle. Why not? Intensity may be the reason. Muscles by nature are lazy; they do not grow and adapt unless you force them to. How do you do that? By taxing them to their limit. Muscle growth comes from placing a load on the muscles that they aren’t used to. If you want your muscles to grow, lift heavy and intensely. By the end of your workout, you should be dripping with sweat – after less than an hour.

So, in closing, eat big and lift bigger. Keep that formula in mind and the muscles you have been dreaming of will soon be yours.

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Tags: eating fat, eating healthy, fat, fitness, gaining muscle mass, gaining weight, healthy living, mass training, meats, nutrition, protein, strength conditioning, strength training, weight training, wellness

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