This is the third and final part in the article series. Here are the first two parts:
(J)Max Aesthetics: Step 1 for Perfect Proportions and Optimal Muscle Mass
The Workouts: Step 3 for Perfect Proportions and Optimal Muscle Mass
You may be scratching your head after reading this title. Is it possible to bring up a lagging bodypart with nutrition? The answer is yes, and you’re about to learn how and why.
You see, muscle growth occurs from a combination of mechanical tension, metabolic stress, muscle damage, leucine, and insulin. These 5 things, when combined, will increase muscle growth 10 times out of 10. Now that’s a good track record.
In step 2, we covered the workouts which will promote mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage. In step 3, we will cover leucine and insulin.
Together, leucine and insulin activate mTor in your muscle cells. This is what promotes positive protein synthesis. If protein synthesis is positive, it means that you are building tissue.
The Workout Shake
Knowing this, before, during, and after the workout, you should be ingesting leucine. Insulin, on the other hand, is a hormone and needs to be injected. I don’t recommend this route. Luckily, insulin can be raised by both leucine and starchy carbohydrates. My personal recommendations are to take in at least 10g of leucine before, during, and after the workout. If you are lean, take in starchy carbohydrates in the form of waxy maize, cyclic dextrin, or dextrose after the workout (and possibly during).
Many people may be afraid of using the powdered starchy carbs in their shakes, but I urge you to give it a try. You may be surprised. In fact, I received this email on Friday:
“I wanted to say I really liked the 6-day program I’ve tried twice now. To be honest, my thought was why the hell am I putting all of this sugar in my post wo shakes, it’s just going to make me gain fat? Though I didn’t take measurements I actually think I lost fat and did gain some muscle.”
I knew it would work.
The REAL Pre-Workout Meal
Another great way to increase the size of a certain muscle is to ingest extra carbohydrates the night before you train that body part. For instance, let’s say you have chicken legs and you train your legs on Mondays and Thursdays. This means that you will need to add in an extra 2-4 palms of starchy carbohydrates (potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice etc) with dinner on Sunday and Wednesday night.
The purpose of doing this is to store glycogen in your legs so you can lift more in your workout the next day. More strength means more mechanical tension, muscle damage, and possibly even metabolic stress.
The Aftermath
Lastly, your next change will be to eat extra starchy carbohydrates the evening of your workout. Using the leg example above, this means you would eat another extra 1-3 palms of starchy carbohydrates with dinner on Mondays and Thursdays. These extra carbs will allow you to refill your glycogen stores in your legs, as well as spike insulin to promote mTor.
Essentially, you are sandwiching your leg workouts between meals with starchy carbohydrates in order to promote maximal muscle growth.
Wrap Up
Give the methods above a try and you will be amazed at how much easier it is to bust through muscle building plateaus and build muscle in spots where you previously had trouble. All you have to do is:
- Ingest leucine before, during and after the workout.
- Ingest starchy carbs after the workout and possibly during.
- Add in 2-4 palms of starchy carbs the night before your workout.
- Add in 1-3 palms of starchy carbs the evening of your workout.
The rest is just recovery.
If you are stuck at a muscle building plateau and you need help busting through it, then I highly suggest you use the information given in this 3 part article series.
Where to Go From Here:
If you enjoyed this article, then click the link below to check out The Hybrid Muscle Cycle for even more great stuff like this.
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