i hope I may post this.

we all know by now that diet and training hard are the key components to building bigger muscles. We need to eat protein and rip it up in the gym. BUT, can anyone please answer this: What must happen in your body to be able to grow your muscles? In other words, after my workout, what happens to the chemistry in my body and what happens with the supplements and food I eat to make my muscles grow? How much of what I eat contribute to muscle growth etc?

Stay awesome people!

W

Here is a link to a (very) simple explanation: http://vimeo.com/66481441
I don't know how much you want to learn about muscle building? But the internet is full of interesting information. Maybe all interesting articles can be shared in this thread?

Great post man!  and yeah for sure.  I would like the forums to be as informative as possible brotha!  Great job! :)

Great question my friend!

Well, the short answer is that while exercising you are damaging the cells in your muscle tissue known as sarcomeres.  The most damage is done to the sarcomeres during the NEGATIVE of your exercises.  That is why in a lot of my muscle gian routines lately I have been focusing on a 1 - 1 - 3 TEMPO (3 being the 3 second negative).

As you exercise you are depleting glycogen stores for energy.  So after you lift you need to consume carbohydrates to help replenish your glycogen stores and consume protein so that your body can begin to repair the damaged muscle cells.

I hope this helps give you a basic idea of what happenes and why a meal plan is so important! :)

Have you used the SHF Meal Planner yet?  #HTH

Thanks for the reply,

I have uploaded a simple meal plan, but I want to make changes to what I eat - therefore the question. In the past 4 weeks I have been training very hard and I'm trying to eat enough carbs and protein. I'm trying to get my body fat down from 15% to 8% so I need to loose fat and I want to build muscle. All my meals include carbs and protein (I get at least 200 grams of preotein in per day), for dinner I just have meat / fish / poultry with veggies that are very low in carbs or have no carbs.T

To make it simple, I need to convert 6 kg's fat into muscle and I want results soon or I'm going to loose focus. Once I achieved the first goal, I want to focus on adding more muscle, but (not that it is not awesometo look at) I don't want to get too big, I just want to get big enough to be noticed and to feel proud of my body with enough definition in the right places. I do focus on the negative of my exercises and breathing. What I am trying to figure out is why guys talk about a pre-workout and post-workout supplement. If carbs and protein is all we need, why have creatine, BCAA etc etc etc. How can I ensure that everyday that I workout, with all the food and protein shakes I put into my body, I will be able to convert 6kg's of fat into muscle and do I need more than just food and protein shakes to achieve that?

In my experience and knowledge fat cannot be conveyed into muscle that is just one of thouse common myths that refuse to go away. What you can do however is more cardio, muscle defenition training and ab workouts, which will over time give you the results you want.

Sorry, I used the wrong terminology. I need to replace 6kg's of fat with muscle

Well losing 6 kg of fat is done by for example cardio and other intense activities while gaining 6 kg of muscle is done for instance with weightlifting. Though 6 kg of muscle is not done over night to say the least. That is going to take 6-12 months if not more (depends on your fitness level / knowledge)

Very well said Scott! :)

True that bro. Fat is fat and muscle is muscle. There is no such thing as fat turning to muscle, but when building muscle you body naturally burns more fat and calories giving a harder leaner look.

Well, I think you are "doing" great.  But would be able to see your progress if you uploaded a profile photo! :)

Supplements are great to help you reach your macros.  Protein supplements help to ensure you DEFINTIELY reach your protein gols for the day.  BCAAs help with building muscle because they put more luecine in your blood.  Luecine is the most important BCAA when it comes to increasing protein synthesis (muscle growth) so by taking it daily you are increasing chances of muscle growth.  Creatine is great for recovery and to help you have more energy during a workoutso you can train harder for longer.

Also, it is good to know that post workout meals that consist of protein AND carbs increase protein synthesis MORE than just protein alone.

So these bits of info should help to ensure you make the best muscle gains with your food and supplement stack :)

Should I be taking BCAA's or whey protein for muscle building and repair? Or should I take both? After my workout in the morning, I take mass gainer which has 25 grams of protein in it. Now, at night I sometimes workout at home using dumbells, TRX for upper body. I don't want to take the mass gainer at night due to its high carb content.  Thanks.

I would also add that the muscles also increase the number of mitochondria (the "battery" of the cell) they contain.  Your Pituitary gland in your brain senses the stress to all systems (muscular, nervous, skeletal, etc) and signals the testes to increase testosterone levels and the pituitary gland increases the production of growth hormone.  Both these hormones are critical for the repair to your body to allow it to adapt (bigger, stronger muscles, stronger bones, increased insulin sensitivity, better endurance).  Your pancreas flushes the body with insulin which is the key hormone to drive the nutrients your body gets from the food you eat into all your tissues and especially the muscles since they are damaged with micro-tears.   This is why diet and excerise are so critical and why most Americans are overweight and diabetic.   Junk food and lack of exercise greatly disturb this hormonal balance.   A Scott said, your glycogen stores in both your muscles and your liver are depleted and need replenishing from the food you eat.  

Carbs replenish your glycogen stores.  Essential fats and cholesterol help build your hormones (testosterone, growth hormone, insulin).  Protein helps repair your tissues.  ALL bodily systems need to recover after training since all are stressed.  People forget that it is not just your muscles that need to repair but also your bones, your nerves, your hormonal system, your blood and heart, etc.  That is why you need plenty of rest and good food to see positive results especially when you don't use anabolics.  If you don't eat good and keep hydrated, this entire series of events that occurs in your body doesn't complete its job and what it does complete is done poorly.  This why low fat, high sugar, high salt, processed laden food that is part of the typical American diet is slowly killing everyone.

John

Art,

You need to take both.  Before and after workouts you want whey protein and BCAA's.  Before bed take Casein (milk) protein with water as it will take 5-7 hours to digest and will feed your body while it sleeps and is doing the most repairing of cells.  Do not take mass gainer before bed unless you are real skinny and you are trying to pack on weight.  

John

Thank You. Will do that. I'll stay away from the mass gainer for now cause holidays and festivities are coming up. I'll switch to BCAA's and whey and casein proteins. 

Yeah spot on advice by John,

Wimpie, I went to check out your routine and meal plan in your NOTEBOOK but you have nothing there yet. 

All the advice given was great, but at the end of the day you are trying to lose fat and I have no idea what your workout is like each day and I don't know your daily macros / calories.

Can you fill us in with that you are doing.  There are specific ways to train to lose weight and to gain muscle. Also, we can have a better idea on how to help you adjust your daily macros if you list them for us.

If you can provide this information for me I can help you a bit more.

1. Your daily workouts
2. Daily amounts of protein, carbs, and fat in GRAMS (my meal planner adds them for you automatically)
3. YOur current weight and bodyfat %

Thanks man! Looking forward to helping you more! #HTH