digitor

The 3 main factors necessary for building muscle

Progressive overload

Muscle damage is simply workload, which is the weight you lift multiplied by the reps plus the totals for the other sets. The body adapts to this workload by building more muscle mass, which makes you stronger. It will also innervate the existing muscle mass more effectively depending on the rep range you perform (usually low reps) to increase the number of muscle fibres that you recruit for a rep, which makes you stronger.

If you increase the workload periodically, your body will keep on adapting progressively as the weight increases. This is the only way to build muscle, by progressively overloading your muscles to keep your body adapting. If you aren’t getting stronger, generally speaking you won’t be getting any bigger, innervation aside.

Caloric excess

Unless you consume more calories than your body needs, you will not build muscle because it isn’t exactly a priority if you are not eating enough to survive in the long run. The extra calories will turn straight to fat unless you have a workout program that you follow. If you do, then the extra calories are used in the construction of new myofibrils in the muscle fibres and also in the repair of the existing structures, including connective tissues.

Generally, it is said that you need to eat 20 times your bodyweight in lbs to gain muscle, but this will vary from individual to individual based on their bodytype and metabolic rate. An ectomorph will find it hard to gain muscle and fat because their body’s nutrient turnover rate is much quicker than a mesomorph for example. How many calories you need to eat is also dependent on your weight (and therefore height) and also your activity level. Protein requirements are also dependent on weight and the amount of training you do. For a beginner lifter, 1.5 gram of protein per lb of lean bodyweight is fine, for an intermediate to experienced lifter roughly 2 grams per lb. In my opinion 2.5 to 3 grams per lb of lean bodymass is unnecessarily high because as long as you have enough carbohydrates in your diet, all the protein will be used for muscle repair and growth. Many will disagree though.

Rest

There is a cliché that is often overused, but it is true: “your muscles don’t grow in the gym”. Therefore give your muscles plenty of rest in between workouts to allow enough time for your body to repair any damage and to increase your muscle mass. This will only happen if you are eating enough calories and getting plenty of rest. It is often said that 72 hours if required for all muscle tissue damage to be repaired, and that it takes longer for connective tissue. As long as your muscles aren’t excessively painful to use and your joints feel fresh, you can workout the same muscle after 72 hours. A beginner’s routine based around strength progression rather than volume will be ideally suited to this, whereas a professional that has a higher workload will perhaps workout only once per week to avoid overtraining; hence how often you workout will depend on your experience level and the type of routine you are following.

Sleep is very important, you need at least 7 hours per night on a consistent basis, but 8 is ideal. You cannot catch up on sleep at the weekends. It is also important to go to bed at a reasonable hour, otherwise you wake up feeling more tired than you went to bed because you are disturbing your bodyclock. You also want to take full advantage of the release of anabolic hormones during the first three or so hours of sleep when you enter a period of REM sleep. Each period lasts three hours and is separated from the next by three hours of less useful sleep.

body sculpter

nice article man nice work

IceDragon

Can I just point out a couple of things?

1. Muscle strength won't automatically go hand in hand with hypertrophy, hence why you have some bbers who are really big without actually being that strong, and some who are quite lean yet very strong.

2. Of course we'll disagree. Proteins are essential for almost ALL the body's systems, it isn't just used for muscle growth and repair, and the body doesn't just depend on carbs as a fuel source.

They're used to make enzymes, for manufacturing and repair of connective tissue (every organ in the body, every system uses or contains connective tissue, as do bone and cartilage), for muscle contraction and immune protection, for structural support and integrity of the bone structure and surrounding ligaments, for hormone production and utilisation, for blood transport and adequate oxygen supply, glycaemic regulation and hormone support, so to say that ALL the protein you eat will go to muscle growth is absurd.

This will help point it out far more eloquently than I can: Athletes that compensate a low protein intake by taking in too much carbohydrate (especially refined carbohydrate) can expect constant hunger, difficulty losing body fat, decreased oxygen transport to muscle cells and decreased endurance.
The demands of an athlete exceed the normal criteria for ‘health’. During exercise, the body uses protein at a much faster rate. If you increase the intensity and duration of exercise protein needs increase even further. Tour de France cyclists require two and a half times the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowances) to stay in protein balance (allowances which have little relevance to athletes to begin with).

2. Muscle tissue IS connective tissue, and lifting weights DOES cause tiny micro-tears that have to be repaired before the muscle can be used again - some relate to this as "lactic acidosis" or DOMS. These tears and abrasions within the cell walls of the muscle when repaired will ensure a strength increase within the muscle itself, hence allowing your muscles to grow stronger via progressive overload that you've already mentioned.

3. No, you can't. There is still damage to the muscle fibres, which is why it HURTS! It's a warning to you to listen to what your body is saying and let it rest. Once it's not hurting any more, or is just a bit of an ache, then is the time to workout again. Do it before this, and you're asking for trouble.

4. You're talking about the Cicadian bodyclock, and as for every thing else, REM and ROM sleep is completely individual - some people thrive on five hours sleep, some need almost 10. As with diet, exercise and everything else, it's a case of tweaking to suit YOU.

I'm not picking holes, just pointing out inaccuracies as I see them.

Aside from that, good article.

digitor

Er, thanks. If you would like a more in depth discussion about kinesiology, you are more than welcome. It is difficult to tell whether you are up to the task from what you have pointed out here

IceDragon

Just out of interest, why write it out then not bother to check it over???

I take a good hour or so on mine, reading and rereading and tweaking till it's spot on.

Just one more thing...connective tissue fibres relate to the extracellular elements, whereas the skeletal muscle fibres describe nothing more than their appearance. Smooth, striated and cardiac tissue are all types of connective tissue. Being pedantic doesn't work, sorry.

Oh, and don't get your knickers in a twist. I'm being honest with what I thought. If you don't like it, you should have taken more care.

digitor

A good hour on what? If you mean on your initial response here, you really were nit picking!

Hmm, I took more care with this. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=879127

Saying that connective tissue fibres relate to the extra cellular elements is a bit of an empty statement. Everything is extracellular if it is not bound by a cell membrane. Muscles work on the intracellular level where the myosin and actin is found in the sarcomeres. Anything that connects and supports within the body is connective tissue, if you want to think of it like that.

The problem here is that I think you are trying to imply that I don't know what I'm talking about when I do. This is just one topic, if we were to discuss others I'm sure we would both be impressed with each other's knowledge. Most of my knowledge falls under muscular anatomy and biomechanics..

I'm going to bed now, we'll talk more tmrw and discuss whatever

IceDragon

I'm not trying to imply anything, actually mate. If I think something, I say it.

I wasn't nit-picking, just seeking clarification, since there were some points that were wrong, imo. Chill...

digitor

Well you decided you wanted to find things that were wrong and you found them. You should have known that when I said "all the protein will be used for muscle repair" that I wasn't saying some won't be used for general repair, for example. And maybe I should have said rigid connective tissue and then you would have understood my meaning..