Article: Mechanism of Muscle Growth . Read it!

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Mechanisms of Muscle Growth

A Foolproof Blueprint for Gaining Lean, Hard Muscle Mass In Eight Weeks

By Vincent Andrich


The pursuit of an absolute blueprint for gaining lean, hard muscle mass has always been a topic under heated debate. Believe it or not, you and I have played a very big role in uncovering the science and art of building an ideal physique. That's because every hour we have spent training, eating and supplementing has been time spent experiencing lessons necessary to understand the dynamics of building lasting muscle. And as bodybuilders, we are not alone. How to trigger a growth response in muscle tissue has been a question that has been asked since the dawn of athletic competition. Even though it has only been in the past 20 years that our underground sport of bodybuilding has reached prominent status, its roots in the weight training and performance nutrition community allow our elite club a unique vantagepoint.

When it comes to building lean mass, even the most educated sports scientists seem to disagree more often than they see eye to eye. It is no wonder weight trainers new to the game have such a hard time getting the facts they need to make progress or overcome sticking points. Even if you chalked up several years of bodybuilding-style training with a meticulous approach to nutrition, you may still fall prey to cleverly marketed approaches to GROWTH. The reason is that nearly every day some new fitness authority comes on the scene to litter the landscape with propaganda that eventually shows up in books, magazines, the Internet and, my personal favorite, late-night infomercials. Hardly a perfect scenario for those with time constraints on the amount of BS we can assimilate, right? I know that if you're anything like me, you're always on the lookout for the truth amidst all the hype. Forget about those sugarcoated programs that hail results with little or no effort.

Seriously, though, my guess is that if you're still reading this article, your pursuit of the ideal body is something you want to work extremely hard for. But you and I are different. We are not like other fitness buffs and so-called weekend warriors who play pick-up basketball one day out of the week and wonder where their abs are come Monday at the office coffee machine. Who are they kidding? You and I are not just fitness enthusiasts. We are dyed-in-the-wool bodybuilders who want to be as lean and muscular as we can. Even the mere thought of being accused of having no commitment to being the best we can be makes us want to go straight to the gym and rock the house. Am I right? Well, I know the answer is YES because you're still reading, and that tells me you're ready to take your training and nutrition to the next level.

This article will provide you with an eight-week, no-frills plan for realizing dramatic increases in lean mass and overall muscularity. A level of development most fitness enthusiasts may never understand. But that's not your problem. I am going to warn you up front some of these concepts are a little over-the-top, and some are just variations of old concepts. Actually observing our peers, paying respect to the principles of the old school and, of course, looking at current science, are the keys to this program. These principles may change your views on how to properly train and eat for muscle growth. Hey, you wanted the truth, right? I call these concepts the Mechanisms of Muscle Growth, and by getting a handle on these fundamental concepts, you'll quickly be able to prime your muscle-building machinery and set the stage for new gains in lean mass. The best part is that when you finish this article, you'll only have two choices. You can blow me off and do what you've always done in the past or you can dig deep down into your soul and say to yourself I'm ready to run with the big boys.


The Lost Art of Training for Muscle Growth
Let me first state for the record that training variety is above all the KEY to pushing the limits of muscle growth. This should be a simple concept to grasp, as it has been stated time and time again that muscles grow by adapting. Our muscles adapt to the physical stresses we place on them. Therefore, the word adapt is the most basic principle for any muscle-building program. In fact, by definition, adapt means to make suitable to or consistent with a particular event.So it makes sense that if you only expose yourself to one particular type of training, NO adaptation will need to occur. In essence, variety equals adaptation and adaptation equals growth.
But the popular fitness media always tries to make things so simple by fixating on single concepts so that the whole notion of adapting gets lost along the way. For instance, the most common answer to anyone who asks for a training regimen that will build size and strength is nine times out of 10 limited to basic compound movements such as squats, barbell rows and bench presses. Furthermore, the norm for these basic movements is to perform around six reps and between three and five working sets. While this type of program is well suited for gains in pure strength or maintaining mass while getting ultra lean (this program is fully explained in the Sports Supplement Review, 4th Issue), it is not the best method for maximizing the many cellular components that dictate your muscles' overall SIZE. That is to say that minimal sets of the basic exercises performed with heavy weights (in the five- to six-rep range, much less the one- to two-rep-max weight schemes practiced in gyms all over America) represent only part of the total training needed to reach your genetic muscular potential.

part 2 coming

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part 2

W-O-R-K:
The Four-Letter Word that Spells Muscle Growth.
To achieve growth in the protein-derived elements of your muscle cells, as well as the energy storage compartments, you must train your muscles for distinct periods of time with a higher volume of loading. This is commonplace in other parts of the world such as Romania, Bulgaria, Germany and Russia, not to mention a practice that the best bodybuilders here in America have used for over 30 years. You may have heard of German Volume Training, Romanian/Bulgarian Phase Training, Vince Gironda's 10 sets of 10 or even Russian Triple Splits to describe programs that recommend higher volume and specific intensity zones to achieve maximum muscle fiber recruitment. These programs by today's standards are considered old school or maybe even old hat because many so-called experts try to boil training for growth down to the minimum amount it will take to get a response.
Many times the zealots that preach this nonsense use circular arguments and philosophy to try to convince you that any bodybuilder with half a brain surely must see their reasoning. Let me tell you straight up that if training to trigger maximum growth were as easy as a few sets of maximum effort, we would see a lot more massive guys in the local gym. And it just isn't so. Now, if we look at the data to support the other side of the coin, what you hear and what is the truth are usually two different things. Let's take for example the bodybuilder, who for some odd reason, has come to his or her senses and realizes that real muscle growth takes a bit more work than what those low-volume advocates proclaim. This athlete decides that a bit more training volume is just the ticket to new growth. But a quick review of what I call the ego-based training routine reveals this athlete is also missing the point. Here is a typical ego-building workout for chest:

Remind you of anyone? Hopefully this doesn't look like your bench press program! Just take a look at the above example, and you can see that Set 1 was the only pure bodybuilding set, and Set 2 was maybe a passable strength set. This is hardly a volume approach, because the load is not in the proper rep range for enough sets.

Personally, I have never seen an impressive athlete subscribe to the low-volume approach or the ill-conceived ego-based bench-press routine shown above. But, if you don't believe me, just do this little test next time you are in the gym. Look for the one- or two-set-per-body-part disciples (they're the ones shaking like leaves as they attempt that all-important growth rep in the corner of the gym), and ask yourself how much progress have they made in the last two months? Okay, now look for the ego-based lifter (they're usually at the bench press or squat rack with three or four guys rotating in to spot each other), and ask yourself how much progress have they made in the last two months? Last but not least, look for the best-built guys in the gym they're usually the guys that goes up in poundage in smaller increments, and they're doing eight to 12 quality reps for about four to five sets per exercise. I think you get the point.

I do agree in part with the argument used by low-volume advocates that claims you'll never be able to muster enough intensity for each set if you train too long or with too much volume. But more often than not, this over-stated principle applies only if you have a distorted definition of the level of intensity needed to make any weight-training set a success. This may confuse many of you out there who have measured your success in the gym by how many gun to your head forced reps and max lifts you can perform in any given workout hey, I personally used to judge myself on this scale years ago. And before any of you start shaking your head in disbelief, know that I'm not going to try and convince you to go out and train as if you were entering the Boston Marathon. What I am going to do is convince you to get back into a growth phase by giving you some insights on how to gauge intensity, which I feel is a lost art among bodybuilders.

Believe it or not, this art was practiced more by old school bodybuilders in the past than it is today. However, I feel that once again this will be a key concept for advanced bodybuilders in the future. So what the hell is gauging intensity? Well, I could explain this by drawing on my 20-plus years of trial and error in the gym, but that would likely bore you to tears. Nope, I'll spare you that in favor of an in-depth explanation regarding proper training intensity for muscle growth by Pavel Tsatsouline who in my opinion is one of the very best trainers in the world.

part 3 coming

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Part 3

Avoid Failure, and Grow Like a Weed
For the record, when Pavel and I first spoke about a year ago, he told me straight away that the best European scientists are convinced that lasting muscle growth in elite athletes can only be achieved through a high volume of loading, which is measured in tonnage! Their reasoning, which I agree with 100 percent, is that although many athletes engage in what we generally call over training, in reality it is our nervous system that simply cannot take the endless forced reps and extended sets that high-intensity, low-volume advocates speak so highly of. In essence, many high-intensity advocates push their nervous systems to the point where it is mentally impossible to begin to do enough WORK to get maximum growth.
Next, Pavel gave me the three major reasons not to train to failure. First, extreme stress dramatically spikes that nasty muscle-wasting hormone cortisol (more on that later). Second, the gains achieved with intense training, be it training to failure, maxing out or using forced reps or negatives, are very short lived and easily reversed, mainly because no mere mortal can maintain that type of long-term intensity. And third, training to failure disrupts your strength gains, thanks to something neuroscientists refer to as the Hebbian mechanisms. The last concept is in line with the success begets success theory that Dr. Squat, Fred Hatfield, has written about many times. This is also a topic that many top visualization experts focus on when working with world-class athletes around the world. The bottom line is this: Failure is a learned pattern that can be hardwired into your neuromuscular pathways and, for the most part, should be avoided like a deadly illness. The trick for athletes like you to obtain all the growth benefits associated with a high-volume and loading routine is to understand how to gauge and measure intensity, so you aren't just performing mindless sets and reps per body part. Here's how you do it.


The Bodybuilding Intensity Gauge for B-I-G Gains
There are a couple of ways to determine the proper amount of weight to use per set and the right amount of sets per body part. One that is popular with many European trainers and coaches is to add up the tonnage, or the total amount of weight lifted per workout. For example: 200 pounds x 10 reps x five sets = 10,000 pounds
These experts recommend that experienced athletes elevate 30 to 50 tons, or up to 110,000 pounds, per workout in the growth phase, while handling weights in the 60 percent to 80 percent one-rep-maximum (1RM) range. This equates to about eight to 12 quality repetitions per set. However, when you try to apply the tonnage method to a bodybuilder's split routine with isolation exercises, it becomes evident that 10,000 pounds might just warm up your larger muscle groups like quads, and may make buggy whips out of your smaller body parts like biceps and triceps. I hate to use this clichÄ, but you really need to learn how to instinctively balance sets, reps and weights so that you maximize the total amount of work you do for any given muscle group. My recommendation has always been very simple: Do more work in less time, which is my favorite training tip from the late Vince Gironda.

On the other hand, I believe Pavel's analogy, which he calls the energetic theory of muscle hypertrophy, will give you a clearer picture of how to measure training volume. It goes like this: If a muscle needs to be torn down to be rebuilt bigger and stronger, imagine that water in a pool represents the muscle. The more you can drain it during your workout, the better. The in-pipe stands for the rebuilding processes that are constantly taking place in your cells. The drainage pipe would represent your sets and reps that degrade your muscle's proteins. The heavier the weight, the thicker this pipe. The time this pipe is open corresponds to the time under tension, or simply your sets multiplied by your reps. The obvious way to outrun the in-pipe and deplete the muscle pool most thoroughly is to get the biggest out-pipe (the heaviest weight) and to keep it open for as long as possible (many sets and reps). I call Pavel's explanation the B-I-G method or the Bodybuilding Intensity Gauge.

Obviously, a compromise is unavoidable. If you use a lot of weight, you will be unable to do many reps and sets. On the other hand, if the weight is so light that you can crank out more than 20 reps, you are using such a thin out-pipe that the pool keeps getting refilled at the same time it is depleted! The bottom line is to strive to progressively move more iron in good form for each body part. The two boxes below show what a sample high-volume workout using a target 12-rep loading scheme would look like:

Altering your training for eight weeks using the Bodybuilding Intensity Gauge to measure your training tonnage will allow you to recruit and break down the maximum amount of muscle fibers per workout. Oh, by the way, you now have learned one of the most basic secrets to building bigger muscles muscle protein breakdown. Remember this term, because we'll explore it later in the article. For now, all you need to know is that once this mechanism is set in motion, you'll need to make sure you have adequate building materials to repair the damaged muscle fibers or, in essence, refill the muscle pool you just emptied.


Protein: An Elite Bodybuilder's Magic Supplement
Just as we explored in the training examples above, most, if not all, bodybuilders with impressive physiques regard protein intake as their number one nutritional priority. And it's no secret why. Protein is essential to providing the necessary building materials for size, strength and every other major metabolic process that our bodies go through in a 24-hour period. However, there are many dedicated weight trainers who would rather look for a magic supplement to enhance their gains than take the time necessary to even have a ballpark estimate for the grams of protein they consume each day. Talk about a crucial mistake! Hey, even anabolic steroids have a low success rate when protein intake is too low. I suppose some bodybuilders and even members of the medical community don't buy into the concept that radical changes in protein intake leads to increased lean mass gains for athletes, because they have never trained hard enough to see the benefits.
Look at it this way. Let's say that your protein needs for any given day are represented by a 2-pound coffee can. This container, when filled each day, provides all the amino acids you will need to maintain essential life-support systems such as hormone production and organ and cell biology. Now, whenever your body is subjected to abnormal stresses, such as illness or injury, which require protein to heal, little pellet-sized holes get shot into the can, causing your body to need more protein to keep even the most basic functions running smoothly. All right, now imagine that you are adding moderate weight training into the mix, and you get a few more holes in the can. Okay, now visualize that the more your training breaks down muscle proteins, the larger the holes in the can get. Get the picture?

Keep in mind that your protein needs are comprised of a pecking order, of which building muscle is not usually on the top of the list. The top of the list is likely to be occupied by those other functions we spoke about in the very beginning, such as hormone production and organ and cell biology. As you can see, the harder you push yourself in the gym, the larger the holes get in your protein can and the greater the demand for protein. And since our goal is to break down as much muscle protein, our bodies are constantly crying out, Gimme protein.


Protein and Athletes: Does Research Have the Answers?
It's ironic, if not enlightening, to note that the same countries (such as Romania) that subscribe to what is today perceived as extreme levels of volume and tonnage in their weight-training programs have also funded some of the most aggressive studies on protein needs in athletes. In one European study, researchers observed a 6-percent increase in lean body mass over several months among Romanian weight lifters when protein consumption was increased from about 1 gram per pound of lean body weight per day to about 1.6 grams per pound of lean body weight per day. The latter number is over four times the current RDA for protein, which is still set at an archaic .4 grams per pound of lean body weight per day. Many studies have long ago established that weight training does indeed increase protein breakdown.
However, the main problem I see when reviewing the scientific literature regarding how much protein weight-training athletes require is that the severity of training probably the most critical component is usually not constant from study to study. In other words, while the protein intake has been regulated in these studies to establish how varied protein intake affects specific weight-training regimens, the focus is never the training itself. This presents a very big problem for advanced bodybuilders, who quite often subject themselves to super-human weight-training programs and carbohydrate/calorie restriction plus aerobic training to keep body fat levels at bay. For that reason, I think it is more appropriate to scrutinize the practices of the best bodybuilders in the world. This is something I have paid attention to for over 20 years, and in doing so it has become crystal clear that the amount of work performed by bodybuilders has a linear impact on protein needs. Just by talking to some of the hardest working and best-built bodybuilders around, I can tell you that protein consumption should be set at about 1.35 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight. For a 180-pound bodybuilder who is at about 10 percent body fat, this means getting roughly 218 grams of protein per day.

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part 4

These protein numbers work well if your carbohydrate intake is adequate. The sheer amount of work performed through training will also make greater demands on your stored glycogen levels, which are primarily attained through carbohydrate intake. Therefore, when training for growth, it is important not to take your carbohydrate intake below about 1.35 grams per pound of lean body weight. This way your carb intake per day will be equal to protein in terms of grams. Pay close attention to this, as your muscles will become flat and smooth and performance will suffer if you don't. This protein recommendation is slightly higher than the old bodybuilding standard of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, but remember you will be training with a good old-fashioned blue collar work ethic. Believe me, if you haven't ever tried it, embarking on a program that gauges success in tonnage will create muscle-protein breakdown to a greater degree than you have ever experienced. This breakdown is a direct result of the cumulative damage incurred by outrunning the in-pipe and depleting the muscle pool. Remember the goal is to get the biggest out-pipe (the heaviest weight) and to keep it open for as long as possible (many sets and reps). This type of training can only work if you replenish the depleted amino acid pools with protein so that growth can occur.

Primed with these facts, you can see that getting a handle on protein consumption should be the basis of your program. There is really an impressive list of protein and meal supplements in the form of powders, bars or ready-to-drink shakes available today, making it easier than ever to meet these increased needs. Oh, and I almost forgot. You now have learned another secret to building bigger muscles protein equilibrium, or as others refer to it, nitrogen balance.

What We've Learned
Let's recap what we've learned so far. First, we learned that to achieve growth in the protein-derived elements of your muscle cells, as well as the energy storage compartments, you must train your muscles for periods of time with more sets and reps and the right amount of weight. We also learned how to gauge intensity by using the bodybuilding intensity gauge or B-I-G approach. Remember to get the biggest out-pipe (the heaviest weight) and to keep it open for as long as possible (many sets and reps). We also learned that protein equilibrium is key to building and maintaining muscle size. Several factors affect protein balance, and training may not even be present at the top of the pecking order. Many other stresses dictate where ingested protein gets recruited. Rule of thumb is that the harder you train, the more protein you need. In the final analysis, plan on consuming protein every two to three hours just to be sure. \
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