Level-Up!

From ANONYMOUS:

"I've always had a goal of getting where you are. I'm not big on supplements, and I've never been convinced that they help much. I can work out for years, but I only tone. Any tips on building?...Can you explain the timing thing?"

Seth Estrada: 

"Yes, it's absolutely about timing. I mean, imagine if you ate all your protein for the week on Monday, and did all your workouts on Tuesday through Friday. Sound silly, right? Now, imagine you workout REALLY hard in the gym in the morning, and you starve your muscles of amino acids all day until Dinner time. Also, just silly. Here's the secret, if you're building, you always need bricks and mortar. That is to say that every two hours, you should be giving your body the necessary components to rebuild broken muscle tissue with. And certainly, you should be giving your body amino acids within an hour of finishing your workout. In fact, if you can stomach it, you should be snacking on something light DURING your heavier workouts. And you're totally right, supplements are not staples, by definition. Food is. In your case, if you're only toning, either your metabolism is REALLY high, you simply are not giving it enough food, or you are shoveling it in during only 2 or 3 sittings. Timing.

In connection with timing food, you should be engaged in periodization of your workouts. Not just "Oh, I never do the same workout twice", but a methodical breakdown of strength, muscle-density, and endurance phases. try 4-6 week phases, since you are already a dedicated lifter, maybe go with a different phase each month to make it easier to track (time flies when you're 'regular'). Periodization.

Hope this all makes sense, and helps :) "

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