The Muscle Prof Academy II

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Remember to come back this week in The Muscle PhD Academy where we discuss muscle damage!

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What causes muscle damage?
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Muscle damage is similar to breaking a link in a chain. Your muscles are made up of chain-like units called sarcomeres. Under heavy, high-intensity or eccentric training, you will cause muscle damage. If you remember our discussion about the two types of muscle growth (myofibrillar or sarcoplasmic), muscle damage aids in myofibrillar muscle growth. This means the contractile units in your muscle will grow.
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You can achieve muscle damage through the following types of training:
1. Lifting at >85% of your 1RM for any given lift
2. Lifting with a partner or buddy curls where your partner helps you lift the weight and you eccentrically lift/lower the weight
3. Fast eccentrics; not fast and uncontrolled, but fast and controlled

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If you recall from yesterday, we discussed the ways to cause muscle damage. Today we look at some research which puts this theory into application.

When doing eccentric contractions (lowering the weight), you get significantly higher rates of protein synthesis than if you were to perform concentric contractions because the load will be heavier when focusing on eccentrics. -
This is because eccentric contractions cause more muscle damage than concentric contractions..

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How are muscles damaged?
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Although it is a complex process, I am going to simplify it for you.
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When you do heavy, muscle damaging eccentric exercise, you disrupt the muscle. This causes inflammation and soreness because of the damage. This damage is a trigger for the muscle to regenerate and grow!

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This is just one of the ways of muscle growth!

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Did you know, annihilating your muscles every workout can actually be counterproductive?
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When you lift, it is crucial to understand you should not do more than you have to. You should periodize your training where you are gradually increasing either volume or intensity to reaching your goal. This study shows you can actually decrease your muscle size if you do too much.

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This week's workout of the week targets everyone's favorite body part, the chest. I also threw some triceps in their as well!
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If you did, remember to go check out the lessons and tune in this week where we discuss the topic further!
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Are you ready for New Year Shred?

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Have you ever wondered why when you do more sets, you’re more sore?
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The answer is that more volume will lead to more muscle damage! You shouldn’t start a training program with high amounts of volume, but rather progress to high volume as you go.
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This will ensure you continue to make progress, without destroying yourself.

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Step loading is a standard model of periodization where you increase either volume (sets x reps x weight) or intensity (% of 1RM) for 3-4 weeks followed by a 1 week period of lower volume and/or intensity. If you're just starting out or an advanced lifter, using step-loading will help you reach your goals faster.

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What causes the pump?
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The pump had been renowned since the birth of bodybuilding, but what causes the pump?
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When you lift weight, you cause damage to muscle cells. This causes an influx of sodium and water into the cell, while an efflux of potassium outside of the cell. In addition, fluid leaving the muscle is restricted, but the fluid going to the muscle is not restricted. This means your muscles are filling with fluid, which is why they look full and hard when you have a great pump!

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Every time we eat tasty new food we get a dopamine/pleasure response. Studies show that more variety in a meal triggers more of these pleasure responses making us eat more.
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For fat loss, we may want to limit our variety. However, for weight gain variety may be a powerful tool.

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When is the last time you performed a giant set on legs?

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Betaine is a compound commonly found in post-workout supplements for its ability to increase recovery. Betaine has been shown to reduce markers of inflammation, decrease cortisol & fatigue, and increase your training volume.
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I recommend 3-6g/day to optimize your recovery and make more gains!

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Galantamine is a supplement derived from the red spider lilly. This supplement can be purchased over-the-counter or under clinical supervision. It ha been investigated for its impact on Alzheimer’s disease, but can be beneficial in healthy people too.
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The way it works is by blocking the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine. This means when supplementing with galantamine, you can increase alertness and decrease fatigue!
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I recommend 5-10mg/day!

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Have you ever heard, "it is better to diet super slow to preserve muscle mass?"
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Research shows this may not be the best method. Slow dieting can cause a huge rebound in weight after you're done dieting. Whereas fast dieting does not cause a significant rebound in weight!
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My advice, make your diet short and aggressive to maximize your lifestyle!