Jade Teta ND, CSCS and Keoni Teta ND, LAc, CSCS
What is the best way to build muscle? If you are a personal trainer or experienced exerciser, then chances are you know the answer to this question. The standard answer to this question by those in the “know” is lift moderately heavy weights for 3-4 sets and 8-12 repetitions. This is the protocol that countless trainers and exercisers have lived and died by for decades. The problem is, this protocol does not work for all people.
Building muscle is the key to changing the metabolism for good. Men and women alike seek the tight firm and shapely bodies only muscle can deliver. When it comes to sustained fat-burning, muscle is the most important element. But what happens when the standard exercise prescriptions to build muscle don’t work. Is there another way to build muscle? Do people respond differently to exercise? And if so, is there a way to find out what would be the best way to build muscle for each individual?
Testosterone and Muscle
Whether male or female, the hormone testosterone is the limiting factor in building muscle. Testosterone is the reason men naturally have more muscle and less fat than women. Women too are beginning to realize that testosterone is key to develop the tight shapely bodies they want. The problem is everyone is uniquely different in his or her ability to release and benefit from this hormone. Not only that, but there are other hormones that work against the action of testosterone and can negate its positive effects. Excess stress hormones especially cortisol are notorious for breaking down muscle tissue.
Individualized metabolism
Finding the proper balance between cortisol muscle-burning effects and testosterones muscle-building effects is of vital importance when training to develop the tight muscled physique we all want. This means that it is not only the workout protocol that is involved, but also how that exercise regime affects the unique hormonal makeup of the individual doing the training that matters.
Every single exerciser is as different on the inside biochemically as they are on the outside physically. This is a concept that medicine has realized. However, it is concept fitness ignores. In the world of fitness everyone is treated as if they are the same. If someone wants to build muscle there is a protocol for that. If someone wants to burn fat there is a protocol for that, and if someone wants to get strong, there is a popular wisdom about how to achieve it. But this one size fits all concept does not work for every body.
Go in any gym across the country and you will see personal trainers and fitness enthusiasts doing the same style of workout one after the other over and over. Some of these people look great and seem to thrive on these protocols. But others struggle to put on even one ounce of muscle and are confused on why it does not work for them? Unfortunately, it is sometimes difficult to look past our old beliefs to see there may actually be another way to derive the same result. It is convenient to blame poor results on genetics or chalk it up to poor work ethics, but the bottom line is some people respond to the common wisdom on muscle building and some do not.
The truth about building muscle
Here is the truth about building muscle. It is different for everyone. Personal trainers who have been in the industry awhile and who strive to deliver results to their clients have already figured this out. When someone is not getting the results they should, good trainers will switch up the program. And if they still are not getting the results they want they switch it up again. Finally, after several attempts they will find the exercise protocol that works best for that particular client. Smart exercise enthusiasts will do the same thing. They will alter their workout until they find the one that seems to work for them. We never understood why this was needed in some people until now.
It turns out that everyone is different in his or her release of testosterone. Some people release testosterone on protocols that involve lifting heavy weight for very low reps. If you ask one of these people how to build muscle they will undoubtedly tell you to lift as heavy as possible. There are others who do wonderfully on bodybuilding type protocols where the weight is somewhat heavy and the repetitions vary from 8 on the low end to 15 on the high end. Then, believe it or not, there are some who build muscle on endurance protocols where the weights are lighter and the reps are higher. Up until now it was hard to predict which protocol an exerciser might respond to.
Scientific Muscle Building
Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to determine the best approach for each individual to build muscle? Something that was based on science and not left up to trial an error? Two new studies in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research suggest there is. These studies published in the March 2008 issue by Dr. C. Martyn Beaven usher in a new era in our understanding of what it takes to build muscle. In the first of these two studies, professional rugby players were given different exercise protocols that included the exact same exercises. The only difference in the protocols was that they involved different set, rep, weight and rest schemes. One protocol (the “muscle building protocol”) involved 4 sets of 10 reps with moderately heavy weight and two minutes rest between all the exercises. Another protocol (The “strength protocol”) involved 3 sets of five reps with heavy weight and with three minutes rest between exercises. The next protocol was an endurance protocol with lighter weight and five sets of 15 reps. The rest period lasted only one-minute. The final protocol involved lightweight and low reps with 1-minute rest between each exercise.
Based on the above description and the common beliefs about muscle building, the 4 sets of ten reps protocol should have excelled at building muscle and the 3 sets of five reps should have been best for strength gains. However, the results of the study did not show this at all. Every single protocol seemed to favorably alter testosterone production in at least some participants. This study showed that each individual in the study had a very unique hormonal response to the exercises. Each protocol was able to create maximal testosterone release above and beyond the other protocols in a subset of the participants. Some participants saw maximal testosterone release in the endurance protocol, some in the strength protocol and some in the other protocols.
Individual Response to Muscle Growth
After seeing these results, the authors did a second study and stratified each individual in to the protocol that delivered the maximum testosterone release for that person. When they looked at the results from the second study they found that a significant majority of participants were able to increase both size and strength on their particular protocol. This was seen whether the protocol was an endurance protocol using lightweights and high reps or heavy weight and low reps. Taken together these two studies show a few very important facts about muscle gain. First, muscle gain is unique for the individual and is dependant on the individual hormonal response of the exercise protocol. Second when someone uses a protocol that suits their individual metabolic tendencies they are much more likely to get the results they seek.
Real world application
Obviously these studies were able to use fancy scientific tools to measure hormonal responses to exercise protocols, but the average trainer or fitness enthusiasts does not have this luxury. However, it is fairly easy to determine how an exercise protocol is affecting someone through asking several questions. First, how sore are they after the workouts and for how long? While some soreness is useful, soreness that is extra intense and lasting more than three days may signal an imbalance in the cortisol to testosterone ratio meaning results will suffer.
By the same token, are the strength gains in the protocol going up down or staying the same. If the gains in strength are not being achieved chances are this is not the ideal protocol for muscle building. Energy, hunger, mood, and sleep are also important. The first sign of lowered testosterone and elevated cortisol is a drop in energy, cravings for sweets and dramatically increased hunger, irritability, restless sleep and waking not feeling rested. These measures act as biofeedback tools for trainers and fitness enthusiasts alike on how their chosen protocols are affecting the muscle building hormonal metabolism.
By using these feedback tools it is easy to find and stick with the exercise protocol uniquely suited to an individual. This new method and understanding not only answers the question about how best to build muscle, but will deliver the best results in minimum time.