 |
||
 |
|
||
|
Being more of an exercise physiologist than a formally trained nutritionist at that point in my career, I toyed with the increases in dumbbell press, squat, and row (among other lifts) that I felt were necessary to keep breaking muscular ground. Along with a guess at the amount of protein necessary to create the emerging muscle mass, I plotted this supportive information along the empty left side of the Arrow Chart. I even included supportive supplementation. Now being more familiar with the approximate nutritional values for synthesizing new muscle mass, I can refine the chart. In fact, I can add whatever supportive information I like: nutrition, supplements, escalating poundage, etc. But let's keep it nutritional for brevity's sake. A known value of approximately 2800 kcal is required to synthesize a single new pound of muscle tissue. But extra energy (kcal) is not enough; we need building blocks, of course. At 16% protein, each pound (454 grams) of muscle tissue takes 73 grams of excess protein to build. (Remember, living muscle tissue is mostly water; it's not just contractile proteins. There's a lot more going on in size development.) Since I had decided on allowing three week segments to reach each short term goal of three pounds, I would have time to ramp-up or back off on the various supporting variables. That is, if I wasn't eating my usual six servings of food at a time or I was missing protein-calorie shakes over a few days, I knew I had a chance to atone for said sins. If my heavy squat day in the gym didn't meet the growing expectation, I could again make up for it the next week or two. Here's a more detailed chart, including what we've been calling "supportive information"…
Each reader considering this approach of long and short terms goals can simply write in his or her own specifics on body weight (an easy to measure "bottom line" for many people), food amounts, supplements, etc. In fact, the goal arrow can even be reversed for weight (fat) loss purposes. And it can be made more explicit with high-quality body composition testing throughout. Of course, anyone wanting to use the chart for fat loss goals would be dealing with other variables and supportive information. Whether you choose to seriously consider this Arrow Chart approach for healthy weight gain or loss, I hope you find it a workable steering wheel toward progress. Remember, an estimated 70/30 ratio of target tissue gain or loss is often a best case scenario. Muscle and fat tend to rise and fall in parallel but it doesn't have to be an uninspiring 50/50 deal. Also, keep it realistic. Jotting down a lofty goal that will require more than a pound per week to achieve is likely to leave you disappointed. Most of us have limited amounts of testosterone and other anabolic hormones (and growth factors) with which to work. Variables beyond our control could interfere with the progressively heavier lifts required. What's more, intermediate and advanced bodybuilders have less room for progress, as they are closer to certain genetic maximums. (Perhaps as little as a quarter pound per week of mostly lean mass gain is realistic for them. That's a four pound gain over 12 weeks; not bad for a guy who's already over 210 and has been training for ten years.) In fact, I strongly recommend that anyone considering use of an Arrow Chart shave 20% off of their initial ultimate goal. I did, when I went through this, and was glad I did. You see, finding success at the end is more important on many levels than reaching the new body mass goal. If I recall correctly, I reached a final mark just over 219 pounds. That wouldn't have felt as good had I gone with my original desire to weigh 225 pounds.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
