Muscle Soreness and Recovery Tips - Relieve Muscles FAST!

Some basic and simple tips on recovery tips and how to deal with the dreaded muscle DOMS.



What do you do to recover? leave a comment below and let me know.

#1 Fat Burning Tip: Burn Body Fat and Lose Weight Fast (2 Week Challenge)!

Like it or not, this guy Alpha. M has got some great advice. Let me know what you think below.


The number one way to reduce your body fat the fastest, easiest, and safest is doing cardio 1st thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Doing it for 30-minutes first thing in the morning is the same as an hour-and-half later in the day. 


The body dips into your fat stores as the energy to keep going. You have to do the cardio in your target zone: 


220 - your age = number That number is multiplied by .6 as well as by .75

The Skinny Guy’s Guide: Eating To Gain Muscle

Are you the stereotypical skinny guy struggling to pack on any appreciable amount of muscle mass? 

If I have your story right it might go something like this: You eat everything in sight, train your butt off, and check all of the correct boxes when it comes to traditional advice regarding skinny guy eating with little-to-no results to show for all of that hard work.

You sometimes feel like banging your head against the wall out of frustration and are tempted to throw in the towel altogether, relegating your genetic potential as unfortunate. Pretty bleak thinking, really.

Here’s the deal: Forget that line of thinking. If you have less than stellar genetics then, good. Let’s take that as a challenge, move forward, and meet it head-on. Let’s break down what constitutes the typical skinny guy advice, throw it out, and then rebuild a brand new mindset that will get you on the right road to muscle growth, one bite at a time.

How Skinny Guys Are “Supposed” to Eat

Everything you may have read about skinny guys eating habits for muscle gain might have had you simply eat anything and everything. The thought process was to eat as many calories as you can—since you supposedly have nothing to lose. Copious amounts of carbohydrates, fats, and sugar were suggested and ingested without any regard for health, wellness, or optimal metabolic processing.

Many from the skinny camp who religiously stuck with said practice gained weight—but the wrong kind of weight. Skinny-fat bodies were constructed replete with twigs for arms and legs and a belly to store unwanted fat. Yes, weight was gained, but at a horrible and needless expense.

A Flawed System of Mass Gain

This unofficial skinny guy principle backfires in many ways. Let’s take a look at a few flaws in the system:

• Blindly eating all amounts of anything will trend the lifter to eat foods that they enjoy most. Since the flood gates are opened for a free for all most will steer toward junk food, fast food, and other unhealthy choices. The result is fat gain because an excess of carbs, namely sugar, are eaten haphazardly.

• Protein isn’t prioritized. Carbs are filling and eating the proper amounts of proteins and healthy fats take a backseat to the latest buffet special. The result: Less protein equals less protein synthesis which means less muscle building.
• A massive amount of carbs slows you down. Playing yo-yo with your blood-sugar levels isn’t the best scenario for muscle growth. Complex carbs are still as important to the skinny guy as they ever were. Plus, excess sugar intake will only be stored as useless body fat. 
• There is no rhyme or reason. Blindly eating massive amounts of food with no plan in place isn’t the best approach either. Imagine trying to build a house without a blueprint. Making stuff up as you go is good for a night out, but not for the skinny guy trying to add quality weight.

A Better Approach for Muscle

There is a better, more effective way to pack on the good type of weight. This may sound a bit dull and mundane, but a balanced diet full of quality protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats is still the best way to go. Why not just eat everything? It’s way too much fun to pass up, right?

Eating the correct portions of macronutrients will always be the best option in the long run. You’ll be leaner, have more energy, and you will build more muscle in the meantime. Let’s now break down what constitutes a healthy eating plan that will add quality, lean muscle without the excess.

Diet Principles for the Skinny Guy

• Eat frequently enough. Yes, meal frequency is a hotly debated topic as of late, but if you’re struggling to add muscle then you need to eat often, period. This is for the simple fact that you need to eat more quality food each day than the average Joe. Shoot for at least three square, balanced meals and two nutrient dense snacks per day. The objective isn’t to stuff yourself silly for only a meal or two, but eat more moderate-sized meals more often.
• Eat around one gram per pound of bodyweight of high-quality protein per day. Yes, you need protein but not pounds and pounds per day of the low-quality stuff. You need your protein to work for you in an efficient way without the added calories from fat or other foodstuff fillers. Go with one gram per pound from lean meats, turkey, fish, eggs, low-fat milk, low-fat cheeses, Greek yogurt, and trustworthy protein powders.
• Start with two grams of complex carbs per pound of bodyweight. After around four weeks or so you can increase that to three grams per pound if you aren’t gaining any weight and/or feel as if you’re not recovering from training or just simply feel drained and in need of a calorie boost. In rare cases you could have a few days of high carbs where you would increase your intake to four grams per pound, but if you find that you are gaining too much fat, cut back.
• Eat healthy fats. Healthy fats such as avocado, nut butters, olive oil, and all types of nuts help in many ways. They provide extra energy, help regulate hormones, and provide satiety at mealtime. Since one gram of fat provides more than twice the amount of calories as carbs and protein, try not to go overboard too much.
• Cheat. No, this isn’t a green light to go all out and eat everything in sight without any rhyme or reason. Let’s not fall back into old habits. Here I am talking about having a cheat day or two during the week. During each cheat day choose one or two meals and go wild. This way you’re not going off the deep end and jeopardizing your steadfast effort to stay on the lean side of the fence. Have a cheat meal or two and then get back on the horse.

Sample Skinny Guy Diet Plan

Now it’s time to put your money where your mouth is, literally. The following eating plan is for the average skinny lifter wanting to gain lean muscle weight. It contains around one gram of protein per pound, 2 grams of carbs per pound, and healthy fats for the 180 pound lifter.

Meal 1 - Breakfast

• 3 whole eggs and 3 egg whites scrambled or omelet-style, 1 cup of Greek yogurt (or 1 scoop of whey protein instead of yogurt)
• 2 slices of wheat bread (toasted) with low-sugar jam or jelly or 1 cup (dry) oatmeal mixed with skim milk or water

Meal 2 - Lunch

• 6 to 8 ounces of chicken breast, salad with ½ avocado with an oil-based dressing, and other favorite vegetables
• Baked potato, sweet potato, or 2 cups cooked rice

Or

• 2 slices or wheat bread, 6 to 8 ounces of chicken or turkey, 2 slices of cheese, low-fat mayo or mustard, and 1 piece of fruit

Meal 3 - Pre-Workout

• 1 apple or other piece of fruit such as blueberries or banana
• 1 cup of Greek yogurt and 1 scoop of whey protein powder
• Handful of mixed nuts

Meal 4 - Post-Workout

• 1 scoop of whey protein powder, 1 piece of fruit

Meal 5 - Dinner

• 4-6 ounces of fish, chicken, ground meat or turkey, as much green vegetables as you want, salad, 1 potato or 2 cups cooked rice

The Best Advice Is to Stay Balanced

An all-day every-day buffet isn’t the best option to pack on quality, lean muscle. You still need to adhere to the basic healthy eating principles set out for every individual. Lean proteins, complex carbs, and healthy fats will work for you without all of the extra baggage that comes with daily binging. It’s time to pack on muscle one quality bite at a time.

By Brad Borland

http://breakingmuscle.com/healthy-eating/the-skinny-guy-s-guide-eating-to-gain-muscle

The 5 Commandments Of Smart Dieting

To really see best results from any diet plan you choose to use, you need to learn a few ‘diet commandments’. These are guidelines that must be followed if you are going to see superior results that will help propel you forward.

Sadly, many people miss out on one or more of these and it greatly costs them their success.

Want to learn more? Check out the list of five commandments below.

Thou Shall Eat More Protein

Of all the foods that you could eat while on a fat loss diet, protein is perhaps the most important. Protein helps combat hunger, it helps stabilize blood glucose levels, and it helps prevent lean muscle mass loss. This in turn helps speed up your metabolism and accelerates the process of fat loss.

Don’t let your diet intake fall short. Aim to eat some protein in each and every meal and snack that you consume.

Thou Shall Eat Regularly 

While the concept that your metabolism will increase the more often you eat isn’t entirely accurate — as the boost you get after a meal is directly related to the size of that meal — eating regularly does help to keep hunger at bay.

By feeding your body frequently throughout the day, you’ll help avoid food cravings, energy lows, and make it that much easier to stick to your diet program.

Thou Shall Prioritize Fresh Foods 

When selecting your foods, eating fresh is a must. We live in a world where processed foods are around every corner and just waiting to cause us weight gain.

Eliminate these and you’ll really give your diet a boost. Focus on foods in their natural state — fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats and oils, and lean proteins.

If you only make one change to your diet plan, make it this one.

Thou Shall Set Short Term Goals 

One diet rule that you should abide by and follow is to always set short term goals for yourself. Think about what you are doing in the here and now, not months from now. It’s too easy to lose sight of your goals if they are going to take place six months to a year down the road.

Try thinking in three-week segments. Three weeks is about how long it takes for good habits to form, so is the perfect amount of time to you build behaviors that will stand the test of time.

This is precisely why The 3 Week Diet was created. It will help you stay motivated and consistent until you don’t even have to think about making those changes any longer — They’ll just be automatic.

Thou Shall Stop Comparisons 

Finally, stop comparing yourself to others. Realize that this is your own journey and your own body. It’s unlike anyone else’s so you simply can’t expect to see the same results as everyone else.

Instead, start comparing yourself today to yourself from yesterday. That will give you all the details you need to know. If each day you are getting better, you are successful in your journey.

So keep these diet commandments in mind. Focus on these and you can feel confident that you are headed in the right direction.

Pumping iron: Lighter weights just as effective as heavier weights to gain muscle, build strength

New research from McMaster University is challenging traditional workout wisdom, suggesting that lifting lighter weights many times is as efficient as lifting heavy weights for fewer repetitions

It is the latest in a series of studies that started in 2010, contradicting the decades-old message that the best way to build muscle is to lift heavy weights.

"Fatigue is the great equalizer here," says Stuart Phillips, senior author on the study and professor in the Department of Kinesiology. "Lift to the point of exhaustion and it doesn't matter whether the weights are heavy or light."

Researchers recruited two groups of men for the study -- all of them experienced weight lifters -- who followed a 12-week, whole-body protocol. One group lifted lighter weights (up to 50 per cent of maximum strength) for sets ranging from 20 to 25 repetitions. The other group lifted heavier weights (up to 90 per cent of maximum strength) for eight to 12 repetitions. Both groups lifted to the point of failure.

Researchers analyzed muscle and blood samples and found gains in muscle mass and muscle fibre size, a key measure of strength, were virtually identical.

"At the point of fatigue, both groups would have been trying to maximally activate their muscle fibres to generate force," says Phillips, who conducted the work with graduate students and co-authors Rob Morton and Sara Oikawa.

While researchers stress that elite athletes are unlikely to adopt this training regime, it is an effective way to get stronger, put on muscle and generally improve health.

"For the 'mere mortal' who wants to get stronger, we've shown that you can take a break from lifting heavy weights and not compromise any gains," says Phillips. "It's also a new choice which could appeal to the masses and get people to take up something they should be doing for their health."

Another key finding was that none of the strength or muscle growth were related to testosterone or growth hormone, which many believe are responsible for such gains.

"It's a complete falsehood that the short-lived rise in testosterone or growth hormone is a driver of muscle growth," says Morton. "It's just time to end that kind of thinking."

Researchers suggest, however, that more work remains to be done in this area, including what underlying mechanisms are at work and in what populations does this sort of program work.

The findings are published online in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by McMaster University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Robert W. Morton, Sara Y. Oikawa, Christopher G. Wavell, Nicole Mazara, Chris McGlory, Joe Quadrilatero, Brittany L. Baechler, Steven K. Baker, Stuart M. Phillips. Neither load nor systemic hormones determine resistance training-mediated hypertrophy or strength gains in resistance-trained young men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 2016; 121 (1): 129 DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00154.2016

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160712094259.htm