5 Reasons Why Alcohol Will Destroy Your Muscle Gains

I receive emails every single day from aspiring muscle-builders all over the world, and one of the most common questions I’m asked is “does drinking really affect the muscle growth process?” I’m sorry to say it, but yes, too much alcohol will almost definitely have a significant negative impact on your muscle-building results. Alcohol is far more harmful than most people think, and it’s very important that you understand how this drug (yes, alcohol is a drug) is affecting your progress. This is not an anti-drug speech, but if you’re serious about achieving a truly impressive physique, you should definitely be aware of the 5 main ways that alcohol is slowing down your gains…

1) It negatively affects protein synthesis.

Protein synthesis is the process where amino acids are joined together to form complete proteins. Excessive alcohol consumption slows this process down by up to 20%, and since your muscles are made up of protein, you can see how this is a problem.

2) It lowers testosterone levels and increases estrogen.

Testosterone is the most important muscle-building hormone in your body. One of the limiting factors that determines how much muscle a person can gain is their level of free-flowing testosterone.

3) It causes dehydration.

The kidneys must filter very large amounts of water in order to break down the alcohol, and this can result in severe dehydration within the body. Water plays an absolutely crucial role in the muscle-building process, and being even slightly dehydrated is a recipe for disaster. The muscles alone are comprised of 70% water.

4) It depletes the body of vitamins and minerals.

Alcohol consumption causes vitamins A, C, the B's, calcium, zinc and phosphorus to all be drained at rapid rates. Vitamins and minerals keep every little process in your body functioning properly, and many of these processes involve muscle growth and maintenance.

5) It increases fat storage.

With 7 empty calories per gram, alcohol can actually be quite fattening. Alcohol also disrupts the Kreb’s Cycle, which plays an important role in fat burning.

It’s important to have fun in life, but too much fun can lead to problems. If you’re serious about achieving significant muscle-building results, you definitely need to monitor your intake of alcohol and make sure that you are consuming it in moderation. A few drinks here and there shouldn’t be a problem, but if you find yourself drinking every weekend you can almost certainly kiss your muscle gains goodbye.

If you do decide to go out and party, make sure to drink plenty of water and to properly nourish yourself with vitamins/minerals and a protein rich meal.

I don’t recommend revolving your entire life around your muscle-building program, so don’t be afraid to go out and have a good time once in a while. Just make sure to keep your drinking nights infrequent (no more than once a month) and properly nourish yourself to lessen its effects. As long as you monitor what you’re doing you can achieve an impressive physique and have a social life at the same time.

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The Most Powerful Muscle-Building Tool Available

The bodybuilding debates will never end. The endless arguments over how an effective muscle-building program should be structured will most likely continue until the end of time. Just scour the Internet message boards, flip through any muscle magazine or talk to the sales rep at your local supplement store. No matter who you talk to or what you read, it seems that everyone is an expert these days.

If everyone is an expert, confident in their own ideas and beliefs, how can the average beginner possibly know who to listen to? He or she is instantly confronted with endless questions that seem to have no clear-cut answer.

How many days should I train per week? How many sets should I perform for each muscle group? What type of rep range should I be using? What are the most effective exercises for stimulating muscle growth? How long should my workouts last?

These questions go on and on until he or she is eventually led to believe that building muscle is an infinitely complex process involving rocket-science precision and an intimate understanding of human physiology. I mean, that’s what takes to build muscle, right? Wrong! Believe me, there are answers to these important questions, and if you are willing to put in the time and effort you will most definitely find them. But that’s not what this article is about.

You see, amidst all of the confusion and endless debating, the majority of lifters end up losing sight of the big picture. Beyond all of the specific workout principles, such as rep range and exercise selection, remains one crucial principle, a principle that lies at the very heart of the muscle growth process. If this principle is not given full attention, or even worse, completely ignored, building muscle becomes next to impossible.

The bottom line is that muscles grow as they adapt to stress. When you go to the gym and lift weights, you create “micro-tears” within the muscle tissue. Your body perceives this as a potential threat to its survival and reacts accordingly by increasing the size and strength of the muscle fibers in order to protect against a possible future “attack”. Therefore, in order to continually increase the size and strength of the muscles, you must focus on progressing each week by either lifting slightly more weight or performing an extra rep or two. In doing this, your body will continue to adapt and grow to the ever-increasing stress.

Building muscle is all about building strength!

So what is the most powerful muscle-building tool available? Quite simply, it is a pen and a piece of paper!

Every time you go to the gym you must write down exactly what you accomplished and then strive to improve upon it the following week. If you aren’t always getting better, then you’re either staying the same or getting worse. Every week you should have an exact plan of attack ready to be executed. You absolutely cannot afford to start throwing weights around aimlessly without a clear-cut goal in mind.

The specifics of building muscle are important to understand and implement, but regardless of what style of training you’re currently using the ultimate deciding factor between success and failure is progression. You can sit around all day obsessing over specific principles, but the bottom line is that if you aren’t getting stronger every week, you absolutely will not be getting any bigger. Examine your training approach closely. If you haven’t been paying laser-like attention to the amount of weight you’ve been using, the number of reps you’ve been performing, and then striving with every ounce of your energy to improve upon those numbers each week, you are completely ignoring the very foundation of the muscle growth process. If you want to see the best gains in muscle mass and strength that you possibly can, a pen and a piece of paper is the most important tool you could possibly have in your arsenal.

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The Perfect Rep Range For Building Muscle

No matter what you read or who you talk to, everyone has their own opinion of what the "perfect" rep range should be to allow for maximum muscle stimulation and growth. In this article I’m going to clear up the confusion once and for all and teach you the truth about choosing the most effective rep range for optimal muscle-building results.

Sets that utilize heavy weight and low reps are without a doubt the most effective means of stimulating muscle growth. For every set you perform in the gym, you should utilize a rep range of 5 to 7. This means that for every set you perform, the weight should be light enough that you can complete 5 reps in good form, but heavy enough that you cannot complete more than 7. What's so special about 5 to 7, you ask? Well…

1) Each set will only last between 20-30 seconds.

Maximizing your muscle gains is all about intensity and efficiency. By utilizing a lower rep range, your sets will only last a short period of time, allowing you to generate 100% mental focus and effort. Training with 100% intensity is critical to stimulating muscle growth and it is much easier to maintain this level of effort for shorter periods of time. You will not have to psyche yourself up for marathon sets lasting minutes on end, but rather for a short burst of all-out effort lasting only several seconds.

2) Muscle stimulation will be maximized.

Our bodies are made up of 2 main types of muscle fiber: slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow twitch fibers cannot generate large bursts of power and are utilized during prolonged activity. They have a high tolerance for endurance exercise but do not have a very high potential for increased growth. Fast twitch fibers on the other hand produce large bursts of power and are utilized during short, explosive movements. They contain a large amount of mitochondria (an area in the muscle cell where energy is produced) and have the highest potential for increases in both size and strength. By utilizing a rep range of 5 to 7 you will tap into these extremely responsive fibers and this will result in the greatest amount of muscle growth and strength gain possible.

3) Maximum resistance can be used.

By performing only 5 to 7 reps per set, you will enable your muscles to handle heavier amounts of weight than you could with a higher rep range. Building muscle is a byproduct of building strength, and training in a lower rep range is the most effective way to accomplish this. Since your strength will shoot up much faster using 5 to 7 reps per set, so will your muscle size.

4) Lactic Acid production will be kept to a minimum.

Training in the range of 5 to 7 will also decrease the amount of lactic acid that is secreted within the muscles. Lactic acid is a metabolic waste product that is produced as the body burns carbohydrates for fuel. Lactic acid accumulates in the muscle tissue at increased rates the longer you exercise. By limiting the amount of lactic acid production you will decrease muscle catabolism and create an environment in the body where greater amounts of energy can be generated. This will translate into greater power output and maximum strength potential.

Okay, so we've established that a rep range of 5-7 is the absolute most effective means of stimulating muscle growth. However, this does not apply all the time or on every single lift. There are a few select muscle groups that should be stimulated using a slightly higher rep range. These are the calves, abs, forearms and upper traps. These muscle groups are predominantly made up of slow-twitch fibers, and therefore will respond better to higher reps. For this reason, a rep range of 10-12 should be utilized for these muscle groups. Again, this means that the weight should be light enough for you to complete at least 10 reps, but heavy enough that you cannot complete more than 12.

Summary:

Perform 5-7 reps for the chest, lats, biceps, triceps, shoulders and thighs.

Perform 10-12 reps for the calves, abs, forearms and upper traps.

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The Potentially Dangerous Side Effects of Steroids

You've been going to the gym everyday and working your butt off. You drink protein shakes, eat loads of chicken, and see some muscle gain. Your happy. Then you notice the new guy at gym is getting big real fast. He only started 3 months ago and he's putting on size like there's no tomorrow. What the???

Obviously he's on roids and your starting to wonder whether you should chuck in the towel or jump on the train. It's tempting. Why work so hard when you're only going to see mediocre results compared to the other guy.

Steroids obviously work, but are they worth it? And are they guaranteed?

The Technical Mumbo Jumbo:

Hundreds of distinct steroids have been identified in plant, animals, and fungi. The steroids associated with muscle growth are called anabolic steroids.

Anabolic steroids are a class of natural and synthetic steroid hormones that promote cell growth and division of tissue and bone. They not only effect muscle tissue but various other organs as well. Testosterone is the most potent natural anabolic steroid.

Testosterone is primarily secreted in the testicles of males and the ovaries of females. It is the principal male sex hormone. On average, the adult male body produces about twenty times the amount of testosterone of an adult female's body.

Testosterone naturally increases in males at puberty and causes these effects:

- Increased libido and erection frequency
- Pubic hair extends to thighs and up toward umbilicus
- Facial hair (sideburns, beard, mustache)
- Increased tendency for violence or aggressive
- Subcutaneous fat in face decreases
- Increased muscle strength and mass
- Deepening of voice
- Growth of the Adam's apple
- Growth of jaw, brow, chin, nose, and remodeling of facial bone contours
- Shoulders widen and rib cage expands

The Risks:

The side effects of using anabolic steroids vary depending on the type of drug, dosage, duration of use and individual sensitivity and response.

To be straight with you, there are more stories and myths about steroid effects than you can poke a stick at. But some of the more common and documented effects include severe acne, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, impotence, and mood swings.

So if you think you can handle that, then you're all set... Well, not really.

Besides the shrunken testicles, people who take large doses (like what's needed for muscle gain) can lose control of their emotions and become irritable and really aggressive. Little things can make them hysterically angry. This is what is called "roid rage".

A case study published in the Australian Medical Journal (165:222-26) reviewed the evidence concerning the effects of anabolic steroids on the mind.

The case centered on a 29-year-old bodybuilder who beat his wife to death using a weapon described as a claw hammer. While he committed this horrific act, his four children were in another part of the house. He then shot himself in the head. Before this incident, his home life had been described as ‘‘happy.’’

This man had used steroids off and on for years, and seven weeks before the murder, he had used a steroid stack consisting of Winstrol-V and sustanon, both injectable steroids. A later urine test showed that he also used Valium, a muscle relaxant and anti-anxiety drug.

This doesn't mean if you take steroids you are going to lose it and become an angry incredible hulk. But it definitely rings warning bells.

More Bad News - The problems don't stop when you stop taking roids either. People who use steroids can develop a dependence on them. That means they will go through withdrawal when they stop using. They can feel sick to their stomach, have headaches, sweat a lot, feel dizzy and be depressed.

Also, They are illegal - (In case you were wondering):

Steroids are legal for use by veterinarians and doctors but it is illegal to sell or buy them on the street. When steroids are sold on the street or in a gym, they are often mixed with other things which only increases your risks.

Steroids are also banned from amateur sports like the Olympics and most professional sports. Several Olympic athletes have lost their medals after they were tested and found to have used steroids to bulk up.

Are they Guaranteed:

Steroids are going to increase your muscle mass - Hands Down.

That doesn't necessarily mean your chest and biceps are going to pop out of your shirt first. There are some cases where users experienced very little gain on their chest and massive gain on their shoulders and traps. Who else wants to become the next hunchback? Not me.

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The Role Of Repetitions In Your Muscle Building Program

Repetitions are the basic building blocks of any strength or muscle building program but it is something that many lifters take for granted. How often do you see people at the gym speed through their reps, breathe haphazardly or fail to complete each rep correctly from a technical perspective? There is much more to the simple rep than meets the eye.

The first thing to note is that a repetition consists of three elements - namely lower, pause and lift. The speed at which this is achieved depends on the desired outcome, but to maximize muscle growth a slow, controlled tempo is required. The process should never be rushed, jerky or bouncy but instead should be controlled and smooth.

The second consideration relates to how many reps need to be performed. Once again, this depends on what you hope to achieve but you can use the following as a basic rule of thumb:

1. A single repetition maximum (1RM) increases muscle strength.

2. A six to eight repetition maximum increases muscle size.

3. A higher number of repetitions will have more effect on muscle endurance and little impact on size or strength.

Your aim therefore should be to complete six to eight reps of a load equivalent to 75-80% of your 1RM. This will maximize your muscle building potential, provided you complete each lift with perfect form in a smooth controlled manner.

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The Science Of Muscle Building

Bodybuilding involves more than just lifting weights. It pays to have an understanding of human kinetics. How do muscles work?

Muscles develop by making them work. Muscles can only work when the body is in motion. They work extra when we are in full motion. Thus, to develop the muscles to the maximum, we must make them work to the best of our abilities. Hence, the bodybuilding principle of “No Pain, No Gain.”

You can’t grow your muscles by doing nothing. You have to move around a lot. The only thing that will grow in points of inertia, if you remain stationary, is your weight. If you want muscle growth and power, you must work your body methodically. Muscle training is called a workout.

Muscles can be toned (or conditioned) by regular activities like brisk walking, jogging, and doing other slightly heavy works. But toning muscles will not grow them in size and beauty. You have to do more —lots more — to have stunning muscles. You have to workout. By the very term “workout,” you can have a good idea of what it takes to grow muscles.

Bodybuilding procedures using weights and other heavy-duty activities are the best-known muscle growers so far. You have to devote your life into this if you want extra visible muscles on you. You also have to do away with vices like smoking, drinking liquor, eating junk foods, etc.

Muscles grow in size only when they are moving. Try to be still in front of a mirror and you’d see no sign of any bulking muscle taking shape. Now, clench your fist hard, and muscle evidence will show at least on your forearm. This simple principle illustrates the potential of muscles being developed through repeated and graduated motions. As muscles are subjected to repeated exertions that gradually increase intensity, they grow and toughen.

The more intense the muscle activity, the better and faster the muscle is developed. Hence, a systematic muscle development program incorporating increased muscle stimulation builds more muscles effectively. If your exercise features no such system of increasing efforts and challenges to your muscle strength, your muscles can only grow so much. Some exercises do form muscles, but only to a certain extent. The muscles built only become regulating muscles that enable you to perform normal tasks effectively. But they cannot exceed in performing beyond such tasks.

On the contrary, a fully developed muscle does not only allow you to do normal tasks; it is calibrated to reach its full potentials — far beyond what regulating muscles can do. Bodybuilding helps you develop your muscles to the extreme.

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The Top 10 Muscle Building Facts You Need to Know!

1. Building muscle has a lot to do with genetics.

If your parents are naturally thin or have a small body frame then most likely you will have the same traits. This doesn’t mean you have no chance of building a strong muscular body. It just means you are going to have to work hard.

2. Your metabolism has an effect on your size.

If you have difficulty gaining weight whether it’s fat or muscle, then you most likely have a fast metabolism. Your body is burning calories faster than you can consume them.

3. There is no universal weight training program that is going to get massive results for every individual person.

The best way to find a program that works for you is to find someone who had the same type of body as you before and start walking their walk. There are certainly standard exercises that will build muscle but there is more to building muscle than weight lifting.

4. More training doesn’t mean more muscle.

This is one of the most difficult concepts for many to grasp. The purpose of weight training is to stimulate muscle growth… that’s all. Once that has been done, your muscles need to repair and new muscle needs to be built which only happens when you are resting.

5. Isolation exercises aren’t going to get you big fast.

The best exercises to put on the most amount of overall size are multi-muscle exercises. These are exercises that require more than one muscle or muscle group to get the job done. These lifts put the most amount of stress on your body. This is the stress that will shock your nervous system into releasing the greatest amount of muscle building hormones.

6. Free weights build muscle quicker.

Free weights are preferred over machines because they make your body work harder. They require greater concentration and allow the stimulation of supporting muscles. Machines are good for beginners to help with form and basic control, but limit the effectiveness of the exercise.

7. No Pain, No Gain.

Lifting the same weights over and over isn’t going to get you big. In fact it will do the exact opposite.

To build muscle you need to go heavy. This stimulates Type IIB muscle fibers which cause the most amount of muscle gain. Lifting heavy is when your body fails after 4-8 reps.

8. Long training sessions are a NO-GO

The idea is to stimulate muscle, not hit it from every angle possible. This is only a concern for developed body builders looking to tone muscle. Long training sessions cause catabolic hormone levels to rise dramatically. Catabolic hormones are responsible for breaking down muscle tissue resulting in MUSCLE LOSS. Your weight training sessions should go for no longer than 60-75 minutes maximum.

9. You don’t need aerobic activity to lose fat.

The time spent running or swimming is muscle building and recovery time lost. Building muscle is the fastest way to lose fat. Aerobic activities will help you lose fat but not so if you are on a high calorie mass diet for building muscle.

10. 3 square meals a day isn’t going to help you build muscle.

Eating is an important part of muscle building. You need to eat more often and eat more protein. You should be eating roughly every 2.5 hours which is about 6 meals per day. Spreading your meals throughout the day will improve muscle assimilation, and make sure that your body always has the calories it needs for muscle building and repair.

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The Truth About Achieving A Ripped, Rock-Solid Chest

Everyone wants a huge chest, plain and simple. It is all too common to see inexperienced lifters slaving away on endless sets of bench presses and cable crossovers in search of full, thick pecs. The reality is that there is nothing complicated about building an impressive chest. The bottom line for huge chest gains is consistency, effort and steady progression in weight and repetitions.

The chest is made up of two main heads, the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. To stimulate the chest using weights you will be using one of two motions: a press or a flye. If you want the greatest bang for your buck from your chest workouts, the true gains lie in your pressing movements. Flyes may have their place from time to time, but nothing can compare to the overall anabolic effect of high intensity pressing movements. I’m talking about the basic, bread-and-butter lifts such as heavy barbell presses, dumbbell presses and wide-grip dips. Save the pec-deck and cable crossovers for the pencil necked geeks on the treadmill; real men train with real lifts.

Like I said before, building a thick and well-developed chest is fairly simple. There are no secrets, magic formulas or killer techniques that will "shock" your chest into massive growth. Stick to your basic presses, focus on overload and progression, and I promise that you will see impressive gains. Here are the most effective lifts for packing muscle onto the chest:

Flat/Incline/Decline Barbell Bench Press:

A standard barbell press is the meat and potatoes of any effective chest routine. This basic compound movement will allow you to handle the most weight through the given range of motion. The incline press will shift more of the stress to the upper region of the chest while the decline does the opposite, targeting the lower/outer region. The flat bench press works the upper and lower regions equally. I highly recommend a standard barbell press as a basic component of your chest routine.

Flat/Incline/Decline Dumbbell Press:

Dumbbell presses are another basic and highly effective movement for stimulating chest development. The main advantage that they have over the barbell is that they allow you to move through a more natural range of motion, helping to prevent shoulder injuries. They also prevent strength imbalances from occurring since one arm can't cheat for the other. The only drawback is that you are not able to handle as much weight. Overall, a standard dumbbell press is an awesome movement that allows for great chest stimulation.

Wide-Grip Dips:

An amazing movement for the chest that is often overlooked. Make sure to use a wider grip and lean forward to shift the stress from the triceps onto the pectorals. If pressing your own body weight is not sufficient then you can always add weight using a weight belt. Dips are an excellent compound movement for overall chest development.

Here are a couple sample chest routines:

1) Flat Barbell Bench Press: 2 x 5-7
Incline Dumbbell Press: 2 x 5-7
Wide-Grip Dips: 2 x 5-7

2) Incline Barbell Bench Press: 2 x 5-7
Wide-Grip Dips: 2 x 5-7
Flat Dumbbell Press: 2 x 5-7

All sets should stay within the 5-7 rep range and should be taken to complete muscular failure. Write down the details of each workout you perform and focus on progressing in either weight or reps from week to week. There is nothing more to it than that. Good luck!

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When Is Best Time To Eat Protein For Building Muscles|Muscle Growth?

Every bodybuilder and fitness enthusiast knows that you must eat enough protein for muscle growth. Without the amino acids of protein, your muscles cannot grow no matter how hard and often you train your. Protein is the building block of muscles and there are no other nutrients to substitute protein for muscle growth.

It is recommended that if you want to grow and build muscle mass, the rule is to eat one gram of protein per pound of your body weight per day. That is a lot of protein which many people cannot get in their normal dietary meals and protein supplementation is often necessary. Without eating enough protein, all your muscle building training in the gym will be futile. Such a waste isn’t it?

So when is the best time to eat protein to optimize muscle growth? How and which type of protein should you eat to get spectacular muscular growth?

•Eat protein first thing in the morning:

 After a good night’s sleep, your body is in a catabolic state. That means your body is burning your muscle for energy since your glycogen store is low. So eat quickly digestible protein such as whey protein the first thing in the morning even before you brush your teeth to prevent your muscle wasting away or catabolism.

•Eat protein between your meals:

To keep protein flowing in your bloodstream so as to feed your muscles continuously throughout the day, take casein protein in between your meals. Casein protein is slow to digest and as such will continuously release protein into your bloodstream to feed your muscles for many hours in between your meals. In this way, your muscles will be constantly receiving protein throughout the day.

•Protein before/after gym workout:

It is a known fact that eating fast to digest protein such as whey protein before your workout will promote muscle growth as your muscles are being fed as you training to build muscles. Then take whey protein again after your workout along with some carbohydrates to repair your muscle cells after you have damaged them during your workout.

•Protein before bed:

Since you will be going without food for many hours when you sleep and muscle building is at its optimum when you sleep, you must encourage your muscle to grow by eating casein protein before you sleep. As casein protein is slow to digest, it will continuously feed your muscles for as long as seven hours when you sleep and thus encouraging your muscles to build and grow.

So now that you know when is the best time to eat protein and to encourage building muscles, follow these tips and see your muscles growing like you have never seen before.

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