Hypertrophy and Volume

I have been lifting heavy and eating a lot.  I always lift heavy, it’s not like I really “go light”, but when you are on a restricted calorie diet, the environment is not there for growth.

Here is some info about Muscle Hypertrophy from Wikipedia:

Strength training typically produces a combination of the two different types of hypertrophy: contraction against 80 to 90% of the one repetition maximum for 2–6 repetitions (reps) causes myofibrillated hypertrophy to dominate (as in powerlifters, olympic lifters and strength athletes), while several repetitions (generally 8 – 12 for bodybuilding or 12 or more for muscular endurance) against a sub-maximal load facilitates mainly sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (professional bodybuilders and endurance athletes). 

Progressive overload is considered the most important principle behind hypertrophy, so increasing the weight, repetitions (reps), and sets will all have a positive impact on growth. Some experts create complicated plans that manipulate weight, reps, and sets, increasing one while decreasing the others to keep the schedule varied and less repetitive. It is generally believed that if more than 15 repetitions per set is possible, the weight is too light to stimulate maximal growth.

Several biological factors such as age and nutrition can affect muscle hypertrophy. During puberty in males, hypertrophy occurs at an increased rate. Natural hypertrophy normally stops at full growth in the late teens. Muscular hypertrophy can be increased through strength training and other short duration, high intensity anaerobic exercises. Lower intensity, longer duration aerobic exercise generally does not result in very effective tissue hypertrophy; instead, endurance athletes enhance storage of fats and carbohydrates within the muscles, as well as neovascularization. An adequate supply of amino acids is essential to produce muscle hypertrophy.

Roy and I  started German Volume Training just after my competition; it’s a lot of reps and a lot of weight, which is increased every week. Add to that the fact that I have increased my calories, reduced aerobics and I take massive amounts of Amino Acids, my body is growing. It’s starting to frighten me just a bit.

Monday I hit Gold’s at opening and did 30 minutes on the stairmill then trained calves. I have been told to bring up the size of my calves, and I think they have really gotten quite shapely, but I still work on them three times a week. At 5:30, a little less than 12 hours later I am at BodyComp Gym training hamstrings with Roy, we would be doing deadlifts.

He loaded up the bar to start my warm ups and then said I would complete 10 reps per set. I told him that really wasn’t possible, I was lifting 200 pounds and I did this on my own last Monday, I could only do 4 sets of 5 reps. He didn’t really say much more other than tell me to start and he would tell me when to end, but I should try to do as many as possible.

I did 10, it was difficult but exhilarating. I kept going; on the 4^th set I could only lift 8 times, I think I just didn’t rest long enough.  On the 5^th set I did 10 again.

Volume is necessary for growth, so to cause hypertrophy you need to increase sets, reps, weight. You can calculate your volume this way:

Sets x reps x weight.

I lifted a volume of 10,000 pounds Monday night!

5 (sets) x 10 (reps) x 200 (pounds)

My hamstrings are killing me, especially the ham-glute tie-in, but they look good huh?

So to ensure I am keeping up with the “progressive overload” I must increase something. Anything. This is where most people fail. They do the same thing every week, every session. There is no progressive overload. You must increase weight, or sets, or reps, something, but to stay the same, is a wasted day in the gym.

Adequate food is important, so I must ensure a calorie surplus. This doesn’t mean eat whatever I like, on the contrary. I am eating more of my regular foods, although I am much more relaxed about it all. I will eat a bit more peanut butter, or maybe more fruit, but certainly am not hanging out eating candy bars, that won’t help my muscles grow.

I also take Branched Chain Amino Acids all day long. I have powdered BCAA”s in my water when I train (20 grams, 4 times the amount the bottle says is the recommended dose) and I take 1000 grams in gel tab format 5 times a day too.

Lots of BCAA’s

I am 129 pounds now, 10 pounds heavier than I was on May 5. I look muscular, like a little bull. Sure I have some fat, but I still look fairly lean. It’s making me wonder just how big I can get, and do I really want to get any bigger?

Today a guy at work was commenting on it. He said he was watching me walk, and I walk different. He said “Your legs…they are…bigger. You walk differently.”

Damn….

It makes me excited to go on a fat cutting diet; I am excited to see what I will look like then. I am waiting though, I am not done yet.

Back in the saddle

I got home from Mexico Thursday night, the limo dropped us at about 11:00 p.m. it was oh so cold and wet, what a change. David stayed up and started laundry, Cooper took a very long, hot shower then switched on the TV he hadn't seen in days. I crawled into bed as soon as I could, I was exhausted.

I woke early, it was 5:30 and I couldn't sleep any longer, I crept quietly out of bed and started back into my routine. First, continue laundry. We would be leaving in a couple hours to go see Pop, so there was lots to do. After laundry I would need to pack some clothes for a cold, Central Valley climate!

I bundle up in a coat and go out into the garage to set up my weeks worth of protein drinks for pre-workout (first meal); amino acids for post training; and my branched chain amino acids for fluid during training.

I keep it all on my dryer in the garage, and since I am such an organized creature of habit, and always really tight on time, I find that getting everything ready for a week works well and I have what I need at all times. I can then just grab what I need and go.

I was actually craving a chocolate Lean 1 drink, and was happy to start my day with one.

I drink a Lean 1 combined with other supplements every morning. I also take L-Leucine, caffeine, Beta-Alanine and L-Glutamine.


For my drink while training I have X-Tend branched chain amino acids, and then afterward I take Gold Medal Aminos from Fitness Nutrition, a company started by Dara Torres (Olympic Swimmer).

Here you can see the concoctions all measured out and ready to go. The purple tops are the pre-training protein meal (and the other supplements added), it's like my own Ready-To- Drink, just add the mixture to water in a shaker cup!

The smaller containers in front center are the measured X-Tend (orange) and the medium sized ones on the right are the Gold Medal Aminos.

Every night I take one of each from the basket in the garage, put them on the kitchen counter and when I hop out of bed at 4:00 a.m. I have what I need. I mix my protein concoction with water in a shaker cup and take my supplements with it while I read the sports page, I then mix the X-Tend in my water bottle and take the Gold Medal Aminos in my gym bag to take immediately post training.

Supplements are also in daily pill reminder cases, I have four of them, morning, lunch, evening and bedtime. Again, all filled up on the weekend and the lunch times are carried in my purse, so I always have them.

Anal? A bit, but it helps me to be successful.

Sometimes when the sports page is boring I read my horoscope. I know they are silly and not true, nor can they be tailored for each individual, but sometimes it makes me feel really, really good. Today was one of those days and I know it was written just for me.

It said this:

You'll soon be involved in a project to restore, refurbish, or revive. What you wind up with will be an improvement on what came before.

Interpret it the way you will, I know what spoke to me, and it was immediate. Baby steps, giant leaps, zigs and zags, but all leading me in the right direction.

Proper Nutrition

My husband and son always laugh when I drink this right before bed, they say it looks like I am drinking melted butter.

It is actually amino acids.

I take a lot of amino acids and branched chain amino acids. They are the building blocks of muscle.

You will hear just about everyone say you need to eat a lot of protein to gain muscle, what you actually need is the amino acids that your body is able to pull out of the protein.

I eat the correct amount of protein, as prescribed by a nutritionist and I also drink a lot of amino acids.

Proper nutrition is a balanced diet, year round. You cannot go on a diet for a length of time, get ripped then go back to eating like the average Joe and expect to stay ripped.

Won't work, guaranteed.

You can relax your diet, but you can never give up the "clean" eating, not if you want to keep that gorgeous body.

Just like the human body adapts to training, requiring constant changes to keep from becoming stagnant and cease growing, the human body adapts to nutrition.

Eat the same old stuff day in and day out and soon you will suffer. You won't show gains, you may start having gastrointestinal issues, your body will rebel.

That is why it is imperative to eat seasonally. You need to include many different foods in your diet, one day you may have beans for your starch and one day brown rice (NEVER white). They have a different caloric value, and that is good, some days your calories are slightly higher than others. Keeps it guessing, just like in training.

Varying your foods is also good for your head- psychologically I mean.

I won't get into carb cycling, this is about a diet for life, not a diet for an event.

Include bright vegetables, greens, fresh fruit. If you choose what is in season (locally, not in Chile), then it will have the highest nutrient content, and you are sure to never get tired of the same foods as they will change with the seasons.

Chest Day and Nutrition (or a day in the life of a nut)

Monday morning, it's chest day for me. I thought I would give you an idea of my day training and nutrition and how I manage to fit it all in. This is an off season diet, so I am eating things I wouldn't normally eat when attempting to lose bodyfat such as fruit and bread.

Although I attempt to stick to a clean diet year round, believe me, there are times when I will eat with my family, even prime rib and loaded baked potato! But those days are really exceptions to the rule, this is how my typical day goes.

4:05 am, up and let the cat in. My alarm won't sound until 4:15, but somehow that cat seems to wake me up before it goes off every single day.  I get dressed into workout clothes (bra top and shorts), get the paper and read the sports page while I take supplements and my meal replacement drink.

I like Lean 1 chocolate fudge. I add amino acids from Fitness Nutrition ( I take it several times a day), glutamine,  beta-alanine and L-leucine.

I am at the gym just before they open at 5:00 am. My water bottle contains X-Tend (Branched Chain Amino Acids) in orange flavor.

Bench Press 3 x 8 135 pounds
active rest- jump rope in between each set
Incline Bench 3 x 10 95 pounds
active rest- jump rope in between each set
Chest press 3 x 8 50 pound dumbbells
active rest- jump rope in between each set
Incline Chest Flye 3 x 10 25 pound dumbbells super set with
Push ups 3 x 15
active rest- jump rope in between each set
Incline Chest Press 3 x 10 37.5 pound dumbbells super set with
Dips 3 x 10 (body weight)
active rest- jump rope in between each set
Hammer Strength Incline Military Press Machine 3 x 10 95 pounds super set with
Hanging leg raises 3 x 10 to 15 (body weight)
active rest- jump rope in between each set

Fill water bottle with post training supplements (Amino Acids, X-Tend, Glutamine, Beta-Alanine) and take more BCAA's and Kre-Alkalyn

I get home at 6:15 am, chest day is my shortest day and I get ready for work- I have coffee! I need to be at work by 7:30 am.

Breakfast is eaten at my desk:

1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, 1 Tbsp Flax seed, 1/4 cup fresh mango, two thick slices Acme pumpernickel bread with 2 tsps peanut butter and 2 tsps low sugar jelly.

water, lots of water

10:30 1 cutie (tangerine)

more water

11:30 and it's time for THE STAIRS.  I jog to the Event Center, run up 25 stairs, across the rooftop and down again, 12 times. That's 300 stairs up, and 300 down. I have been doing this now for 8 weeks. 5 minutes jump rope (yes I have to rest a bit).

12:05 is lunch and I have 4 ounces turkey breast, 4 ounces brown rice, 1 cup mixed vegetables (green beans and mushrooms) with fat free balsamic vinaigrette dressing. More supplements.

The water never stops.

1:30 1 rice cake with 1 tsp peanut butter.

1 truffle (one of my staff gave me a whole box of chocolates, they are so good!)

3:00 lunch #2:  4 ounces turkey breast, 4 ounces brown rice, 1 cup mixed broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

yes, more water!

Leave work at 5:20, home by 5:40  (long day)

6:00 dinner is 5 ounces tilapia, 1/2 cup kabocha squash, 2 cups vegetables (Green beans, mushrooms, green chiles), supplements.

water!

I clean up and start getting dinner together for Cooper and David. Cooper's friend is over, they are working on their art projects at the kitchen table. We joke around about what classes to take next year (fashion, so they can be around all the girls).

I steal 2 bites of my family's dinner- its shepherds pie (I made) which is beef stew topped with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese, then baked until the cheese is melted and bubbly. It is stupendous!

Get my lunches together for the next day, all the food is cooked, I just need to grab one protein bag out of the freezer, measure out the vegetables and weigh the rice. I have already made egg white/oatmeal waffles for my breakfast.

Take off make up, wash face. Update my blog a bit, and check email.

8:30 is my last meal. 1 cup egg whites and 1 cup bok choy with low sugar ketchup and sriracha sauce. 16 ounce glass of water with amino acids, X-Tend, supplements (ZMA, L-Tyrosine)

Brush teeth BEFORE I eat 2 tsps peanut butter (see a pattern here?) so I can taste it longer...

Sleepy time tea, bed at 9:00. I will read for a little while.

I have not had time for TV or anything other than household duties , including food prep and clean up.

This is a typical day, I lead a fairly boring life, there isn't much variation. Next week I will recount Tuesday, which will be leg day for me.