How to Gain Muscle & Lose Fat the Natural Way

In "How to Gain Muscle & Lose Fat the Natural Way," we've explored how to continually make gains by cycling training parameters. This article will be the first of a two part series presenting the workout routines that accompany this cycling process.  When performed as proscribed and with the accompanying nutritional program, these programs are guaranteed to bring you the results that you are looking for.

Our workout parameters are going to be determined by the phase we are in. There are going to be three phases that we will be repeating over and over again. The first week is an Active Recovery Phase. This phase will only be a 1 week long phase in which we will only train with weights twice a week on a full body routine. After this week, the next three weeks are going to be a high volume phase with short rest periods in between sets. We'll call this phase the Loading Phase. After this phase we will do 4 weeks of higher intensity work (heavier weights) with longer periods of rest in between sets. We will refer to this phase as the Growth Phase.

The Active Recovery Phase: The Active Recovery Phase has three main functions.

1)      First, according to leading strength expert Tudor Bompa, Ph.D., “you are trying to adapt the anatomy of the body to the upcoming training so that you can create, or produce an injury free environment”. Essentially, your tendons and ligaments should be strong enough to support the stressful periods that will follow.

2)      Second, this phase is a great time to address any strength imbalance that your body might have. This is the reason why mostly dumbbell work will be used during this phase.

3)      Finally, this phase will act as a great time in which the body will re-charge its energy stores and allow for complete physical and mental recuperation.

The Loading Phase:

During the loading phase the body is stressed with an increasing high volume of work that if kept for too long will eventually result in overtraining and injury. During this phase, three things will happen:

1)      The growth hormone output goes through the roof due to the short rest interval between sets and the high volume.

2)      Hypertrophy (muscle growth) occurs by the body increasing the levels of creatine, water and carbohydrates inside the muscle cell. This phenomenon is called muscle volumization.

3)      The body's recuperation capabilities are upgraded in response to the stress imposed by the increasing volume of work coupled with short rest intervals.

The Growth Phase:

During the Growth Phase the body is not stressed by volume. This time, the stimuli for growth is heavy weights. If this phase would be kept for too long eventually the body would cease to stop making strength gains and you would plateau. This is the reason why we always need to go back to a Loading Phase. During this phase the following three things will happen:

1)      The testosterone levels go through the roof in response to the longer rest in between sets and the heavier weights.

2)      Hypertrophy (muscle growth) occurs by the body increasing the actual diameter of the myofiber (the muscle fiber size) through increased protein synthesis.

3)      Since your body's recuperation abilities were built up to the maximum by the previous phase and the volume has gone down dramatically, these extra recuperation capabilities are used to increase strength and build more muscle mass. The reason the body does this is in order to be prepared for another stressful period like the one it just went through. This adaptation mechanism is the one that ensures the survival of the species.

To Fail or Not to Fail

Regarding the issue of reaching muscle failure or not in all sets, the best advice that I can give you is to perform each set to the point where it would be impossible for you to perform an additional repetition on your own with good form. This philosophy has always kept me injury free and allowed me to train by myself for years without any accidents.