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Where is more muscle going to come from? Ah yes, your nutrition. By Victor Costa
by Vicsnatural Victor Costa Trainer on Thursday, 28 June 2012 at 13:43 ·
I have been asked by many folks how to gain weight and muscle while keeping body fat low. Let me begin with something that I think is essential for approaching this.
This week I went to visit my doctor for a complete physical. The good doctor said, and I'll paraphrase, "You are healthy and you look healthy but for me to know what to look out for I need a baseline for everything". What my doctor meant was that we need to know where I am now, so that we can care for me tomorrow. I mean how else would he know if this or that is relatively high or low for me. It occurred to me that this has a tremendous application to my fitness instruction and answers many questions for the inquisitive folks who ask me for advice. I have now determined that we all need a baseline. We have to know where we are at so to speak, especially, when it comes to nutrition.
In order to begin the process of methodical or scientific progress. You need to know where you are, you need a baseline. This means you have to measure your food. You have to get a sense of the quantity you are taking in. You have to deconstruct what you are eating to get the calorie content as well as the macro content.
However, let's just focus on calories for a moment and why they hold the initial key to muscle growth. At one point in my bodybuilding career I was delusional. I believed I could create muscle out of thin air. I believed I had a "Well Spring" within me that would help to produce muscle by simply eating the same daily , yet putting more and more effort into training. This was delusional. In fact, it was downright destructive. It was certainly the greatest misunderstanding I ever made. I mean where was the muscle supposed to come from when I had already turned everything into muscle. I mean I was strict. If you gave me ten bucks to eat a Cheerio over my food allotment for the day, I would have turned down the money. Meanwhile , I could have actually used that Cheerio. Because I was so strict, I didn't know what I was missing. Meanwhile, what I was missing was a lot of gains. An, in the interim, was overtraining. No gas in the tank but the car kept going. All the while trying to make something from nothing. Why? For What? Martyrdom?
Let me phrase this another way to drive a point home. When you have turned everything you have into muscle, where does more muscle come from? I used to believe it comes from within. Certainly, the desire comes from within, but, you need building materials. You need food. Now, of course, we all, eat. But, not all of us count our calories or measure calories. That's fine. You don't necessarily have to. However, you need a baseline. You need to know where you are starting from . If you don't know the calories, but you are eating 4 meals per day and it was suggested to eat 25% more, then you would know to add another meal. Right? That is definitely less scientific, but it works. It really does. However, in my experience there are two ways to gain muscle naturally. First is fast and second is slow. Most of us might say, well, hell yeah, I want it fast. However, hold on, hold your horses. My opinion about fast muscle is that it is generally the result of a drastic spike in calorie intake. Fast muscle doesn't really look substantial, and it generally comes along with more body fat. Slow muscle takes time, you gain slowly, but it comes with less body fat and the muscle looks rather substantial. I called it being earned versus fabricated. Fast muscle looks good in some shirts never with clothes off and slow muscle looks good with or without clothes. Slow muscle generally looks like it's yours to keep. What I am saying is, If I asked you ," Where is the muscle going to come from "? A good answer would be, "It comes from my output after input". This means, food fuels the work. But, it would be a good idea to have a baseline.
My humble opinion begins with suggesting a calorie increase of 100 calories per day, for a week, from your baseline/starting point. Then an increase to 150 calories per day for another week. Then, 200 , you get the rhythm. Now, as far as losing fat. My opinion is that the best way to lose fat is to eat quality foods, light cardio and build muscle. The point of this is to remind you to have a baseline and to remember once you have turned everything to muscle- Where is more muscle going to come from? Ah yes, your nutrition.
Peace, Vic
By Victor Costa
Victor Costa is a Natural Bodybuilder and Trainer, He specializes in cutting edge technique to help athletes reach their physical potential with less work and less effort.
Buy Vic's Workouts at http://www.vicsnatural.com
