Do you want insight into how a certified fitness trainer embarks on a muscle growth journey? This week I normalized April 12, 2020, my muscle growth journey. Like most people, I decide based on my experiences. With limited weights and equipment, my focus was on my form, diet, and sleep. Subsequently, I am playing to my strengths and what I have at my disposal.
Working from home, I have the time to focus on cooking and sleeping. Eating and sleeping are anabolic activities that build muscle and fat. Once the power is created from eating and sleeping, it is an exercise that forms and shapes the muscle into an athletic appearance.
Diet Plan –
A diet plan based on protein and complex carbohydrates improves muscle gain and fitness. The focus was on protein and complex carbohydrates this week. I cooked spinach, bell pepper, garlic, and ginger side dish with olive oil for my carbs and fats. Also, I cooked shrimp, chicken, fish, eggs, and steak for my protein and fat fitness. The focus was my immune system, the coronavirus, and taste.
I cooked most of my foods in olive oil for taste and healthy fats. Olive oil is 60 calories per tablespoon and is an excellent source of healthy fats. God-loaded fats with calories and make it easy to complete a diet. Protein is and will always be king for fitness when building muscles.
All my meals start with protein, then I focus on carbohydrates for my vitamins and minerals, and finally, I add my fats to ensure I am getting enough calories to build muscle. When cooked in olive oil, many foods contain proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, like spinach and shrimp.
Sleep –
How does your sleep affect your muscle gains and fitness journey? The beautiful thing about working at home is that I can always sleep late or get a nap during the day. Sleep is essential for fitness and healthy hormones that build muscle. I try to get enough sleep, but I am very active, so it’s hard to lie down, let alone sleep. Sleep is the weakest part of my muscle gain journey.
Science says sleep builds muscle and increases your fitness more than working out, but my mind does not agree. My brain doesn’t decide because my muscles respond immediately to my workout, but the training damages my muscles, not building them.
During an exercise, the swell or pump I experience is my body sending blood to the muscles to repair the damage that the workout caused. During sleep, my muscles grow to prevent the following exercise from damaging them. If I do not sleep, my muscles can not grow.
Home Workout –
What is the importance of a home workout for your muscle gains and fitness journey? The training is what I live for and base my fitness success on, even though my diet and sleep are more important. My workout starts the muscle growth process by damaging my body and forcing it to change. I have 150 pounds of weight, which is not enough for me in the gym but is enough at home. So I am taking advantage of my home workouts by focusing on form.
A lift has three parts – isometric, concentric, and eccentric. By slowing down the concentric and eccentric and extending the isometric’s pause time, I put more stress on my muscles for fitness. In particular, the concentric push exercise is the push, and the pull is eccentric. Each activity has two isometrics, one at the top of a lift and one at the bottom.
When I benched the press this week for fitness, I slowed down the concentric and eccentric and held the isometric for 5 seconds at each lift’s top and bottom. At the top of each lift, I flexed the chest and arm muscles as I held the weight. At the bottom of each lift, I kept the weight one inch from my chest. You can apply the same form to the pushup.
Workout:
Demographics: Age 52, Height 5-5, Weight 185 Pounds
Legs
Lifts | Sets x Reps |
Squats | 6 x 10 |
Lunges | 6 x 10 |
Deadlifts | 6 x 10 |
Treadmill Incline | 5 minutes |
Chest
Lift | Sets x Reps |
Fly | 6 x 10 |
Pushups | 6 x 25 |
Bench Press | 6 x 10 |
Shadow Boxing fitness | 5 minutes |
Back
Lift | Sets x Reps |
Barbell Row | 6 x 10 |
Dumbbell Row One Hand | 6 x 10 |
Dumbbell Fly Rear Delt | 6 x 10 |
Jump Rope for Fitness | 5 minutes |
Shoulders
Lift | Sets x Reps |
Overhead Press | 6 x 10 |
Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 6 x 10 |
Dumbbell Front Raise | 6 x 10 |
Treadmill | 20 minutes |
Arms
Lift | Sets x Reps |
Curls | 6 x 10 |
Dips | 6 x 10 |
Dumbbell Tricep Extension | 6 x10 |
Treadmill for fitness | 20 minutes |
Traps & Stomach
Lift | Sets x Reps |
Barbell Shrug | 6 x 10 |
Lying Leg Raise | 6 x 20 |
Side Plank | 6 x 2 minutes |
Treadmill for fitness | 20 minutes |
The Last Word on Muscle Growth Journey and How to Overcome Challenges
When is it best not to adjust to your muscle gain and fitness journey? In conclusion, I do not intend to make any adjustments this week. I need continuity at this point. Kids are not the only ones who need consistency. Consistency and compliance are essential while building muscle and fitness. Also, working out at home gives me a chance to focus on my form. When no one is looking, I can work out with less weight and perfect form, which ultimately helps develop more muscle.