Building muscle by steering your physiology towards anabolism (muscle-growth) and away from the catabolic (muscle breakdown) responses activated by intense exercise is a 24-hour a day, 7-day a week commitment. Supplements are an incredibly important part of this and supplementation consistency is paramount to the muscle-building process. Approach it in a half-ass manner, and you’ll get half-ass results.
Most athletes don’t realize that although a workout can dramatically increase muscle anabolism, training also stimulates a tremendous increase in muscle protein breakdown. In fact, research shows that the catabolic effect of intense training on muscle can last for up to 48 hours. Therefore, the nutrients you feed your body every day interact with this response to determine whether you gain or lose muscle mass! Recovery days are critical for nurturing protein synthesis.
Your “rest days” are a perfect opportunity to accelerate recovery and enhance muscle growth. This is a time when your muscles require a steady stream of growth-stimulating amino acids to promote a constant anabolic state over the long-term. Supplements such as VP2 and MyoGenin are engineered specifically to do just this. These state-of-the-art protein formulations should be a stable of any athlete’s nutrition plan on workout days as well as rest days.
Never forget that weight training stimulates the muscle growth process but how you feed your body – for as long as 48 hours after training – is essential to getting maximum results from your workouts. If you slack off on the nutrition side, your results will suffer greatly. The workout is just the beginning of the process. In reality, your workout will only be as good as your nutritional intake during the 48-hours after.
Rest days are not slack-off days when it comes to nutrition and supplementation. Use this time to feed and nourish muscle growth. Make a plan and stick to it. Just like on your training days, set specific times for your meals and supplements and follow it. Become disciplined with your nutrition and supplementation on your rest days, and you’ll start seeing serious results faster.
