How to gain muscle, fast

Aristotle once said, 'It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.' I like this quote, it promotes open mindedness. Anything in this world that has a significant following must have something worth learning. A good example is in bodybuilding and the common practice of bulking and cutting.

The idea of bulking and cutting is to eat anything and everything whilst performing resistance exercise in a bid to gain as much mass as possible. Then when the desired size is achieved, the cutting phase begins. In this phase the body fat is stripped, so low calories and lots of cardio. The end result is more muscle mass that when the training began. 

However, any trainer worth their salt knows that for the vast majority of people this is not the best way of gaining a lean muscular physique. There are other better ways, but the honest truth is that it works. It must do to an extent or people wouldn't continue to do it. 

So what can be learnt from bulking and cutting?

The simple answer is that the body requires an excess of nutrients to gain size. However there is also a lot of fat gained during bulking. This is usually unwanted, and at least unnecessary. If you were to remove unnecessary macronutrients and leave only the essential foods, your body could gain muscle without gaining fat. The truth is, this is possible. I've seen it with my own eyes, and here's how to do it.

The key is mastering your body's biochemistry and first on the list is insulin. 

Insulin can be an anabolic hormone, promoting muscle growth, energy storage and when your cells responds strongly to it, an optimal physique. 

On the other hand insulin can be your worst enemy, if your body has a weak response to insulin then you will have less of an anabolic response. 

Overindulgence in carbohydrates results in too much sugar in the blood. The result of this is high exposure to insulin which causes cells to become insensitive.  Reduced sensitivity will result in more fat tissue, because muscle cells are not as readily triggered to absorb nutrients. The leftover nutrients in your blood will be stored as fat. Lastly, because fat tissue reduces insulin sensitivity  the fatter you are the easier it will be to put on fat and the harder it will be to put on muscle. 



So how does this relate to putting on muscle?

The effect can be demonstrated by injecting insulin into the body after protein has been consumed. The extra insulin stimulates protein synthesis and inhibits protein breakdown, which means more muscle growth. This effect can be mimicked naturally by increasing your sensitivity to the insulin already in the blood.  

The best way to achieve this anabolic effect is to lose body fat, as fat tissue blunts the insulin response. Get lean by doing resistance training to maintain muscle mass, intervals to boost metabolism and by eating lots a protein and vegetables. When you are lean enough, begin to strategically introduce starchy carbohydrates into your diet. Have them post workout, or as a recovery tool. At this point they will go straight into your muscles, you won't put on fat, and with the right diet and exercise your muscles will grow consistently. 

This is the point which you want to stay at for life, looking good and getting stronger. No more crash diets, no compromises in strength or size to lose fat, just consistent growth. 

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Refs.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2662701

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9124320