Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What actually “makes” a muscle grow?

Hypertrophy, (muscular growth) is a physiological response to a strong outside stimulus that not only places enough stress within the working components of a muscle that growth is triggered, but is a stimulus that “forces” a response in the form of growth out of self defense. In other words, the growth is a response from the muscle to literally protect itself from the stimulus. The stronger and more “intense” the stimulus, the better the process is initiated by the body.

Having provided this strong signal for the need for growth within the muscle structure, then the body must fully recover from the stress the process places on the muscle. A part of this recover is nutritional in nature, but nowhere near as much as many would have you believe. Muscle stimulation must always precede nutrition. Having set the wheels in motion through stimulus, almost any reasonable diet and sufficient rest is all that is required.

Once having fully recovered, then the body can adapt from the stress byway of growth.

So, first you stimulate, then you recover, then you grow.

Question: I desire a physique with a great deal of definition, more so than muscular mass. Don’t I need to do high repetitions in a routine consisting of high set counts?

Ninety-nine percent of muscular definition is totally dependent on an individual’s body fat content, which is primarily a result of two factors: Genetics and diet. Genetics from two standpoints: 1) The body’s genetic coding for storing fat directly beneath the skin 2) The amount of and the ability to produce muscular size.

So you don’t want to be “big.” I understand. But, now ask yourself, honestly, how good will that arm look all “ripped” up and at a size of 11 inches, as compared to the same appendage in the same state of “rip” but measuring 13 inches? See my point? For the most visual impact in either you need the other . (not sure what you mean with this last statement – can you clarify?

Regarding high reps and high set counts: If one is genuinely trying to “burn” off excess fat by way of sets and reps, he or she should be ready for two things; Long, and I mean really LONG hours in the gym plus disappointment.
 
And, a passing point, just as extremely high reps do not within themselves create a state of high definition, neither do low reps automatically produce large ponderous bulk or muscle size.

Question:  My diet is void of “fattening” foods, yet I still seem to lack definition. Why is this? 

In a word...EXCESS. Oh, I’m sorry did I confuse or upset someone? I keep forgetting what profession I am in and where I live. This the USA and I am in the Fitness business therefore I am suppose to “keep you confused by letting you believe what ever the hell you want to believe so you can eat all the “Super Sized” meals you can choke down and force into your every expanding waistline.

Right? Wrong!

It is a misnomer to label any food or food group for that matter as “fattening”. While there are foods that supply ONLY energy and little in the way of nutrients (sugar, for example) it is wise to avoid these or to severely restrict their intake. However, you could still lose weight if you only eat those foods in small amounts, thus taking in fewer calories than you burn. The bottom line is that it is all about TOTAL caloric intake, not “fattening foods”

So, my advice is to avoid not so much the “fattening foods” but the calories above your daily expenditure of energy.

Question: My training partner has recently begun to use a rubber-like “belt” wrap around his waist when he trains. He says it will force his body to burn more fat in his waist area when he does sit-ups. Could this be true?

OH PLEASE!!!  I thought those ridiculous things went the way of the hula hoops. The thinking here (and I use that phrase with a big smile on my face) is that you can accomplish two IMPOSSIBLE tasks. One: Sweat off fat. Two: Direct or dictate the pinpoint location of fat loss (spot reduction). Stop and think about what you are being asked to believe. Now look at what makes up muscle verses FAT (the stuff you are assuming you will be sweating away).

Ask yourself (honestly) when you sweat, what are you removing from the body? Water, do you agree?  Now what is the water make-up of fat? If you don’t know, it is 22%. What is the water make-up of muscle? It is 70%.

So... let those little gray matter cells run wild here. If you were to lose water from either of these two sources, which would be the one source that would “lose” the most?  Muscle. So, remember a great deal of the fluid lost would be from the ONE thing you are interested in keeping or increasing. Now how much sense does that belt make????

Question: If you workout everyday can’t you eat pretty much anything you want, and more of it?

 I wish this one were true, and so do millions of others, Look Out Krispy Crème, I LIFT WEIGHTS.
But I'm afraid it's not. Whoever laid this one on you was either a) genetically gifted, b) 18-20 years old, or 3) an idiot. Or, perhaps a combination of all three. But, your question was: Can you workout every day and eat whatever you want? Of course you can. You just open your mouth, insert food, chew and then swallow. There, you just did it. The better question is: Can you workout every day, eat what you want, but still not gain unwanted weight (fat)? The answer to that better question is a resounding No. Over half of the battle is what you're eating, so unfortunately grinding out sets at the gym just isn't enough by itself.

Question: You can’t get stronger through the use of machines. Only free weights produce strength. Isn’t this correct?

Refer back to the statement about what process the body follows to create increases in muscle and strength. First you stimulate the need, then you give the recovery time for the body to repair, then if all else is in place, you grow in strength and subsequent muscle mass. It is totally idiotic to assume that your muscle can determine the source of the growth stimulus. Your muscle can only do one thing, shorten its length or contract. It can't measure actual weight loads, not count reps or sets, and it certainly can’t determine whether the resistance is from a barbell, a spring or a rubber band. Muscles are just muscles; they don’t posses a separate brain all to themselves.. “We” are the only ones that know where the weight comes from, so “we” make the decision… and unfortunately we do so based on “gym room myth”.

Now, I will be the first to admit that not ALL machines work in a manner that is the most productive, but resistance is resistance, and the muscles don’t know where it originates from.  It is the manner that the work is performed that is of utmost importance, not where the resistance comes from.

QUESTION:  How much protein do I need to consume in a day to make sure I am getting ample amounts to stimulate muscle growth?

All the guys at my gym say that if I am not making the “gains” I need to up my protein.

Deliver me from guys who believe you can shoot pool with a rope. Does that prospect sound a bit weird to you? Well, so does the assumption made by the vast majority that you can “force” or “initiate” muscle growth through the addition of or increase in any nutrient. Going back to my illustration, you can cut your rope any length you want, from the same length of your favorite cue stick up to any length you may believe in your heart will insure success, but you are still trying to push with a device designed to pull or secure. 

Go back to the question on what makes a muscle grow. 1) You stimulate 2)You recover 3) You grow. While nutritional requirements must be in place to recover, extra or “super” recovery is not forthcoming because of extra nutrients.  Only the people that want to sell you these products believe that, along with the people that like to use nutrition as a crutch to lean on when results are not forthcoming due to their very lack of proper stimulation.

But so many have heard for so long and from so many “big guys” that muscles are made of protein, and that to “build muscle” you must eat large amounts of protein” that it has become embedded in gym lore and may never be fully rooted out by logic or reason.

These ideas are simply NOT true. Only 22% of a muscle is protein. More than 70% of muscle tissue is water.

Your real and pressing need when considering muscular growth is stimulus. The average American consumes about three times their average needs for protein to start with. If you feel a pressing need to consume an extra amount of protein, do so with the knowledge of the following:

There are about 100 grams of protein, a small amount of fat, a LOT of water, and about 600 calories in a pound of muscle. If you stimulate a pound of muscle growth over the period of a week, you would require the consumption of 14 grams of protein and 86 calories above normal caloric and nutritional needs each day. That’s all. Additional amounts of either would only result in gains of body weight, but not muscle.

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