By Dr. Filippo Casini
Dear readers, with this article I would like to try to help all those people who have been training for several years, let's say at least 3 or 4, and, for one reason or another, are not completely satisfied with the results obtained or maybe, simply, they no longer get them as easily as when they were at the beginning of their weight training.
With a few small but clever changes, within a couple of months you will notice considerable gains in terms of muscle mass and sports performance, simply by following a few small rules.
It is good to remember that an athlete who wants to grow up muscularly must consume at least 2.2 g of protein per kg of weight, 4 of complex carbohydrates - except in the specified moments in which sugars are preferable - and 1 gram of fat if possible healthy, however it is FUNDAMENTAL that you train with a great constancy and a great intensity to make the best use of the nutrients you insert with the diet:
it would be unthinkable for a normal athlete, for example one of the many Sunday cyclists or an amateur footballer, to consume 2 or more grams of protein per kilo in weight, 1.5 would already be more than enough, while for an athlete who does anaerobic activity with the purpose of muscle growth his belief, it is essential to replenish the nutrient muscle in order to really grow.
It is also essential to drink plenty of water, even 3-4 liters a day, (1 liter every 20 kg of weight), if possible away from meals, limiting yourself to 1-2 glasses during the meal, so as not to swell and flood your digestion, to keep the body clean and hydrated and the muscles always rich in oxygen and nutrients.
Furthermore, it is very important to perform at least 2 weekly aerobics sessions to make the heart efficient and improve performance, as well as exploit the beneficial effects of running in raising good HDL cholesterol and improving lung capacity.
Following these simple directions and making the most of the moments of the day that the body reserves for us to grow, looking at other times to eat healthy foods, complex carbohydrates, noble proteins and healthy fats, it will be much easier to rekindle the engine of muscle growth when perhaps, after a few years of training, it got a little cold.
1) Reload glycogen stores (muscle and liver) upon awakening:
drink a quick release serum protein mixture to begin the influx of amino acids into the muscle and block the night catabolism, along with about 500 ml of a sugary energy drink.
ES. when you wake up, first of all, even before you wash and dress, if you can, consume 0.5 g of protein / kg of weight (ex. 40 g proteins if you weigh 80 kg) whey, that is whey, which immediately go into circulation, also thanks to the thrust generated by insulin, the anabolic hormone par excellence, which you will naturally stimulate by drinking about 500 ml (a small bottle) of a very sugary energy drink, such as Gatorade or Energade.
Upon awakening the excess sugars will not end up in the fat cells as carriers for the genesis of new fatty acids, but will recharge the stocks of liver and muscle glycogen.
Consume this initial drink, wash yourself, get dressed and if you have the chance, eat an solid meal about an hour after drinking it all.
The ideal would be to consume scrambled egg whites (1 egg white every 12 kg of weight, if you weigh 80 kg then 6-7 egg whites) with some whole slices (3-4, one every 20 kg of weight) to have a prolonged release of AA during the morning, as the eggs (in this case the album) medium-slow release protein sources.
The fibers provided by the whole food will modulate the absorption of proteins and slow down digestion guaranteeing an almost continuous flow of nutrients until the next meal
2) optimize pre and post training and also during:
in the pre workout it is advisable to consume about 20 g of whey protein (1 g every 4 kg of weight) half an hour before starting to train, then immediately before changing to the gym, already in the locker room, take a BCAA tablet from 1 g with optimal ratio 2: 1: 1 (like all modern BCAA supplements) every 20 kg of weight (example if I weigh 100 kg I will take 5).
Then begin the training with an aerobic warm-up to move the metabolism a little and improve the absorption of the branched amino acids, which will play the important role of preserving the muscle from catabolism, that is, from using its own proteins to generate useful amino acids for energy purposes and continue the effort even when the glycogen stores are depleted, that is about 20-25 minutes after having started an intense anaerobic activity: the muscle will use the BCAAs inserted from outside preserving their own proteins.
In the middle of training, consume 50% of the BCAA dose taken at the beginning (eg if I took 5 at the beginning, I will consume another 2.5 1 g tablets).
Second part "