Welcome to part two of the ultimate arm series, this blog takes your arm training to the next level with a fantastic complete arm workout and some solid advice on how to maximize your gains.
You can download the new session at the bottom of the page to get started
Let’s get into the most important aspect of your muscle building plan….
Nutrition
Muscle growth isn’t solely governed by your time in the gym, nutrition is a key component. There’s no getting away from it.
Nutrition doesn’t just play its part when it comes to the days you’re exercising. It is also the cornerstone of your recovery days. Muscle growth is dependant on ensuring you have a full recovery after your training.
To give yourself the best chance of recovery, your body needs the right nutrients at the right time to ensure your recovery and growth is optimised.
Let’s take a look at the basic principles of nutrition you’ll need to put into place to give yourself the best chance of success.
Calorie
The simple fact is you have to make sure you consume the calories you need every day.
You can’t add bulk if you don’t take in more calories than you burn. In addition, if you’re looking to add muscle, there needs to be a surplus of calories than support your growth. If you’re already bigger than you’d like to be to start with, this can be tricky at first.
What you’re looking for, in most cases, is to increase bodyweight through muscle, whilst reducing your body fat.
Carbohydrates
Eat your carbs on training days.
No matter what way you look at it, if you’re wanting to build muscle your body needs amino acid. Amino acid (any of the 22 of them) come from protein foods or supplements. To get the full range of them, you’ll need to choose a variety of foods.
It’s important to consume carbohydrates after exercise. Muscle growth can be generated through elevated levels of insulin. This occurs when amino acid consumption is ample, so its importance is clear.
For every pound of your own bodyweight, take at least 1 gram of protein, split over your meals. This will keep a steady flow of amino acids getting into your bloodstream.
People will tell you how important it is to eat a certain amount of meals each day or how regularly you need to take nutrients. For some people, with certain, very specific training goals, that might be the case, but for most of us, the key aspect isn’t meal frequency, but hitting your daily calorie requirements and macro targets.
