The straight truth and nothing but the truth about gaining muscle part 3



Here is the final piece on my gaining muscle series. 

You are eating right and hitting the gym hard but is that all there is to it??

No you also have to make sure you are doing everything possible to maximize recovery which equals maximum muscle gain. 

So here is a quick laundry list of other activities to help you improve your results.


Sleep at least 7 hours a night-Sleep is where the majority of recovery occurs. Too many Americans lack in this department.   This is where you can optimize your hormonal environment for muscle growth. Deep sleep promotes increased growth hormone production. Higher growth hormone leads to more muscle mass and less bodyfat.    Lack of sleep affects performance on the gym and increases cortisol levels which will sabotage your muscle gaining efforts.

Here are some tips to help you enjoy a more restful sleep

• Not TV or computer near bed time they stimulate your brain to relax it.  Try reading before bed instead.
•  Eliminate noise and light
• Take in some protein before bed to keep blood sugar stable. When blood sugar drops it can cause you to wake up.
•   Use a ZMA supplement which will research show induces deep sleep and increases natural testosterone production.  I recommend Adovocare's nighttime recovery.
• Create a ritual nightly and try to go to bed and rise at similar times each day

Do static stretching post workout-After an intense workout muscles it is essential to get muscles into a relaxed state so they can begin to recover. An easy way to do this is throughly stretch the muscles you worked out holding each stretch in for 30 seconds or until the muscles relax. This will help improve circulation to the muscles that will basically help blood get rid of metabolic waste in the tissue and pump in nutrients for recovery.

Post Workout Hot Cold Shower Technique-This is an old eatern bloc technique used create a natural pump in the blood. Similar to contrasting which is used in sports medicine.  It helps get your body into a relaxed state as well.  Here is the sequence Cold-Hot-Cold-Hot-Cold do cold for 30 seconds and hot for 1 minute. Sounds silly but it really works I've done it and felt super relaxed afterwards. That is one of the keys to recovery is getting your body into a relaxed state ASAP after an intense workout.

Take a good multivitamin/mineral and fish oil supplement- I hear it all the time "I can get all I need from my diet." Well the truth is most people don't have time or put the effort in it takes to do this optimunally.  So taking good supplements is a good insurance policy that makes sure your body is getting everything it needs for optimum health, recovery and muscle growth. I won't go into all the science but these should be foundational supplements everyone should take.  Vitamins and minerals help your body use nutrients much like spark plugs help your engine run.  They also alleviate free radical damge that occurs from intense exercise as well.   So in a nutshell by taking these you are focused on keeping all the cells in your body healthy. A healthy body is one that doesn't hurt or breakdown and is one that performs well in the gym.

One quick sidenote. Make sure you use supplements that are USP Pharmaceutical grade. Don't just grab some botte off the shelf at Wal Mart.  Look on the label and make sure that it is a supplement with this grade to ensure it is made at the same quality as our pharmaceuticals. That way you know you will be absorbing high quality nutrients and not peeing them into the toilet.



So there is a three part blog to get you going. Now you can sit and ponder it or like Yoda said in Star Wars there is no try just DO."  No paralysis by analysis please.  Get going and be consistent. Give yourself 2-3 months and if you implement these strategies you will see a bigger, more muscular you.