I want to know how to identify a knowledgeable fitness professional and Can you trust it? Ask how much muscle you can gain in a month. If they give you an answer other than “it depends”, work with someone else.
In a world where rapid revision is important, it’s only natural to wonder how quickly your training plan will start to produce visible results. However, hypertrophy – or skeletal muscle fiber growth is a complex equation with multiple variables. Biological gender, genetics, nutrition, training, sleep habits and current fitness levels all play a role.
“To say how much someone gets is an impossible question to answer,” says Dr. Todd Buckingham, chief exercise physiologist at BuckingFit Life, a wellness coaching company. “To be honest, I couldn’t even answer that question.”
And what if someone quotes you a certain amount of pounds or inches? “They’re full of that!” Joke Buckingham.
While you can’t accurately predict how much muscle you will gain in a month, you can use what you know about muscle growth to optimize your training and lifestyle and work towards your body composition goals. This is what you need to know.
How to form muscles
Hypertrophy is a way of adapting to novel or increased stimuli in the body, explains Buckingham. This occurs in the form of mechanical and metabolic stress.
Mechanical stress It refers to the force placed in the muscles during resistance training. This causes microtheres in the muscle fibers.
“Your body needs to repair and rebuild these microtherees to make them bigger and stronger, so the next time you do the same activity or lift the same weight, they won’t get as damaged as last time,” explains Buckingham.
Metabolic stress It occurs when “metabolic waste” (a byproduct of energy production) activates muscles until they accumulate in the body faster than they can be removed.
But when it comes to building lean mass, where is the balance between mechanical and metabolic stress?
According to a study by Dr. Brad Schoenfeld, one of the leading exercise scientists, “mechanical and metabolic stresses occur in tandem, making it difficult for one to induce the other to influence the other.”
What we know is that actual muscle building happens Intermediate Training when your body is resting.
“While you lift, you actually break your muscles, but it’s only after that it accumulates,” says Buckingham. Additionally, hormones that promote muscle growth are released almost at night. “That’s why sleep is really important to increase muscle size,” he adds.
How quickly can you gain muscle?
Muscle growth occurs at night, but it certainly doesn’t happen overnight – Several factors affect how quickly you can gain muscle. And while you may be focused on improving your muscles at the start of a new fitness program, the biggest benefits are actually happening in your nerves.
“In the first 8-12 weeks of starting a strength training program, the most influential factor that improves strength is neural adaptation,” says Buckingham. “Your nervous system will be more efficient to send messages from the brain to the muscles and recruit more correct muscle fibers.”
Buckingham likens the completion of a maze. The first few times you try it, you’ll hit a dead end. But over time, through iterations, you will ultimately learn the fastest path.
“Living muscle fibers is the same thing,” he says. Initially, the nervous system may completely replenish muscle fibers and false muscle fibers, but ultimately learn the fastest and most accurate pathways. and that’s right When hypertrophy begins to become measurable.
So, if there is little difference in muscle size after a month of workout, don’t stop! Your body is changing – you can’t see it yet.
Factors that influence muscle growth
Intracontrol and external factors determine how much muscle you can gain in a month (or any period of time). When setting body composition goals, it is important to consider the following:
1. Genetics
Here are the unfair truths about genes and muscle mass: You can follow the same diet, weightlifting program, and sleep schedule and experience completely different outcomes. Some studies suggest that genetics account for 50-80% of muscle mass.
Men also tend to acquire more muscles at a faster rate than women. “It’s mainly due to testosterone and growth hormone,” Buckingham says. Because there are few women. However, studies also show that increased strength by women is similar to that achieved by men.
2. age
As you age, your levels of anabolic (growth) hormones decrease, making it more difficult to gain muscle. Even the most dedicated lifters are ultimately experienced by sarcopenia. This is the loss of muscle mass associated with the later stages.
“Strength training helps you maintain some of that muscle mass, but even if you keep lifting it for the rest of your life, it’s inevitable that your muscle mass will decrease,” Buckingham says.
3. Diet and nutrition
Most people understand that high protein intake is necessary for muscle repair and recovery. Studies suggest that 1.4 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day are effective in building muscle.
Other macronutrients – carbohydrates and fats – are essential (among other physiological processes) as they are essential for recovery and hormone production. Additionally, you need the right carbohydrates to promote your training.
Buckingham also points out that you have to be in calorie surplus to build muscle. “Many people don’t just want to lose weight, they also want to increase muscle size because they need extra calories to gain muscle.”
4. Rest and recovery
“Sleep is where you release the hormones that cause muscle growth,” says Buckingham. “So, if you’re not sleeping well, you’re not letting them release those hormones.”
Incorporate recovery time between training by aiming to get at least 7 hours of sleep overnight and spending a period of training and resting schedules. “If you’re constantly lifting and don’t give your muscles a break, they don’t have time to repair, rebuild, grow,” he says.
5. training
The way you structure your exercise program will have a major impact on muscle growth. Thankfully, it can be adjusted according to your goals. Generally, you want all muscle groups to be dotted several times a week (with recovery times scattered). Normally the load should be heavy.
“3-4 sets of 8-10 repetitions at 75-85% of 1-Rep Max,” says Buckingham. “It will give you the most for your money.”
Bodi weightlifting programs like Dig Deeper, Liift4, and certainly target different muscle groups with each workout, so you can maximize your training and recovery. They also have different exercises and intensity to prioritize progress and keep things fresh.
The best exercise for rapid muscle growth
For hypertrophy, it is recommended that Buckingham focus on compound (multi-joint) lifts that target large muscle groups. Below are some reliable exercises:
1. Barbell Front Squat
- With the barbell resting on the squat rack, hold the bar with your hands, shoulder-width apart. Bring your shoulders under the barbell, with your elbows facing forward, with the bars placed under your palms and fingers at the top of your shoulders.
- Lift the bar off the rack, place your feet behind you, standing tall with feet slightly wider than shoulder width. This is the starting position
- Keep your back flat, raise your chest, cover your core, push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor.
- Pause and then press the heel to return to the starting position.
2. Romanian Deadlift
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icebqhya8cq
- Stand apart, holding a heavy dumbbell or barbell in front of your thighs, pointing your palms towards you. This is the starting position.
- Keep your back flat, place your shoulders behind, guide your core, push your hips backward, lower the weight along the front of your body to a medium shin level, and bend your knees slightly.
- Pause, then slowly reverse the movement and return to the starting position.
3. Dumbbell Bench Press
- With your palms facing forward, lie on a flat bench holding the dumbbells just above your chest. Your head, back and buttocks should be touched by the bench, and your feet should be flat on the floor. This is the starting position.
- Inhale the core, slowly lower your weight to the sides of your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body (the sides of your upper arms and torso should form a 45-degree angle at the bottom of your movement).
- Pause and then return the weight to its starting position.
4. DumbbellBent-over row
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qctqncvlaa0
- Keep your feet hip-width apart and hold the dumbbells in each hand. Push the core in, push your hips backwards, bend your knees slightly, then lower your torso until your torso is almost parallel to the floor. Enchant the glut to protect your lower back.
- Turn your palms and try to hang the dumbbells over arm length. Attract the shoulder blades and pull the shoulders back. This is the starting position.
- Row weights to the sides of the rib as you squeeze the scapula together, keeping the torso moving, pushing the elbows in and flat. Make sure there is a 90 degree bend in your elbows. This will row in the ribs rather than under the armpits.
- Pause and then return the weight to its starting position.
