The Muscle Prof Academy II

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this week for The Muscle PhD Academy where we discuss the best ways to lose body fat!

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What is the best way to optimize your fat loss?

Intensity is the key to optimizing fat loss. Intensity can mean different things to different people, but what I am referring to is heart rate. As you can see the higher your rate is during your training, the more fat you can lose. Therefore, I would recommend high-intensity interval training (HIIT) as your very first choice for fat loss. Pairing HIIT with resistance training and a well-formulated diet is the key to a successful program to get you shredded!

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What is the absolute best way to lose stomach fat and make your abs pop!
We know that a successful diet will include a great diet and a well-developed training program. What about cardio? We find that diet alone will help you lose stomach fat, but to optimize fat loss, especially in the abs, you must incorporate cardio.
If you look back at yesterday's lesson, I mentioned that HIIT would be the best choice for fat loss. If you are already doing a large amount of HIIT (3-4 days/week), then I would recommend adding in lower intensity cardio 1-2 days/week to maximize your fat loss!

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Will training in a low carb state decrease your performance?
At first it will, but after you adapt, your performance will be the same as if you would train with carbs. Therefore, if you prefer doing your cardio in the morning before you eat, it may hinder your performance at first, but it will come back to normal!

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Recall that super high reps can increase muscle growth in a big way! Here is a technique that will have you breathless! However, the science is clear that it will bust through plateaus like a wrecking ball through an old home! If you have never done this, start with smaller body parts and isolation movements, like dumbbell curls and leg extensions. Once you get the hang of it, try it with leg press and squats! Not only will this make you gain muscle, but it will also give you a fat loss effect as it stimulates you like a HIT workout!

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What is the difference between regular interval training and high-intensity interval training?
Many confuse high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with standard interval training. Standard interval training is primarily used to increase repeated sprint ability and endurance in an athlete. HIIT is also used for the same purpose, but the benefit of HIIT is that it drastically increases your metabolic rate. I would recommend using HIIT training 1-3 times per week when you are cutting to maximize fat loss.

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Do you separate quads and hamstrings in your training split?
This week's workout may be different than what you are used to. Here I am pairing quads, chest, and triceps in the same day. Try it and let me know what you think!

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Do you know how a muscle contracts?

Muscle anatomy and physiology is very complex. A muscle fiber is made up of contractile units called sarcomeres. Sarcomeres can grow in parallel or in series depending on the training stimulus. Tune in this week for how you should train to optimize both types of contractile muscle growth!

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What is your opinion on how muscles grow?

Muscles primarily grow two ways, which include sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar hypertrophy. If you recall from yesterday, we discussed a muscle fiber. A muscle fiber contains two areas that can grow; the sarcoplasm and myofilaments. The sarcoplasm is home to fluid, mitochondria, and parts of a cell that do not contract. The myofilaments are the part of the
muscle that contract. With sarcoplasmic (non-contractile) muscle growth, the cell increases in size because more fluid is pulled in, however in myofibrillar muscle growth, the contractile parts of the cell increase in number.
Tune in the rest of this week and next for the best way to target both types of muscle growth!

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How does your muscle grow?
If you remember from yesterday's lesson, we discussed the different type of muscle growth. Muscles can also grow by getting thicker or getting longer. When the muscle gets thicker, it is known as cross-section muscle growth. In this type of muscle growth, the sarcomeres (refer to lesson one) within a muscle get thicker or grow in cross-section. This primarily occurs when lifting heavy!
Tune in tomorrow for how to grow the muscle in length!

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If you remember from yesterday, we discussed how to grow the muscles thickness (cross-sectional) and how you do it (lifting heavy). The other type of muscle growth is growing the muscle in length. This is adding sarcomeres (refer to lesson one for the definition of a sarcomere) in a chain-like fashion. This type of muscle growth occurs when training a muscle in a stretched position; similar to overhead triceps extensions.the muscle in length!

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Do you want to learn how to grow?

Tune in this week to The Muscle PhD Academy where we discuss how to optimize muscle growth!

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How heavy do you lift when training? If you want thick, dense muscle bellies, then I recommend programming heavy days into your training split! We know that heavy lifting will make the parts of your muscles that contract (sarcomeres) grow!

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Have you ever tried HIIT training for muscle growth?
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If you haven't, then you might want to try it! HIIT training can be used as a form of high volume, light-weight resistance training. From yesterday's lesson, we found that heavy-weight causes muscle growth in the parts of the muscle that contract. We also know that high volume light-weight training such as supersets, giant sets, and HIIT can be used to increase the volume and fullness of a muscle.
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If you're neglecting high volume training and your goal is to be jacked, start programming high volume days into your training split!

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What does your high volume training look like?
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This week we have discussed heavy and high volume training for muscle growth. Heavy training increases the size in the parts of the muscle that contract. High volume training increases the total volume of the muscle. We know that this occurs because high volume and HIIT training increase protein synthesis in the parts of the muscle that do not contract.
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If you want full, round muscle, then you better use high volume training!