After reading the last post on soreness, one of my friends asked if soreness was responsible for muscle growth, then can he achieve the same results through flexing instead of weight training, i.e if he just flexed his biceps till the time they become sore, will they grow in size? In this case the antagonistic muscle i.e the tricep was acting as resistance while flexing bicep.
So, let’s discuss this in a little more detail. Going by the principle of muscle tissues getting broken as indicated by soreness, the apparent answer to the above query would be yes. However, while one may experience somewhat increased strength, there will not be any significant increase in size of arms. The explanation for this lies in an earlier post in which I discussed slow twitch fibres and fast twitch fibres. Fast twitch fibres are primarily responsible for the bulk. Doing endless repetitions with no weights do not induce stress in fast twitch fibres. The strength and size of a muscle increases when it is subjected to larger loads. Using the antagonistic muscle solely for resistance might help in the muscle getting a bit firmer initially, but not bigger.
To conclude, we can say that some form of external resistance (in the form of weights, resistance bands etc) is needed to gain strength and size.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
NO PAIN, NO GAIN: Let's Look Deep
In today's post we will look at what is soreness of muscle, how it is different from physical injury and how we can avoid injury while exercising to our fullest potential.
It is very important to be able to differentiate between the enjoyable pain of an intense workout and the pain resulting from actual physical injury. Having
soreness in muscles is a very common phenomena after an intense workout. Infact, if i don't feel a little bit of soreness in my muscles after workout, i know i didnt give my best in gym that day. May be the workout wasn't intense enough, may be the rest was too large in between sets. For muscles to grow, first they need to be broken and then rebuilt with the help of a good diet.
The soreness results from micro damage to muscles and tissues but the pain is short lived. Movements not being mobile enough after an intense workout are usually a sign of an effective workout session. So, we can say that soreness is not a bad thing but infact good for muscle growth. However there is a thin line between soreness resulting from a good workout and soreness from over training. Over training can seriously damage muscles, and lead to longer pasting pain.
Soreness in a way is good, that it induces muscle growth. Also the pump that is felt during workout gives a high that no other feeling can match. Soreness is more due to negative repetitions, i.e while lowering a weight down instead of lifting it up. This is precisely the reason why you find body builders doing their reps slowly and controlling the weight while bringing it down. This puts disproportionate amount of stress on the supporting tendons and ligaments, and this is what seems to cause the damage, and hence induces growth.
However if the pain continues beyond a couple of days, and interfers in your workout alongwith other tasks then one should go light on his/her workout. If the pain doesnot subside in one week period, then may be its time to take complete rest and consult a doctor to be on safe side. Over training is one of the worst things you can do to your body. Heavy workouts if not backed by proper diet prove counterproductive because muscles depleted during the workout are not replenished and hence muscular strength is always below par. Remember if you continue working out with an injury, it can completely put you off and you might end up on bed resting for a long time.
HOW TO AVOID INJURY:
1. KNOW YOUR LIMITS: Increasing the intensity is a good way to surprise the muscle and induce growth. However one should be mindful of the body and the stress it can take. Continued training with prolonged soreness increases the chance of injury. If you experience soreness over longer period of time, train with greatly reduced volume till you get your strength back and then move upwards. Donot try to copy others and avoid jerk movements while lifting weights.
2. DIET: Diet plays an important role to replenish the damaged muscles. Working out for elongated periods without sufficient diet agains puts an individual at a greater risk. Adequate protein and caloric intakes are critically important throughout training, not just in the day or two following very hard workouts, because protein decrements can be present up to 28 days after a bout of overuse.
3. STRETCHING AND WARMING UP: Always do some warmup and stretching exercises prior to starting your workout. This can save from muscle pulls and reduces the chance of injury. Also stretching after the workout are advisable to free the muscles.
So in a nutshell, we can say that while feeling a bit sore after your workout sounds good for muscle development, ignoring snoreness altogether is not a good idea. Thus to maintain a balance, diet should be closely monitored, in that it should be sufficient for rebuilding old muscles and growth of new.
TRAIN HARD, EAT HARDER!!!
It is very important to be able to differentiate between the enjoyable pain of an intense workout and the pain resulting from actual physical injury. Having
soreness in muscles is a very common phenomena after an intense workout. Infact, if i don't feel a little bit of soreness in my muscles after workout, i know i didnt give my best in gym that day. May be the workout wasn't intense enough, may be the rest was too large in between sets. For muscles to grow, first they need to be broken and then rebuilt with the help of a good diet.
The soreness results from micro damage to muscles and tissues but the pain is short lived. Movements not being mobile enough after an intense workout are usually a sign of an effective workout session. So, we can say that soreness is not a bad thing but infact good for muscle growth. However there is a thin line between soreness resulting from a good workout and soreness from over training. Over training can seriously damage muscles, and lead to longer pasting pain.
Soreness in a way is good, that it induces muscle growth. Also the pump that is felt during workout gives a high that no other feeling can match. Soreness is more due to negative repetitions, i.e while lowering a weight down instead of lifting it up. This is precisely the reason why you find body builders doing their reps slowly and controlling the weight while bringing it down. This puts disproportionate amount of stress on the supporting tendons and ligaments, and this is what seems to cause the damage, and hence induces growth.
However if the pain continues beyond a couple of days, and interfers in your workout alongwith other tasks then one should go light on his/her workout. If the pain doesnot subside in one week period, then may be its time to take complete rest and consult a doctor to be on safe side. Over training is one of the worst things you can do to your body. Heavy workouts if not backed by proper diet prove counterproductive because muscles depleted during the workout are not replenished and hence muscular strength is always below par. Remember if you continue working out with an injury, it can completely put you off and you might end up on bed resting for a long time.
HOW TO AVOID INJURY:
1. KNOW YOUR LIMITS: Increasing the intensity is a good way to surprise the muscle and induce growth. However one should be mindful of the body and the stress it can take. Continued training with prolonged soreness increases the chance of injury. If you experience soreness over longer period of time, train with greatly reduced volume till you get your strength back and then move upwards. Donot try to copy others and avoid jerk movements while lifting weights.
2. DIET: Diet plays an important role to replenish the damaged muscles. Working out for elongated periods without sufficient diet agains puts an individual at a greater risk. Adequate protein and caloric intakes are critically important throughout training, not just in the day or two following very hard workouts, because protein decrements can be present up to 28 days after a bout of overuse.
3. STRETCHING AND WARMING UP: Always do some warmup and stretching exercises prior to starting your workout. This can save from muscle pulls and reduces the chance of injury. Also stretching after the workout are advisable to free the muscles.
So in a nutshell, we can say that while feeling a bit sore after your workout sounds good for muscle development, ignoring snoreness altogether is not a good idea. Thus to maintain a balance, diet should be closely monitored, in that it should be sufficient for rebuilding old muscles and growth of new.
TRAIN HARD, EAT HARDER!!!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
SAMPLE DIET PLAN
Sorry guys for not posting this long. Was busy with some work stuff off late. will be posting regulary from now on.
All this time of limited activity, quite a few people approached me for their diet plan. So i guess i would like to start back from there only. However few points need to be iterated before we kick off with our discussion.
-> Its a calorie game. To gain( yes even for muscles), one needs to provide extra calories to body than are expended.
-> Training and diet are twins which put body on the anabolic environment. Falling short on any of these takes you off the track from achieving your fitness goals.
-> A balanced meal should consist of the following
* Protein
* Carbs
* Fats
* Fiber
* Vitamins + Minerals
Try to include all of these in each of your meals. Fats are stored in all types of food, so i don't think one needs to make an extra effort to consume those by having a burger :)
-> There is a general rule followed by athletes and bodybuilders all around the world. It's called 30 gram formula. As per research, our body cannot digest more than 30gms of protein in one go. I am not sure about the validity but splitting up my protein intake through out the day makes more sense to me.
-> For a person, doing strength training, atleast 1gm of protein per 1 kg of body weight is needed daily. The requirement may increase for professionals. e.g: If your body weight is 70kg, then to gain muscle, atleast 70gms of protein is required daily.
-> Protein intake need not be solely dependent on supplements. we will discuss the details about the pros and cons of supplements in some later post.
-> Its better to eat 6 short meals a day then 3 large meals.
Will present a sample diet in this post, which can be obviously be modified as per individual needs and preferences.
SAMPLE DIET CHART TO GAIN (Assuming workout is in evening)
Meal 1(breakfast ~ 9am): 1 cup boiled oats + fruit(apple/pear) + 4 egg whites.
Meal 2(~11am): Vegetable sandwich (using brown bread) + Lemon Juice
Meal 3(Lunch ~1:30pm): 2 chapattis + Dal/Chicken/Fish/Soyabeen + green salad + 1 cup rice
Meal 4(~4pm): Fruit salad (orange + watermelon + apple + banana)
Meal 5(Pre workout ~6:30pm): Dalia/glass of milk/Oats
Meal 6(Post workout ~8pm): Protein Shake + 4 egg whites ( try to space the two by approx 20 min)
Meal7(Dinner ~9:30pm): 1-2 chapattis + dal
Drink plenty of water.
This is just a sample chart. Individual needs may differ and hence this might need to modified in that sense.
For personal queries, you can always ping me.
Just keep a track of what you eat and what you don't and you should be on your way to achieve your fitness goal.
COUNT CALORIES because CALORIES REALLY do count!!!
All this time of limited activity, quite a few people approached me for their diet plan. So i guess i would like to start back from there only. However few points need to be iterated before we kick off with our discussion.
-> Its a calorie game. To gain( yes even for muscles), one needs to provide extra calories to body than are expended.
-> Training and diet are twins which put body on the anabolic environment. Falling short on any of these takes you off the track from achieving your fitness goals.
-> A balanced meal should consist of the following
* Protein
* Carbs
* Fats
* Fiber
* Vitamins + Minerals
Try to include all of these in each of your meals. Fats are stored in all types of food, so i don't think one needs to make an extra effort to consume those by having a burger :)
-> There is a general rule followed by athletes and bodybuilders all around the world. It's called 30 gram formula. As per research, our body cannot digest more than 30gms of protein in one go. I am not sure about the validity but splitting up my protein intake through out the day makes more sense to me.
-> For a person, doing strength training, atleast 1gm of protein per 1 kg of body weight is needed daily. The requirement may increase for professionals. e.g: If your body weight is 70kg, then to gain muscle, atleast 70gms of protein is required daily.
-> Protein intake need not be solely dependent on supplements. we will discuss the details about the pros and cons of supplements in some later post.
-> Its better to eat 6 short meals a day then 3 large meals.
Will present a sample diet in this post, which can be obviously be modified as per individual needs and preferences.
SAMPLE DIET CHART TO GAIN (Assuming workout is in evening)
Meal 1(breakfast ~ 9am): 1 cup boiled oats + fruit(apple/pear) + 4 egg whites.
Meal 2(~11am): Vegetable sandwich (using brown bread) + Lemon Juice
Meal 3(Lunch ~1:30pm): 2 chapattis + Dal/Chicken/Fish/Soyabeen + green salad + 1 cup rice
Meal 4(~4pm): Fruit salad (orange + watermelon + apple + banana)
Meal 5(Pre workout ~6:30pm): Dalia/glass of milk/Oats
Meal 6(Post workout ~8pm): Protein Shake + 4 egg whites ( try to space the two by approx 20 min)
Meal7(Dinner ~9:30pm): 1-2 chapattis + dal
Drink plenty of water.
This is just a sample chart. Individual needs may differ and hence this might need to modified in that sense.
For personal queries, you can always ping me.
Just keep a track of what you eat and what you don't and you should be on your way to achieve your fitness goal.
COUNT CALORIES because CALORIES REALLY do count!!!
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