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Intense training produces a series of catabolic reactions in the body. The anabolic state is a process in which the body builds and repairs muscle tissue to replenish the body’s depleted energy levels.
Creating an anabolic state is the main requirement if you want to grow your muscles. You must have heard that you need to perform intensive exercise to build your muscle, but keep in mind that you will not be able to achieve your maximum muscle mass if you do not know the right way to create an anabolic state.
Anabolic and Catabolic Exercises
Anabolic exercises include weight lifting or bodyweight exercises. For example; squats, bench press, push-ups, pull-ups, etc. Exercises cause small tears in muscle fibers. Your body then needs the anabolic process to repair and strengthen the tissue.
Catabolic exercises are called cardio or aerobic exercises for short. More oxygen and energy use occurs during exercise. It includes physical exercises such as jogging, cycling, and swimming that you do at a steady pace over a long period of time.
How to Get in An Anabolic State
Knowing basic nutritional practices is one of the keys to achieve the correct anabolic state to accelerate your muscle growth. Here are seven principles that you have to follow to create an anabolic state and feed your muscles.
1- Nutrition Factors
Pre and post workout nutrition is important to create an anabolic environment. Consuming a nutritious meal 2 hours pre workout provides fuel for the workout. Protein + Carbs is important to replenish your glycogen post workout.
- Increase Your Protein Intake
Protein is the main component in creating an anabolic state, and there are many studies confirming this. It supplies your body with amino acids, which are needed by your body to repair and build muscle. For a faster muscle growth, you need to consume 1-1.5 grams of protein for every pound of your body weight. Some foods that are high in protein are whey, milk, eggs, poultry, fish, and beef. Since liver takes more time to digest protein, it is highly recommended to divide your protein intake into six meals so you can get the optimal benefit of protein.
- Increase Your Carbohydrate Consumption
In muscle building process, carbohydrate functions to energize your body. Carbohydrate stimulates your body to release insulin that functions to transform amino acids into muscle cells. If your body does not have sufficient amount of carbohydrate, your body will use the protein stored in your body as a replacement. When it happens, your body cannot optimally repair and build your muscle. It is recommended to consume 1.5-2 grams of carbohydrate for every pound of your body weight to create an anabolic state. You can get lots of carbohydrate from foods like whole wheat bread, vegetables, rice, pasta and potatoes.
- Pay Attention to Your Calories Intake
Since your main goal is to build your muscle, you have to make sure that you consume 10-percent more calories than what your body needs. The correct ratio for calories intake to create an anabolic state is: 10-percent from fat, 40-percent from protein, and 50-percent from carbohydrate.
- Drink lots of water
Water does not only help your body to release toxin, but it’s also beneficial to maintain your muscle mass. Do not let your body to experience dehydration because when it happens, it will significantly reduce your muscle mass. 70-percent of your muscle is water so if you increase your water intake, you can maintain your muscle mass and enhance muscle growth.
- Take the Right Supplements
Quality supplements can also help you create an anabolic state. Getting the right supplements in your daily diet can supply your body with important nutrients. L-glutamine, creatine and whey protein are some of the main nutrients needed by your body to grow muscle. Fortunately, there are many popular supplements in market that contain these four nutrients.
2- Other Factors
- Recovery / Get Plenty of Rest
Having sufficient amount of rest and recovery time is crucial in muscle building because insufficient recovery time can slower your muscle growth. Sleep is the best form of recovery. It helps increase anabolic hormone production and lowers catabolic hormone production. When HGH and testosterone levels are higher than cortisol, the body will stay at an anabolic state.
You must have at least 7 hours of sleep per day and give enough recovery days between your workouts. Moreover, the levels of growth hormone and testosterone can only be enhanced when you have sufficient sleep.
- Exercise and Training
Compound exercises and weight training are the best anabolic training. It recruits more muscle fibers and activates the CNS, which increases muscle- building hormones and decreases the production of catabolic hormones.
Intensive exercise is indeed important to build your muscles but do not overdo it. You should not burn all your calories as your body needs calories to build your muscle.
If you follow these 7 guideline to creating an anabolic state you will see great results in muscle growth. It is important to follow theses guidelines daily to see the best results. For more workout tips and diet tips check out other articles found within this site.
