Tuesday 19 March 2013

Our strength coach giving tips

www.bodybynaturesupplements.com


**TRAINING IS STRESS**

Every few days someone will ask me the question “What’s the quickest way of building muscle?” My answer, particularly with my female clients, is that the emphasis should not be on muscle gain, but preventing muscle loss. Everyone including personal trainers spend too much time working out how much muscle tissue they can put on and forget about the inevitable losses that occur... as the body battles for homeostasis. Remember, weight training is all about physical stress, we need to progressively stress the body so it adapts, if it doesn’t adapt we inevitably plateau or in many cases go backwards. 




You need to remember that training is stress!! Stress provokes a response by the adrenal glands resulting in an increase in the adrenal steroid hormone cortisol (stress hormone). Physical and Mental stress is the dictator to our anabolic (regenerative) and catabolic (degenerative) environments. You step into a weight room and start lifting, as stress on the body increases the secretion of cortisol increases. Cortisol causes a breakdown of muscle protein (This is good if you’re telling it specifically what to break through correct programs) this simultaneously releases amino acids into the bloodstream which are used by the liver to synthesise glucose for energy through gluconeogenesis.

Consider the same stressful flight or flight response occurring when we run. The stress hormones catabolise the muscle tissue but we have no specific breakdown control. As we work in a short range of movement with running the breakdown creates shortness and tightness as an adaptation to the specific degeneration patterns. Running is quad and hip dominant therefore knee pain, lumbar and hip pain could develop over time if muscles aren’t stretched or suitably conditioned in a weights room. The same occurs with cycling and limited range sports. Conditioning work is critical if athletes are to remain injury free and efficient! 



I use BCAA’S during my workout and recommend my clients to do the same. Supplementing with amino acids while I train provide my body with an additional energy source whilst the cortisol secretion releases fat cells to be used also as energy. The abundance of amino acids due to supplementation protects the tissue breakdown and allows this fuel conversion to occur. Think about it, if you add carbs as a pre or during workout fuel you no longer have the ability to break down tissue as effectively or utilise fat cells as fuel. Compositionally this could be an issue, (performance wise, could be ok/ questionable). One of the largest elements of fat loss and lean tissue gain in my opinion is the management of stressors and in order to do this it means commanding the endocrine system.

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