Gym during autumn… it’s time to build muscle mass

Autumn is the ideal season to start going back to the gym and build muscle mass.

When the heat wave is gone many weight room frequenters start thinking on how they can program the next “autumn winter” season. One of the goals typical during this period of the year is to increase body mass, working on building up muscle.

Gym training

From a training point of view its advisable to start using again more “challenging” weights, on average between 65 to 80% maximum contraction.

Many athletes prefer to focus on an adequate period of time (6/8 weeks) to improve the pure strength, because even if this type of training doesn’t give direct evidence of volume increase, it enhances the athletic characteristics that are then appropriately used during more specific hypertrophy sessions.

Basically, if during the last season the person performed 10 flat bench repetitions lifting 80Kg, this year the goal is to lift 10% more, which is 88 Kg. Increasing the maximum contraction is an essential factor.

Training on its own is not the only factor involved when planning to build up muscle. Nutrition, supplements and recovery need to be included in the program too.

So this is why it’s not convenient to train every day but it’s advised to plan for regular interval sessions (on average 3 times a week also including recovery weeks that only plan for 2 training sessions).

Nutrition

Nutrition needs to be “abundant” even if “clean”; it’s also important to plan for 3 main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2/3 snacks a day (mid morning, mid afternoon and if necessary before going to bed).

Protein content levels are important but it’s not practical to exceed the doses that are normally considered appropriate for stimulating muscle growth. Usually 2/2.2 g. of protein are necessary per kilogram of body weight.

With this in mind, fats and carbohydrates take on added meaning because they need to be adequately balanced and distributed during every meal.

Supplements

Supplements play a vital role for those who desire to offer an extra boost to their body which in turn allows them to push training sessions towards new limits and also improve recovery time.

Whey proteins play a vital role, they contain great organic value and are the main ingredient of Ke Forma Whey PLUS, with 90% concentration, highly digestible and great flavour; Whey PLUS may be used as a supplement during breakfast or also other snacks of the day.

HMB amino acids (Hydroxy Methyl Butyric Acid) are nother well known supplement with the ability to optimize the production of molecules and also providing new recovery assets.

HMB is a leucine metabolite (an essential amino acid among the 3 “ramified” types). HMB Ke Forma formulation has a high concentration of it with 1 g. active ingredient per pill.

Read also “HMB: an aid in preventing cardiovascular diseases”

This AA (amino acid) is a perfect supplement to be taken after training sessions (it seems that it stimulates important anabolic molecules like mTOR) and may also be taken before bed time to benefit from a longer recovery period.

Recovery

Last but not least, a third supplement is creatine a polyhedral molecule that offers multiple benefits by both energizing it and sculpturing it.

Ke Forma’s CreaT DE contains a creatine (Degussa CREAPURE®) known for its excellent pure concentration; this property enables the molecule to get into the bloodstream effortlessly so that the supplement may be easily absorbed.

Creat DE may be taken after training or even during recovery days in the morning or during the evening; creatine intake builds up a deposit pool that after 3 weeks reaches its highest levels and that is why you should stop taking it for another 2/3 weeks to get rid of the build up and then start again.

Many athletes who want to improve their anabolic performance, take creatine after their training sessions together with a dose of simple sugars in order to stimulate insulin levels naturally and improve the molecule’s absorption.

By focusing on training, nutrition and recovery (supplements have a positive effect on the last two) it will be possible to begin building up muscle during autumn.