Where's The Beef

Did you know that the muscle and fat cells you are born with are pretty much what you have for life? Yep, genetics decide what you will be packaged with. However it is up to YOU to figure out how to fill that package, muscle mass or fat mass. In pursuit of that Last 10 Pounds, I’m thinking muscle mass.

In magazine articles, books and advertisements that proclaim you can add muscle and torch fat, there may be some misleading information. In reality, as your muscles develop, you don’t grow more muscle cells, you’re basically just adding protein fiber and water to the existing cell structure. And any strength gains we make through training are not because we are just adding protein fiber and water; we are actually training our nervous system to engage more of the muscle we already have. Unlike fat, our muscle cells have nerve endings that are connected to our central processing unit, our brain. And if we can neurologically engage more muscle (waking up those slacker cells) by lifting heavier weights, running faster or jumping higher, we have an opportunity to add even more protein fiber and water to more muscle cells. This is the basic premise of bodybuilding (hypertrophy), waking up more of what you already have and feeding that crew.

Now fat is a little different, if a fat cell gets too full, it will divide. And if they do divide, they don’t die off even if you empty them. You’re just stuck with more fat cells that can be filled back up. And the only things needed to fill up a fat cell; inactivity and a chronic overdose of food.

Inactivity also has an effect on muscle. If you’re not using all of your muscles, that part that you are not using sluffs off any added protein fiber, drains itself of water and the cell shrinks; it becomes dormant waiting to someday be called upon to work again. This, my friend, is called ‘atrophy’.

If you’re in pursuit of that Last 10 Pounds, your body may be out to get you. Why? It has a preference of storing fat. Given a choice, the human genome is programed to store fat and atrophy muscle. And if we let the programing run long enough we end up with a size 42 waist hanging over our size 32 pants. Not only does this NOT look pretty, NOT look normal (the premise of this entire blog series), it is generally unhealthy.

Chronic diseases arise from fat gain and muscle loss. These diseases are impacting our society and costing the livelihoods and lives of an entire generation. Diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression, hormone imbalance (low T and excessive E), Alzheimer’s, etc…. I do not believe in government conspiracy theories or do I think that corporations purposely sell unhealthy products (food and pharma), so let’s not play the Blame Game as to how society got to this point. However, I do believe in informing a population of a public health hazard and unfortunately, the US Government (or other governments for that matter) is NOT doing enough to support that goal. And I think the education system has failed us; it should provide enough information to our children so that they can make an informed decision. Informed decisions like eat whole food instead of crap, exercise instead of being a couch potato, manual labor instead of ultimate automation and convenience, 3 deep breaths and finding your chi instead of stress, are practiced habits and need to be learned.

I am convinced that our high schools and collages should offer creditable courses on nutrition and bodybuilding. Why? I want the next generation to understand;

·         where fat comes from (because fat is the disease), and

·         how to manage muscle and control the fat.

Then, if they get a bit of that old ‘Chub Rub’, they will know how to deal with it in a SAFE and HEALTHY manner and not just attempt to diet it away. Remember from earlier blogs; weight loss is NOT the problem, it is FAT LOSS that we are considering. And we know ‘DIETS’ don’t work, they just teach the body to sustain starvation.

So to keep fat cells from dividing and muscle cells from atrophying, I feel there needs to be some education process. Personally if I had choice between a Bodybuilding 101 classes instead of basic 60’s vintage high school P.E., I’m quite sure I would have taken the Bodybuilding course. However, because of todays never ending educational budget crisis’s and cutbacks on nonessential learning (unfortunately, weightlifting is not one of the 3 R’s), it looks like most will have to take a self-study course to learn the ins and outs.

So my advice to you; read as many bodybuilding books as you can find. Now please note that a majority of these books will include a rehash of the same basic low carb, eat clean diet plans with goofy recipes plus basic workout routines and instructions on specific exercises. The books are very repetitive in that sense. Nevertheless, each author provides this information from a different perspective, providing a new hint, a more direct method, and a better guide in the direction you may want to go. And don’t forget the internet; web sites like EXRX.net or Lyle McDonalds bodyrecoposition.com are uncompromising. These sites don’t advertise weight loss; they are focused on building muscle and reducing fat. So in pursuit of that Last 10 Pounds, there are no courses; hard work, self-study and doing your homework is mandatory.

Happy Studying!

Mark M Jennings