Hormones and Muscle Gains.

If you're going to want to gain muscle, you're going to need testosterone. There are many natural ways of boosting testosterone to increase your gains, but there are also some things you do not want to do if you're trying to gain muscle.

First major thing is to keep your workouts short and sweet. Ideally under 2 minutes of rest per set, and no more than 45 minutes per session. After 45 minutes of hard training the body begins to produce cortisol, which is a catabolic, or muscle destroying hormone. This will mitigate any muscle gains you're trying to put on if you're constantly in a state of cardiovascular stress. Keep the cardio high intensity for short intervals and you'll see the same effects of long, slow cardio.. without the diminished muscle size!

Another major component to keeping your hormones in balance is your diet. Healthy fats, like those found in Olive Oil, Avocados, Lean Meats, and Fish are naturally testosterone boosting. High Glycemic carbs, or "bad carbs" as you will commonly hear them called (white breads, rice, sugars, potatoes) cause your body to have a cortisol response, which has a negative impact on muscle gains. Keep your diet clean with low glycemic, high nutrition value carbohydrates, healthy fats, and lean proteins.

These are just a couple tips to help you maximize your muscle gains, I'll be writing more about hormones and their effects on training in the future. As always, stay strong and informed!

Get out of your Comfort Zone!

No body likes doings they aren't good at. That's a simple fact. Especially when you're training yourself it can be easy to tend to avoid the things you hate/suck at doing. Some people don't like running, others aren't fond of weight training. I believe it's important to incorporate the things we aren't very good at into our routines because it forces us to react and adapt to new / uncomfortable situations and it builds mental toughness. There's nothing better for your self confidence that crushing a workout you would have deemed impossible earlier on.

I would recommend at least twice a week incorporate your most disliked exercises into a workout and tough it out. Give it 4-5 weeks and you'll be surprised at how your body is adapting to the new stimuli. If you don't like running, take one day this week and run a block or a mile longer than you have before. Force yourself out of your comfort zone and push yourself. You can't truly know your limits unless you find them once in a while. Always remember to be safe first and foremost. If you're lifting heavy, lift with a spotter. Common sense is king.

How to Gain Weight.

The title of this article may be a little misleading to some of you. Gaining weight is generally looked down upon because modern society tells us that being thin is the way to be. There's a few different kinds of weight that you can gain. There's muscle mass, retained water, and plain old fat! In this article I'm going to mainly focus around gaining muscle mass, with a little bit of fat as well.. and I'll explain why.

While there are many different complicated equations and calculations that can be made for weight gain, one of the simplest is to eat 500 more calories a day than you burn. To figure out how many calories you burn daily while you're resting, multiply your weight by 11 to find your REE or Resting Energy Expenditure. For example, I'm 170 pounds. So 170 x 11 would be 1870 calories burned daily just through breathing and being alive. These numbers tend to fluctuate when you add in activity levels but if I wanted to gain weight I'd have to consume around 2300 calories a day on days with low activity levels. Here's a frame of reference for figuring out caloric intake based on different activity levels. (Resting Energy Expenditure x Activity Level = Recommended Caloric Intake)

• Very Light - Seated or standing activities, driving, or playing video/card games fall into this category. Multiply your REE x 1.3.
• Light - Walking, sailing, carpentry, or golfing fall into this category of activity. Multiply your REE x 1.6
• Moderate - Carrying moderately heavy objects, jogging, light swimming, biking, and body-weight exercises fall into this category. Multiply your REE x 1.7
• Heavy - Carrying loads uphill, rowing, digging, climbing, running and most sports fit into this category. Multiply your REE x 2.4
• Exceptional - Running/swimming races, carrying heavy loads uphill, biking uphill, hard rowing fall into this category. Multiply your REE x 2.7

While you may be wondering, will I gain fat along with muscle mass on a weight gaining routine? The answer is probably yes. Gaining lean muscle mass is harder than, although not impossible, gaining weight with additional fat gain. I recommend eating at LEAST 1.0g of protein per pound of body weight or more. The rest of the calories should come from complex carbohydrates to slow insulin release, and fats from meats and fish, or nuts. If you're having a sweet tooth, it's okay to consume 50-75g of Sugar very shortly after a intense workout to stop muscle catabolism (the breaking down of muscle tissue for energy) and to restore the depleted energy stores in the muscles. There is less of a insulin response when the muscles are depleted because the body doesn't need to force feed the muscles, they're starved for energy and absorb these simple sugars like a sponge.

Sleep is a very overlooked, but equally important component in weight gaining. When you sleep your body goes into a anabolic or regenerative state. It recovers from exercises during the day, and builds new muscle tissue. While you're sleeping your body also is outputting it's maximal amount of growth hormone. Sleep is also very important to your brain. While you sleep it replenishes multiple neurotransmitters that you need for a active lifestyle. A lack of sleep could result in loss of focus, motivation, or attention. It could also cause depression and a overall lack of energy. Sleep is a very very vital function and it's recommended that you get between 8-10 hours every night.

This brings us to our last, but certainly not least important weight gain component. That is the routine. Weight Training is hands down the best way to gain muscle mass. Compound Exercises that utilize more than 1-2 muscle groups are ideal for mass gaining. This includes but isn't limited to the big three (squats, deadlifts, and bench presses) overhead presses, clean and presses, dips, and pull-ups. I'd recommend following the guidelines in my article outlined here for hypertrophy if you're looking to get big.

In short, Lift Hard, Eat Big, and Sleep Well. These things will allow you to gain muscle fast and efficiently. Remember that trying to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time is like taking two steps forward, and one back. Instead you could focus on eating above caloric expenditure, and focus on training hard without worrying much about the little bit of extra fat that comes with it. It's much easier to lose weight, than to gain muscle.

Motivation - The Driving Force Behind Everything.

Motivation is the driving force behind human beings. It could be summarized as simply as the basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, personal desires and goals. It's very hard to have a set formula for motivation, as many different people are motivated by different things. There's 2 basic types of motivations.

• Intrinsic. This type of motivation exists within the individual, and requires no external pressures. Intrinsically motivated people find it easy to motivate themselves to achieve desirable results. Intrinsically motivated people also tend to believe they have the skill that will allow them to be effective agents in reaching desired goals. They also are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just role-learning to achieve good grades
• Extrinsic. This type of motivation comes from sources outside of ourselves. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money, grades and competition. Competition encourages the performer to win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity. A crowd cheering for the individual and trophies earned are also extrinsic motives. 

It's not uncommon for someone to be both intrinsically, and extrinsically motivated especially when it comes to fitness. Some individuals are in it purely for themselves, while others love the competition which makes them strive to push themselves. Once you determine what you're motivated by, it's easy to set realistic goals and motivate yourself towards them. Here's some easy ways to help you stay motivated and working towards your fitness goals year round.

1.  Set Realistic Short and Long Term Goals. This is very important because without goals, there's less motivation to stick with a routine. Long term goals could be anything from running a 5k, to something more significant such as losing 50lbs. It's best to break large goals down into smaller, more easily achieved short term goals like running 3 times this week, or going through this whole week without cheating on your diet. Once these things are established as habits, they become a staple of your daily routine. 
2. Reward Yourself. I'm not going to go into great detail here. If you're new to starting a diet and exercise routine the hardest part may be giving up all the comfort foods you've come to enjoy. This is true for everyone, myself included. I still have craving for chocolate milk, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. So what do I do when the cravings kick in? I splurge on them after a particularly grueling workout session, or after I've accomplished a certain goal I was shooting for. One or Two cheat meals a week is acceptable, reward yourself when you feel like you've earned it. This will motivate you to work hard to get the things you really want. 
3. Communicate with People with Similar Interests.  This is going to be particularly important for people motivated by competition and the social experience of working out in a group. Many gyms offer classes that you can attend with other people, such as cycling, yoga, or dancing. You can join internet forums and websites as well. There's many fitness websites and blogs out there just like this one you can subscribe to. The goal is to meet people you can talk to, and share experiences with. There is infinite knowledge that can be gained this way. 
4. Break your Workouts into Shorter, Higher Intensity Ones. If you're a busy person and have trouble making time for workouts you can utilize this option. You can get the same hormonal response in 2-5 minutes of training that you can in a 60 minute session. A good rule of thumb is to do as much quality work as possible, while remaining as fresh as possible. This option also allows for multiple training sessions per day as your body becomes more accustomed to exercise. 
5. Start a Collection of Motivational Quotes and Videos. I'd like to think this is pretty self explanatory. Find quotes that speak to you on a personal level, and commit them to memory. When you're having trouble motivating yourself repeat the quote in your head and see if it helps. Here's a couple good examples worth sharing. "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not a act but a habit" - Aristotle. "Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. "Success must be felt within before it can be seen on the outside." - Anonymous. "There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don't allow yourself to become one of them." - Ralph Marston
6. Have fun with it. This is probably the most under-rated motivator of them all. Find sports or exercises that you enjoy and create plans around them. You'll be much more likely to stick with a plan that you find interesting and fun to do. There's many forms of exercise out there, it should be easy to find something you enjoy doing!

I really hope this article helps you stay motivated and on track with your fitness goals. Remember to look at how you're motivated to better understand how to get yourself up and moving. Everything is about making small, consistent changes over time. This will yield great results in time, all you have to do is stick with it. Experiment with different workouts and exercises to determine what you enjoy doing, and allow yourself to enjoy the comfort foods you miss from time to time. All of these things will help you along your fitness journey.

Questions and Comments please send to selfempoweredsnc@yahoo.com