Science & Tools For Muscle Growth, Increasing Strength & Muscular Recovery

The ability to isolate and contract muscle hard will tell you about the ability to grow that muscle
Weight training and resistance training is used for two distinct purposes: (1) systemic effects or (2) isolating muscle
To increase muscle growth something needs to happen to trigger muscle tissue to change: either stress, tension, or damage
One of the most predictive markers of aging is the ability to jump and the ability to stand up quickly
The better you are at contracting and isolating muscles, the faster you will get desired effects to those muscles
Resistance training 5x per week at 30-80% (depending on the goal) of 1 rep max is required to maintain muscle
To increase explosiveness and speed, work at a lower percentage of 1RM and move weights as fast as you can
To get stronger, slow down and increase time under tension to isolate the muscle and encourage hypertrophy
Change up regime: the nervous system adapts quickly at the beginning but slows with time
Ideal training protocol to stimulate testosterone release: 6 sets of 10 repetitions with 120-sec rest between reps
Three tests to assess systemic recovery: (1) heart rate variability; (2) test grip strength in the morning; (3) test carbon dioxide tolerance first thing in the morning
To improve strength training performance and muscle growth: (1) stay hydrated with adequate salt and electrolytes; (2) consume creatine daily; (3) consume beta-alanine; (4) ingest sufficient leucine from high-quality protein

Muscles are essential for maintaining how we breathe, how we move, metabolism, and posture
Posture is vital for alertness, how we breathe, how we move

Movement is directed by the relationship between neurons and connection to the muscle
The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism
Jumping ability and ability to stand up quickly is one of the most predictive markers of aging

Much of the brain is devoted to vision and movement
The nervous system controls muscle through three areas of control: upper motor neurons, lower motor neurons, central pattern generators
Upper motor neurons: send signals to the spinal cord to direct activity to muscles
Lower motor neurons: send axons to muscles and cause contraction through acetylcholine
Central pattern generators: rhythmic, reflexive movements
You can use your nervous system to trigger hypertrophy (muscle growth)

Muscles function on glycolysis, the breakdown of glycogen and glucose into energy
Glucose and glycogen breakdown into pyruvate – in the presence of oxygen (in the muscle), more energy will be generated
Muscle is metabolically demanding
Humans make lactate, not lactic acid
Lactate has three functions: (1) buffer against muscle acidity; (2) fuel to generate muscular contractions in the absence of oxygen; (3) acts as hormonal signal (can influence tissue outside the body)
10% of the time you should exercise to lactic threshold (when you feel the burn) to enhance function of organs

Benefits of lactate are only in the presence of oxygen so breathing is critical when you reach the point of burn
Exercise is beneficial for your brain and nervous system through hormonal signals (not increasing neuron)

Three ways muscles can be stimulated to change: (1) stress; (2) tension; (3) damage
Something needs to happen to force muscle tissue to change
Muscles get bigger as myosin (protein) gets thicker
Muscles can get stronger without getting bigger – however, increasing the size of the muscle almost inevitably increases strength
Muscles get weaker across the lifespan
Resistance exercise is important to offset the normal decline in strength and posture to generate a greater range of motion
Hanuman principle: recruit motor units from lowest to the highest threshold – in other words, use the minimum amount of energy required to move the object
The more efficient you are in recruiting motor units, the more you will stimulate muscle growth and strength
Everyone has imbalances in how muscles grow
The better you are at contracting and isolating muscles, the faster you will get desired effects
Try sending a signal to a muscle with your brain and contracting as hard as you can

You don’t necessarily need heavy-weights to grow muscles
For hypertrophy: move progressively greater loads, generate localized contraction of muscle, isolate muscle contractions

Move weights or use bands in 30-80% of 1RM (1 rep max)
Lifting in 75-80% range: bias improvements toward strength gains
Lifting in 30% range: bias towards hypertrophy and muscle endurance
For untrained individuals/beginners: perform enough sets of a given exercise per muscle each week
Range of sets to do to improve strength ranges from 2-20 sets per week depending on experience
Approximately 5 sets per week (at 30-80% 1RM) is required to maintain muscle
The exact number of sets depends on the intensity
10% of workouts should be reserved for working to muscle failure (or when form fails)
The majority of exercise should be dedicated to more volume without fatiguing the nervous system
Perform 5-15 sets per week, per muscle in 30-80% of 1RM
In general, keep resistance sessions to 45-60 min before cortisol and inflammatory pathways kick in
If you are a seasoned trainer: increase the number of sets per week so you hit closer to 25-30 sets per week
Always work within the full range of motion
To increase explosiveness and speed: move weights as fast as you can (safely) to increase neurons
Dedicate resistance training to jumping higher, running faster, throwing farther, etc – learn to generate force with increasing speed
Work within 60-70% and work as fast as you can with good form

To get stronger: slowing down weight and increasing time under tension (slow tempo) will isolate the muscle and encourage hypertrophy
For hypertrophy and strength gains, resting 2-5 minutes is the sweet spot
Change regimen over time: nervous system changes quickly at the beginning of training but slows over time
Pro tip to increase hypertrophy: flex muscles between sets about 30 seconds to improve stress, tension, and damage – this is good for hypertrophy not the perfor