Flex Flex_UK__March_2018 | Page 42

T he goal in the off- season is to grow as much muscle as possible, right? Gaining muscle and gaining mass can be two very different things. It’s pretty easy to gain weight. Common sense will tell you that if you consume more calories than you burn, then you will gain weight. But what kind of weight are you gaining? Slow gains are good gains Growing muscle is a slow process. You have to train your muscle fibres to failure each week, putting a progressive overload on the muscles and causing trauma. This actually tears the muscle fibres. These tiny micro tears recover with good rest and nutrition, and your body will heal the muscles. The body’s defence mechanism against this is to grow extra muscle strands, thus preventing your muscle from tearing under that heavy weight again. This explains why you need to pro- gress with your weights in order to keep overloading the muscles to keep the growth progress going. Keep in mind that your body only grows new fibres once the muscle is fully recovered. This is why rest is so important to grow. If you train a muscle again before it’s recovered then you will just keep tearing the muscle before it gets chance to grow new muscle. Nutrition Protein As for nutrition, I recommend consuming at the very least 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass- or 1.5 grams to be on the safe side. How many carbs? Regarding carbs, everyone is different. A rough guideline of 3 grams of carbs per pound of lean body mass is perfect for a lean gainer. If you seem to hold fat easily, then start with 2 grams of carbs per pound. The important thing is that you eat the same meals each day. This way, when you come to weigh in at the end of the week, you will have an accurate reading and know whether to increase or decrease your carb intake. If you’re gaining less than 3lb per week, you need to increase your carb intake. On the flip side, if you’re putting on more than 3lb per week, you’re most probably gaining fat and should decrease your carb intake. Fats Fat intake should be kept pretty low, but it’s important to ensure you get good fats in. Here are some examples of good fats; * A few egg yolks, one steak and one salmon meal every day with a big hand full of mixed nuts in your oats. *Avocado with your vegeta- bles gives you all the good fats you need. Be aware that hard gainers (leaner physiques) can get away with enjoying plenty of fats. But if you put fat on easily, then I recommend you keep your meats as lean as possible. Insulin You can control your weight solely through adjusting your carbs. It makes sense to eat carbs rather than fats, as carbs are what causes the release of insulin into the blood. Insulin is highly anabolic, and is what takes the glycogen and stores it into the muscles. Each gram of glycogen pulls in 3 grams of water, making the muscles big, full and strong. It also hugely increases the uptake of amino acids into the muscle cells to help repair and build new mus- cle. Therefore, a high carb diet is 40 FLEX | MARCH 2018