Why does 'heavy' weight training increase testosterone?
Performing heavy weight training also trains something that is most times neglected during light weight training; the central nervous system connection.By lifting heavy weights you’re actually improving the connection between the muscular system and the central nervous system. This improvement allows for more muscle fibers to be recruited. Here is where the trickle down effect occurs, leading to the importance of testosterone:More muscle fiber recruitment means more micro tears occurring, more muscle tears means more repairs required, these repairs are done by protein synthesis - and protein synthesis is the key.Testosterone binds to receptors on the surface of muscle cells and amplify the biochemical signals in muscle tissue that result in protein synthesis. With more repairs needed (caused by lifting heavy weights), more testosterone is recruited to allow for more protein synthesis. This is why training legs is so important for increasing testosterone levels, being such a large muscle group - you’ll have more tears that need to be repaired.So that’s it, lifting heavy weights works your central nervous system which allows your body to recruit more muscle fibers, causing more muscle tears, causing a higher demand for protein synthesis which is alleviated by higher levels of testosterone binding to receptors allowing for recovery. So lift heavy!Over at fitvocate.com we preach to keep your workouts challenging. Challenging means that for every rep of every set you’re using a weight that requires maximum effort to properly perform the prescribed number of reps.Now if you’re ready to increase your testosterone naturally, check out the Workout Generator for over 150 trillion free workout routines, and keep it challenging!I hope the best for you!I’ve elaborated a little more on this topic over at: Does Lifting Heavy Increase Testosterone?
Should you be able to lift your own body weight?
what do u mean by lift? u mean bench? ideally u should be able to bench more than ur body weight but u can be healthy with out having lots of muscle, so theres no really recommended weight u should be able to lift . the more the better i guess.
Weight Lifting?
If you have been lifting for several weeks and are still not seeing results, the problem lies in your diet. Another thing to consider is whether you're possibly overtraining, a condition where you start losing ground, and may even become lethargic, depressed, constantly fatigued, etc.. Most likely, though, it's your diet. You mentioned you're getting the right types of food but you'll be surprised how much you actually need to eat amountwise in order to actually see gains, especially if you're a hardgainer (most people underestimate diet). A good rule of thumb is to determine your BMR, or basal metabolic rate, in calories and multiply that by 2, that is a good place to start for caloric intake. So, for instance if you determine your BMR is 1600 calories, then your caloric intake should be a minimum of 3200 calories per day over 5-6+ meals. This would mean 3200/6 = 533 calories per meal. Another good baseline to consider are the ratio of macronutrients, usually 40% complex carbs, 40% lean proteins and 20% good fats (50-60% carbs, 20-30% proteins and 20% fats in some cases if you're a hardgainer). The definition of a hardgainer is someone who works out hard and eats a bodybuilder diet and makes minimal gains. These people need to get even more calories than most other bodybuilders. So, start out there, see how that goes. If you still aren't making gains, increase your daily caloric intake by 10% each week until you do start seeing gains, then that's where you want to stay (go beyond that and you'll start gaining too much bodyfat). As for your workout, be sure you're not doing too much. Overtraining at minimum will prevent you from seeing gains, and worst case will lead to injury. Keep your weight workouts to an hour or less and allow at least 48 hours recovery time between workouts. Personally, I only lift four days a week - I know some advanced bodybuilders who only lift three times a week. One mistake many new lifters make is doing too much and most of the time it's just not necessary (in spite of what the muscle mags may say; most of those workouts are geared toward juicers anyway and are unrealistic). As long as your lifting routine is intense enough, you don't need to be in the gym for hours at a time.
Cardio with 5 days of weight lifting a week?
A few tips on your plan as outlined above: 1. Don't do a full body workout everyday. You need to give your muscles time to recover or you are not getting the full potential of your workouts. 2. If you are just looking to get cut, go to 3 day per week for your lifting and don't train with full body workouts. Try switching to something along the lines of the following: Mon: Chest/ Back Tue: Shoulders/ Arms Fri: Legs/ Back This will allow you to get good definition such that when your body fat percentage drops to 10% - 12%, you will have the cut look that you desire. You will have to get to at least 10% to see your abs, and more than likely 8% to really see them pop (generally). 3. You can increase your cardio to 5x per week. Throw in a cross training cardio day (different cardio than normal) every third day. Look into High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for an added bonus. To help shed the body fat quicker, do your cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (water only) as your glycogen stores will be empty and your body will be forced to pull from your fat stores. 4. Don't trust the numbers you pull off the scale for your body fat percentage. The too biggest variables are A) it only looks at the lower extremities, and B) your hydration level plays a big role in the output. Have a certprogressersonal trainer do a skinfold test with a seven site criteria. This will give you a baseline to gauge your progess from. Have this checked once every four weeks by the SAME person as different people will give a different reading. 5. Watch your diet. Depending on when you do your resistance training, use carb tapering. Eat most of you carbs in the morning with very few carbs in the evening and make sure that you are adding in fiberous vegetables twice per day. Add a protein blend (includes casein) shake just before to ensure that your body has the amonios that are needed for protein synthesis while you sleep and your body rebuilds. Keep your water intake at around 1 gal per day. Good luck!!
What is the science behind Deloading? How does deloading weight help with strength training?
You need to deload because your CNS needs a break from the heavy lifting, this prevents you from "overtraining" Here are some signs that you NEED to deload Increase in resting heart rate Weight feel “cold” You never get warmed up Nervousness Crankiness Lifts are not improving Eye sensitivity to light You’re dreading going into the gym There are two reasons to deload. One is the nerdy physiological phenomenon called supercompensation, which adaption of the skeletal-muscular system and the neurological system occurs to a training stimulus. (If you google either deloading or supercompensation, you’ll come up with mostly body building sites, t-nation, or starting strength blogs). The other reason is purely performance based. Simply put, you cannot refine a movement pattern under max or near max loads, or fatigued. As you walk into the gym, you have a given baseline level of fitness. When you leave the gym, you are little bit weaker than when you first arrived. This should be no surprise as we’ve all experienced wobbly knees after a ton of box jumps or difficulty gripping the steering wheel after Helen. The gains you receive come as result of recovery. Not just recovery back to your baseline, but recovery over and above your baseline to a slightly higher fitness level than before (supercompensation).
How do soldiers fit weight lifting into their schedule?
You build your lifting schedule around the PT, and not the other way around. For example, instead of having a set "Thursday is back day" thing going on, you show up at the gym and ask yourself "What haven't I worked in a while?" It may not have the organization that some hyper-organized lifters love, but *plenty* of dudes get very cut while on active duty. Most of the calisthenics are just that - calisthenics. Only once a week or less will you be doing push-ups (or some other exercise) until muscle failure as part of group PT. Most combat-arms units will have one or two days a week of challenging group PT, and the rest as a simple run with some jumping jacks and push ups thrown in - to get the blood flowing first thing in the morning. Not every day because, as you pointed out, there would be no time for muscle recovery. If you are working out on your own time, the group PT will not seriously be challenging to you after a while except when you work legs on monday and then group PT on tues morning is full of Hello Dolleys or similar. Group PT exists to establish a baseline physical fitness minimum for those troops that refuse to work out on their own time, and to build unit cohesion. Not to seriously challenge those in good physical condition. With all of that being said, hopefully your goals are more about tone than bulk. A WWE wrestler with 30 inch upper arms... would not be successful in the military. Same with most professional weight lifters. Look to Bruce Lee and that type of body build for your inspiration. Being able to bench 150 like nothing is great, but can you put 150 lbs on your back and body and arms (pack + gear + weapon such as heavy machine gun tripod or mortar base) and walk 20 miles with it? Take a look at the calves of any Army or Marine grunt, then take a look at yours. Cheers and good luck.
How do you start strength training?
Strength training is a specific method of progressive resistance training that is geared (naturally) toward improving strength rather than gaining muscular “hypertrophy”…. As bodybuilding does.Strength training is usually done by athletes to improve athletic performance, but can be profitably used by anyone to improve fitness, bone health, etc.Generally, we’re talking about comparatively heavy weights that limit repetitions to five or under.Usually, we’re working with “gross” movements or “compound” movements as they are currently saying. Exercises that recruit a lot of muscles at one time.The standards are squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, lat pull-down, rowing motion, etc. “Spot” exercises for biceps, calves, and perhaps a few others can be thrown in.How do you start? Either get a very good reference like perhaps “Starting Strength” by Mark Rippetoe, or engage the services of a knowlegable personal trainer. Be very clear what you want.You need to do these exercises properly…. In good form, to avoid injury. Start with light weights, get your form down perfectly, and then work up gradually.
Can I still take adderall while wieght lifting?
I run up to 9 miles on adderall 20 MG 2 or 3 times a day. I would not take it right before you exercise but if you are in good shape (heart, etc) you should be ok. Wanna buy Adderall online follow this link. http://www.mycarepharmacy.com/buy_online/amphetamine_dextroamphetamine/adderall
Is lifting weights 3 times a week enough for fat loss?
I have said it before, but, again, not the greatest question here so I’ll answer to the best of my ability.Short answer - yes it is. I’ve seen it plenty of times in my career with my own clients. But weight training can’t be all that you do. There is 165 other hours in your week that you need to be consistent. And the biggest thing is your food. While consistently staying in a caloric deficit is usually the norm, the links below will prove that you can gain muscle in a deficit AND gain fat in a surplus.Why I like weight training for fat loss BETTER than cardiovascular exercise, although I feel some baseline cardiovascular competence is helpful, is because it can help to maintain - and gain - muscle further helping body re-composition by partitioning what you eat to muscle and not fat (insulin sensitivity, glut-4 translocation and other things), and helps you burn calories to easier be in a deficit.While there are many ways to lose fat, in short, weight training is always a part of my ideal program for people. And 3x/week may be exactly what you need to lose fat. There are a host of other factors involved as well. Start there and see what works and adapt accordingly.Energy balance myths: Why you can gain fat in a deficitCan you gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?