For years, that meant thinking of resistance exercise in absolute terms. A workout wasn’t a success unless I could no longer move my muscles at the end of a session, even if I needed a spotter to save me from being crushed by a barbell (yeah, that happened). 

But, what if I told you that pushing your muscles to the point that they can’t lift a weight isn’t the point? 

Whether you’re trying to add muscle mass, improve a few muscle groups, or are just using resistance training to improve your overall health, the idea of seeking failure is misunderstood and misapplied, and a big reason why many people don’t see amazing results from their workouts.

There’s a big difference between breaking a muscle down so it can grow, and demolishing it to the point that it’s harder to recover. 

Muscle growth is directly connected to muscle fatigue. But, if you want to build stronger muscle fibers or add muscle mass, failure is best used sparingly.

In fact, in most cases, the best approach for both short- and long-term growth is about finding a way to push yourself hard, add reps, sets, and weights, without hitting that point where your muscles stop working. (And that’s separate from injuries, which are much more likely when training to failure.)

To help you understand how hard to push and the right intensity for your workouts, we turned to Jordan Syatt, owner of Syatt Fitness. In this post, he provides 5 different questions that you should consider to help you build a more effective approach to your workouts. -AB

Should You Train to Failure?

By Jordan Syatt

Think back to the first time you ever lifted weights. What did you do?

You probably walked up to a dumbbell rack, picked up the heaviest weight you could hold, and performed some exercise movement — heck, any exercise movement — to the best of your ability. Rep after rep after rep. And you did so until you could no longer move the weight. 

Then you rested, probably until you felt fresh again, and repeated the process. Sometimes, a little naivety and simplicity is a good thing.

But, that simplicity is also why so many people are frustrated by what they do in the gym. Beyond the exercises you perform and the frequency and volume of your workouts, most people don’t know how hard to push on any given set. 

They don’t know how to build muscle. And they don’t know how to build strength. What they do know how to do is perform exercises listed in their training session.

There’s an important distinction. The results you see from your time spent in the gym is a combination of many factors. For muscle growth, it’s a matter of muscular tension, metabolic stress, and muscular damage. There are many ways to manipulate those variables, but most people assume that pushing every set to the last rep where your muscles are aching is what needs to be done.

It’s the reason why “training to failure” is one of the most highly debated topics in the fitness industry and, truth be told, it’s extremely misunderstood.

I’ve spent enough time studying the topic to know that there’s no simple answer. Some people swear that taking every set to failure is the secret to success while others insist it’s a recipe for guaranteed injury and “overtraining.”

The answer, as most things in life, depends entirely on the individual as well as their needs, goals, and preferences.

If you’re going to commit to training sessions, you might as well make sure you’re personalizing those workouts as much as possible. 

So, before you take another set to muscle failure, here’s what you need to consider. 

Question 1: Is Training to Failure Necessary for Muscle Growth?

Research on training to failure is, unfortunately, scarce. Increasing muscle hypertrophy is often necessary for physique competitors and strength athletes to improve performance. Since training to failure “may activate a greater number of motor units” and potentially enhance muscle hypertrophy, training to failure is often warranted among these individuals.[2] 

Willardson et al. is perhaps the highest quality review of the literature pertaining to failure-based training. After examining the data, the authors concluded that training to failure is a valid method to use in order to enhance muscle hypertrophy, facilitate maximal strength gains, and break through plateaus.

However, it’s important to note that Willardson also stated “training to failure should not be performed repeatedly over long periods, due to the high potential for overtraining and overuse injuries. Therefore, the training status and the goals of the lifter should guide the decision-making process on this issue.”

Linnamo et al. found that training to failure resulted in a significantly greater increase in the secretion of growth hormone compared to non-failure based training. While this finding in no way, shape, or form proves that training to failure is better than other methods, it may lend credence to the success so many athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts have had with failure-based training.

There are other studies, but what really what matters is, how does this apply to you?

So let’s start there: You. After all, it’s your goals and training style that will play the biggest role in determining if and when you should push your body to failure. And that decision comes down to asking 5 questions.

Question 2: Are you Breaking the 90-Percent Max Rule?

Training intensity is perhaps the single most important factor in deciding whether or not training to failure is effective or even appropriate. Training intensity refers to the percentage of weight being lifted in relation to an individual’s 1-repetition maximum (1-RM).

In my opinion, training to failure at intensities at, or above 90 percent of your 1-RM should be avoided. 

Training to failure with such heavy weights will do very little (if anything) to enhance muscle hypertrophy and may actually hamper strength gains. If you’re going to hit absolute or complete failure, you don’t want to do it with the maximum amount of weight you can push, press, deadlift, or squat. 

Furthermore, training to failure with near maximal weights will almost inevitably result in a breakdown of technique, drastically increasing the likelihood of injury. Don’t get it twisted: weightlifting is a lifetime activity, but you need to be smart about the risks you take. 

Generally speaking, training to failure should be reserved for training percentages ranging from 50 percent to 85 percent of your 1-rep max. 

While I rarely prescribe training to failure at either of these end-ranges, I believe that they are appropriate guidelines to follow for a majority of intermediate and advanced trainees.

Keep in mind, though, training to failure at 50 percent of your 1-RM can take an inordinate amount of time to complete and may not be well suited for those with time restrictions. On the other hand, 85 percent of your 1-RM is still heavy weight and the use of a spotter is strongly encouraged.

Question 3: How Often Should You Train to Failure? (Check Your Training Age)

There are three major categories signifying the current “level” of a given trainee. I call this “the trainee continuum” and they are: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

An individual’s training status will determine what they need, and therefore someone who is a beginner might require unique methods of training that may substantially differ from someone who is at an intermediate or advanced stage.

For example, beginner trainees must, first and foremost, work on developing proper form and technique in compound movements such as the squat, bench press, deadlift, and chin-up.

Consequently, training beginners to absolute failure would likely do more harm than good as maintaining proper form becomes exceedingly difficult in a fatigued state. 

In other words, if you’re a beginner and haven’t been training for, at least, 2 years consistently, then you’re likely best off not pushing to muscle failure, even when you’re below 90 percent of your 1-RM.

What to do instead? You can try the “reps in reserve” (or RIR) method. RIR is great for beginners and also incredibly effective for advanced lifters. 

Instead of pushing towards complete failure, you want to push to a different level of fatigue. For example, you’ll set a goal rep range (say, 8 reps) and make sure you have 2 reps in reserve (2 RIR). This way, you’re able to work towards a level of intensity that challenges your muscles, but you’re purposely leaving a number of reps in the tank. 

It can take trial-and-error to figure out how many reps you truly have in reserve, but — when you do — it’s a great way to add reps, weight, and more sets, while mastering form, fatigue, and recovery. 

If you’re not a beginner, intermediate and advanced trainees can push to failure more often. If you’re following the 90-percent rule, and sticking between 60 to 85 percent of your 1-rep max, you can train to failure between 2-4 times per week. 

How do you know how often you should push? Glad you asked because that will depend on your goal and the exercises you perform. 

Question 4: What is Your Goal?

An individual’s desired goal will dictate numerous components of their program, not least of which includes whether or not they should train to muscular failure.

Take, for example, the differences between powerlifters and bodybuilders. Powerlifters are focused on maximal strength development (including training their nervous system to handle more weight). Consequently, they train at relatively high intensities of their 1-RM. Additionally, powerlifter’s place a distinct emphasis on full-body, compound movements, which require a great deal of skill to maintain proper form.

In bodybuilding, the goal is muscle growth and, as a result, train at comparatively lower intensities of their 1-RM because strength is not always the answer. What’s more, bodybuilders tend to emphasize smaller, isolation movements designed to target individual body parts, which require less skill to maintain proper technique.

Because of these different approaches and the types of exercises performed, bodybuilders are able to train to failure more frequently than powerlifters. 

It’s important to note, however, that many elite powerlifters also train to failure on a regular basis. In fact, as a world record powerlifter myself, I regularly utilize failure-based training within my programs. That being said, I rarely train to failure in big, compound movements and almost exclusively use intensities between 60 percent to 80 percent of my 1-RM.

Question 5: What Exercises Are You Performing?

The more skill required for a lift, the less frequently it should be performed to failure. Conversely, the less skill required to perform a lift the more acceptable it becomes to train to failure.

Snatches, for example, are arguably the single-most complex lift and training them to failure is dangerous. Simpler multi-joint movements, such as variations of the chin-up, bench press, and lunge, are suitable for failure-based training but should be performed with extreme caution. Same can be said for exercises like squats.

Finally, single-joint exercises, including bicep curls, triceps extensions, and calf raises, are the least complex of movements and are far more appropriate to train to failure.

Question 6: What is Your Mindset?

Failure occurs when an individual is unable to complete another full repetition. This tends to happen due to the onset of fatigue.

Fatigue, however, is a truly subjective term and is nearly impossible to quantify. Based on pain tolerance, willpower, and other psychological factors, what constitutes muscular failure for one individual may only be slight discomfort to someone else. As such, it’s difficult to know whether a given individual is training to true muscular failure or simply cutting the set short.

Furthermore, it’s important to note that while some individuals derive pleasure from training to failure, others do not and attempting to force them may, in fact, deter them from strength training. Understanding the psychology of your clients (or yourself) and how they respond to training is of the utmost importance to long-term program adherence.

While it’d be easy to make a blanket statement about training to failure, ultimately it depends on your answers to the questions above. Failure-based training is a valuable tool in your training arsenal when applied correctly. If it fits your goals, needs, and preferences then use it wisely and with caution

Stop Failing. Start Succeeding

At Born Fitness, we help you make sense of fitness and nutrition information. If you want to create a plan for your life, here’s how you can stop guessing and start living healthier.

READ MORE: 

3 Rules for Building Bigger Arms

Faster Fat Loss: How to Add Workout Finishers

How Low Should You Squat, Really?

Works Cited

[1] Aragon, Alan. “Training to Failure.” Alan Aragon Research Review. Alan Aragon, Mar 2009. Web. Web. 9 Mar. 2013.

[2] Schoenfeld, Brad. “The Mechanisms of Muscle Hypertrophy and Their Application to Resistance Training.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 24.10 (2010): 2857-2873. Web. 10 Mar. 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20847704>.

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post Training to Failure: 5 Questions You Need to Answer appeared first on Born Fitness.

The question seems almost non-sensical, like asking if you know how to blink. But, the way you breathe while sitting at your desk is much different than how you should breathe while on a run, or when you squat with 300 pounds on your back. And, we’re not just talking about breathing heavier as you get tired.

Your breath is far more powerful than you think because breathing is so deeply tied to many essential structures of your body, including your spine and ribcage. It might seem impossible, but the way you breathe can do everything from preventing back pain to make you significantly stronger on squats, deadlifts, presses, and almost every exercise imaginable.

Before you complete another workout, it’s time to find out if you’ve been breathing the wrong way, and what you can do to make a small change that leads to incredible results.

The Power of Your Breath

Most fitness tips do not provide instant gratification. It takes a lot of reps and sets, sometimes across a span of years, to change your body.

And while no workout will instantly slash fat or make you more muscular, there are a few techniques that, like magic, can have an immediate impact on how well you train and feel. The Valsalva maneuver, which is a way of breathing, is one of those techniques.

Part of the reason it has such a dramatic impact is that for the majority of people, how to breathe when you exercise is completely overlooked.

When you learn about training, almost everything focuses on the usual suspects:

• How much weight you’ll use
• The reps and sets
• The exercise selection
• What equipment to use

All of these are important parts of training and exercise. But, all of these cover what you do. They tend to avoid how to do it.

While there’s no shortage of exercise explanations you can find online, it’s rare that tips on correct form provide a detailed explanation of how you should breathe.

But, the way you breathe on different exercises can make all the difference between staying pain-free and seeing more progress. Enter the Valsalva maneuver.

To understand how and why this technique is the key to no back pain and lots of strength gain, it’s time for a quick test.

The Soda Can Test: How to Know Your Spine is Safe

To understand why learning how to breathe properly is important, all you need to do is think about a soda can. When it’s pressurized and sealed, it’s very strong. You can stack several bricks on top of it and it won’t budge. But, if you open the can and let that pressure escape, the weight would crumple the can underneath.

Think about breathing in the same way: do it right and you’re unstoppable, do it wrong and you get crushed.

Correct breathing can make every exercise a safe and effective movement. Think about it: No one argues whether exercise is “good” for you, but plenty of people debate whether certain exercises should be avoided because of the risk of injury.

For example, you might know the squat as one of the best exercises for developing strength and building muscle. Or, you might think of it as an exercise that causes back pain. That alone means that plenty of you avoid squats (or avoid doing them with added weight) when, in reality, it’s not the exercise that’s the problem; it’s how you’ve been taught to do the movement.

“Everybody tells you to inhale on the way down, and exhale on the way up,” says Mark Rippetoe, owner of the Wichita Falls Athletic Club and author of Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training. “That is complete and utter BS. If you do that, you will hurt yourself.”

Now, Rippetoe isn’t suggesting you shouldn’t breathe. What he’s saying is that the typical breathing cue is incomplete and leaves out many vital details. And that if you’re just breathing — and not practicing the Valsalva maneuver — then you’re at risk.

“When you Valsalva, you’re protecting your spine,” says Dr. Belisa Vranich, clinical psychologist and author of Breathe: The Simple, Revolutionary 14-Day Program to Improve your Mental and Physical Health. “Most people don’t understand that you have to take a big breath in to be able to protect your spine [when you lift].”

When you inhale deeply, you create what’s called intra-abdominal pressure. The term describes forces within your abdominal cavity or the area surrounded by the muscles on the side of your abs (your obliques), your pelvic floor (on the bottom), diaphragm (on top), rectus abdominus (the area known as the six-pack), and several back muscles.

When you have a heavy load on your back, this pressure is your friend. It’s no different than the soda can.

WIthin your abdomen, the pressure you create with a deep inhalation helps keep your spine rigid and stable.

“Air is support to the back,” Rippetoe says. So the way you should lift when you squat is to inhale deeply and brace your torso, hold that breath (and bracing) on the way down, then either continue to hold it on the way up or exhale through pursed lips when you hit the most challenging part of the lift.

Before you try the Valsalva maneuver, there’s something you should know: in order for it to work for you, you first have to master an even more fundamental skill.

Are You Breathing Well? (Here’s How to Find Out)

Consider this Breathing 101. Because you know how to breathe, it will be quick. But, if you want the Valsalva maneuver to work, then you need to make sure you’re breathing correctly.

To understand how you breathe, it’s important to visualize your diaphragm as two separate parts.

Your diaphragm divides your insides into an upper (thoracic) cavity and a lower (abdominal) cavity. Think of it as the muscle that powers breathing. When you inhale, your diaphragm pushes downward against your abs, drawing air into your lungs and creating more space for them within your body.

“The lungs will fill like a vacuum once the diaphragm drops downwards,” explains Dr. Kathy Dooley, a chiropractor and anatomy instructor based in New York City.

However, a number of things, such as bad posture, can prevent your diaphragm from doing its job effectively.

“When your abs are gripping your diaphragm, it will not let you take a big inhale,” Vranich says. “If you go to take a big inhale, you’ll have to take it with your shoulders because your diaphragm is being squeezed.”

So what should it look like? If your belly moves outward when you breathe in, it’s a sign that your diaphragm is working correctly. It might make you feel self-conscious because it will look like you’re creating a gut, but you’ll feel and perform a lot better.

On the flipside, consider what happens when you don’t breathe correctly. The result looks something like:

This is known as “vertical breathing.” And it achieves the biologically necessary goal of getting you oxygen (because, ya know, you still need to breathe and your body won’t let that not happen). But, it creates a host of other problems.

The Risks of Poor Breathing

If you’re a vertical breathing, it can be a literal pain in the neck. That’s because this type of breathing tightens the muscles in your neck and shoulders. If you have your massage therapist on speed dial, vertical breathing may be why.

This style of breathing doesn’t deliver oxygen as well as a diaphragmatic breath, so you’ll have to inhale more frequently, which can elevate your blood pressure, pulse, and level of anxiety.

Even crazier? Your diaphragm attaches to your spleen, liver, and small intestine, and doing it wrong can cause a domino effect of health problems.

“If you’re breathing up with the chest, you may not be creating the ‘massage’ for your lower organs to encourage your smooth muscle (tissues in the gut) to act like it should,” Dooley says. “You’d be surprised by how much breathing affects your gastric emptying, and how much breathing affects things like IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).”

And then, of course, there’s how bad breathing affects your ability to use the Valsalva maneuver.

If you’re breathing “up,” using your chest, shoulders, and other muscles to pull air into your body, you can’t create the type of intra-abdominal pressure that will protect your spine when you lift—even if you took in the biggest breath you possibly could.

“If you’re building good intra-abdominal pressure, you don’t necessarily need to raise your chest upwards [when you inhale],” Dooley says, who adds that the reverse is also true: If you’re raising your chest upwards, you’re not building good intra-abdominal pressure.

Here’s a simple way to tell whether you’re using your diaphragm well. Look in the mirror and watch yourself breathe. If your chest and shoulders are moving up and down in a way that looks like the illustration above, you have some work to do.

How to Breathe Better (And Lift Weights Better Than Ever)

Here are 3 exercises that can help you breathe better and keep your shoulders down.

Breathing Exercise #1: Diaphragm Extensions
While Vranich teaches several techniques, perhaps the simplest method is an exercise that requires you to lie on your back and just breathe. (Yup, it’s really that simple.)

To perform the move, lie flat on your back and place any light object—it could be a book, a pillow or whatever you have handy—on top of your belly button. Rest your hands at your sides and cast your gaze slightly downward, so you can see the book somewhere in your field of vision.

Inhale deeply into your belly, raising the book as high as you can. When you exhale, watch the book lower. Keep breathing in this manner for a few minutes.

Vranich recommends you don’t worry about your pace of breath at first, just notice how breathing into your lower body feels. You may find that performing the technique slowly brings a sense of calm.

That’s because slow, controlled breathing initiates a “rest and digest” response from your body called the parasympathetic nervous system. For this reason, you may want to try breathing in this manner before bedtime, or even at the end of your workouts (when it can help bring your heart rate and signal to the rest of your body that it’s time to chill).

To start, try using it for a minute or so at the front of a training session to teach (or remind) you of how diaphragmatic breathing feels.

Breathing Exercise #2: The 90-90
As the name suggests, the “90-90” indicates that you’ll have a 90-degree bend in your hips, and a 90-degree bend in your knees. And you’ll need a Swiss ball.

Lie on the floor, place your heels atop the ball, and adjust your feet so that you have those right angles at your hip and knee. Dooley shows you how to set up for the exercise in this video:

The object is to inhale into your lower abdomen. Rather than just trying to press upward with the belly, think about filling the whole abdomen in every direction. When you inhale, your abs, your obliques, and the muscles in your lower back all should press outward.

“What we’re looking for is for the abdomen to fill in 360 [degrees] on the inhale,” Dooley says. “These muscles all around you are muscles of exhalation, therefore they need to expand when you inhale to build proper intra-abdominal pressure.”

Stay in the 90-90 until you feel like you’re getting the hang of breathing with all of those muscles, or for as long as your workout will allow. If you typically don’t have a whole lot of time to train, don’t worry about it. Even a minute will be helpful.

Breathing Exercise #3: The Dead Bug (AKA Dying Bug)
This exercise takes the good intra-abdominal pressure you’ve learned and applies it to moving your arms and legs.

To set up for the move, you’ll lie on your back with your hips and knees bent 90-degrees. (No Swiss ball for your heels this time.)

You can hold your arms straight overhead, or press them against your abdomen to feel the pressure you’re creating. Inhale, then exhale slowly as you lower the heel of your left leg to the floor, lift it back to your starting position, then lowering and raising the heel of your right leg.

You’ll do all of this (moving both legs down and back up) on a single exhale, maintaining stiffness in your core as you move. Once you’ve completed the movement with both legs, inhale and repeat. Perform 5 to 10 reps, where moving your left and right leg is one rep.

“This is a fantastic drill for learning how to build intra-abdominal pressure and build core stiffness but ambulate the limbs,” Dooley says. “It has a lot of carryover into things like squatting and deadlifting because you’re trying to maintain core stiffness and abdominal stability while you’re trying to ambulate the limbs.”

How to Valsalva Maneuver Like a Pro

If you know how to breathe deeply into your lower abdomen, then the first cue of the Valsalva is pretty simple.

“Big breath in,” Rippetoe says. “Before every rep, take a big breath.”

Just as you did when you performed the Supine 90-90, the breath should fill your lower abdomen in every direction. That’s half of the battle.

The other half is bracing properly. Here’s where the work you did in the Dying Bug comes into play. You want to engage your abs, your obliques, and the muscles in your back, holding them all stiff as you start your descent downward. Exhale when you reach the top. Then inhale and repeat.

As with anything, the little details matter. The Valsalva maneuver is not something you want to hold throughout a set. Exhale after every rep. Then, inhale and reset before your next rep.

One of the knocks on the Valsalva is that it elevates your blood pressure, which most of us tend to think is a bad thing. And it is, but only if your high blood pressure is chronic. In other words, if you walk around every day with a systolic/diastolic combo that’s well above 120 over 80, then you’ll want to consult with your doctor.

But, the blood pressure lift from the Valsalva is temporary—when you perform it, the pressure goes up. When you stop, it returns to baseline.

However, if you have a known risk factor like an intracranial lesion, then yes, you should speak with your doctor before trying the Valsalva maneuver. Same if you have hypertension that you haven’t addressed. As with anything, exercise common sense and communicate with your doctor if you have any concerns.

READ MORE: 

How Low Should You Squat, Really?

The Truth About the 7-Minute Workout

The Tension Weightlifting Technique: How to Make Every Exercise More Effective

The post Valsalva Maneuver: This Technique Will Fix Your Back Pain appeared first on Born Fitness.

The reasons range from explanations that suggest big meals harm your digestion or not eating frequently enough slows your metabolism. In most scenarios, it’s recommended that you have 2 to 3 small meals and 2 to 3 snacks, which means you’re eating every 2-3 hours for a total of 4 to 6 meals per day.

The problem? Research doesn’t back up all of the claims of grazing throughout the day.

Before you get frustrated, there’s plenty of information that can help you figure out how many meals are best for your body. It’s a mix of science, understanding your goals, and lifestyle preferences.

Once you consider all three variables, it becomes easy to decide if you want to eat big meals or small snacks (or both), or if you want to eat more frequently or just have 2 to 3 larger meals each day.

The Science: Does Eating More Often Burn More Fat?

Every time you put food in your mouth, you burn calories. When you eat, your inner machinery (AKA metabolism) works to break down the food you eat.

This process, known as the thermic effect of food (or TEF) requires energy, explains why you burn some calories when you eat. It’s the main reason why people have suggested eating more often.

The premise is simple: if you burn calories when you eat, then eating more often should burn more calories.

But, almost every time researchers have compared more frequent meals and snacks to fewer meals, subjects don’t burn more fat.

The reason is pretty simple: it’s not how often you eat that influences your metabolism, it’s what you eat and how much.

Each type of food you eat (proteins, carbs, and fats) uses different amounts of energy. Protein is the most metabolically expensive—it needs more energy to break down, digest, and put to use than either carbohydrates or fat. In fact, up to 30 percent of the calories you eat from protein are burned during the digestion and processing of those foods.

That’s one of the main reasons why diets with protein are so great; the more protein you eat, the more calories you burn. Carbohydrates are less metabolically active (about 6 to 8 percent burned), and fats are the least metabolically active (about 3 to 5 percent burned).

Using that framework, it’s easier to understand how the number of calories you burn is directly proportional to caloric intake and the foods you eat. In other words, if you eat the same foods and balance calories, there’s no metabolic difference between eating three meals or six.

And it’s not just your metabolism. In a review of all meal frequency studies published in the Journal of International Society of Sports Nutrition, research suggests that meal frequency does not play a role in changing your body composition.

There are reasons why eating less frequently could be a better choice for your weight loss goals. Researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center found that eating more frequently is less beneficial for feeling full.

This isn’t a hard rule, but it does suggest that the act of eating could make you feel hungrier more often, which could mean you’ll take in more calories.

Does Eating More Often Build More Muscle?

There are two primary factors that will influence muscle building from a dietary perspective: total calories and protein.

Total calories are the most important factor in adding weight or building muscle. Just as you need to reduce energy to lose weight, you need to increase energy (calories to gain weight).

Recent research compared 3 meals per day with 6 meals per day during an 8-week weight gain plan. The scientists discovered that — as long as calories were equal — eating more frequent meals did not lead to more weight or muscle gain.

Even more interesting is that the difference in meals didn’t affect hunger, either. So, calories and total protein are still the North Star for muscle gain. But, there’s one reason you might want to increase how often you eat.

Research that looked at how much protein your body can use per meal for muscle building suggests that spreading out your meals might have a benefit. Specifically, the research found:

Based on the current evidence, we conclude that to maximize anabolism one should consume protein at a target intake of 0.4 g/kg/meal across a minimum of four meals in order to reach a minimum of 1.6 g/kg/day. Using the upper daily intake of 2.2 g/kg/day reported in the literature spread out over the same four meals would necessitate a maximum of 0.55 g/kg/meal.

Translation: if muscle building is your primary goal, and you don’t want to overthink how much protein you need, it’s might be easiest to have 4 meals per day, each with similar or equal amounts of protein to help you maximize your natural muscle-building ability.

That said, if you prefer to eat 3 meals per day instead of 4, as the other research has shown, you can still effectively add size.

Are There Health Benefits of Frequent Meals?

Much like weight loss and muscle gain, how many calories you eat and the composition of those calories (getting enough protein, carbs, and fats to support your needs) will have the biggest impact on your health.

But, some research suggests your meal frequency could influence other considerations such as your gut health and inflammation.

A review published in Nutrients suggests that eating less frequently could improve gut health and reduce inflammation. But, that research considered many other factors, such as having consistent eating patterns (eating around the same time and the same number of meals) and eating more calories earlier in the day.

So, while it’s hard to say at this point if fewer means better health, it does suggest that there could be some value with how you eat and sticking to a consistent routine, whether that’s more or fewer meals per day.

What Is The Best Meal Plan Approach?

The best approach to your diet is the one that is sustainable for you and fits your lifestyle. Given that most research shows equal benefits of eating more or less frequently, it’s better to consider lifestyle factors that will make it easier for you to follow healthy habits.

If you’re not someone who loves to cook, eating more often could be problematic because you might be more prone to eating packaged foods that contain more calories.

If eating large meals “opens the flood gates” and turns you into a bottomless pit, then small, frequent meals could limit the extreme hunger.

No matter what, just remember you can eat as many meals—or as few—as you want.

And, as we’ve discussed before, your habits will determine your success much more than any specific diet or meal plan.

Many diets work, and your body primarily functions and responds to how much you eat, what you eat, and the sources of food you select.

Bottom line: If eating more frequently works best for you and your schedule, then you should cater to your preferences. But, if you prefer fewer, larger meals, then you can confidently eat that way without worrying that it’s harming your metabolism or limiting your results.

Struggling with Your Diet?

Get your questions answered. Sign up for Born Fitness online coaching. To learn more, click here.

READ MORE: 

Do Carbs Actually Make You Fat?

Breakfast is Not the Most Important Meal of the Day

Winning the War on Hunger: Practical Solutions to Overeating

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post Big Meals vs. Small Snacks: What’s Best for You? appeared first on Born Fitness.

Before you counter with claims about almond butter, cashew butter, or any nut butter, they all fall into the same category along with many other popular “protein snacks.”

As the unofficial President of the Peanut Butter Fan Club, I don’t like to discredit peanut butter in any way. But, knowing my love of peanut butter (it’s still perfectly fine to include in your diet) will help you understand why it’s important to know about high-quality proteins.

That’s because what is marketed as good protein is rarely accurate.

You can blame the food industry, but don’t expect them to change any time soon. The good news: learning to differentiate high-quality protein from “regular” (scientist will call it incomplete) protein is pretty easy.

Even better: there are simple ways to turn incomplete proteins into complete proteins (think of it as a way to upgrade your favorite nut butter of choice).

The best news: once you add more high-quality protein to your diet, you start to see the benefits you want, ranging from fat loss and muscle gain to better hair, skin, and nails.

You don’t have to ditch your peanut butter. But, if you’ve been focusing on getting a lot of your daily protein from nuts (or other incomplete sources), you’re about to realize all the ways you’ve been missing out. -AB

Why Is Protein Important?

Before we get to quality, let’s make something clear: you’ve probably heard that you need more protein in your diet, and for a good reason.

Protein is the building block for muscle, but it’s also so much more.

Protein is also essential for maintaining a strong immune system, bones, tendons, and is responsible for many metabolic reactions. There is also a clear relationship between protein and weight loss.

Here’s the thing:

Not all proteins are created equal.

Quality counts. But what’s the difference between protein and “high-quality protein?” It’s locked in the amino acids of each type of protein.

As much as protein all looks the same on a nutrition label, it’s not. 

If you’re confused, don’t worry. As we mentioned, distinguishing high-quality protein from lesser-quality protein is easier than you might think. And, once you learn to recognize the difference, you’ll be able to adjust how you eat without much stress. 

Why Amino Acids Are Important

Every source of protein has a different amino acid profile. These amino acids — or the component parts that a protein will become when you digest it — are a big determinant of whether or not a protein is high-quality.    

Your body can produce many amino acids on its own. But there are some it can’t make. They are:

• histidine
• isoleucine
• leucine
• lysine
• methionine
• phenylalanine
• threonine
• tryptophan
• valine

These are the “essential amino acids,” and you must get them through your diet.

Any food that contains all nine essential amino acids is known as a “complete protein.”

High-quality proteins contain all of the essential amino acids (amino acids are the building blocks of protein).

When you eat all of the essential amino acids (AKA a complete protein), that’s when your body can put protein to work and unlock all of the benefits.

On the flip side, if you don’t have the essential amino acids, even if you’re eating protein, your body might not be able to use all of the other amino acids to help out.

Now that you know why essential amino acids make a complete protein, you’ll better understand why high-quality protein matters.

What Makes a Protein High-Quality?

A high-quality protein really is a function of three things:

• protein digestibility (i.e. “Can your body break it down?”)  
• amino acid content (i.e. “What’s really inside the protein?”)
• the resulting amino acid availability to support metabolic function (i.e. “Will your body be able to use those amino acids the way you want it to?”).  

The process of digesting any food begins when you chew. But, protein is unique among the three major macronutrients in that your body’s digestion of it truly begins in the stomach and continues into the small intestine.

Technically speaking, enzymes work to fully break down the protein you eat into smaller chains of amino acids. This is very important because, as we mentioned above, it’s actually all the amino acids that your body puts to work. (For example, leucine is an amino acid that is a key figure in building muscle. But, as you’ll find out, amino acids don’t work alone.)

Before a chain can be absorbed into your bloodstream, it must be shortened into individual amino acids. Only then, when these amino acids hit the bloodstream, can they be transported to help whatever your body needs.

They may also be held for a short time with other amino acids in what’s referred to as an amino acid pool. The body can turn to this pool and take the exact amino acids it needs to create a larger protein molecule required for one function or another and leave behind what it doesn’t require at the moment.

• Need to build muscle? Dip into the amino acid pool.
• Trying to recover from a hard workout? Amino acid pool, please.
• Searching for collagen for your skin? Yep, amino acid pool

While the process might appear cut-and-dry, it’s not that simple. First of all, if you want to get the amino acids out of the pool, all of the essential amino acids must be present. 

So, it’s easy to see why incomplete proteins, which don’t have all of the amino acids, can become a barrier to experiencing the benefits of protein.

Also, not all protein is 100 percent digested. And, if it’s not all digested and broken down, then that means you don’t have as many amino acids present in your bloodstream. 

Scientists can measure a protein’s digestibility in the lab is by monitoring nitrogen absorption and excretion. (Protein is the only macronutrient that contains nitrogen, which is why this works.)  The outcome of this test typically produces a digestibility score.

Proteins that are highly digestible receive scores close to 100% (digestible). Lower scores are less digestible. If you were to consume a protein with a digestibility score of 90%, then for every 10g you consumed, you would absorb 9g and excrete 1g.

What helps the protein digestibility score? Having more essential amino acids.

In general, animal proteins — such as dairy, eggs, and meat — score highly. Vegetarian proteins typically score lower because they’re lower in essential amino acids.

What Are High-Quality Protein Sources?

If you just want a list of high-quality protein sources, we have you covered. The top sources are:

• Dairy products: including milk, whey protein powder, casein protein powder, hard cheese, cottage cheese, and yogurt
• Eggs
• Seafood and fish
• Beef and bison
• Game meats (such as venison and elk)
• Chicken
• Pork
• Pea Protein
• Soybeans
• Vegan protein powders (primarily consisting of pea protein, potato protein, and corn protein)

You might notice that the majority of the high-quality options are from animal sources. 

That doesn’t mean you can’t get high-quality protein on a plant-based diet. You can still fill your diet with the protein you need even if you never want to put any animals in your mouth. But, it requires you to combine vegan- or plant-based sources of protein to create a complete amino acid profile. 

Why Animal-Based Protein is the “Easy Button”

Animal protein sources mimic the protein composition of human tissue. This is why meat naturally offers a highly usable blend of amino acids—including all nine essential amino acids (with some exceptions, which we’ll get to in a second).

As a result, we humans can use protein from an animal source in a very efficient manner.

Animal proteins range from the obvious—beef, pork, chicken, eggs, and fish—to fluid sources such as milk. All of these are high-quality protein sources that are highly bioavailable (your body can put them to use easily).

Nearly all animal proteins are highly bioavailable — meaning your body can put them to use more easily.

This includes dairy, which supplies a wealth of amino acids, including a high amount of leucine. So, perhaps, it’s not surprising that studies involving chronic exercisers have found that consuming milk-based protein after resistance exercise promotes muscle protein synthesis, more muscle, and less flab.

While collagen and bone broths are popular for their potential to support joint health and other tissue function within the body, collagen protein is high in only 3 amino acids (glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline) while being fairly low in the other essential amino acids.

Bone broths may deliver health benefits, but they alone won’t help with muscle building or fat loss (or satisfy your body’s amino acid requirements, unless you add chicken or beef to the broth, in which case, you’re all set.)

What About High-Quality Plant Protein?

Conversely, most plant sources (but not all) have an amino acid profile that differs drastically from that of humans.

Many (but not all) plant proteins are low in various essential amino acids, especially leucine. This is important to note, because leucine plays a critical role in turning on muscle protein synthesis (MPS), which is key for building and repairing muscle tissue.

The big exceptions are soy, potato protein, corn protein, and pea protein. In fact, pea protein has been tested as a favorable vegan alternative to whey. These vegetarian sources contain all of the essential amino acids you require.

Outside of those sources, most plant-based proteins are not complete. All this means is that consuming one lone source of plant protein cannot support body growth and maintenance.

But there’s a simple fix. If you combine different plant protein sources, then you can receive adequate amounts of all nine essential amino acids.

Examples of complementary proteins include combining legumes and grains, such as red beans and rice, or vegetables and legumes, such as what you’d find in a 9-bean vegetable soup.

When you eat complementary proteins, the combined sources equal a complete protein source.

You don’t have to do this at the same meal. Your body will store the amino acids for about 4 to 6 hours as they come in, and then re-synthesize proteins as it needs by pulling from body cells and blood supplies later.

Often you need to eat more plant-based protein to get the equivalent amount of amino acids that you would from a smaller amount of animal protein.

So really, your main takeaways here are:

1. The exact amount of protein you need will depend on the quality of the protein you eat.
2. If you consume a lot of plant-based protein or are exclusively plant-based, you may need to increase your total daily protein intake, even more, to compensate for the lower protein quality.
3. If you are vegetarian or vegan, eat a diverse mix of foods, and you may want to research the amino acid profiles of the foods you eat.

READ MORE:

What is the Best Protein Powder?

The Curious Case of Why People Fear Protein

No Carbs Diet: The Flaw in Fat Loss

Pamela Nisevich Bede, MS, RD, CSSD, LD is a 21-time marathoner, Ironman triathlete, and mom who counsels athletes and wellness enthusiasts towards optimal performance at Swim, Bike, Run, Eat!, LLC, and is the resident endurance sports nutrition expert at EAS Sports Nutrition. She has contributed to multiple books and is regularly sought to provide insight to numerous publications. Connect with her @PamBedeRD

The post What is a High-Quality Protein? appeared first on Born Fitness.

Your arms and back have to do an enormous amount of work to lift your entire body, which is why being able to perform many reps is an effective way to improve not just the obvious muscles — your back, arms and forearms — but can also help you build incredible core strength.

In fact, as an exercise physiologist and strength coach, I’d go so far as to say that the pull-up is the world’s most under-appreciated way to develop your abs—and every other muscle in your midsection, for that matter.

All of that is great, but there’s one problem: It’s an exercise that gives a lot of people a lot of trouble, regardless of whether you’ve been training for years or just started.

If you are struggling to perform a pull-up — or you wish you could do many more — I’ll share a few simple-to-learn techniques that aren’t taught enough and will change everything about your pull-up performance.

By the time you’re done, you’ll not only be surprised by how quickly you can improve, but also by how many of the methods used to increase your upper body strength aren’t actually pull-ups.

Can’t Do a Pull-up? Start Here

If you can’t do any pull-ups, odds are you’ll blame it on your lack of back strength. To become stronger, you might start doing countless 1-arm rows and other dumbbell or barbell exercises.

While those exercise will make you stronger (and are a part of the solution), they won’t guarantee that you’ll be able to do more pull-ups. That’s because pull-ups aren’t just about your back.

Even if you have a really strong back, you can struggle with pull-ups if you have a weak core.

Core stiffness, or being able to create tension throughout your torso, is a key part of successfully doing a pull-up.

Your shoulder blades are connected to your torso. A stiff, stable core gives your arms something strong to pull on. And that can have a massive impact on your ability to lift your body.

So if you are struggling with your pull-ups—or can’t do a pull-up at all—train your core with these moves.

(If you prefer to watch all tips, here’s a video breaking down a lot of the progressions we’ll discuss today. In it, you’ll see my friend and fellow coach Tony Gentilcore demonstrating a lot of the moves discussed here.)

Hollow Body Holds

Start by lying on the floor. Lift your arms overhead (biceps in line with your ears), keeping your elbows straight.

Cross your hands and your ankles. Then press your hands and ankles into each other to create tension, and lift up into the hollow body position.

Let’s talk about that term “hollow” for a second. You might hear it and think: “belly button to spine.” DON’T DO THAT.

In a good hollow position, your abs are securely braced, as if they were about to take a punch. Take a breath in and squeeze. If anything, your abs will move slightly outward.

Start by holding a hollow body position while pressing your hands into each other and pressing your ankles into each other. This builds some of the body tension related to the position of hanging from a bar.

Hold this position for 5 seconds or 2-3 breaths per rep, maintaining as much head-to-toe tension as you can (more on how to create tension). Take a 5-second break, then repeat for 5-6 reps per set. Over time, you can increase the duration of your holds. If you can maintain tension for a full minute, that’s really good.

Hollow Body Horizontal Pull-ups

Next, you’re going to use a dowel or broomstick. Hold it in both hands as if it were the pull-up bar.

Start with your arms straight and elbows locked out, as if you were hanging from a pull-up bar. Then, while you hold the hollow position, bend your elbows to pull the bar across your face and toward your chest line, mimicking the pull-up movement.

The goal here is to maintain the core strength requirement while including an arm movement that replicates the pull-up—all while trying to breathe.

Hold the hollow body and try to complete 8-10 reps, breathing out as the bar comes to your collarbone.

Hollow Body Leg Raises

Are you a boss at the hollow body work? Great! Then it’s time to take it up another notch.

You can create some additional arm stimulus, and increase the challenge to your core, by doing a leg raise. Keep both knees locked out and cross one foot over the other. Pull down on the stick and lift your toes toward it. You may even be able to touch your toes to the bar, depending on your level of strength and control.

The big thing to remember here is to maintain tension throughout your lats to help pull your torso up. Squeeze the bar as hard as you can in your hands and think about pulling down on the bar as much as you are pulling up with your legs. This tension in your arms, back and core will help you lift your legs more easily.

Perform a set of 5-8 reps.

Stability Ball Rollouts

Another exercise that develops core stiffness is a stability ball rollout. There are two ways you can perform the movement, and both are helpful to your pull-up quest.

Option #1: Try to keep your abs tensed and press your hips forward, allowing your arms to extend out as you move. Then pull back with your hips.  This version will place more emphasis on your abs and lower back, while taking some of the work off of your shoulders

Option #2: Do the same thing as you did in option #1, but use your lats to try and pull the ball back with your elbows to return to the starting position. In this version the shoulder angle is changing, which means the muscles that control the shoulders will be under greater load.

Complete 5-10 reps of either option, or both if you’re a little crazy.

How to Build Strength on the Pull-up Bar

Before you start pulling, it’s helpful to build your skill hanging from the bar.

Bar Hang

You might struggle at maintaining a dead hang from the bar due to grip strength. Hanging for 10-30 seconds can be a simple and very effective way to build the grip strength needed to perform pull-ups.

Hanging Shoulder Shrugs

When you can conquer that challenge with ease, your next goal is pulling your shoulders down and tight to your ribs while holding the same hollow body position you used on the ground.

Hold that position for 5 seconds per rep, breathing out forcefully with each contraction.

Hanging Leg Raises

Have the hollow body hang down cold? Good. You can add in some leg raises to really take it up a notch.

Start with a bent knee leg raise. The key is to not sway.

If that’s no problem, try a straight leg raise. Again, you want to avoid rocking back and forth. The movement should be slow and controlled.

In all likelihood, you will find at least one of these moves challenging. Because your goal with these is quality, not quantity, you can use “micro sets” to accumulate volume. Try to hit 10 amazingly good reps total. To do that, you might need to perform 5 sets of 2, or 4 sets of 2-to-3, or 3 sets of 3, and so on.

If you wanted to get a little crazy, you could try to bring your toes to the bar. Use your arms to help pull-up on your torso to get a more horizontal angle on the movement.

Pull-up Training: Mastering the Movement

Now let’s “grease the groove” of the movement in a way that will help you develop strength if you’re a beginner, and provide value if you’re more advanced.

Flexed Arm Hang

The flexed arm hang is a simple, yet underutilized move that will have all the muscles in your back and arms firing hard.  

To perform the move, just grab the bar and jump up. Keeping your chest as close to the bar as possible, hang there as long as you can tolerate. When you start to feel yourself coming down, fight the lowering for 3-5 seconds so you can get some eccentric strength development out of the move.

Try to maintain 10 to 30 seconds per hold, accumulating up to 30 seconds in a workout.  For eccentric reps, try to keep it to a max of 5 reps of 3-5 second eccentric lowering unless you want to look like a T-Rex for a few days after your workout because you’re too sore to extend your elbows.

Band Assisted Pull-ups

Once you are able to do flexed arm hangs (and the 3-5 second lowering) with skill and control, you should be ready to try the pull-up.

If you want to ease yourself into the movement, start by using a band for assistance.

The thicker the band, the more assistance it provides. Similarly, placing two feet in the band versus just one gives you more help when you perform the move.

Start with the thickest band you need in order to execute the move, then work down to smaller, thinner bands over time.

(More ways to use resistance bands in your workouts here.)

The “Pernicious Pull-up Power” Workout Routine

So how do you put all of this together into a realistic pull-up training plan you could use on a regular basis? Glad you asked.

You want to “train for the movement” frequently. Three to four times a week is ideal.

Notice I said “train for the movement” and not “train the movement itself.” That’s because not all of your sessions need to include pull-ups. In fact, you’ll only perform actual pull-ups one day per week on this plan.

Here’s a sample calendar of what this pull-up training plan looks like:

DAY 1

Hollow Body Holds – 4 sets x 5 reps/set x 5 second hold per rep

Bar Hangs – 4 x sets x 6 reps/set x 5 second hold per rep

Flexed Arm Hang – accumulate 30 seconds

DAY 2

Hanging Shoulder Shrugs – 4 sets x 5 reps/set x 5 second hold per rep

Hollow Body Horizontal pull-ups – 4 sets x 8-10 reps/set

Hanging Leg Raises – 10 total reps

DAY 3

Hollow Body Leg Raises – 4 sets x 5-8 reps of smooth controlled tension

Eccentric pull-ups – 4 x sets of 4-5 reps working on 3-5 second eccentrics

DAY 4 (Pull-up day!) 

**If you can’t do a pull-up, perform…

Band Assisted Pull-ups – aim for a max of 3 reps per set

** If you can do pull-ups, then….

Pull-ups – start with a single max set, then perform 3 sets of 50% of this number. For instance, if you do 6 on the first set, do 3 sets of 3.

Following this pattern will help you develop pull-up specific strength in your back and arms and the core stiffness needed to accomplish the movement. Since there are a max of three moves per session, you can combine this simple calendar with your current training program.

Pull-ups may never be easy. But by training for them specifically, you’ll soon be able to do a lot more than you think.

READ MORE: 

The Fastest Way to Do More Pushups

The Tension Weightlifting Technique: How to Make Every Exercise More Effective

Do Carbs Actually Make You Fat?

Dean Somerset is a kinesiologist, strength coach, author and public speaker who specializes in injury and medical dysfunction management through exercise program design. The seriously in-depth “The Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint,” which Somerset and Tony Gentilcore teamed up to create, is available now. Born Fitness is not an affiliate and has no financial stake or interest in the product, but we do genuinely think Dean and Tony are rad, and are way better at pull-ups thanks to their knowledge.      

The post How Anyone Can Master the Pull-up appeared first on Born Fitness.

Following a vegetarian diet is a common approach for most people looking to follow a healthier lifestyle. The catch? It can feel difficult to fill the gaps on a meatless diet, especially when it comes to protein, which is a key to building muscle and losing fat.

So we turned to Eric Helms, Ph.D. Not only does Dr. Helms have a master’s in sports nutrition and a doctorate in exercise science, but he’s also been following a plant-based diet since 2011. Here is his advice on following a plant-based diet, and how to build muscle on a vegetarian diet.

Ok, you reflected on what you want and decided to follow a vegetarian lifestyle. But you’re also interested in building muscle (or making sure you don’t lose the muscle you’ve already earned). How do you do it?

You might be surprised that building muscle on a vegetarian diet isn’t that different from a meat-filled plan. In fact, no matter what eating style you follow, if you want to build muscle then you need to eat slightly more calories than you burn in a day (called a “caloric surplus”), and make sure you emphasize protein. All that changes is the source of protein you need when following a vegetarian diet. Do that while training consistently and voila! You will add muscle.

Vegetarian Diet Muscle: Start with Calories

Your first step is to figure out your “maintenance level,” or the number of calories you must eat to keep your weight consistent. To do that:

1. Identify your goal weight. Think “where you want to be,” not “where you are.”
2. 
Use that figure to calculate an estimate of your daily intake using this equation: goal weight x (workout hours per week + 9.5) = daily number of calories
3. Track how much you eat. Online logs like MyFitnessPal can be helpful.
4. Monitor your intake and your scale weight for a couple of weeks. (Weigh yourself first thing in the morning, after you’ve went to the bathroom but before you eat or drink anything.)

If your body weight holds steady, you’ll know that you’ve accurately hit your maintenance number.

If you’re losing weight, you can bump up calories. Add about 100 per day across a week — so, if you were eating 2000 calories per day last week, you’d bump up to 2100 calories per day this week.

If you find you’re gaining weight, do the opposite. Drop a hundred calories per day.

When you reach a number that keeps your weight consistent, voila! You’re at the maintenance level.

But if your goal is to add muscle, you can’t just stop there. To gain muscle, you need to eat more calories than you burn. How many more?

Let’s say you are an intermediate level lifter, meaning that you have been training for a few years.

• If you are a woman or a smaller guy, you’re probably going to want to eat an extra 100 to 200 calories above your maintenance amount.
• If you are a larger, taller guy, you’ll want to focus on an extra 200 to 300 calories.

This should result in you gaining one to two pounds per month. It’s a rough guideline, but one that will cover most people (although not everybody).

[Ed. note: Could you gain more muscle than this? Sure. But this is a realistic rate of growth. Don’t buy into promises that sound great on paper but will only leave you frustrated and want to quit.]

From there, you’ll want to monitor your weight and ask yourself: Am I gaining at the rate of weight that I want? If the answer is “yes,” then great. But if “no,” then continue to bump up your intake incrementally.

How Much Protein, Fat, and Carbs Do Vegetarians Need?

Let’s imagine that you’ve determined how many calories you need to gain muscle. For the sake of keeping the math easy, let’s say you need 3,000 calories per day.

From there you can budget your macronutrients, or how many grams of protein, fat, and carbs you should aim for in a day. Do it in this order:

1. Start with protein. Note that your protein intake will not actually be based on your total energy intake. Your target protein number should be based on how much lean body mass you have. [Ed. note: “Lean body mass” is the weight of everything in your body that isn’t fat — muscle tissue, bone, etc.]

Most people don’t have an easy way to calculate that accurately. So, instead, a good surrogate number to use for calculating protein is your goal body weight (If you are 180 pounds and want to weigh 200 pounds, then that is your goal weight). Multiply that weight by .8 to 1.0, and you’ll have your target protein intake in grams.

You can eat more than that, but you don’t need to. The times when you might want to consume more protein would be if you are gaining weight too quickly because you are hungry all the time. Protein is pretty filling, and going above your bodyweight-based target may help you feel fuller longer.

2. Next up, calculate fat. Let’s go back to the example of 3,000 calories per day with a goal weight of 200 pounds. That means you want 200 grams of protein per day. That equals 800 calories from protein (since protein is 4 calories per gram). You have 2,200 calories remaining for fat and carbohydrates.

A good range for fat in your diet is anywhere between 20% and 40% of total calories from fat (Note: exceptions do exist, such as if you choose to follow a ketogenic diet.). For the 3,000 calories-per-day example, here’s what it would look like:

• Goal weight: 200 pounds
• 
Protein: 200 grams
• Fat calculation: 20-40%
• If 20% of 3,000 calories = 600 calories from fat (or 600/9* = 67 grams of fat/day)
• 
If 40% of 3,000 calories = 1,200 calories from fat (or 1,200/9 = 133 grams of fat/day)

[*Ed. note: fat is 9 calories per gram]

3. Carbohydrates take up whatever calories are remaining. Divide that remainder by four and you’ll find the number of carbohydrates you want to eat in grams. So for each of our examples above:

What Are the Best Protein Sources for Vegetarians?

When you go on a vegetarian diet, it’s hard to find many foods that are pure protein. That’s because many vegetarian protein sources have a lot of crossover – i.e. a grain like quinoa will be high in protein but also high in carbs, or nuts will have protein but also a lot of fat.

That’s especially true as you move toward a strict vegan diet. Picture all plant-based diet on a spectrum, with flexitarians or pescatarians (people who’ll eat fish, eggs and dairy) on the left and strict vegans on the right. The closer you go to veganism, the more difficult things will be.

If you are a lacto-ovo vegetarian, eggs and dairy alone provide you with ample opportunity to get sufficient protein. If you have a few protein servings from one of those sources at each meal, you should be set.

For a lacto-vegetarian, again, it’s not hard to keep your protein up. You can consume whey protein or non-fat Greek yogurt, and both are high in protein while being low in carbs and fat. They might as well be meat in terms of their macronutrient breakdowns (although with some extra carbs in there).

For an ovo-vegetarian, egg whites provide basically the same thing: a food that’s high in protein and low in everything else. You could stick with just those if you were trying to control calories. Or you could mix in as many yolks as you want to hit your fat target for the day.

Best of all: In both cases (lacto and ovo), you’re getting a high-quality protein source. What I mean by that, from the perspective of someone who wants to gain muscle, is that they are high in essential amino-acids like leucine, which is one of the triggers for muscle protein synthesis (the process of building of new muscle).

If you’re a vegan, you have to worry to some degree about complementary proteins. Basically, many plant-based protein sources don’t have all nine essential amino acids. [Ed. note: if you don’t have all the essential aminos, then you can’t put those aminos to use for building muscle.] So you’ll have to mix different sources of plant-based protein together in order to get a complete set of amino acids.

A common example is rice and beans. Together, those two foods provide a complete protein source.

You don’t need to worry about complementary proteins on a meal-to-meal basis. You just want to look globally at your diet. Are you consuming multiple sources of proteins — rice, beans, quinoa, tofu to some degree — that are complementary in nature? Eating a variety of protein sources as a vegan ensures that you’re getting all of the essential amino acids.

Here are some of the vegetarian diet protein sources:

High Protein

• Edamame (1 cup, cooked) = 16g of protein
• Tempeh (3 oz.) = 16g
• Seitan (6 oz.) = 15g
• Textured Vegetable Protein (¼ cup, dry) = 12g
• 
Hemp Hearts (3 tbsp.) = 10g
• Spelt (1 cup) = 10g

Moderate Protein

• Red lentils (½ cup) = 9g
• Peas (1 cup) = 8g
• Red Beans (½ cup) = 8g
• Kidney Beans (½ cup) = 8g
• Quinoa (1 cup) = 8g
• Tofu (3 oz.) = 8g
• Black Beans (½ cup) = 7g
• Great Northern Beans (½ cup) = 7g
• Almonds (1 oz.) = 6g
• Garbanzo Beans  (½ cup) = 6g
• Pumpkin seeds (1oz.) = 5g
• Collard greens (1 cup, raw) = 5 g
• Hubbard Squash (1 cup, cooked) = 5g

Lower Protein

• Asparagus (1 cup) = 4 g per cup
• 
Spinach (1 cup) = 4g per cup
• 
Sweet potatoes (1 cup, roasted with skins)= 4g
• Beet Greens (1 cup) = 4g
• Brussel sprouts (1 cup) = 3.9g
• 
Mushrooms (1 cup) = 3g
• Broccoli (1 cup) = 3g
• Broccoli Rabe (1 cup, cooked) = 3g
• Mung Bean Sprouts (1 cup, cooked) = 2.5g
• 
Kale (1 cup, raw) = 2.5g
• 
Zucchini (1 cup, sliced) = 2g
• Cauliflower (1 cup, chopped) = 2g

Vegetarian Diet Protein Powder: A Primer

If you are a vegan, it’s likely that you’ll want to invest in a pea protein (or pea protein blend).

Why pea and not soy, the most common one?

There’s some research showing that soy protein, in large amounts, could potentially affect sperm quality and quantity in men. There’s other research indicating that soy could potentially affect estrogen levels, but that’s less consistent. Some studies show it, some don’t.

Women probably don’t have to worry about this stuff because even if estrogen changes, you’d still be within normal, acceptable ranges compared to how much estrogen you’re normally producing. But, I’m not comfortable enough with the ambivalence of the research, and the potential consequences, to advise having soy as a large part of your diet, as a vegan or a vegetarian.

Notice I said “large part.” Having a serving of soy per day is not a big deal. So if you want to have tofu once a day, that’s all good. If you have a scoop of soy protein once a day, that’s totally fine. You just wouldn’t want to have 40-50% of your protein intake come from soy. That’s probably not a good idea.

Instead, you probably want to invest in a protein blend that is high quality, complete, and doesn’t have those issues. Pea protein or a rice-pea blend is what you want.

In fact, pea protein performs really well in research. It’s comparable to whey protein in terms of its leucine content. A term that I’ve seen thrown around is “vegan’s whey,” which is roughly a 70/30 blend of pea protein and rice protein. You actually get a very similar essential amino acid profile to whey.

Outside of just the amino acid profile, we’ve actually seen studies where people perform just as well in terms of body competition change (ratio of muscle to body fat) and performance when they eat pea protein after a workout, compared to whey.

The one thing to note about pea/rice blends is that they bulk up a lot. No matter how much water you add to it, it will have an earthy flavor. The mix is pretty filling, I’ve found, but drinking it can feel a little bit tiresome due to that mouthfeel. If you are accustomed to whey protein, which is very thin, this will be different than what you are used to.

A way to work around that is to mix small amounts of vegan protein powder into things like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You can’t put a huge amount in there or it can start to get a little gritty and weird, but sneaking in a little bit will help you up the protein count of your meals – and save you from having to drink shake after shake.

How to Tell if a Vegetarian Diet is Working for You

When your goal is building muscle, start by tracking your weight. You’ll also want to track your workout performance. Whether or not the weights you are using, or the reps you can perform, are going upward or downward can tell you a lot about how well your lifestyle is supporting your goals.

But remember: external goals aren’t the only thing that matters. You also have to live in the body you’re building every day. So create a rating scale for yourself, say, from 1 to 5. Each day, rate how you feel on the qualitative aspects of your life. This includes:

• sleep
• energy
• hunger
• mood
• 
mental clarity
• 
workout quality or enjoyment

Those subjective ratings are important. Also, while it’s a little bit uncomfortable to talk about, you may even want to monitor whether it’s easier or harder to use the toilet. If you’re eating appropriately and drinking sufficient water, it should get easier.

While we’re on the subject, here’s another thing to note: When you increase your vegetable consumption, you may experience an increase in gas. Really, that’s true whenever you make a large-scale change to your diet. Two things to note:

1. Try Gas-X (it’s a lifesaver).
2. Typically, things should start to normalize as your gut microbiome gets more accustomed to what you’re taking in. You’ll likely notice an improvement over a few weeks to a month.

Your energy levels shouldn’t fluctuate that much if you’re doing it right. If you feel really off, even though your macronutrients and your total calories are the same, that can indicate some type of micronutrient problem. That’s not always the case, but it’s worth watching. If the issue is persistent, try a blood test.

For Long-Term Success, Be Clear About Why You Want to Be a Vegetarian

Whenever I first start talking to someone who wants to make a shift over to a vegetarian or vegan diet, but who is also interested in athletic performance, the first thing I ask is: Why do you want to do this?

A common response is, “Well, we know vegetarian diets are better for health and performance.” That’s where we have to stop and take an objective look at what we really know about vegetarian diets.

There are two things that often skew people’s viewpoints:

1. The “rose-colored glasses” problem. It’s natural for people to see only the positives in data, especially when their ethical beliefs are driving it. Someone who promotes vegetarian diet, or who believes it is unethical to not eat vegetarian, may only highlight or acknowledge research showing that vegetarian diets are healthier.

2. The confounding variables problem. When you look at the broad spectrum of quality research, you see that, yes, vegetarians are healthier and live longer compared to the general population. The thing is, a person from the general population is not someone who really thinks about what they are eating, other than perhaps to ask, “Do I want more salt on this?”

So in these studies, as soon as you look at a vegetarian, you are bringing in someone who has made a serious decision about their nutrition. Which usually means they are more attentive to their health in general. They’re typically more active. They drink and smoke less. They are more conscious of calorie intake. They usually have a lower BMI. All of these things predict a longer life and better health. So yes, compared to the general population, vegetarians typically do better.

Here’s the “but.” But, when researchers get comparable controls to vegetarians (i.e. people who tick those other boxes about less drinking/smoking, lower BMI higher activity levels, and so on), it starts to wash out those differences. You don’t see such drastic health benefits.

That’s not to say a vegetarian diet can’t be healthy. Fruit and vegetable intake are highly important for health. But you can eat meat, fruit and vegetables, and likewise be healthy.

I would say that the only “evidence based argument” to do a plant-based diet would probably be for ethics – and even then, it’s going to be subjective, and specific to your personal ethics.

I encourage you to assess your own beliefs. Figure out what you feel the most ethically comfortable with. Instead of just rigidly trying to follow someone else’s plan, ask yourself, “What am I trying to accomplish?”

Vegetarian Diet for Muscle Building: Quick Notes

• • Building muscle on a vegetarian diet is very possible. The basic rules are the same: Eat a little more, prioritize protein, get sufficient rest and sleep, and then kick ass in the gym.
  • If you’re a flexitarian, pescetarian, lacto-ovo vegetarian, you have plenty of options for getting sufficient protein. Whey protein is your friend. So is Greek yogurt and eggs.

READ MORE:

The Best Protein Sources

The Myth of the Best Diet Plan (And How to Find What Works for You)

Winning the War on Hunger: Practical Solutions to Overeating

The post How to Build Muscle on a Vegetarian Diet appeared first on Born Fitness.

Many exercise programs place you — and your body — in positions that leave you vulnerable.

That’s not to say you should never squat with a barbell on your back, perform deadlifts, or do a variety of other exercises.

But, it does mean that recognizing when you are at risk — and how to avoid putting yourself in a position to get hurt — are the first steps of assessing whether a program is right for you. After all, if you can stay healthy and exercise consistently, you will see results.

Before you start another workout, let these tips be your guide to staying healthy, picking the right moves for you, and progressing to the more intimidating when they no longer feel like a challenge.

The Revolving Door of Pain

There are really only two ways you could hurt yourself in the gym. Call them “Whoops!” and “Wearing Down.”

“Whoops!” refers to times when you do something like drop a dumbbell on your foot and break your toes (not that it would ever happen to you). If you dive into the data, you’ll see these events are breathtakingly rare.

Research published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine found that just of 0.2 percent of lifters were admitted to emergency departments—over the span of 18 years. Four times more people wind up in emergency rooms due to bathroom-related injuries every year. Seriously.

You’re far more likely to wind up in AN EMERGENCY ROOM due to a “bathroom-related injury” than you are from lifting. Weightlifting is a tremendously safe activity.

Bottom line: Weightlifting is surprisingly safe, so you don’t need to spend much time worrying about “whoops!” events.

The real danger — the revolving door of injury — is by “wearing down” — and it can oftentimes be prevented.

Wearing Down refers to those times when a move just feels…not quite right. Like when you perform an overhead press and your shoulder says, “stop!” Or when your elbows hurt when you bench. Or when you finish a set of squats or deadlifts and it feels like your lower back got more of a workout than your legs.

These pains can start out subtle and may seem like no big deal, but they can grow into something serious (think: strains, sprains or tendinitis) over time. So it’s important to tune in to these cues. Then you can address them before they become full-blown issues.

“The vast majority of strength-training related injuries are due to overuse or poor technique, and can build up over time into more serious problems,” explains California-based exercise physiologist Pete McCall, M.S., C.S.C.S., C.P.T.

The good news? “Wearing Down” injuries are entirely preventable. Rather than muscling through those times when your body sends you a warning shot, you can identify what they are trying to tell you. Then you can correct the problem.

Or, in some cases, knowing that there are different variations of an exercise can help you avoid pain in the first place. You wouldn’t do algebra before you could add, so why are you doing complex lifts before you master the basics?

Here, McCall and other top strength coaches share the most common causes of weight-room pain for each of the four major movement patterns—squats (or “knee-dominant” moves), hinges (“hip dominant” moves like deadlifts), push exercises, and pull exercises—and explain what’s happening. Follow their advice and you’ll ensure that the lifts you perform do what they’re meant to do: Build you up and make you stronger.

Knee-Dominant Exercises: Squats, Step-ups and Lunges

What you feel: Knee pain (especially around the kneecap), low back pain

What’s causing the problem: “Most knee injuries for knee-dominant moves stem from improper tracking of the knee joint,” explains Mathew Kite, C.S.C.S., an exercise scientist and general manager of D1 Sports Training in Dallas, Texas. Basically, your knee should go in one direction, but winds up going in another instead.

In the case of the squat, your knees collapse inward, a position called valgus. Valgus knees place damaging side-to-side stress on your joint, particularly on your patellar tendon.

Worst of all? “Going valgus” isn’t your knees’ fault. The real culprit is a set of weak glutes.

When your glutes aren’t as strong as they need to be to handle the load on your back, your knees automatically fall inward in order to help you lift the weight. This is okay if it were to happen only occasionally, like on the last rep of your last set while setting a new max. (You’ll see some powerlifters’ knees go inward onsets when they’re really going for broke.) But other than that, you don’t want this to happen.

Making matters worse, having weak glutes can cause you to lean too far forward when you squat. While a little bit of a forward lean is OK, having too much of one can put excess pressure on your lower back.

There’s one more thing that can cause you to lean forward excessively when you squat: poor ankle mobility. You’ll know this is your problem if you feel that it’s difficult to keep your heels on the floor as you lower your butt to the floor, McCall says.

WANT TO AVOID KNEE PAIN? DEVELOP A STRONGER BUTT.

What you can do: Your first goal is simple: “Develop a stronger butt to save your knees,” says Kite. Building up your glutes will help your knees track correctly (think of them angling toward the pinky toes when you squat or lunge). To strengthen them, try adding frog pumps, glute bridges and hip thrusts to your workouts.

If you have a bar on your back, focus on pulling it down into your traps. That will help stabilize the upper part of your torso and prevent it from tipping forward, Callaway says.

If you’re having a hard time keeping your heels on the floor, McCall recommends foam rolling, stretching, and doing mobility drills for your calves prior to squats. Try taking them through their full range of motion with toes-elevated bodyweight calf raises.

Lastly, you don’t need to squat with a barbell on your back. Goblet squats — which are typically done with a dumbbell or kettlebell — are variation that is knee and back friendly, and it makes it easier to squat without your knees collapsing or body leaning forward.

Hip-Dominant Exercises: Deadlifts, Hip Thrusts, and Glute Bridges

What you feel: Pain in your lower back (a.k.a. the lumbar spine) or neck (cervical spine).

What’s causing the problem: “An incorrect set-up,” says Meghan Callaway, CPT. “Many deadlifters set their hips too low and end up ‘squatting the deadlift’—or they set their hips too high [and wind up rounding their back in order to reach the bar]. Both can place the body at a greater risk of injury.” Having a rounded back or overly arched back stresses your spine in its weakest positions.

What you can do about it: Your goal here is to maintain what’s called a neutral spine, which has a natural (but not excessive) curve inward at the lower back, then slightly outward at the shoulder blades, and back inward at the neck.

“Maintaining a neutral spine is what’s going to keep that back healthy and ready for the next workout,” Kite says.

To achieve this when you perform a hinge-style movement like the deadlift, you want to think about getting as much movement as possible from your hips with as little movement as possible from your knees. Drive each rep with your hips, pushing your butt as far backwards as you can.

A good way to learn this pattern is to set a foam roller (or anything that’s straight, like a PVC pipe) against your back so that it has three points of contact with you, touching the back of your head, your shoulders, and your tailbone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TfzOviOVes

Another way to make sure that you are running the show with your hips rather than lower back is to make sure the weight remains as close to your body as possible during deadlifts, Callaway says. When you lower the weight, image the bar almost scratching against your shins, which will help keep the bar closer to your body throughout the movement.

If deadlifts are difficult, there’s no need to pull the weight from the floor. You can place a barbell or dumbbell on boxes or platforms. What this does is limit the range of motion to help you be in a position of power.

That way, you can perfect the movement without getting into a position where you are overly rounded. As you can stronger and better, you can lower the boxes — or, you might find that you never need to pull the weight from the floor. Unless you’re an Olympic lifter, there’s no reason to hold to this belief unnecessarily.

Or, you can do a staggered stance deadlift. The joy of this variation is that it provides the benefits of a single-leg deadlift (where less weight is needed), without the advanced difficulty of balance. The back leg works like a kickstand to make it easier to move in a way that doesn’t make your body vulnerable to injury.

“Push” Exercises: Bench Press Variations, Push-ups, Shoulder Presses, Triceps Extensions

What you feel: Shoulder pain, elbow strain, wrist discomfort.

What’s causing the problem: Not keeping the wrist, elbow, and shoulder stacked during bench and shoulder presses can also introduce instability in the shoulder joint, Kite says. Bending your wrists can also introduce pain.

What you can do about it:  Think tight, tight, tight—all of the way from your wrists to your core.

To get your wrists in order, you need to start by gripping the bar correctly. Here’s an instance where what “feels” natural—and what most people do—is actually wrong.

Watch Starting Strength author Mark Rippetoe explain how to properly grip the bar for a press starting at 1:57 in this video. Note that the process depends you placing your palms on the bar first, rather than wrapping with your knuckles first. Properly placing the bar across your palms will stack the weight on the bones of your forearm, making for a more powerful (and far less injury-prone) press.

From there, you’ll want to keep your core muscles engaged, obliques braced, and rib cage down (no flaring!). “This will help prevent the spine from hyperextending,” says Callaway. She adds that if you can’t press a weight while keeping a natural curve in your spine, you need to decrease weight. It also wouldn’t hurt to build your core strength with the help of exercises like the dead bug and Pallof press.

Still concerned about pressing? For one, barbells are not necessary. You can challenge your muscle just fine with dumbbell variations or even bands or cables. If your shoulders are vulnerable with the bench press, try a floor press, instead, which will limit the range of motion. Worried about overhead pressing? If you have a landmine (or you can just place a barbell in the corner of a room), try this press variation, which is easier on your shoulders and elbows.

“Pull” Exercises: Rows, Pull-ups, Face-pulls, Biceps curls

What you feel: Shoulder pain, wrist discomfort, tennis elbow

What’s causing the problem: “Not controlling the lowering (eccentric) part of the lift,” Callaway says.

Many people put their body at risk by not controlling the lowering phase of the pull-up. If you are allowing your body to free-fall from the top position, that could be part of your problem. Doing so exerts additional force on the joints from your shoulder blades, shoulder, elbows, and wrists. The effect can hold true when you’re doing biceps curls, rows, and any other “pulling” exercise.

What you can do about it: Start by using lighter weights. If you can’t control a weight both up and down, you’re just asking for injury. In general, if you can’t control the weight for 2-3 seconds on the descent, the weight is probably too heavy.

Next, if you know that lowering the weight can lead to injury, it only makes sense to emphasize that type of training. Turn a weakness into a strength and you won’t get hurt. Here’s how it works: “Take three to five seconds to lower your body [from the pull-up bar] or the weight,” Callaway says. You can do this with almost any exercise. And the benefit isn’t just injury prevent; research shows that focusing on the eccentric can cause more of the good “microtears” that helps your muscles become bigger.

With each rep, pretend that you are pinching and slowly releasing an orange from between your shoulder blades. Then, keep your entire body tight and braced to keep your body in a more stable position and prevent swinging (ak.ka. don’t kip). Engaging your core properly will be especially helpful on “hanging” moves like pull-ups. Tony Gentilcore, C.S.C.S., explains the proper way to set up for these moves in this short video:

While pullups are an effective exercise, they’re not necessary. For bodyweight pulling, you can do inverted or bodyweight rows. The closer your body is to parallel to the floor, the harder the movement becomes.

Also, if you’ve experienced elbow pain (or something like tennis elbow) in the past, McCall recommends try performing some or all of your pulling exercises with a palms-up (supinated) grip or with your palms facing each other (neutral grip). The rotation of your palm changes the stress you put on your shoulders, and, therefore, makes the movement more kind to your elbows.

READ MORE:

The End of Shoulder Pain

Why Do Squats Hurt? (And How to Fix the Problems)

The Complete Deadlift Guide

K. Aleisha Fetters, M.S., C.S.C.S., is a Chicago-based personal and online trainer. She has a graduate degree in health and science reporting from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and regularly contributes to Men’s Health, Women’s Health, SELF, U.S. News & World Report, TIME, and SHAPE. When she’s not lifting something heavy, she’s usually guzzling coffee and writing about the health benefits of doing so.

The post How to Prevent Knee, Back, and Shoulder Injuries appeared first on Born Fitness.

If you’ve ever thought about adding resistance band exercises to your routine — or are limited to working out at home and don’t have much equipment — you might be surprised by how much you can accomplish without any iron.

How Can You Use Resistance Bands in Your Workout?

Resistance bands can be used for at least four different types of exercises:

• Stretching and mobility
• Warm ups and muscle activation
• Resistance training and “getting a pump”
• Developing the “mind-muscle” connection (learning to better “feel” your muscles working)

Each of these goals require you to use the bands slightly differently, but with each example, you can accomplish quite a bit with just a few bands.

Resistance Band Stretches and Mobility Work

Resistance band stretches can help you overcome the hardest part of stretching — feeling like you are limited by the range of motion in your muscles. You know this as “feeling tight.” (A.K.A. “I’m not flexible!”). Funny as it might sound, the limitation might really be in your head, or in another part of your body.

Think about a simple hamstring stretch, where you lie on your back with one leg on the floor and raise the other leg to the sky. Most of the time you use your hands to provide resistance. Simply looping a resistance band around your ankle can create a different movement pattern (because the pressure of pulling comes at a different angle — from your ankle instead of behind your knee), which might allow you to generate more range of motion.

It’s not magic, but most people will find they can get a better stretch with the resistance band variation. That’s because a resistance band can help you go deeper into a stretch, provide support, or help reduce the load of your bodyweight when you perform a move. That’s why many trainers consider bands to be a “must” for maximizing your mobility.

There are limitless ways you can use resistance bands to assist you when you stretch. Here are two examples—one for your upper body, one for your lower body.

Banded Lat Stretch

https://youtu.be/gjRMe2Bcbu4

Loop a band around something at least 6 inches over your head, such as a pull up bar. Grab the band with one arm and step back, so that you band forms a 45- to -60 degree angle to the floor. Get into a staggered stance and put one knee on the floor. Your arm should be in a straight line and aligned with the band.

Lean forward slightly so that your torso is perfectly aligned with your arm. (It will look like the band is an extension of your arm. You could draw a straight line from your hips all the way up to the top of the band where it’s attached to the pull up bar). Hold this position so you feel a stretch in your back.

Do 5 deep breaths, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth, and then switch sides.

Band Supported Leg Lowering 

https://youtu.be/TY6RmPbKqe0

Lie flat on your back and then bring both of your legs up towards the ceiling. Your legs and body should form the shape of a “L.”

Wrap a band around the arch of one of your feet and hold it stable. Keep both of your knees locked out by squeezing your quadriceps muscles and pointing your toes towards your shins.

Lower your leg that does not have the band around it until either A) you feel tightness in your hamstring, or B) you feel pain in your back (this is bad) or don’t feel stable in your core. When either of those things happen, stop, then reverse the movement and lift the leg back up.

Ideally, you’ll take 2 seconds to lower your leg, then take 2 seconds to lift your leg back up using your core muscles. Perform 1-2 sets of 5 repetitions per leg as a part of your warmup, or pair with a lower body movement such as stiff-legged deadlifts.

Resistance Band Exercises for Muscle Activation

Resistance band exercises can be used to strengthen or activate hard-to-hit muscles. For example, your shoulders are two areas that most people have troubling “feeling.” Because of continuous tension, bands are an effective way to help activation and work those muscles without supporting muscles taking over.

Band pull-aparts are a fantastic way to warm up your shoulders. Remember how bands help create more tension throughout the movement? Tension means more blood flow. More blood flow means you’re muscles will feel warm. It’s like adding oil to a squeaky break.

When performing the movement, make sure you don’t have too much slack in the band, because if you do that takes the tension off of your shoulders. The band pull-apart is also effective because it works your shoulders in a pattern that is often overlooked.

Think about how much time you spend at your desk with your shoulders slouched. The band pull-apart works the opposite range of motion, meaning it helps pull your shoulders back into their correct alignment, improving your posture.

Better posture means less pain. And because you’re pulling the band apart, that means you have maximum tension with minimum weight. This is something that isn’t always easy with weights like dumbbells.

Band Pull-aparts 

https://youtu.be/vBhetF3Cyew

Here’s how to do it: Grip the opposite ends of a long (about 40 inches is typical) resistance band. You can mix up your hand position, from prone (thumbs facing one another) to neutral (thumbs facing the ceiling) to supinated (thumbs pointed away from one another).

Position your hands about shoulder width apart, or at a distance where you feel a little tension in the band. From there, pull your hands outward as wide as you can.

Pause and squeeze the muscles in your upper back and shoulders, then reverse directions and bring your hands back toward one another (back to the starting position), and repeat. Focus on keeping your shoulders down and back throughout the entire movement.

Perform 3 sets of 15-30 repetitions.

Mini-Band Lateral Walks

Remember how pull aparts were great for your shoulders? These lateral band walks can do the same for your glutes and help them wake up.

Place the band above your knees. Spread your legs wide enough that you feel tension across the band. (Consider this an athletic position, like a baseball player about to field a ground ball.) Take one leg and step out to the side. Then, follow with your other leg, making sure you maintain tension on the band throughout the movement.

Walk for 10-15 steps in one direction (i.e. from left to right) then switch and go for the same distance in the opposite direction (from right to left).

Goblet Squats

Place the mini-band around your legs just above the knees. Hold a dumbbell vertically against your chest with both of your hands supporting the weight underneath. Press your elbows inward against your rib cage, which activates the muscles in your upper back.

Squat down by pushing your hips back and pressing your knees outward against the mini-band. Doing so activates your glutes and helps you steer clear of knee pain. Lower yourself down until your elbows touch the insides of your knees, then press through your feet to stand back up.

Resistance Band Exercises for Building Muscle

No matter what some people might insist, weights are not the only way to build muscle. Weights are effective because they add resistance. Bands also provide resistance, meaning they also can help you build muscle.

In particular, bands might be most effective when doing higher rep training, such as performing 20 to 30 reps (or more) per set (this is known as “metabolite training”).

Research has repeatedly shown that building muscle is somewhat dependent on volume — or the number of reps x sets x weight. Because you have 3 variables you can manipulate, bands provide a way to increase volume (through more reps) without needing more weight.

This approach works for any muscle in your body — from arms and shoulders, to your chest, back and even your butt. Just ask anyone who’s ever tried Bret Contreras’s glute burnout. Here is another example of how you can use bands to achieve some metabolic glute work:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYPHRU-B8w3/?taken-by=l2fitnessyeg

Resistance Band Exercises and the Mind-Muscle Connection

The mind-muscle connection is something that not everyone is familiar with but it can make a huge difference in your training. Basically, it’s about using your brain to drive more effort from your muscles. If that sounds a little crazy, rest assured it’s a real thing. (Here’s proof.) And with the help of resistance bands, you can develop it.

Resistance bands are useful way to build that connection because the farther you pull the band and the more it lengthens, the harder your muscles have to work.

The increased tension provides a strong peak contraction at the top of every rep. You’ll really feel those muscles working. Want to take it up another notch? Add in a pause at the top. (Ooh, it burns!)

What are the Limits of Resistance Bands?

Like anything, there are always some limitations. For instance, resistance bands don’t necessarily challenge your muscles through a full range of motion.

Lifting weights consists of a raising portion (the concentric) and a lowering portion (the eccentric). The eccentric phase of a lift is the part where you are lowering the weight back down, and it’s beneficial for both muscle growth and improving muscle control.

They feel lighter on your muscles as the bands themselves get shorter. As we discussed above, that may be great from an injury prevention standpoint. But since eccentric muscle actions are where we elicit the most muscle damage in training, using bands alone might limit the amount muscle you can build.

Bands can also make measuring your resistance a little tricky. Part of adding muscle is creating a challenge for your muscles. That’s why bands work — they add resistance. At some point, however, your body will adapt to resistance. This is why you might stop seeing results. Your body adapts, and you need to keep creating a new challenge in order to fight off plateau.

There are many ways to do steer clear of plateaus, however. You can make an exercise more challenging (if you are doing band rows with both arms, you can switch to a 1-arm version with the same band, which will make it more difficult), or you can add weight. This is where dumbbells and barbells have an obvious advantage, as you can just use bigger weights.

But don’t stress too much. Your hand placement, the distance between you and where the band is anchored, and how far the band is stretched can all be used to increase or decrease the resistance. You can also user thicker bands (which has more resistance) or even add multiple bands.

At some point — yes — you might need to add more weight to create a bigger challenge. But as long as you continue to find ways to challenge your muscles (which can also occur by doing more reps and/or sets of an exercise), your resistance band workout will keep delivering results.

The Resistance Band Workout for Building Muscle

Want to give resistance band exercises a try? Here’s a sample upper and lower body workout designed for building muscle.

Upper Body Resistance Band Workout
1) Band pull-aparts: 4 x 15-20 reps x 60s rest
2A) Band pushups: 3 x 10-20 x 45s
2B) Band 2-arm rows: 3 x 15-20 x 45s
3A) 1-arm band row: 3 x 8-15/arm x 45s
3B) 1-arm band chest press: 3 x 8-12/arm x 45s
4A) Band overhead triceps extension – 3 x 12-20 x 45s
4B) Band biceps curls – 3 x 12-15 x 45s

Lower body Resistance Band Workout
1) Mini-band lateral walks: 4 x 15-20/side x 60 seconds
2) Band leg curl: 3 x 15-20 x 60s
3) Rear foot elevated split squat (can add band for resistance): 4 x 12-15 x 60s
4A) Band good morning: 3 x 20-25 x 60s
4B) Walking lunges: 3 x 10-15/leg x 60s
5) Band iso hold Pallof press: 4 x 30s/side x 60s

READ MORE: 

How to Build the Perfect Bodyweight Workout

How to Master the Art of Old School Muscle Building

The Tension Weightlifting Technique: How to Make Every Exercise More Effective

References

1. Pull, Ranson (2007) Eccentric muscle actions: Implications for injury prevention and rehabilitation.


2. Schoenfeld BJ (2010) The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training.


3. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW (2017) Strength and Hypertrophy Adaptations Between Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.


Landon Poburan is the owner of L2 Fitness in Edmonton, Canada. The L2 Fitness Summit is a video series that includes 11+ hours of muscle building ideas from our friends Dr. Mike Israetel and Dean Somerset. If you’re a coach, or just super into getting swole (Israetel) while staying awesomely mobile and balanced (Somerset), then you may seriously enjoy this product, which is on sale for $50 off through December 10th at midnight. And coaches: You get CEUs! Full disclosure: We here at Born Fitness get absolutely nothing for telling you about this product — we are not affiliates and have no financial stake involved. 

Landon Poburan

Personal trainer, nutrition coach and owner of L2 Fitness located in Edmonton, AB Canada.

l2fitness.com/

The post How to Use Resistance Band Exercises in Your Workouts appeared first on Born Fitness.

ASK BORN: How many carbs and protein should I be eating post-workout? You like waixy maize? –Max

When I first started training, there was nothing I looked forward to more than my post-workout meal. It was the time when my muscles were starved for food. But more importantly, I thought it was a time when my body needed a massive insulin surge to take carbs and transform them into hard earned muscle.

What you eat after a workout is less important than meeting your overall calorie and macronutrient guidelines for the day.

In my mind, insulin meant sugar, and sugar meant Frosted Flakes. (And lots of Frosted Flakes, as in several very large bowls.) After all, I was convinced my body was like a sponge after a workout and would soak up all the carbs.

Turns out, my mindset regarding the need for significant carbs after a workout was misguided. Of all the ingredients involved in building the body you want, there’s a certain mystique about the role and importance of the meal you enjoy after your workout.

There’s no shortage of information and opinions on what you should eat, how much you should eat, the importance of the timing, and the dangers of what you risk by not emphasizing this meal. And while timing is not insignificant, the latest research indicates that most what we thought was true about the post-workout meal no longer holds as much accuracy.

One of the most common suggestions revolves around the consumption of carbs after your exercise session. While consuming carbs after a workout is perfectly fine—and carbs are necessary for muscle growth—our bodies don’t need as many carbs as we think. More importantly, we don’t need to load up on simple carbs (think sugar) in order to refuel and see changes.

The New Rules of Post-Workout Meals

The biggest problem with focusing on what to eat after your workout is that we tend to view this meal in isolation. Instead, it’s best to be aware of what you had before your workout, or if you train in the morning, what you had for your last meal before you sleep.

Your body doesn’t run on a short-term fuel supply. Your glycogen (muscle energy, if you will) is filled up anywhere between 350 to 500 grams of carbohydrates. If those numbers don’t mean much to you, that’s more than enough fuel to get you through your weight training workout; and plenty for most endurance sessions, too.

Your goal is to promote muscle protein synthesis (muscle growth and repair), and for that to happen, you don’t need a massive insulin spike. In fact, research has shown that a moderate amount of protein and carbs (or even protein alone, more on that soon) can max out the muscle protein response after exercise.

In this study, scientists found that insulin is “permissive rather than stimulatory.” Instead, it’s to make sure you activate insulin and allow it to do its job.

Translation: the goal isn’t to jack up insulin to see a greater response.  More carbs and insulin is not better and does not accomplish more.

Pre-Workout v.s. Post-Workout: A Team Approach

This certainly differs significantly from the general ideology passed down from some supplement companies. The commonly held belief is that if you don’t use fast-acting carbs immediately after a workout, then you won’t elevate your insulin levels, you won’t recover, your body will shrink, and all potential gains will be lost.

Your body isn’t carb-dependent because post-workout because you ate before your workout can have a big impact.

In fact, a pre-exercise meal can help ensure that your insulin levels remain elevated up until your workout is over. If you eat protein and carbs before you train, insulin can remain elevated for several hours. And if you don’t like solid foods, combining 6 grams of essential amino acids with about 35 grams of carbohydrates can keep insulin levels about four times higher than fasting levels for about two hours.

This isn’t to tell you must eat before you train (it’s completely goal dependent and also a matter of how well you digest food before you exercise).

Instead, it’s to emphasize how easy it is to create an insulin response that will help your body before, during, and after training. And more importantly, it allows you to know the flexibility involved in choosing what you eat before or after a workout without having to worry that you must follow a specific plan that might not feel right for you. (This is something I’ve tested with clients and have found to be much more beneficial than rigid plans.)

Insulin’s ability to prevent muscle protein breakdown and maximize muscle protein synthesis isn’t dependent on massive amounts of carbs (because you’re not completely depleting your glycogen stores), and doesn’t require a special carb blend.

This is another instance of people majoring in the minor. The, “I need magical fast-acting carbs from waixy maize within 30 minutes of training” is not as important as focusing on the bigger picture. In this case, making sure you have some protein and carbohydrates after a meal, and focusing on a good overall diet.

Whereas many people believe that the 5 percent is where winners are made, it’s really where the most stress occurs, arguments erupt, and progress can stall.

Master the big picture details first, and you’re likely to see more results, have better compliance, and achieve much better clarity. Then you can tackle the most specific details.

What You Should Eat Post-Workout

The urgency of a post-workout meal is significantly exaggerated. Moreover, most research with glycogen depletion and repletion focuses on endurance athletes. If you’re a runner putting in serious mileage, for instance, your need for glycogen-replenishing carbs is greater but still not urgent—and it’s on both ends of the spectrum.

Most people who have exercised are familiar with the concept of carb-loading. And yet, research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that bumping up carbohydrates to more than 50 percent of their diet (and maxing out at 75 percent) didn’t improve muscle glycogen and only led to a minor 5 percent improvement in their performance. In other words, all those extra carbs are not worth it. (Although the meals might be enjoyable.)

When it comes to weight training, your body is in even less of a need for the instant carb surge. That’s because most weight workouts—even the more aggressive approaches in the 45 to 60 minute range—won’t come close to depleting your glycogen stores.

And if you do eat a preworkout meal, that need is even less as the food you ate beforehand is most likely still being absorbed by your body even after you’ve finished.

What’s more, even if you don’t eat carbs before a workout and skip them in the time period immediately after you train, as long as you eat carbs several hours later your body will still recover and glycogen resynthesis will occur within about 24 hours. (Yes, the body is an amazing machine.) Consider this good news as the benefits of the post-workout meal period are experienced for a longer period of time.

The majority of the most recent research emphasizes that timing is less important than the total amount of food you eat, and the macronutrient ratios (of proteins, carbs, and fats) you consume.

That’s not to say eating after a workout isn’t important; rather, “after a workout” is just a much longer period of time than originally thought. In fact, the idea of the “small anabolic window” is minimized with each passing year (this is not a bad thing).

It now appears that your post-workout window is really open for about 24 hours rather than 30 to 60 minutes, with the first 4 hours being when you want to make sure you eat or have a shake. 

That means more flexibility with your meals and not feeling forced to slog down a shake if you’re not hungry.

Just as valuable is the research that suggests the increasing importance of protein after your workout. A study published in 2010 found that adding carbs (about 50 grams) to 25 grams of whey protein did not increase post-exercise protein balance compared to the protein without carbs.

As for carbs? Unfortunately the research just isn’t as clear. This excerpt is from a research review in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition on nutrient timing published by Alan Aragon and Brad Schoenfeld.

It is tempting to recommend pre- and post-exercise carbohydrate doses that at least match or exceed the amounts of protein consumed in these meals. However, carbohydrate availability during and after exercise is of greater concern for endurance as opposed to strength or hypertrophy goals.

Furthermore, the importance of co-ingesting post-exercise protein and carbohydrate has recently been challenged by studies examining the early recovery period, particularly when sufficient protein is provided. Koopman et al 52 found that after full-body resistance training, adding carbohydrate (0.15, or 0.6 g/kg/hr) to amply dosed casein hydrolysate (0.3 g/kg/hr) did not increase whole body protein balance during a 6-hour post-exercise recovery period compared to the protein-only treatment….

For the goal of maximizing rates of muscle gain, these findings support the broader objective of meeting total daily carbohydrate need instead of specifically timing its constituent doses. Collectively, these data indicate an increased potential for dietary flexibility while maintaining the pursuit of optimal timing.

Lab to the Kitchen: Designing Post-Workout Meals

What does it all mean? There is no “perfect meal” for after your workout. While the post-workout time period is still important and valuable, when it comes to achieving your goals, what you eat after (or even before) a workout is less important than meeting your overall calorie and macronutrient guidelines for the day.

If you are someone who tracks calories or macros, your daily goals should be focus 1A and 1B. In general, days where you train you should eat more carbs, and days when you don’t train you’ll most likely have less.

From there, determining what to eat post-workout depends on your preference. If eating pre-workout leaves you feel groggy or sick to your stomach, some branched-chain amino acids or potentially fasting (research has shown that protein breakdown is elevated after fasting and eating after training while fasted can have a positive effect; or if you don’t fast not eating 3 to 4 hours before your workout can be beneficial because a meal of protein and carbs can keep amino acid levels elevated for up to 6 hours) might be best for you.

But if you still need more direction for your post-workout meal, your top priority is probably protein. That’s because research shows that if you eat protein any time around your workout (before, during, after) then you have a similar increase in muscle protein synthesis.

Anywhere between 20 and 40 grams of protein before or after (or both) should do the trick, and based on Aragon’s research, a similar amount of carbs should work—although the science is not as definitive.

If you’re worried about eating fat in your post-workout meal, well, don’t. The idea that post-workout fat will slow down an “anabolic effect” of protein is unsubstantiated in any research. While protein and carbs are still the preferred nutrients, having some fat (think eating eggs) is not going to slow your process.

What you eat during the course of the day matters more than what you eat before or after your workout. In the post-workout meal prioritize protein over carbs, and when adding carbs understand there’s no need for massive amounts to raise insulin. This is not an anti-carb approach. Instead, it’s a matter of realizing the lack of urgency for carbohydrates post-workout, and understanding that you don’t need to consume excess amounts of carbs to recover properly.

Personalize Your Fitness Plan

Want more help figuring out what to eat and when? You can receive customized training and diet planning through the Born Fitness online coaching program.  

READ MORE: 

Fix Your Diet: Understanding Proteins, Carbs and Fats

Winning the War on Hunger: Practical Solutions to Overeating

How Much Fat Should I Eat?

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post The Meal Timing Myth? appeared first on Born Fitness.

The year was 2004. The quote came from one of my esteemed professors at the University of Colorado during a late-night statistical analysis.

Back then, I was just a young “professional research assistant.” Translation: I was helping write grants, designing experiments, running tests, and collecting and analyzing data. It was my first real job, and it honestly wasn’t that much fun. Some days would just consist of hour-after-hour looking a numbers, running ANOVA’s, ANCOVA’s, and regressions (if you don’t get the statistical reference, consider yourself lucky…unless you love numbers), and digging for truth.

During a late night conversation, I was listing off all the research I wish I could do. The cool experiments that I would run if I was in charge of my own lab. I was fascinated by everything. I wanted to understand training and nutrition. But just as important, I was obsessed with psychology. I wanted to understand behavioral change, and why for some people exercise is as automatic as breath—while for others it’s more uncomfortable than one-legged hula hooping. (Give it a try and you’ll understand.)

It was at that point that my mentor explained the sometimes very political nature of research. It was something I would quickly learn during my two years as a researcher. The barriers to science are everywhere. It’s hard to earn grant money. And it can be even harder to get published. (Depending on the publication.) It’s the underbelly of science that many people never see. It’s one thing to write a thesis paper or review—both incredible labors of love, passion, and insomnia. It’s another to conduct a study and structure it in a way where the findings can be scientific.

Bridging the Gap: Science Meets Training

If you talk to most great trainers, they will admit that science is important. But reliance on science almost always comes with a caveat: What happens on the training floor will always be ahead of what you discover in a lab.

And it’s true. When you’re given a program, you can know within a give period of time whether it works or not.

This is not the cause with science. Not only does research have many barriers, conducting a study takes time to get funding…time to be approved…time to be tested and analyzed and dissected.

Then, when you’re finally ready to share your findings you must write your research paper…wait even longer for it to be reviewed….finally have it accepted…and then wait again for it to be published.

It can make jury duty seem like a quick process.

In the training world, you create programs, test them on clients, and then learn what works. You understand sets and reps, tempo and rest. You start to understand what builds strength and what builds muscle. The best ways to burn fat and how to improve cardio.

All the rules still apply and what you learn has value.

But at the end of the day, it’s not hard science and there’s a limit to what you can claim. And not for the reasons you think.

Anecdotal evidence—training plans and diet—are an essential part of science. This is where people misunderstand “BroScience.” This can be the hotbed of where we develop hypotheses. There’s nothing with trying some protocols not proven by science and revealing what it did for you and trying to replicate.

But that’s the limitation—or at least the tantalizing aspect.

What’s valuable is not just know if it works for one person, but if it can work for everyone.

When you follow a routine, there are many potential factors that could influence your results. These are variables you can’t control or at least aren’t being analyzed.

Ever wonder why one program can work great for a friend but not for you? It’s because there could be a variable that is influencing the results. But without some sort of scientific method or analysis to control these variables (or account for them) the overall conclusions you can draw are limited.

So while the jacked due at the gym with 20-inch arms might be awesome at building his 20-inch arms, some of his lessons might not be scientifically applicable to all people. That does not make him any less knowledgeable or his results less impressive. It just puts limits on the definitive nature of what caused the progress. (Outside the obvious hard work and good eating.)

You want to know what works. You want faith that the effort you put into training and diet has a high probability of success.

I became tired of the battle between the scientists and the trainers, so I decided to bring them together to fight on the same team.

And despite many advancements and some great work that continues to be published in scientific journal, I still read far too many studies that left me wanting more. You know the ones that play with rats, only do leg extension, or only focus on beginners who have never touched a weight.

I was done with shitty research, and I was ready to do something about it.

Enter the Muscle Lab

About a year ago I finally figured out how to take my inner science nerd and combine it with my love of real life training and diet. But it took some recruiting, lots of planning, and finding ways to improve the limitations of traditional research. If you’re going to build a lab, you have to start with a great team.

First I called Alan Aragon, one of the world’s most renowned and respected nutritionists. Alan is an advisor for Men’s Health and an international speaker. Most importantly, he works with real clients and produces real results, all while relying on scientifically-proven methods. Alan is a “broscientist.”

Then I reached out to Dr. Brad Schoenfeld. Brad is equally “bro” with his love of bodybuilding, but he’s as much a muscle geek as anyone. As a professor, his research-driven approach has sold 10’s of thousands of copies of books, and he continues to produce some of the best new findings that push the entire industry forward.

My goal was simple: Break all the barriers of traditional research while still maintaining the integrity of science.

The result is The Muscle Lab. With the time and effort of Mr. Aragon and Dr. Schoenfeld, we designed an approach that would remove all the ridiculousness of bad programs, and allow for real people to have access to real experts, and then be able to analyze real results. No more crappy diets or flawed workouts.

The setup was as simple:

1. Alan would handle all nutrition.
2. Brad would handle the workout design.
3. I would handle the coaching, data collection, and making sure that all users had the support and accountability they needed to stay on track, all while providing a virtual lab that would make it more fun than any science experiment.

The focus: Help real people build as much muscle as possible in 3 months.

After a year of work, the Muscle Lab is finally open.

It’s the ultimate online coaching experience. You have three coaches to help you pack on muscle. It’s access to the type of diet and muscle building expertise that is normally limited to a select few. If you were to consult with all three of us, the price would be more than $1,000. So we decided to change the game.

Now you can have the muscle building plans from Brad Schoenfeld, and a diet from Alan that is personalized to the exact workout you’ll be performing and your goal body weight.

You’ll be kept accountable with weekly check-ins that will help you stay focused, and just as important, log all your data so we can track progress and changes.

Because this is about more than just you.

This is about muscle building research.

The very results that you produce will be analyzed and used to produce research that reflects real workouts, real diets, and real people. And that information will help us continue the search for answers that will make building muscle a little more clear.

It’s the Muscle Lab: A place where science meets results.

But because of the work involved, and the fact that you are working with Alan, Brad, and myself, the study is very limited.

We will only be accepting 100 people.

So if you want to work with the best and push science forward, this is your chance to join an experience unlike anything being offered.

This isn’t some over-the-top online product. It’s not about hype. It’s a real live coaching experience that allows you to work with the best coaches.

Unlike most research, this approach is all about the people who love building muscle.

And that’s how science should be.

To join the Muscle Lab, sign up here.

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post The Fitness Research Flaw appeared first on Born Fitness.