Yesterday I received an email about this workout program ==> http://bhlikes.it/mymb
Now, normally I don’t ‘report’ on this kind of thing, but I really, really liked this email.
Why?
Because it made me realize that I’m NOT taking crazy pills!
See when I wrote Anabolic Again and was doing my research behind Anabolic Slow Down I felt like I was the only one who cared about this phenomena…but now seeing that big time fitness people like Vince Delmonte are also recognizing that their is something putting the breaks on muscle growth in experienced lifters…well it makes me happy in a weird sorta way.
Now, Vince’s theories and solutions are muc different then mine, but at least it proves a point.
If you take a look at this page http://bhlikes.it/mymb the message is obvious: Muscle growth eventually slows down.
But it’s not just the slow down I’m intrigued with.
It’s the different RATES (or speeds) that people seem to inately have for muscle growth…
Have you ever wondered why there is such a DIFFERENCE in the way people respond to their workouts?
Why some people ‘grow like weeds’ while others train as hard as they can for months on end and don’t see any progress.
This is one of my main areas of interest when it comes to muscle growth..
And I know the answer ISN’T protein!
That’s not to say that protein doesn’t have ANYTHING to do with your muscle building (because it does), but the point is that adding MORE protein doesn’t necessarily mean MORE muscle.
In a recently published trial using a very interesting method, this exact point was driven home in my mind.
60 subjects were put through a 16 week long, 3 day per week workout.
After the workout the subjects were divided into three groups based on the increase in their muscle cross sectional area.
Non responders saw no change or even negative change (-16 um2)
Moderate responders saw some decent gains (+1,111 um2)
Extreme responders…well they would make most of us really jealous (+2,475 um2)
(That’s 123% larger then the moderate people!)
After the groups were divided up the researchers looked for some explanation for the differences in size gains.
So what did they find?
Well…
- There was no difference in protein intake (fell right in the range I recommend in How Much Protein)
- There was no difference in Essential Amino Acid intake
- No difference in BCAA intake
- No Difference in Leucine intake
- No difference in Calories.
Furthermore,
- There was no difference inr reported training volume
- There was no difference in reported training intensity.
So what can we conclude for this research.
- It’s not the calories you eat or the protein (within reason).
- It’s not even how MUCH you workout (again within reason).
This leaves me with only two real conclusions when it comes to what decides the rate at which you can build muscle:
The first is genetics, which unfortunately, you really can’t control.
Genetics may be the amount of receptors your muscles have, the amount of certain hormones you have, or even the amount of satelitte cells you have available for muscle growth.
Sadly, most, if not all of these things are decided at or near birth.
The second is the quality of your workout.
This is the only part you can control. If it’s not nutrition (again within reason) then it must have to do with the quality, design or implementation of your workout program…
Unfortunately this is also the part I don’t have an answer for.
Because everyone is different.
If you want something super advanced I have Anabolic Again, and if you are looking for something really targeted I have the Adonis
Index.
But if you are just looking for what will work BEST for you then I have to give you the following advice:
TRIAL AND ERROR.
Honestly, it would be SUPER EASY for me to tell you that my workouts are the best and all the rest are garbage, but really this wouldn’t be true.
So here’s the trick…
The thing that sets people apart in the gym…people who see success and people who don’t…is Metrics.
Try something and measure it. If you are improving then stick with it for as long as you keep improving.
If you are not improving then BE HONEST with yourself and LET IT GO.
Don’t worry about the marketing or pseudoscience or the arguments in forums about what is right and what is wrong, just get a workout and give it a try.
Find something that works then stick with it until it stops working.
I really can’t give any better advice then that (when it comes to muscle buiding)
If muscle building is your goal (and steroids are not an option for you) then why not try every workout you can get your hands on until you find what works for you…because as we learned above, what works for some people DOESN’T WORK AT ALL for others…and vice versa.
And since you can’t control the genetics part, you may as well do everything you can to control the work out part…
Just be sure to keep measurements so you can actually track progress.
Without metrics, all the work and trial and error is pointless.
As my friend ‘Pip’ said:
‘try and test’ the info and then ‘keep or reject’
BP
