Muscle Building Essentials part 3 of 3- Metabolic Stress

When we exercise, we are putting our muscles under tension and stress. This causes metabolites such as lactate and creatine to accumulate.

Research suggests that although this may not be essential to muscle growth, it may have a strong positive correlation to it.

Let’s dig deeper into this; shall we?

Metabolic Stress in Response to Exercise

Metabolic stress is the response the body has to a muscle that has been broken down during exercise. The muscle can become inflamed, acidic, and metabolites accumulate to start the healing process.

Some studies and popular opinions conclude that 40-70 seconds of time under tension is ideal for muscle growth, although more research is needed.

Looking at this suggestion, an argument can be made for sticking closely to the 40 second mark for an exercise set and using as heavy weight as you can manage for that amount of time.

This way, you’re still in the 40-70 second range but are able to use heavier weight then you could for an exercise set lastly longer than 40 seconds.

Exercise sets beyond this range are typically better for muscular endurance. Exercise sets lastly shorter than 40 seconds are ideal for maximum strength. Sticking close to 40 seconds with heavy manageable weight seems to be ideal, but a good exercise program has variation.

Takeaway

Exercise-induced metabolic stress can be a contributing factor to muscle growth.

When a muscle is under stress for an extended period of time it produces metabolites as a coping mechanism and the body begins to heal itself. This can lead to muscle growth.

Try this out for the next 30 days:

Grab a pair of dumbbells that you can easily do 15-20 standard bicep curls with. This may be 15 lbs. or so for an average male and 10 lbs. or so for an average female. I’ve been using 15 lbs. dumbbells for this.

Lie on your back and perform 100 skull crushers. Immediately sit up and perform 60 hammer curls.

These are not supposed to be perfect reps but short and fast “pump” reps without stopping.

Bust them out quick, flex and stretch your arms in the mirror, and feel the burn of the metabolites building up in your arms.

You can do this at any time of the day but keep it separate from your regular workout. I like to do it after dinner and I typically do my regular workout in the morning or afternoon.

I got this idea from Rich Piana, and although the dude was an extremist when it came to bodybuilding, I really like this daily bonus workout for arm growth. Give it a shot and see how your arms grow.

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