FAQ

Many people are desperate to build muscle and often start out enthusiastic and steadily lose hope when the results don’t happen faster.

The first thing we need to accept is that, unless we are using exogenous hormones to boost our anabolic response, results can and often do take a lot longer than we realize.

Muscle growth is primarily dependent on 3 factors:

• Quality nutrition provides sufficient macro and micronutrients as well as a calorie density suitable enough to support the intensity of your workouts and recovery. This is often where the use of quality supplementation can be useful. If the body is deficient in any of the above, recovery as well as muscle output will be compromised. Of the 3 Macro components, a steady supply of bio-available protein is the most important.
• Muscle stimulation is critical when building muscle. For the body to build muscle, it is imperative the working muscle is driven to a point of overload. This is typically done in the repetition range of 8-15 reps. In that rep range an individual would need to achieve failure and incorporate forced or cheat reps for the final couple of reps. This pursuit of overload can also be attained by other training principles such as drop sets, giant sets and forced reps. It is widely accepted that compound exercises like bench press, squats and deadlifts are most effective in building dense muscle and boosting natural testosterone levels. When doing heavy resistance training, only 1-2 work sets per exercise is sufficient with a variety of 3-6 different exercises per muscle group.Again, the use of supplements before and during resistance exercise can be beneficial. This would be in the form of a quality pre or intra workout supplement which would support blood flow, improve muscle output and between set recovery.

• The last factor and arguably the most important would be the recovery phase. It’s important to realize that muscles do not grow while you are training, they require rest and nutrition between sessions in order for them to respond. The recovery phase starts immediately after training by way of glycogen replenishment and fast absorbing protein. Supplements satisfy this requirement by way of fast absorption carbohydrates like Vitargo, HBCD, Dextrose etc. along with quality whey protein. This can further be enhanced by adding Glutamine, collagen, creatine and EAAs. Depending on the individual’s preference. Recovery cannot be underestimated. The recovery time from high intensity, heavy lifting can be as long as 10 days for some muscle groups in order for the working muscle and central nervous system to be ready for the next assault.

The above three factors are a very abbreviated approach to the fundamentals of muscle building. The muscle needs to be stimulated and not annihilated and it is imperative that an individual exerts a level of intensity and force beyond their comfort range. If this is done correctly and complemented with sufficient nutrition and recovery 4-5 days per week, results will steadily begin to show. A realistic expectation for a natural trainer will be an average of 1-3 kg muscle gain per year until a point where the body reaches a ceiling, at which point you would need to vary your approach, so the body is forced to keep adapting to stress.

This is quite simply more of a dietary exercise than one of exercise, though exercise can assist significantly in supporting a weight loss program.

In order to achieve weight loss, our calorie intake needs to be less than our caloric expenditure. This is attained by a steady reduction of portion size until we attain a fat loss that is sustainable and healthy. By eating 4 small meals a day and reducing the fats by a mere 5g and carbohydrates by 10g, you will have achieved a total daily drop of 340 calories a day. This needs to be sustained without cheating initially in order to get the fat loss wheels turning.

To support this goal with exercise, we maintain our resistance training (muscles burn calories at rest and weight training primarily burns glycogen (carbohydrates)). Along with resistance training it would be beneficial to also include 3-5 cardiovascular 20 min sessions a week with your heart rate elevated to the optimal fat burning rate.

A simple equation is subtracting your age from 220 (this is max heart rate), your optimal fat burning zone would be 70% of that.

A 35-year-olds Max heart rate- 220 – 35= 185.

70% of 185 = 130 beats per minute as optimal fat burning.

Creatine!!!

This amino acid is the most studied sports supplement. It has consistently proven itself over countless trials and reviews. Its benefits in achieving improved explosive power, better muscle output and shorter recovery time is irrefutable. It has little to no side effects if used responsibly and is suitable for men and women.

Recent studies have also indicated the benefits of creatine regarding brain health and neural function. This wonder supplement should be used by all athletes. It is advisable, however, that you seek advice from a specialist if you suffer from any renal issues.

The best time to use whey protein is first thing in the morning with breakfast after you have slept. This period of inactivity will cause you to be in a fasted state. In order to get vital amino acids into your system and restore a positive anabolic environment, a fast-acting whole protein like whey protein is advisable.

The other best time to use whey protein is post exercise. When used with fast absorbing carbohydrates, the body can restore lost glycogen and utilize the amino acid building blocks to restrict muscle breakdown and repair damaged muscles and assist the building of new muscle fibers.

We can eradicate the necessity for many supplements with the implementation of a complete and healthy wholefood diet. We can never replace all supplements even with a healthy wholefood diet.

For example: Science has indicated, through many clinical trials, the benefits of creatine. These trials, irrespective of where they have been held in the world, have shown that a dose of between 5g-7g is ideal. To achieve this dose of creatine from its best food source, steak, would require us to consume as much as 2kg of steak a day. Completely unrealistic and not a healthy option. The same applies to many super supplements like glutamine, Betaine, Citrulline, EAA’s etc.

Start your supplement stack around training first.

• A pre-workout muscle priming supplement to increase your focus, energy, blood circulation and muscle output capacity.
• An intra-workout that will replace glycogen, electrolytes and muscle performance dependent amino acids like BCAA or EAA.
• A post workout recovery aid that will restore the working muscles, lost glycogen reserves and flood the body with muscle building amino acid blocks.

This can steadily be expanded on over time to assist with deficiencies in diets, by way of meal replacements and protein powders. Further to substituting macro nutrients, certain supplements are designed specifically to improve cognitive, mood, energy and performance abilities as well as reduce inflammation, boost metabolic function and scavenge free radicals.

Nine of the 20 different amino acids that your body needs to function are considered essential amino acids (EAAs). That’s because your body cannot manufacture them on its own, meaning that they must be obtained through your diet. BCAA’s constitute 3 of the 9 essential amino acids found in a complete protein.

BCAA supplements don’t help you build muscle. You need all the EAAs, not just the BCAAs. BCAAs do have other potential benefits, like improving your fatigue tolerance and making you less sore after workouts. 

Can EAA and BCAA Work Together? Absolutely! EAA and BCAA supplements together can boost mood and energy levels while boosting protein synthesis for optimal results. In fact, higher levels of BCAA can also increase the effectiveness of EAA supplements.

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid (building block of protein) in the body. The body can make enough glutamine for its regular needs. But during times of extreme stress (the kind you experience after heavy exercise or an injury), your body may need more glutamine than it can make.

Glutamine is important for removing excess ammonia (a common waste product in the body). It also helps your immune system function and may be needed for normal brain function and digestion.

Glutamine has a glowing reputation among fitness enthusiasts who use it to help speed up muscle repair, muscle growth and muscle recovery following exercise.

This is backed by science too.

One study looked at the effects that glutamine supplementation has on muscle strength and soreness following exercise. Those who took glutamine experienced faster recovery of their previous muscle force and experienced less muscle soreness following exercise.

It is legally prohibited to put any pharmaceutical scheduled compound, in particular steroids, into any sports supplement. While a brand may claim testosterone boosting ingredients, this will not negatively impact on the users own production of testosterone. Sports supplements can optimise the bodies natural production of testosterone but not replace it.

By utilising quality natural steroid boosting supplements and ensuring our dietary intake of quality carbohydrates, whole proteins, essential fats supplemented with  EAAs (essential amino acids), creatine, glutamine and technologically advanced nutrient extracts we can optimise our natural physiological pathways so we can mimic the effects of steroids as much as possible without the undesired side effects .

Anabolic steroids are a synthetic form of testosterone. By taking this synthetic form of testosterone we drastically increase the body’s ability to repair muscle as well as increase strength, endurance and muscle mass. Steroids have two distinct characteristics that make them so useful to athletes. The one is it’s androgenic effect and the other is its anabolic.

Androgenic: is the male sexual characteristic of testosterone which impacts on things like aggression, strength, libido as well as the undesired characteristics such as male pattern baldness, body hair, acne, depression etc.

Anabolic: This refers to the tissue building (mainly muscle) component of steroids.