How to properly optimize the muscle mass building process?

"Train, eat, sleep - repeat" - you've heard this famous phrase. It sounds naive, but these 3 factors are the actual pillars of progress in all sports. Of course, the fun begins the moment we try to figure out how to train, eat, and sleep (recover) most efficiently. All of a sudden, the entire process gets more complicated. Let's sort things out.

Muscle building is all about muscle hypertrophy - anabolism (- in short: growth and building). Muscle hypertrophy occurs whenever the rate of muscle protein synthesis is greater than the rate of muscle protein breakdown (catabolism). The process of muscle hypertrophy is triggered when muscle fibers are subjected to intense physical effort, metabolic stress and/or become damaged. Then, the body begins to adapt the fibers to be able to better handle the physical load by strengthening and repairing the myofibrils. Finally, whenever the environment allows, the muscle fibers slightly increase in mass and strength. The efficiency of the entire process is strictly dependent on diet, recovery, and the hormonal environment.

SARCOPLASMIC vs. MYOFIBRILLAR HYPERTROPHY

We determine two kinds of muscle hypertrophy:

- sarcoplasmic

- myofibrillar

SARCOPLASMIC Hypertrophy (non-functional) is associated with bodybuilders. It refers to an increase in the volume of sarcoplasm in the muscle cell.

Sarcoplasm - the cytoplasm of a muscle fiber ("a fluid which surrounds myofibrils"). It is made up of water, glycogen, creatine phosphate, and ATP. Whenever the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid is increased, as a result, increases the whole muscle fiber, but without a significant improvement in its strength (density/quantity of myofibrils).

This kind of hypertrophy is correlated with a high number of reps in a single set.

MYOFIBRILLAR Hypertrophy (functional) is associated with powerlifters. It refers to an increase in the number of myofibrils in a muscle cell.

Myofibril - a long cylindrical organelle found in muscle cells responsible for muscle contractions. Muscle cells become stronger as the number of myofibrils increases, thanks to the general improvement of their contractile potential.

This kind of hypertrophy is correlated with stress adaptations triggered by the high load of weights and low reps.

However, this kind of training (set to induce myofibrillar hypertrophy) has no significant influence on the amount of sarcoplasm. Muscles hardly gain volume but become much stronger. That is the exact reason why many powerlifters don't even look strong and are almost skinny compared to bodybuilders but are able to lift tremendous weights, far out of reach for most bodybuilders.

1. TRAINING

The first conclusion is - the type of training performed strictly conditions the way we grow. If your primary goal is to build muscle mass, then you should perform resistance training set to induce a sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

The most optimal sacroplasm-maximizing workout should be based on the following rules:

- high number of reps (5-14)

- sufficient volume (12-14 sets per body part per week)

- exercising the same muscle part at least 2x per week

- appropriate mass of weights lifted (60-80% of REPmax)

- optimal rest between sets (2-4 minutes)

- little-no exercise until muscle failure (keep 1-2 reps in storage)

- adaptation prevention (modify 1/4 of exercises in your workout plan once every 4-5 weeks)

All of these factors will promote the most efficient sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. I highly recommend modified german volume training, which, along with a proper diet and recovery, leads to the most efficient gains in muscle mass.

2. DIET

Caloric Surplus

In order to build muscle mass, we must maintain a caloric surplus so having a higher caloric intake than our total metabolic rate is - nothing surprising. Remember that it is almost impossible to build muscle mass without having a caloric surplus (it may only be possible on strong hormonal doping, or by first-timers in weight lifting for the first approx. 4 months). How to build the next floor of a building, when you have already used all of the bricks? ... firstly get more bricks (caloric surplus). The same rule goes for being on "caloric zero."

The most optimal surplus is 300-400 kcal beyond the total metabolic rate. It will maximize muscle gains, simultaneously preventing excessive fat storage.

Protein Intake

High and regular intake of proteins. In order to maximize muscle protein synthesis, it is crucial to consume 2 - 2.4g of proteins per kilogram of body mass (the ability of protein synthesis is limited, so higher protein intake will not bring any further benefits... unless you are on hormonal doping), as well as provide your organism constant access to proteins, so to consume them regularly - once every 3 hours.

You should also take care of good protein sources. Meat and dairy products have the highest bioavailability of proteins. Avoid high soy consumption, as it may lead to reduced DHT levels. Also, the bioavailability of its protein content s relatively low, the same as that of nuts or beans.
[best protein sources]

High carbohydrates consumption

Sarcoplasm includes a substantial amount of glycogen. Carbohydrates are the rocket fuel of our bodies, while insulin is one of the most anabolic hormones that every bodybuilder just has to make use of. A high-carb diet is one of the best ways to maximize your muscle growth.
I've written a whole article about why a rich in carbohydrates diet is the most favorable diet for every athlete:

Water

There is no anabolism without water, so drink plenty of it. How much is enough? You can count it easily: 1.5L + 1L per every 1000kcal consumed (at least). Proper intake will enable your body to fight inflammation and activate all anabolic processes. Furthermore, water is also indispensable in increasing the amount of sarcoplasm (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy). Without sufficient intake, those processes will become disturbed.

The optimization of muscle growth - Minicuts

Perhaps for many of you, it's surprising that I mention a caloric deficit while speaking about muscle growth. Why are they important? Well, let's analyze the chart I made.

[image 2. the master of Paint]

The most optimal environment for anabolism ranges between 11 - 28% body fat. Below this range, the potential to cause inflammations is too low to force the organism to trigger anabolic processes. However, whenever your BF reaches 25-28%, inflammations continue to arise while the capacity for anabolism decreases strongly. That's the exact moment when it becomes a must to perform a minicut and reduce your body fat to at least 15-17% (it should take approximately 4-5 weeks).


Supplementation

Consider the following:

- creatine monohydrate, which will improve the anabolic potential of the organism and the amount of sacroplasm

- vitamin D3

- L-citrulline

- magnesium

- whey protein (if needed)

- carb blends products (if needed)

- zinc (if needed)

While having an adequately composed diet, it is unnecessary to supplement anything more. Well, unless speaking about GH secretagogues and AAS.

Avoid antioxidants intake near your workout

The crucial point when it comes to muscle building. Research disclosed that supplementing 1g of vitamin C before a training session reduces inflammations up to 75%, thus making the training session inefficient by preventing the body from triggering anabolic processes.
One of the goals of a workout is to trigger an inflammatory state in the body  in order to disrupt the homeostasis and thus giving the organism a stimulus to activate anabolic processes. Well, if we prevent inflammations from occurring by, e.g., supplementing antioxidants before a training session, our heavy workout will go fuck itself.

3. REGENERATION

+ "How to recover the most efficiently? - Diet & Supplementation Tips"

+ Proper sleep hygiene is one of the strongest anabolic compounds [read more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/proper-sleep-one-38288940 ]

In order to optimize hypertrophy you should:
- minimize workout-unrelated stress (all adaptogens comes in handy)
- sleep properly and long enough (7.5-9h)
- perform an active recovery between training sessions (i.a. cardio sessions)
- perform massages and stretch sore muscles (on non-training days)
- from time to time make use of saunas and cold plunges (on non-training days (read about Anabolic Saunas)