10 Law of Muscle Growth

“I just want to be toned,” “I lost the weight, but I don’t have the body I want,” “I want to look like I lift . . “
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Any of those sound familiar?  This is what I hear from most people that come to Kayli and I for coaching.  Most people just aren’t happy with the shape of their body.  Some have lost weight but still don’t like the shape of their body.  Some state they would be happy if they just looked “toned.”  If you’ve been following Kayli and I, you know we shudder when we hear the word toned.  Toned was a made up word by marketing people to sell fitness and lifting to women.  When you say you want to be “toned” what you really mean is you want to gain visible muscle definition.  This can mean either building muscle or losing body fat to expose your muscle tissue.  This can stop some people, particularly women, in their tracks.  Many women become afraid of lifting weights and gaining muscle because they don’t want to “get too big,” “look like a man,” or “get bulky.”  What they don’t realize is that because of their hormonal makeup, it is virtually impossible for them to do any of those things. Men have much more testosterone than women.  Testosterone is the primary muscle building hormone.  While women have some testosterone, we do not have the amount necessary to get as muscular as men.  

So now that we have put the worries to bed and I have you super stoked to start growing muscle . . . let’s look at the 10 laws necessary for muscle growth. 

1. Eat enough food!  Muscle is an expensive tissue.  Don’t clutch your wallet just yet, I simply mean, it takes a lot of calories to grow and maintain muscle.  Especially calories from protein.  You should have found your caloric maintenance level and most people will need to eat at that level or slightly above to maintain or grow muscle tissue.
   
2. Eat more frequently!  Many people try to squeeze all their calories and protein into 2 or 3 meals per day.  The problem here is, go back to number one, it requires a significant number of calories and protein to maintain and grow.  It is very difficult for you to eat all those calories and protein in fewer meals.  Protein is very satiating and will make you feel fuller, faster.  In order to help you get the amount of protein and calories you need to get the muscle mass you desire, you may have to eat more small meals throughout the day.
   
3. Train better, not more!  A mistake that most people make when they want more muscle mass or definition is they think they need to train more, but sometimes training less actually works.  So what I’m saying is frequency and volume aren’t going to matter if the quality isn’t there.  If you want to gain or maintain muscle mass or definition, you need to train with better quality.  This means slowing down and focusing on proper lifting technique and making sure you are going through the movements with intention.  Really PRACTICE the movements, don’t just go through them.  
   
4. Get enough sleep!  Sleep is always important when we talk about gaining muscle mass or losing body fat.  When you work out or when you put yourself in a calorie deficit, that is a stress on the body.  You do not have to feel overwhelmed or stressed out for your body to receive a stress signal.  Both are stressors on the body that are necessary for seeing the muscle definition you desire.  But in order to see growth, you must balance stress with rest.  STRESS+REST=GROWTH.  Sleep gives your body the recovery it needs to grow muscle tissue.  Without rest and good sleep, your workouts and diet are nearly meaningless.  You have to have all the ingredients.  You should be aiming for 7-9 hours of quality sleep.
   
5. Reopen the anabolic window!  Ok that sounds really scientific and nerdy, let me explain.  If you’ve ever listened to a Bro at your local gym, you may have heard them say they need to hurry home to get in their protein within the next hour.  That hour is called the anabolic window.  Anabolic literally means growth.  So the theory is that after a workout there is a period of time that you should fit in good quality protein and carbs.  While that has been a mixed message, there is something to say about pre and post workout nutrition and meals.  I always recommend trying to get some good quality carbs and protein following your workout.  Carbs will blunt the stress of your workout and signal your body to start recovering.
   
6. Supplement with creatine!  Kayli and I are not quick to prescribe supplements right out of the gate.  They are supplements for a reason, they aren’t necessary.  However, creatine is one of the safest, most studied supplements in the market.  The benefits of creatine are far more than just muscle building.  It has great cognitive effects and has even started being administered in nursing homes to help the elderly residents with cognition.  There are rumors out there that creatine will make you gain weight.  I assure you this is false.  If the scale moves when you start taking creatine, it’s because creatine helps pull water into your muscle tissue.  You should take 5g of creatine daily.  I don’t recommend the loading period that many supplements companies recommend.  I don’t believe it is necessary and can often cause GI upset.
   
7. Train closer to failure!  You should not train to absolute failure when you are lifting.  But you should try to maintain training to RIR1 to 2.  This means you should stop when you feel like you could only do 1 to 2 more reps with good form.  
   
8. Make sure you feel the muscles you’re training!  While most people feel like they should feel the burn, this isn’t always the case.  However, when you are training better as we talked about in #3, you should at least be able to feel those muscles working.  You don’t have to feel a burn to get the results but you should at least have the mind muscle connection with that muscle and you should be able to feel it.
   
9. Reduce stress!  This is going to go hand in hand with #4 sleep.  If your cortisol (stress hormone) level is high, your body is going to hold on to body fat and is not going to allow your calories to go toward growing muscle.  Cortisol also has a negative affect on sleep.  Cortisol is what wakes you up in the morning.  If it’s too high, you won’t sleep well.  So high stress means little recovery and sleep.
   
10. Track your training progress!  This one is simple . . . in order for you to know you are progressing, you must have data.  Just simply recording what weight you lifted and how many reps and sets you did each workout gives you enough data to show you if you are gaining strength and muscle.
    
11. BONUS!!!!  Be patient!  Anything that lasts, should take time.  If you want your progress and your results to be long lasting and not a yo yo diet type of result, you need to be patient and trust the process.  Don’t go from program to program or diet to diet.  Program hopping is not going to allow you enough time to actually see change.
    

Alright friends . . . you are now armed with the laws of muscle building.  Go forth and grow!