IM HARDGAINER WORKOUT
BUILDING SLOW-GROWING
TRICEPS
By Michael Schletter, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT*D
Everything you need to know about building your triceps but were afraid to ask.
E
veryone is given a ge-
netic gift when it comes
to growing muscle. Some
guys have ripped abs no
matter what and some
guys have biceps that
grow like weeds. However,
for every gift one is given, there will be
one body part that doesn’t grow like the
rest of them. Usually, this is out of plain
old neglect (yes, I’m looking at you gym
“bros” who don’t do legs), but sometimes
it just seems like the part you want to grow
the most is the one that just never does,
regardless of how hard you work on it. For
many, that’s the triceps.
The Science Behind Your Guns
First, let’s review some basic human biol-
ogy. To build muscle, you need to increase
the rate of muscle protein synthesis (the
creation of muscle proteins and thus big-
ger muscles) above the rate at which your
body is breaking it down. The biological
pathway that signals the body to build
more muscle is called mTOR, and that
pathway is controlled by your blood amino
acid profile – that’s how much of each
amino acid is circulating in your blood at
any given time.
The most important amino acid involved
with this pathway is leucine. Leucine ac-
tivates the mTOR pathway. Unfortunately,
no amount of working out will magically
cause your body to increase blood levels
of leucine. In fact, leucine is one of the
three amino acids your body simply can’t
synthesize, so it’s therefore called an es-
sential amino acid. Sorry vegans, you can’t
get it without a protein supplement. Leu-
cine can be found in most animal-based
protein products (like chicken, eggs, beef,
fish, etc) and is also sold as a branched-
chain amino acid (BCAA) supplement.
It’s usually delivered in combination with
70 AUGUST 2017 | ironmanmagazine.com