Building muscle

Copyright (c) 2007 Sue Bektas

Weight lifting is critical to your efforts to raise your
metabolism through exercise. If you lift weights with a
short period of rest between exercises, you build up a
pretty good sweat and get your heart beating in the process
so you get some aerobic benefits, too. However, the primary
purpose of weight lifting is to build muscle, it's the best
way to raise your metabolism. Just a 5 kilo increase in
muscle means that you can burn another 140 calories per day
at rest. When building up the biceps your muscle fatigues,
and then gets a very slight inflammation.

The signals from
this purposeful inflammation are the same as those given
off by an infection or tumor, but in this case the signals
recruit new baby muscle cells, called "satellite myocytes,"
which merge with the damage muscle fiber to enlarge it.

Some oxidation accompany the inflammation of the muscle
cells is inevitable, but the resulting cell damage can be
to your muscles. Eating a good source of protein will help
with the repair of the muscle. Weight bearing exercise is
essential to maintaining the strength of your bones, your
posture, and your ability to achieve and keep a healthy
body weight. By building muscle you become more efficient
at burning calories, and so you have more leeway in your
diet as you retain a healthy body weight.

Getting started with weight lifting. Circuit training is
weight training in which you move from one exercise to
another with little rest in between. Going faster and using
lighter weights can improve heart health and endurance,
while going slower and using heavier weights can build
strength and muscle size. You need to spend more time
between groups of repetitions if you lift heavier weights.

It is true doing lighter excises and more repetitions will
avoid building bulky muscles, which is often the preference
of women. You can turn any workout into a circuit by going
from one exercise to the next, with no more than a 15 to 30
second rest period. Repeat the circuit three times in about
30 minutes for maximum benefit. You should focus on one set
of muscles one day and another on another day so that the
same muscle groups get a chance to recover before the next
bout exercise. The key to building muscle is to feel a
burning in your biceps after about 10 repetitions and to
continue carefully to between 12 and 15 repetitions.

Planning what to eat before and after exercise. It is hard
to perform exercises when you are still digesting food, and
it is equally hard to exercise if you skipped your last
meal. So it is important to be careful about what you eat
before and after exercise. The best thing to eat before
exercise is a light meal of easy to digest carbohydrates (
fruit and vegetables) and small amount of protein. A great
choice is a protein shake made with berries that contain
lots of antioxidants, such as blueberries. Loading up with
carbohydrates is not necessary if you have been eating
normally for the past few days. When you are done
exercising, it is very important that you eat a snack such
as a protein bar or protein drink with both protein and
carbohydrates providing 100 to 200 calories with in 30
minutes, and that you drink enough water to restore your
fluid balance. The carbs will restore muscle glycogen, the
protein will provide amino acids to help build muscle
tissue, and the water will help you maintain normal
circulation to the muscles. Eating colourful fruits and
vegetables provides phytonutrients and antioxidants that
help protect your muscle cells from excessive oxidation as
you exercise.

As I've mentioned, some inflammation is
helpful in building muscle. However, part of the purpose of
the rest period is to repair this good damage and build
muscle. The good part of the damage is not affected by
nutrition, but eating a lot antioxidant rich foods can help
keep your muscles from getting sore from excessive damage
between supplements, including vitamin E, have been shown
to reduce excess damage to muscle fibers following exercise.

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