The Official Muscle-Build.com Blog

Break Plateaus and Finally Reclaim Those Abs

Losing weight, carving out a powerful physique, and otherwise claiming your health are goals that we all have, but the truth is that you will not always be able to reach for these goals in a linear fashion. You might go down the right road at first, only to find that you’re hitting a brick wall that refuses to budge.

Is the solution to curl up and go back to ice cream and cheesecake? Not at all, you future beefcake in training. You just need to learn how to break the plateau and reclaim those tight abs that you've always wanted.

Understanding the Plateau
What really constitutes a plateau? Generally speaking, it's all about the time. If you stop progressing for 3-4 weeks, that's understood as a stall or a plateau. If you stop moving forward in gains for a week, that's not a true plateau. A lot of things can affect performance, so it's important to explore all of the factors.

The Body, Electric!
We tend to move in plateaus when we do the same thing over and over in the gym, in the diet, and in life itself. When we know that we need to sleep more and we keep staying up all night to watch TV, plateaus tend to generate themselves.

Same when you know that you really need to stay away from the pizza and beer, but you indulge anyway. These are all things that might not make a difference here and there, but it adds up over time.

You need to jump back into the laboratory and explore the subject of you a little bit closer. You need to look at all of the different factors that indeed influence your body, including sleep, nutrition, stress levels, hormonal levels and even the exercise program that you’ve chosen.

Could Cycling Be Your Best Chance at Ripped Abs?
Everything in moderation–including moderation. That's the usual line when people start talking about fitness and exercise, but is that really the case?

We need to start looking at the way we train to figure out what's missing and what's not. Now, you might feel that you've really been hitting the gym hard–why aren't the abs coming?

You could be overtraining and not even realize it. If you find that your thirst for the gym is waning and even fading out fast, this could be your big sign. You also want to look at the nutrition side of things. Many people hunting for ripped abs aren't tracking, and they're doing themselves a disservice.

How can you improve anything when you have no baseline for activities already done? You have no idea how many calories you’re eating or how they're affecting you. That's a bad sign when you’re trying to tweak a program.

This means that if you are looking to truly keep a ripped physique, you’re going to have to track and measure results all of the time. If you don't, you will have a hard time getting anyone to really take you seriously, let alone try to help you. If you look at most of the leading bodybuilding and even regular fitness forums, stats and records are going to be the rule of the day.

Getting Back on the Wagon
You might feel a little frustrated when you find that your progress just isn't there anymore. Does that mean it's Congress? Not quite. There's always a new day, a new opportunity to improve. You don't have to feel like you'll never get those lean, ripped abs and that tire core that you want.

You may need to add some training days, or take some way. You might need to adjust your macronutrient profile and even the way you eat–meal timing can be pretty important, too. And we can't mention sleep enough. Even if you think that you’re getting enough sleep, you’re probably not really letting your body recover and heal. It's just as important to rest as it is to hit it hard in the gym.

The more you stress and obsess over your abs, the higher the likelihood that they won't appear. Cortisol is a mean, mean hormone and you don't want to mess with high levels of cortisol–inflammation and stress go hand in hand. When you're inflamed, you can't progress very well either. I wish you the best of luck in getting the abs you desire–don't let those plateaus get you down!

Guest post by Paul Atkins

Around the world  fans of Les Mills Body Pump were elated to find out their favorite cardio Body Pump class could now be accessed via an in home workout program. The Les Mills PUMP Beachbody workout is first of a kind workout, and bridges the gap between group class style exercises and in home “do it yourself” fitness DVD based videos.

Although only being a few weeks old, the Les Mills PUMP Beachbody workout  seems to be doing very well and especially among female exercisers. This is not much of a surprise as the major demographic for Body Pump is women. However don’t think this workout is anything but a heart pumping, 1,000 calorie per hour total body burn. The Les Mills Pump Beachbody program is much more and is ideal for the person who desires Body Pump class results but would rather skip the crowds and get their fix at home.

The Secret To Les Mills PUMP Beachbody Workout

The secret to this program lies in the balance between high repetition exercises and low barbell weight. No more than 20 to 25 pounds in total weight are used in the base kit of the Pump workout. The term used to describe the technique behind the program is called The Rep Effect.  This effect works contrary to typical weight training exercise. Instead of bulking you up, the combination of lower weight and higher reps helps get you lean, strong, and sculpted. The constant change in pace and tempo is also at the heart of the Rep Effect. By continually changing the speed at which you exercise you push your muscles to the point of fatigue while at the same time staying in a high heart rate zone.

What The Les Mills PUMP Beachbody Workout Comes With

Like all Beachbody fitness programs the Les Mills Pump workout comes with everything you need. You not only get the 7 workouts on 7 DVDs and a bonus core workout only available through certain sites, but you also get just the right balance of equipment. There’s not too much equipment; it’s comprised of a barbell that’s easy to fold away and two sets of plates weighing five pounds and ten pounds respectively. The deluxe version of the program comes with an extra set of ten pound plates and a step platform that comes with four risers plus three additional DVD’s.

Whether you get the base kit or deluxe kit you will get a nutrition guide called “Get Lean” along with a calendar that’s easy to follow, and an exercise guide that defines each move you do in the workout. All of these materials are useful because they keep you on track and help propel the results you will already be getting from the program. 

The ideal person for Les Mills PUMP is someone who may have heard of Body Pump before, may have even attempted a class or two, but because of a lack of confidence or inability to keep pace with classmates felt like Body Pump wasn’t for them. This in home version of Body Pump was designed to start you off slowly and allow your body to build up strength which in turn will help you build confidence. When strength and confidence are built up, the hope and expectation of both les Mills International and Beachbody is that anyone who uses this workout will then be able to try Les Mills Body Pump classes. If you think les Mills Pump will help you in achieving your fitness goals, why not give it a shot?

Guest post by Elaine Hirsch

Working out can be overwhelming for many people. Stepping into a weight room, you'll find a plethora of weights, machines, and contraptions which can cause more confusion than the training they provide. Today, a shift towards working out with less equipment and free-flowing techniques, such as Zumba are becoming prominent. Another source of inspiration comes from the workouts used by prisoners, where according to Criminology Degree, the number of prisoners continues to increase year-over-year.

MIND
With little to do yet many spare hours to occupy oneself, a mental rigidity towards the training of your physical body is a natural outcome of this harsh environment. The best inspiration for creating a rock-hard body is staying alive. Borrow this mindset from the inmate and you will begin to sculpt a healthy body.

BODY
The best part of the prison inspired exercises is that they are all weight bearing. Meaning, one does not need barbells, dumbbells or big costly machines to create a solid steel body. These exercises use one’s own body weight and a space range of no more than 3' by 5.'

Pull-Ups
Find a sturdy bar that is higher than your own head and grasp tightly. Let your arms straighten as you hang. Then, slowly pull your chin up to meet the bar. Be sure to keep your elbows close to your body when you bring your chin up to the bar.

Seated Triceps
Sit on the floor with your legs in front, knees bent and feet on ground. Place each hand on floor alongside your buttocks with fingers pointed straight ahead. Situate yourself so you can lift your body up so only your hands and feet are touching the ground. With arms slightly bent, dip your body down and then up as you straighten arms.

Squat Jumps
Standing, bend knees and place hands on ground as if you are in a crouching position. Jump straight up and upon landing immediately resume the starting position. Attempt to touch the ceiling on your jump. Attempt to become as small and tiny as possible on your crouching position.

Push-Ups
The classic push-up must be a part of the prison inspired workout. If you ignore all other upper body exercises, do this one every day. Push-ups work all the muscles in the back, chest and arms so daily sets of about 15 reps will work wonders for one’s state of rip-ness.

Plank
Yoga has given the exercise world some pretty great things but the Plank may be the ultimate exercise of all times. Begin the Plank as though you were attempting to do a push-up but do not dip down. Alignment is everything with the Plank so aim for a totally straight body in which your buttocks are not higher than your back or dipping towards the floor.

SOUL
When one’s body is tended to, one’s soul becomes calmer and more at peace. The prisoner knows all too well the soul searching that is undertaken during those long periods of isolation. Carve out time every day to experience this soul work. Isolate yourself from the world around you, if only for 20 minutes. Finally, take time to give thanks for the freedoms you do have to do these workouts in your own space.
 

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Guest post by Denis Faye
Protein Pile-up: Some science regarding everyone's favorite macronutrient

Got Protein? As of late, this macronutrient has become the darling of the sports world. As the battle rages on regarding the merits of carbs and fat, everyone seems to agree that you can't go wrong with protein. The problem is, as is frequently the wont of Americans, we've decided that if a little bit is healthy, a lot must be awesome! Like, you're totally going to get ripped, man, if you pile on those amino acids!

Unfortunately, this just isn't the case. While nutritional science tends to shift and evolve, at this writing, there's simply no credible research indicating that excessive protein consumption increases muscle mass. Let's have a look at the facts.

Protein is made up of various smaller components called amino acids, which function countless ways, including acting as the body's primary building blocks. Your muscles, bones, and skin are all made of protein.

There are twenty amino acids, nine of which are essential, meaning that your body can't convert them so they must be present in your diet. They're all present in animal protein, including eggs and dairy. There are also plenty of non-animal sources of the essential nine, but you need to be a little more strategic when you're a vegan or vegetarian. Hemp and soy contain all eight. Grains are a good source of half the eight and legumes are a good source of the other half, so a combination of the two works well. You don't need to eat them both in the same meal; you're fine if you just consume both over the course of a day.

Protein works its way through the digestive tract, being progressively broken down into amino acid components, until it hits the small intestine where these acids are absorbed into the blood stream. At that point, the body re-assembles the amino acids into different kinds of proteins that do an assortment of things, such as provide structure, regulate fluids and pH, and build muscle.

Contrary to popular demand, excess amino acids are not peed out. They do one of two things. If the body is low in dietary carbs and fat, they're converted to ATP (cell energy) either via the liver, which converts it to glucose, or directly via a process called oxidation. If the body already has enough dietary energy, amino acids are converted to fat and stored in adipose tissue (body fat) – albeit not as readily as carbs.

What is peed out are used-up amino acids as well as the waste products created when amino acids are used as energy. It's called urea and the kidneys filter it.

So you see, excess protein doesn't go dog-piling to your muscles. It just doesn't happen. On average, a body can absorb about 30 grams of protein per meal for protein-specific purposes (http://www.adajournal.org/article/S0002-8223(09)00769-X/abstract). Anything beyond that goes to energy. Normal people should consume about .8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily (as opposed to pound of body weight). According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, athletic types may benefit from upping that number to 2 grams per kilogram (http://www.jissn.com/content/4/1/8).

There's even some research suggesting that weight-training athletes need less protein because their bodies are more efficient at using the stuff (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15212752).

So now I've "scienced" you up. While I'm sure you're thankful for that, there's still a rather large gap in this explanation. If "protein piling" doesn't make you buff, why do body builders who eat a bunch of protein get so huge?

The reason for this, in my opinion, isn't which calories they're eating. Rather, it's how many calories they're eating. When bodybuilders want to add mass, they eat a ton of food – protein, carbs, and fat. Not only are they hitting the required protein, they're taking in energy in general, which fuels their workouts, making sure they get the most out of those reps. Sure, that extra protein benefits them, but mostly when it's converted to energy.

But if you're really hell-bent on overdoing protein, it's probably okay. It's generally accepted that healthy kidneys can cope with the load brought on by a high-protein diet. The trick, however, is to maintain balance. When you sacrifice other nutrients for protein, you start to have problems, as demonstrated in a study on Korean bodybuilders who experienced metabolic acidosis (overly acidic bodily fluids) due to high-protein diets (http://www.jissn.com/content/8/1/10). As the study indicates, potassium and calcium supplementation offset the problem, but I'm wondering if the issue would have occurred to begin with had these guys made sure to maintain a balanced diet filled with plenty of vitamins and minerals.

So if you're looking to build muscle, maybe it's time to stop thinking high-protein and start thinking high-healthy-and-balanced. You'll be, like, ripped in no time!

Formerly "weight challenged," Denis Faye shed 50 pounds following a 5-year jaunt through Australia, a trip that helped him become the extreme fitness and sports enthusiast he is today. He's been a professional journalist for 20 years, writing for GQ, Men's Journal, Men's Health, Wired, Surfer, Outside, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and Pacific Longboarder. His sports include trekking, rock climbing, mountain biking, spelunking, swimming, scuba, swimming, and — most importantly — surfing. Denis currently writes for Beachbody, which provides effective home workout dvds including the popular P90x program and exercise dvds for the new Insanity: Asylum workout.