Soul Rebel Digest Vol 4.24
Thanks to everyone for suggesting the topic this month
MUSCLE GAIN!
There are many factors to consider that are specific to you, so this email is more about self assessment on what you're currently doing, some things to consider & ideas for you to do some research on & try out!
I’d love to be able to tell you all to just ‘do this!’, but it's not that simple. The advice that best fits you, may not be right for the person standing next to you. So, please do reach out to me if you need a hand at any time!
Let’s dive in!
aRE YOU eating enough?
To gain & maintain muscle, you need to ensure you’re eating enough in your day to support your body’s functions, fuel your workouts & optimise your recovery. If you’re not eating enough, your body can lose muscle, which we don’t want. Particularly as we age, it’s important we maintain or build as much muscle as we can! Check out our previous issues of Soul Rebel Digest to see if you’re eating enough of the right foods & fuelling your workouts adequately.
To gain & maintain muscle, you need to ensure you’re eating enough in your day to support your body’s functions, fuel your workouts & optimise your recovery. If you’re not eating enough, your body can lose muscle, which we don’t want. Particularly as we age, it’s important we maintain or build as much muscle as we can! Check out our previous issues of Soul Rebel Digest to see if you’re eating enough of the right foods & fuelling your workouts adequately.
Hot topic when talking about building muscle – Protein!
Are you eating enough protein?.... probs not.
It's more common people aren’t eating enough, good quality high protein sources at the right times of the day. Get as much protein from wholefood sources as you can, to ensure you’re also getting the micronutrients your body craves. Experiment with timings for optimal absorption. Some people like to have high protein breakfasts. Some people like to spread it across their day. In our household, we have the bulk of our high protein foods in the evening, why? Because protein takes a lot of energy to digest. So, we optimise absorption by having it at the time of day where we are in a state of rest & digest. Think about timing your macros around what you’re about to do, rather than what you have just done. Carbs for energy, fats for focus & high protein for recovery. You will find these macros naturally put you in a state of what they’re designed for.
Common signs you may not be eating enough or enough protein whilst training consistently:
Plateau in gym gainz
Loss of muscle or lack of growth
Immune system taking a hit
Having trouble sleeping
Bad mood
Injuries or niggles
Slow muscle recovery
Sugar cravings
Brain fog
Increased hunger
Check out this article from ATP Science if you’d like to find out more about how much protein you should be having!
We love ATP Science – check out their products in our Pro Shop when you’re next in the gym!
supplements
It’s in the name – ‘supplement’. Supplements should ‘supplement’ your diet. If your current way of eating is having negatives affects on your body, mentally & physically, let’s start there first. Otherwise, it’s like using Pepsi Max as fuel for your car, topping up with good quality diesel & expecting improvements…. Probs not. But I will keep the topic of supplements super simple for this email, because there are a lot of rabbit holes we can go down. So, two of the best bang for your buck supplements for muscle growth:
Creatine
Everyone should be on creatine. Whether you are an Olympic athlete, a grandparent or anyone in between. It is the most well researched supplement on the market & you get HUGE benefits from taking it. ATP Science’s Creatine Monohydrate is made with 99.9% pure creatine, is non-GMO & vegan friendly. Their supplier is in Germany & is the leading manufacturer of creatine, recognised as the purest & highest quality micronized creatine monohydrate on the market. You only need 5g per day, so the tub lasts for ages! It’s also worth noting that whilst there are cheaper creatines on the market, they may not be as good quality or pure, so you may be paying less for fillers. But, why creatine?
Helps muscle cells produce more energy
Speeds up muscle growth
Improves strength
Power
Muscle endurance
Better recovery during & after workouts
May help fight or prevent certain disease
May improve brain function
May reduce fatigue & tiredness
Safe & easy to use!
Protein
Taking a protein supplement is a great way to increase your daily protein intake in addition to your high protein wholefoods. Think of it like a top up! Some people have it as a snack throughout the day, others have it as a night cap. I recommend before bedtime, but trialling what works best for you is always encouraged.
Build & maintain muscle
Promote recovery
Muscle repair
There are a few different types of protein supplements you can take. The reason we like ATP Science Collagen protein is because it looks after your joints, hair, skin & nails as well as your muscles, so for this reason if you were to choose one today, this would be it!
Straight from the horses mouth:
"Collagen makes up between 1–10% of your muscle tissue. Collagen protein is critical for keeping your muscles strong & helping them function properly. Some researchers have also suggested that taking collagen may boost the synthesis of muscle proteins like creatine, as well as promote muscle growth after exercise."
For vegans you can have Zeus Juice which is full of the building blocks of protein as well as a vegan collagen they have created. We also stock VPA Protein which is plant based. Here is a cool article for anyone looking to dive deeper into types of protein powders & what they are useful for:
training with intent
This is a big one. You need to be putting in the work to gain muscle. It doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time, consistency & intent. Don’t switch off when you’re in the gym. Hot tips to get more results from your training:
Increase your training!
If you have other massive priorities right now, work, school holidays etc, cool, 1-2 x per week is keeping you moving. But everyone should be aiming to train consistently a minimum of 3 times per week. If you’re currently training 3 times per week, aim for 2 weeks per month (or more) of training 4. If you’re currently training 4 times per week, aim for 5-6. These are just a few suggestions on how to increase the sessions across the month/s, rather than just looking at each week!
Mechanics!
Not everyone can make it in 6 days per week, so let’s focus on your intent with every session, whether it be 3 sessions or 6. To gain muscle & get results, you need to feel what muscles you’re using either at the time, or after the exercise & your technique needs to be on point or improving. Don’t just count reps – HOW you are performing the movement will have a huge impact on whether you’re going to get stronger in the right areas, faster or gain muscle.
Don’t always listen to your brain!
Have back up plans of course, but don’t come into a session having anything set in stone from how you feel mentally. For example, sometimes I come to the gym tired or sleepy. Can you relate? I will have plan A of how I want to hit a workout. Once I warm up & get moving, I may need to downgrade to plan B. That’s ok, this is smart training. But if I decide to do plan B before I have even started moving, I have not listened to my body & I could be missing out on gains. So, when I am tired, I go into the warm up & prep with the intention of hitting plan A. Only once I have finished the prep & warm up I decide how my body feels - sometimes when I get moving I actually feel AWESOME & hit the session with more intensity.
Track your workouts!
If you are expecting results from your training, you need to be logging your workouts. If you feel you have plateaued lately… you need to be logging your workouts. Every. Single. Session. Not just when you think it's important or when you feel like it.... Every... Single... Session! This allows you to track how many days per week you’re training on your profile in SugarWOD, but it helps you see what weights you used the week before. Stop guessing. Start logging! I cannot express how important it is to see progress over time. In the moment it’s easy to feel you haven’t made progress. But by logging your workouts over the weeks, months & years of training – you will SEE the progress.
sleep
To build muscle, you need to be getting enough quality sleep. Sleep is where your body rebuilds & repairs.
Do you need more sleep?
Do you need better quality sleep?
Do you need to improve your sleep hygiene?
Do you self sabotage with screens?
Do you self sabotage with caffeine or sugary foods?
recovery
Your body needs recovery to build muscles. Training essentially ‘damages’ the muscle, so they repair stronger or/& bigger. Funnily enough, everything listed above is super important for recovery. If you feel your body is constantly under recovering, you won’t build muscle as effectively & may even start to lose muscle, which is super important to prevent as we age. Assess the above topics to see where you need to improve.
Other forms of recovery: RomWOD (In your SugarWOD app), massage treatment, walking, swimming, yoga – there’s a lot! Go treat yourself!
Inbody scan
I would highly recommend anyone looking to change body composition for health, performance or for wanting to look better naked – book an InBody Scan!
Why?
It’s free with your membership!
Your total weight doesn’t matter – your composition breakdown does!
It will show you progress that you may not feel!
On numerous occasions we’ve had members weigh themselves at home & their total body weight was increasing. The reaction is usually disappointment, cutting calories & eager to get their bodyweight down – only to discover they were dropping body fat & GAINING muscle. This is where the InBody scan is a game changer in tracking your progress!
rebel goals board
The new Rebel Goals board is up and running!
This is an excellent way to help you stay accountable. If your goal involves muscle gain, book in an InBody scan, chat with your coach in the appointment & fill in your goals card!
Coming up with goals is easy, working on them is the hard part - we've got your back!
