JayLoss

Gaining Muscle is Hard!

Posted on22. Oct, 2011 by Jay.

I’ve been working on increasing muscle mass for a LONG time now..

It’s been my primary goal for at least 6-months  and I’ve definitely gained, but it’s been at a snails pace sadly.

I’ve tried protein drinks, I eat a lot of protein rich foods, I lift primarily with some cardio.

Gaining muscle is a very slow process it seems.

Opps, that's not me..

The good news is I have an 8-pack which shows when my body-fat is low enough (11% or lower). My leg muscles and arms are bigger but only about 35% bigger. For the amount of lifting and eating that I do I wish I had more to show for my hard-work.

It’s a slow process, for me at least.

I wonder if I were to increase the duration of my workout from 45-minutes to 90-minutes. And the amount of weight I lifted by 25%. I wonder how much of an impact this would have on muscle growth.

My problem is I’m pretty much sedentary except for when I workout 4-5 times a week for about 45-minutes. Maybe the problem is I’m not doing enough.

I’ll try increasing my workouts to 90-minutes and my weights by 25% or more. I think this will help spur muscle growth and maybe get me sore again.

That or I need to get a personal trainer that will push me in the right direction.

Jay,

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Lose Belly Fat?

Posted on09. Oct, 2011 by Jay.

Who wants to lose belly fat? Checking some keyword stats for JayLoss I notice people are interested in losing body fat, and doing some quick research with that keyword I notice ‘Belly Fat’ is a hot topic.

So what’s the deal? Why are people trying to target their belly? Don’t people realize you can’t target lose body fat? You lose body fat as a whole when dieting and exercising. You can’t will yourself to lose fat in only one part of your body. It doesn’t work that way.

If a  person want’s to lose belly fat, they have to focus on what they’re eating primarily.

You have to go lean, eat only nutritious foods, no late night snacking, cut out all the junk foods.

That said I have noticed the more I work on core exercises, abs and obliques the better my mid-section looks. So it’s not all about what you eat. It’s about 80% of it but it’s not everything. I recommend working your mid-section every time you workout. Not once or twice a week but 4-5 days a week if you can handle it.

Do that and you’ll not only lose body fat, you’ll gain muscle mass and look great. I went from a being pretty flabby in that area to not looking so bad after about 10-months. I still have more work to do but if I can do it, anyone can.

JayLoss

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What is the Most Suitable Protein for Building Muscles?

Posted on22. Mar, 2011 by Jay.

The question, which protein is most suitable for muscle building is commonly discussed in gyms and with body building enthusiasts. And almost every discussion ends in agreement that whey protein is the best supplement if you want to build muscles quickly. Some time ago whey didn’t even exist but today it’s like a compulsion in body building supplements.

The introduction of whey protein has revolutionized the supplement process. When you are looking to build muscles you need extra proteins to help you. Many athletes had this problem, they couldn’t find a proper and balanced supplement which quickly gives them energy and has minimal side effects. Whey has solved this problem. It gives you the desired energy to achieve your goals and is a solid building block go growing muscle. Whey is available in powder form and can conveniently be taken with a glass of milk. The best thing about whey is that it has content which makes up for lack of food. When you take whey, you feel less hungry as it is heavy.

Reasons for the Success of Whey Protein

Here are some reasons why whey has taken the body building world by storm:

Easy Digestible

Whey is easily digestible and goes down into your system very quickly. Although it is heavy and filling, it is digested by the body without much hassle. Its Biological Value (BV) is very high. BV is the measurement of the effectiveness at which a protein works to grow tissues in a body and in the meantime consumed.

Contain High Quantity of Amino Acids

Amino acids do the job of building muscle mass. Amino acids are necessary for building muscles but they are not naturally produced within the body. This means they have to be brought in through diet. The most convenient, effective and economical way to supply amino acids to your body is through whey diet.

Strengthen the Immune System

Whey protein very importantly gives strength to the immune system of a body builder. When you work out vigorously you put extra pressure on your body. This can result in some imbalances and minor health problems. However, whey protein has substances which help you deal with the extra pressure. You stay fitter and exercise harder by using whey.

Jay’s Take:

I believe in whey protein to aid in muscle building. That and ‘Mega Men’ vitamins! Whey Protein taste great, it’s good for you and has what you need to get large. Right now I’m on Amplified Mass XXX. I’ve gained about 7 pounds since, about 3 pounds of muscle I’m hoping.

Current Weight: 183lbs.
Calories Per Day: 3000

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Exercises Recommended for Building Lean Muscles

Posted on02. Mar, 2011 by Jay.

Many people are desperate to know about tips to build lean muscles. It is a very popular aim in the world of muscle building. People are so intent to build lean muscles that they are often seen losing their focus from the very basics.

Importance of Diet

Before we start talking about the exercise, I would like to stress one point which is the diet. I have seen people working hard to build muscles when they are eating only 2-3 meals per day. I’m not going to start a lengthy lecture on diet and give you a chart or something, all I’m going to do is to tell you to eat good and regularly. Four to five meals with good proteins (no junk food) per day is not going to hurt. Having a good diet is essential for building muscles. If you don’t have a proper diet, all the exercising will drain the energy out of your body instead of giving you some. Therefore, an unhealthy diet causes more harm than good.

A Work-out Plan

Making a working out plan and following it is the key factor in building muscles. This may seem obvious to you but trust me many people take it lightly and do not understand the importance of a proper routine. You should look to make a plan which corresponds to your daily life activities. This way you can exercise your routine with no disruption. It is crucial that you stick to the plan for a long time.

Ideally, in the beginning you should look to work out for 30 to 40 minutes, three times a week. This will get you straightened and on course while not putting too much stress on your body.

Multi-joint Exercises

You must concentrate fully on multi-joint exercises instead of isolation exercises. Here are a few example exercises I recommend.

• Bend Over Rows
• Bench Press
• Chin-ups
• Squats
• Dead-lifts
• Lat pull-downs
• Barbell Curls

These exercises are easy and if followed through a strict work-out plan, they bring visible results very quickly.

Good luck!

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Things to Consider when Building Muscle Mass

Posted on28. Feb, 2011 by Jay.

There are many myths and many effective techniques for building muscle mass. These days when information is not hard to escalate, one has to be careful about the credibility. Any Tom, Dick and Harry can get a free blog and start posting their ‘expert’ opinions which can misguide and harm anybody. So it is important for you to focus your mind on the real thing and don’t let the wrong information distract you.

The decision of how to build muscle mass entirely rests upon you. Are you comfortable with getting big and then build muscles or you want to get lean first. Whichever way you go, you need to fix a work-out routine and follow it above everything else. To build muscles of any sort, having a routine is of utmost importance. Working-out at random doesn’t work at all, in fact it bring more harm to a person than building muscles.

Many people don’t know how and where to begin. You must understand that to gain weight you need to be hyper-caloric, while losing weight and becoming lean needs you to be hypo-caloric. These are opposites can cannot be done at the same time.

So the decision of getting huge or lean rests with you, following information should be useful for you in making up your mind:

Think how much body fat you want

Body fat is something which has contrasting opinions about it. Some guys are entirely not comfortable with it while some guys want their muscles to look huge and pumpy. The course of training depends on what you want, if increasing your waist line an inch or two disgusts you then you should become lean first and then build muscles. If you want to get huge, then you will have to put on some weight and them build muscles.

Think how rapidly you want to build muscle mass

If you need to build muscle mass rapidly you will need to burn calories. If you don’t intake calories you simply won’t be able to burn them. Don’t worry about getting fat because fat is caused by unused calories, if you burn all the calories you will develop muscles out of them not fat. That is the reason why diet is so stressed by every muscle building coach. Eat healthy food in large quantity and build muscles through the calories gained. That is how you build muscles fast.

The post above was submitted to be published on JayLoss.com.

Jay’s Take: I do agree that you don’t want to listen to just anyone on your quest to a better you. But I strongly believe that the best knowledge comes from taking action. The bloggers who say one thing and then do another, I wouldn’t want to trust my health to them. On the other hand if I see a blogger taking action and following their own advice and learning from it, those are the experts.

Jay,
Current Weight: 181lbs.
Calories Per Day: 3000

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How much protein do you need to build muscle?

Posted on21. Dec, 2010 by Jay.

Protein helps repair and build muscle after we tear it up in the gym. You should include protein at every meal of the day but most importantly after working out. Usually I have a protein shake (35 grams of protein) and some sort of carb (banana, oatmeal, etc.) after a workout. But the question is how much protein do you need to build muscle?

I’m not one for complicating things.. so what I personally do is calculate my weight and multiply it by 1.1 and that tells me about how many grams of protein I should aim for to help build muscle. For example I weigh 175 pounds, multiple that by 1.1 and I get 192.5 grams of protein. This is the amount of protein I should aim for each day in order to build and repair my muscles. Easy enough right?

175 pounds x 1.1 = 192.5 grams of protein per day

Another way to calculate how much protein you need to build muscle:

My body weight is 175 pounds, and my body fat percentage is 10%.

1. 175 / 2.2 = 79.54 Kg
2. 0.10 x 68.18 = 6.81 Kg
3. 79.54 – 6.81 = 72.73 Kg (Lean body mass in Kg)
4. 72.73 x 2.75 = 200.00 (grams of protein recommended to build and repair muscle)

Or you can just multiple your weight in pounds by 1.1 and you get something similar.. 175 x 1.1 = 192.5 grams.

I don’t think anyone really knows the EXACT amount of protein your body needs to successful build muscle. My trainer says one thing, some guy on the internet says something else. For that reason I stick with 1.1 times your weight in pounds to calculate grams of protein needed to build muscle. It’s easier to remember and it’s close enough.

Eating Enough Protein

Personally I sometimes find it difficult to eat the recommended amount of protein per day to build muscle. It requires me to eat protein at every meal of the day and it’s hard sometimes. For example I eat 5-7 times a day and protein is on the menu at each meal but sometimes I just want a carb instead. Downing a protein shake is easy and usually tasty, it’s an easy 35 grams of protein.  I usually have Chicken breast in the fridge at all times. In the morning I have eggs with sometimes other protein and of course a carb or two. My breakfast are usually an easy 700-900 calories most days. On average I would say I eat 150-200 grams of protein per day and I build muscle but it must tell you it was a lot easier to lose weight rather then to build muscle. It actually takes more effort I think to gain muscle, that’s my opinion at least.

Too Much Protein?

Too much protein is generally not a problem if you make sure to drink plenty of WATER during the day, you stay away from high fat proteins and you’re generally healthy already. As I’m only in my 20s, it may sound out of place to say this, but attempting to build muscle in your late 50s and older is something I don’t recommend. The fact is the process of building muscle first requires tearing down the muscle and building up again.. as we age this becomes a lot harder to do. Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger.

High Protein Foods

Know that an ounce of meat or fish has approximately 7 grams of protein in it.

• Beef (Hamburger patty, 4 oz – 28 grams protein; Steak, 6 oz – 42 grams; Most cuts of beef – 7 grams of protein per ounce)
• Chicken (Chicken breast, 3.5 oz – 30 grams protein; Chicken thigh – 10 grams (for average size); Drumstick – 11 grams; Wing – 6 grams; Chicken meat, cooked, 4 oz – 35 grams)
• Fish (Most fish fillets or steaks are about 22 grams of protein for 3 ½ oz (100 grams) of cooked fish, or 6 grams per ounce; Tuna, 6 oz can – 40 grams of protein)
• Pork (Pork chop, average – 22 grams protein; Pork loin or tenderloin, 4 oz – 29 grams; Ham, 3 oz serving – 19 grams; Ground pork, 1 oz raw – 5 grams; 3 oz cooked – 22 grams; Bacon, 1 slice – 3 grams; Canadian-style bacon (back bacon), slice – 5 – 6 grams)
• Eggs and Dairy (Egg, large – 6 grams protein; Milk, 1 cup – 8 grams; Cottage cheese, ½ cup – 15 grams; Yogurt, 1 cup – usually 8-12 grams, check label; Soft cheeses (Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert) – 6 grams per oz; Medium cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss) – 7 or 8 grams per oz; Hard cheeses (Parmesan) – 10 grams per oz)
• Beans (including soy) (Tofu, ½ cup 20 grams protein; Tofu, 1 oz, 2.3 grams; Soy milk, 1 cup – 6 -10 grams; Most beans (black, pinto, lentils, etc) about 7-10 grams protein per half cup of cooked beans; Soy beans, ½ cup cooked – 14 grams protein; Split peas, ½ cup cooked – 8 grams)
• Nuts and Seeds (Peanut butter, 2 Tablespoons – 8 grams protein; Almonds, ¼ cup – 8 grams; Peanuts, ¼ cup – 9 grams; Cashews, ¼ cup – 5 grams; Pecans, ¼ cup – 2.5 grams; Sunflower seeds, ¼ cup – 6 grams; Pumpkin seeds, ¼ cup – 8 grams; Flax seeds – ¼ cup – 8 grams)

Added Benefits

Protein is filling, it takes longer to digest meaning you stay full longer (makes it easier to lose weight). Your body doesn’t store protein as fat (excess is ‘removed’ from your system rather then stored). This doesn’t mean fried Chicken is good for you, on the contrary. You want to try and stay away from fatty proteins and focus mostly on healthy lean proteins. That’s about it.

How much protein do you include in your diet?

Jay,
Current Weight: 174lbs.
Calories Per Day: 2600
Current Body Fat: 10%

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Staying Focused During the Holidays

Posted on09. Dec, 2010 by Jay.

It’s the busy time of the year again, and pretty much every has something else to do but focus on weight loss and eating right. Even though I’m crazy busy like everyone else, I do find time to workout 1-2 hours every other day. It’s a norm for me now and rewarding especially since I dumped the gym membership and moved to the garage. Yep, I’m full time working out in the garage now and it’s great. I have pretty much everything I need to get a full workout, even an elliptical machine.

My recent gym equipment: Iron Gym Extreme

Some pictures of my home gym.

It’s so much easier and it saves time working out at home then getting ready for the gym, driving to the gym and then driving back home. At least that’s the case for me. I find when I go to the gym it easily takes up 3-4 hours in the day. When I workout at home it takes up about 2-3 hours of time instead. I like working out but like other people I have other things to do and I don’t like wasting time.

I think my body wants to stay under 175 pounds, today I’m at 172 pounds and 9.2% body fat. I don’t know how that is because I have been eating a lot (at least I think it’s a lot) and eating more high calorie foods. On average I eat 2700-3000 calories per day. I eat mostly proteins, fruits and random carbs. I try to limit my carbs after 7PM, only eat proteins after that time. At every meal I eat some sort of protein with usually a healthy carb. I do eat chips and other goodies every once in awhile though. Actually I have chips pretty much everyday.

By the way the Iron Gym Extreme I got a few weeks back I think is REALLY increasing my strength. It works my arms and back big time. Look into it if you want to increase your workout efforts. It really does a great job.

That’s it for an update.

Jay,
Current Weight: 172lbs.
Body Fat: 9.2%
Calories Per Day: 2600
Current Body Fat: dunno

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Morning Exercise?

Posted on27. Nov, 2010 by Jay.

I question whether exercising in the morning is better then exercising any other time of the day.

I wrote a post about a year ago that asked “what time of the day was the best time to workout?“; in the post I decided sometime in the mid afternoon was best because that’s when your muscles are fully warmed up and ready to go. I find this to be true in my case because in the early morning I’m somewhat zombie like for the first couple hours. And I don’t drink coffee because it’s effects don’t last long enough to warrant the time needed to setup, run and clean the coffee machine. That’s just me though.

However my doctor suggested that in the morning I should workout. So far he has suggested a certain time of the day that I wake up and go to sleep. For the longest time I have been the type of person to goes to sleep when they are tired and wake up when I was ready to wake up. This to me was okay because I work from home. The only bad thing about it this was I would wake up and go to sleep about an hour or two LATER each and every day. The sun did not effect my sleeping pattern. So one day I would wake up at 5pm and go to sleep maybe 18-19 hours later. The next day I would wake up at 6pm and go to sleep again maybe 18-19 hours later. And so on…

This was not good for social reasons and so I listened to my doctor and now I go to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday.  Something that has effected me for 6-7 years (erratic sleeping pattern) was fixed with one suggestion from my doctor. Thanks Doc!

Now he suggest to workout in the morning. I question whether to follow this advice though. I do find when I workout early that I have energy and focus to work for the rest of the day. The only thing is I don’t want to injury myself by lifting heavy while not warmed up. That and I have my mornings pretty much set already. I wake up, eat breakfast, check on the business and then continue with the rest of the day. I’m learning structure is very important and until a few weeks ago I had very little structure in my life.

Maybe I’m just weird and I should just try it out. What do you think?

Jay,
Current Weight: 172.1lbs.
Calories Per Day: 2600
Current Body Fat: dunno

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Iron Gym Extreme

Posted on19. Nov, 2010 by Jay.

The Ultimate Upper Body Workout & Nutrition Guide..

Last night I finally took the time to put together my Iron Gym Extreme, which was surprisingly very easy to do and hardly took any time. It even came with the necessary tool to do the job.

It mounts on the door frame effortlessly. There is a safety pin that keeps it in place which fit without an issue. Once secure you’re good to go.

You can do a lot of different exercises with Iron Gym. I haven’t used it yet in a workout but I found it effective trying it out 5-minutes ago when I took these pictures.

One interesting piece of materiel that came with Iron Gym was it’s eating recommendations.

Eating Recommendations from Iron Gym:

• Eat at least six meals daily.
• Make each meal count. If you eat anything, consider it a meal.
• Eliminate any and all refined sugars and sweets.
• Reduce caffeine intake and increase water intake (should be half your body weight in ounces). No Alcohol!
• All heavy starches to be consumed by 1pm or 3rd meal of the day. For example: bread, pasta and rice.
• 1 serving of protein should be consumed with every meal. For example: (4-6 ounce piece is considered 1 serving).
• Limit dairy intake to 1st or 2nd meal.
• All fruits should be consumed before 1pm. No fruit juice!
• Multi-vitamin everyday.
• Maximum amount of time between meals: 3 hours.
• Protein always first choice then carbohydrates to be added.
• Limit sugary condiments such as salad dressings.
• Meal replacement bars and shakes to be used if sugar free.

I think these are some great suggestions and if followed would result in a much healthier person. That and watching your calorie intake of course. And these recommendations seem to be repeated from most trainers I talk to. Most important ones are to spread out your meals in a day (eat at least 6-times a day). Maximum amount of time between meals to be 3 hours. Focus on protein, limit caffeine and drink plenty of water.

It’s pretty much what I have followed for the past year and it works.

My calorie counting notepad is full everyday. Every 2-3 hours a day I have something new written down. I eat all day long yet I’ve lost over 150 pounds. When I first thought about this concept, I thought how could that help me? It would just make me bigger, right? Well you don’t want to eat an entire pizza 6-7 times a day. You want to focus on smaller healthy foods that are protein rich so you never get hungry throughout the day and ruin your diet when you crash starving at night time. I don’t think we humans are meant to eat just 3 large meals in a day.. society messed us up with that one.

I’m gaining some weight back. I’m at 172 this morning.

Eating more more more!

Jay,
Current Weight: 172lbs.
Calories Per Day: 2600
Current Body Fat: 9.9%

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Time to Build – Bulking Up!

Posted on01. Sep, 2010 by Jay.

Hey guys, sorry for not updating  in awhile. I have been very busy at work, basically working nonstop.

I just wanted to say that I have been able to maintain my weight by eating healthy, and I stopped going out to eat at places like Carl’s Junior. I don’t know why I like that place so much, they do have some healthy food, like the vegetarian burger, which is basically a hamburger wrapped with lettuce instead of a hamburger bun (not so much healthy, but not as bad for you). Also they have grilled chicken sandwiches, which are pretty tasty. Everything else they have pretty much isn’t good for you, like fries or onion rings. I usually just have a chicken sandwich and iced tea without any sweetener. But again I won’t be going back there anytime soon.

I don’t know my current body fat, I think it’s gone up to maybe 11% body fat. But I’m not too concerned about it, because my goal is to gain muscle in the long run. So increasing my body fat slightly is okay for right now.

By the way I am writing this post by my iPad dictation application, which writes everything I say down for me. So yeah, it’s gotten to that points where I am so strapped for time, that the only way I can write content is through my voice. Sorry if I sound boring at times.

What else to talk about?

Oh, I know what to talk about, I have decided not to run the half marathon. The reason why is because I feel my long-term goal of gaining muscle will be compromised if I attempt to train for the half marathon. It’s the increased cardio workouts that worry me, running miles and miles each and every week leading up to the half marathon will not benefit me in gaining muscle for the most part. Most likely what would happen is that I would actually start to lose muscle as I lose more weight with increased cardio which I don’t want to happen.

If I wanted to lose more weight, then sure I would run a half marathon and train for it, but that’s not the case for me. Instead I feel it’s time for me to bulk up!

I told my trainer that I want you primarily focus on gaining muscle now, I still want to lose body fat but in the process of gaining muscle, body fat increases. It’s not a big deal for right now. Obviously I won’t reach my 8% body fat goal for this month, but I can set that aside for another time.

It’s all about what you eat and it doesn’t matter what stage you’re in apparently, you always have to eat healthy. That’s what I have come to realize. If you want to lose weight you have to eat healthy, if you want to maintain your weight you have to eat healthy, if you want to bulk up you have to eat even better.

I’m going to focus mostly on high quality proteins, and minimal fats, only the good fats. I won’t be cheating and eating out at fast food places like I did a couple weeks ago. That was just dumb.

So Jay is now in the body-building phase!

By the way, I think I’ll have phases of cutting and bulking up from here on out. Let’s hope for some good results in the coming months.

Jay,
Current Weight: 178lbs.
Blog Starting Weight: 268 lbs.
Heaviest Weight: 336 lbs.
Current Body Fat: ???
Goal Body Fat: 8%

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