Muscle Growth Simplified -Nathan Couet We all know what it takes to get a muscle to grow.

Combine Heavy weights, with short, intense workouts, taking in more calories than you burn, along with high amounts of protein, and enough rest/recuperation, and you grow. Simple as that. But why? Its obvious that when eating more than you can expend, you will gain weight, but what exactly contributes to the weight being put on as muscle, rather than fat? What exactly triggers muscle growth? Muscle grows for one reason. Adaption. We, as human beings, are very adaptive creatures. Calluses build on our hands/fingers when they are used repetitively, our skin secretes oils when it is dry, etc. Muscle building is no different. A muscle grows because it is stressed beyond it's normal level. The most common, not to mention most effective way of doing this, is training with weights. In order for the muscle to be successfully stressed, it must be challenged, each and every time. It is through adaption that muscle grows. I can not overstate that. In order for the muscle to adapt, workloads (in the form of weight, or reps), must increase over time. If workload is never increased, the muscle has no reason to adapt. Even through weight training, what exactly happens to trigger muscle growth? What actually FORCES adaption (in the form of increased muscle size/strength)? Hormones play a big role in adaption. Hormones are basically chemicals that organs secrete to initiate or regulate the activity of an organ or group of cells in another part of the body. It should be noted that hormone function is decidedly affected by nutritional status, food intake and lifestyle factors such as stress, sleep, and general health. From growth hormone, all the way to testosterone. Nearly every single hormone in the body plays a role in a muscle growing (or not growing in some cases). I wont get into detail on every single hormone, but I will talk about the ones that play the largest roles in muscle growth. First off, InsulinLike Growth Factor (IGF) IGF is a hormone that is secreted by skeletal muscle (the muscle we want to grow). It regulates insulin metabolism and stimulates protein synthesis. There are two forms, IGF-I, which causes proliferation and differentiation of satellite cells, and IGF-II, which is responsible for proliferation of satellite cells. In response to progressive overload resistance exercise, IGF-I levels are substantially elevated, resulting in skeletal muscle hypertrophy. This basically means that when a muscle is constantly stressed to new levels, IGF levels are increased, which plays a part in the growth of muscle tissue. The second hormone I want to talk about is Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF). FGF is stored in skeletal muscle, like IGF. FGF has nine forms, five of them cause proliferation and differentiation of satellite cells, leading to skeletal muscle hypertrophy. The amount of FGF released by the skeletal muscle is proportional to the degree of muscle trauma or injury. FGF basically causes muscle cell division, which is something that we want. The amount released by the muscle tissue is released according to the severity of the damaged caused to the tissue (through progressive overload). Growth hormone (GH) is a peptide hormone that stimulates IGF in skeletal muscle, promoting satellite cell activation, proliferation and differentiation. GH basically is the stimulant of IGF. Once stimulated IGF can be released, is where you reap the benefits of increased IGF. Almost done listing the most active (in terms of what we are talking about). Just 2 left. Cortisol. Cortisol is a steroid hormone (It should be noted that steroid hormones are hormones which have a steroidal nucleus that can pass through a cell membrane that doesnt have a receptor) which is produced in the adrenal cortex of

the kidney. It is mainly a stress hormone, which stimulates gluconeogenesis, which is the formation of glucose from sources other than glucose, such as amino acids and free fatty acids. Cortisol also inhibits the use of glucose by most body cells. This can initiate protein catabolism (break down of muscle tissue), thus freeing amino acids to be used to make different proteins, which may be necessary and critical in times of stress. In terms of hypertrophy (muscle growth), an increase in cortisol is related to an increased rate of protein catabolism. Cortisol breaks down muscle proteins, inhibiting skeletal muscle hypertrophy...Not a good thing. The last hormone I'm going to talk about, but certainly not the least. T. Yes, Testosterone. Everyones favorite hormone. Of course its great for muscle growth. Anabolic steroids are derivatives of it for a reason. Testosterone is an androgen, or a male sex hormone if you will. The primary physiological role of androgens are to promote the growth and development of male organs and characteristics. Testosterone affects the nervous system, skeletal muscle, bone marrow, skin, hair and the sex organs. Skeletal muscle is what we are interested in. With skeletal muscle, testosterone, which is produced in significantly greater amounts in males, has an anabolic (muscle building) effect. This contributes to the gender differences observed in body weight and composition between men and women. Testosterone increases protein synthesis, which induces hypertrophy. I know in this segment I have talked a lot about protein synthesis. What exactly is protein synthesis? And how does it affect muscle growth? Muscle protein synthesis is essential to the body's ongoing growth, repair, and maintenance of its skeletal muscle groups. The human body synthesizes protein from diet at a rapid rate while the body is growing through adolescence and into young adulthood (this is mostly because of hormonal levels). The rate at which protein is synthesized slows significantly after age 20 (hormonal output decreases). It is a very complicated process to explain. There is really no need to go into detail anyway. When protein synthesis is at a higher point, and nitrogen retention is high, you are in a state of anabolism (muscle growth). When protein synthesis is at a lower point, and nitrogen retention is low, you are in a state of catabolism (muscle break down) The higher your nitrogen retention, the more protein (amino acids) that can be synthesized into muscle tissue. In order to have high nitrogen retention, your protein intake must be high enough to exceed your personal Protein Turnover Rate (PTR). Proteins are continually synthesized and degraded in all cells, a process called turnover. Individual proteins turn over at different rates. PTR is the speed at which, well, your body turns over protein. This meaning, the speed at which your body uses/assimilates dietary protein, as well as muscle tissue. Believe it or not, the average person turns over roughly their bodyweight in lean mass per year. This means, that if we had a way to keep anabolism(high nitrogen retention) at its highest, and catabolism (low nitrogen retention) at its lowest, we could gain roughly our bodyweight in LEAN MASS EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Unfortunately, this is nearly impossible to do. Because of homeostasis, our bodies do not like gaining large amounts of weight, or putting on weight at all for that matter. Our bodies like to be a comfortable 160-190 lbs. No more, No less (height, age, gender dependent of course) Through keeping our dietary protein intake high, resting enough, and

training with weights (progressive overload), we can attempt to stay in an anabolic state(if hormone levels are optimal). Though we cannot keep our bodyweight in lean mass each and every year, we can at least gain and keep some lean mass through keeping nitrogen retention high as possible. According to the Canadian government, we only need as much as 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. Please keep in mind that is to maintain homeostasis. If muscle growth is what youre after, you must break free from homeostasis, you must exceed this amount. For gaining muscle, the standard protein intake is AT LEAST 1 gram of protein, per POUND of bodyweight. Personally, I dont feel this is quite enough. I feel protein should be around 2 grams per pound of bodyweight, if not more. The closer you can get to 4, the better. Some people would say thats overkill. But in the world of muscle growth, what do we do that ISNT overkill? You CANNOT eat too much protein. I dont care what one, or two, completely UMPROVEN studies say about high protein intake being hard on your kidneys. There are more than double the amount of studies talking about how beneficial high protein is for your kidneys, not to mention muscle growth. Basically, try to get in as much protein as you can. And usually, if you are eating enough calories to support muscle growth, your eating enough protein to completely the process as well. Calories are one of the three big keys to muscle growth. How? Simple. Calories are our body's source of energy. It's as simple as that. Take in more than you burn, you gain weight. Take in less than you burn, you lose weight. Why? Again, simple. Because calories are our energy source, they are used for the most important bodily processes first and foremost (Brain function, Heart function, etc) before muscle growth. If you are not consuming enough calories to meet your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), those calories that you did take in will be used for the important processes, and because you havent taken in enough to maintain homeostasis, you will lose weight. Easy, right? The exact same happens for gaining weight (muscle growth). Eating more than you burn, your body has left over energy to do extra processes (again, muscle growth). Only in the right conditions of course. But if hormone levels are optimal, Protein is high, and you are training with progressive overload principles, you are going to gain more muscle to fat. (it should be noted that you can never put on muscle, without putting on SOME body fat.. our goal is to keep the muscle to fat gain ratio high). Basically, you must be eating above and beyond your BMR, as well as more calories than you burn through activity (BMR + Output = total burned calories). To calculate your BMR, use the following calculations : Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years ) Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year ) Please keep in mind that is the number of calories burned doing NOTHING. Personally, in order to achieve the muscle growth results one wants (most rapid accumulation of muscle while putting on as little fat as possible), I use the formula Bodyweight (BW) x 21. (this usually gets you above and beyond BMR + Output.) This means for the average 190 pound man, eating 3, 990 calories per day. I know

what you're thinking. Woah, thats a lot. It may seem like a lot.. but this is where nutrients, as well as the foods you eat come into play. Protein and carbohydrates have only 4 calories per gram, while fat has 9 calories per gram. This is pretty self explanatory. Fats are the most dense foods, and your diet should include quite a good amount of fat (healthy fats, not trans, or too much saturated fat. Though saturated fats arent as dangerous as the media makes them out to be). But doesnt fat make me fat!? No. Fat does NOT make you fat. In fact, its nearly impossible to get fat if one were eating fat and protein alone. It is the carbohydrates in our diets that make us gain fat. Dont stop eating carbs though, they are very important to muscle recovery.. But it is all about balancing out the nutrients. The only reasons carbs make us fat are: 1. Eating carbs and fats together. This almost automatically shuttles the fat to our fat cells. Causing the storage of new body fat. 2. Eating carbs too soon before sleep (4 6 hours before sleep). This is because carbs are all made up of sugars. Sugars are glucose. When there is free glucose in our bodies, and we are in a state of inactivity (ie. Sleep), the glucose is likely to be stored as fat. Simple as that. The easiest way to build muscle while keeping fat gains as little as possible is to eat throughout the day. BUT, not mixing carbohydrates and fats together. As well as no carbs 6 hours before sleeping. The way I set people's diets up is something like this: Breakfast: Protein and carbs Meal 2: Protein and carbs Meal 3: (Pre workout) Protein and carbs) Meal 4: (Post workout) Protein and carbs Meal 5: Protein and carbs Meal 6: Protein and fats Meal 7: Protein and fats etc. The diet would carry on like this throughout the day, until you go to bed. Do not fear eating right before sleep. Our bodies need protein before we sleep to keep us in a state of anabolism. But, in order to keep the fat off, keep eating low carb after around 6 pm. Back to fat being a superfood. At 9 calories per gram, it should be used fairly often in your quest for muscle growth. Especially if you cannot eat a lot, due to low appetite. Olive oil, Peanut butter, Almond butters, etc. These are all indispensable tools, fat wise. You can mix olive oils in shakes between meals, eat peanut butter right off a spoon, etc. Again, EATING FAT WILL NOT MAKE YOU FAT. Carbs are also great. We do need them for muscle growth. They replenish glycogen lost during workouts, which helps with recovery. Keep it whole wheat, whole grain, multi grain, etc. None of those simple sugars (except after a workout where our bodies need an insulin spike.. after a workout it is perfectly acceptable to

have a couple slices of white bread, or some gatorade, whatever your forte is). Protein. We already talked about this one. You know how important it is. It is literally the KEY to muscle growth. Eat upwards to 4 grams per pound of bodyweight per day.

Rest and recuperation are one of the other keys to growth. If you do not rest a muscle enough after training, before training it again, it can quickly lead to overtraining. Overtraining is a state in which a muscle is caused to be catabolic through training the muscle too much. Overtraining can also happen to your whole body rather quickly, even if you do not train too often. In this case, it is the Central Nervous System (CNS) that becomes overtrained, rather than a muscle. CNS Overtraining happens more often than specific muscle overtraining. This is why adequate rest is VERY important. Sleeping at least 8 hours at night, keeping workouts short as well as infrequent. Eating and hormones also play a role in how fast one becomes overtrained or recovers. It is important, every 6-10 weeks, to take time off the gym. Up to 2 weeks is acceptable. No, you will not lose size or strength, but rather, your body will begin to function better. You will even come back to the gym feeling stronger than ever. Weight training is actually catabolic in nature. Which is what causes the anabolism to kick in. When you lift weights, it causes microtears in the tissue, which causes hormones, to kick protein synthesis up a notch, to repair, recovery, then adapt. It all goes back to adaption. But none of this can happen if you do not get enough rest. Your training should be breif, intense, and infrequent. ESPECIALLY, if you are natural (drug-free). I used to be one of the guys who followed a high volume training routine (Many sets, training a body part once per week). This is how almost everyone starts. They read through bodybuilding magazines, read the routines that the professionals use, start training that way, quickly become overtrained, become even smaller than they started, and finally give up. It does not have to be this way. Training 5 days a week is too much. It causes testosterone production to slow, and cortisol to rise. Not good news. Not to mention, when training this often, with 8-12 + sets per muscle group, the amount of calories one needs to consume to actually gain weight; not to mention just stay away from overtraining. Also, this way, youre only training the muscle group once per week. There are better, and not to mention more effective ways of doing this. Training with a push/pull split for example. With only one set per bodypart, pushed to COMPLETE, and TOTAL failure (the point where you cannot budge the weight, at all). Example: Monday: Push (chest, shoulders, triceps, quadriceps, calves) 1 exercise, 1 set per body part Wednesday: Pull (Back, Biceps, Hamstrings) 1 exercise, 1 set per body part (with the exception of back, one exercise for width (pulldown, or pull up), and one exercise for thickness (deadlifts, rows)

Friday: Push Monday: Pull I don't care what some 120 pound writer from flex magazine says. This type of training works MUCH better than volume training. Take the set to complete and total failure. It in your first, your last, and your only set. Make it count. Supplements can help your muscle growth. Don't pay attention to all the new breaking news supplements. Don't buy into the hype. Stick to the basics. Whey protein, Creatine Monohydrate, Gatorade (for post workout), multi vitamins, etc. Most of your dietary protein should come whole foods, whey protein can be added for extra protein, before and after workouts are the most important times. Beween meals mixed with olive oil, for extra calories. Creatine monohydrate helps pull nutrients, water, and hormones into muscle cells. This helps with recovery. Also, there have been recent studies that say CM causes cell division. This means more muscle cells, inside muscle fibers. Good news. Gatorade is a simple sugar. After a workout, your body needs an insulin spike to send protein, nutrients, etc, to muscle cells to give you a quick start to recovery. Gatorade can help achieve this. Multivitamins supply your body with all the vitamins/minerals needed to support muscle growth. Just in case you do not get them all through diet. Which you do not always. Some of the breaking news/breakthrough supplements are supposedly anabolic activators, meaning they act on the anabolic pathways of the body to initiate an anabolic response, therefore, building muscle. They are no where near as effective as the real thing.. Anabolic steroids. Steroids are derivatives of testosterone. They are extremely anabolic. They do indeed build muscle. Because of the media, most people have the idea that anabolic steroids are some extremely lethal drug, up there with cocaine, heroin, etc. When really, when used responsibly, they can be both effective at giving you the size and strength you want, with limited side effects. In fact, back in the 1990's when George Bush was busy trying to make them illegal, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Food and Drug Administration, along with a few other government driven agencies, wanted to keep them legal, as they were helping people, and had causes no one any harm. There have never been any deaths directly linked to anabolic steroids. Never. The government has even done a 10 week study using high amounts of testosterone in 100 men. The only side effects experienced were just 3 cases of mild acne, and mild breast tenderness. The other reported side effects are higher self confidence, getting stronger, getting bigger, etc. There are many other unproven side effects. Almost everything our government, as well as the media, is saying about anabolic steroids, has never, not once, been proven. There are also other drugs that help prevent side effects. But that is a completely different note. I will not be going into detail about steroids here, as this note is about how and why muscle grows. Steroids cause the body to be in an anabolic environment, just as natural testosterone does. More testosterone = more muscle growth. Simple as that.

The HDRT Principle. Hormones, Diet, Rest, Training. These are the 4 simple keys to muscle growth. You know how they work, why theyre needed, and why exactly they are the keys to growth. But which is more important? Yes, they are all important.. But is muscle growth at it's greatest potential possible without one of these keys? The answer is no. But it can still happen. Lets go through the list, shall we? Hormones. A muscle just cannot grow without hormones. Not at all. Hormones are THE MOST IMPORTANT thing to muscle growth. Diet. Diet is second to hormones, but is just as important. Without a diet high enough in calories, protein, as well as decent assortment of the other nutrients, a muscle cannot grow to its greatest potential. Rest. Without rest, a muscle cannot recover, if it does not recover, it cannot grow. Training. Truth is, training is the least of your worries. If your Hormones, Diet, and Rest are not in check, there is no point in trying to grow. It will be nearly impossible to grow past a certain point ( a very small point, I might add). If you were to have a high calorie diet, with high protein, lots of rest, and a decent dose of anabolic steroids, you could grow without even training. Still a lot of work, and you wouldnt get huge, but you would grow nonetheless. Lets not forget one of the most important things, that I actually havent mentioned yet, but it plays one of the biggest roles in muscle growth. Genetics. Yes, sadly genetics limit muscle growth. If you do not have the genes to put on muscle size easily/quickly, or at all for that matter, no matter how hard you train, diet, or what kind of drugs you are on, you will not grow past a certain point. Its genetics. Blame your parents. But dont give up. You can still grow past what you would expect. You may just not become a professional bodybuilder, genetics are very important. Keep on training, dieting, resting, and you will grow. Larger than you would expect. We, as human beings, adapt. Cant escape that fact. We can keep on adapting (through strength and size) through progressively heavier weights in the gym, eating more, resting more, and keeping hormone levels high. You control how you grow. Eat more, Eat Less.. Whatever you choose. You can achieve the look you want. Keep on training.. -Nathan