Buff . Strong . Muscular
BULGING BICEPS
IN THE UPPER ARM
WELL DEFINED 6-PACKS
IN THE ABDOMEN
MUSCULAR BODY
However, muscles do not merely serve an aesthetic purpose, they play an important role in keeping our body functioning.
Connected to the skeleton to help move limbs and other body parts
Involuntary muscles found in organs to facilitate bodily functions
Contracts the heart to pump blood
Rippling biceps, rock hard abs and a better looking body are not the only reasons to build muscles.
Here are some other good reasons:
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Your body needs to move to build muscles. Fortunately, an active lifestyle doesn't mean constant muscular endurance excercises, nor is it exclusively for those who enjoy high-octane activities!
Anything that doesn't require much movement or effort. Dealing with paper-work, surfing the Internet, or making yourself a sandwich.
Includes regular stretching, walking, cycling or lifting daily objects. The point is to keep your body moving at regular intervals and getting your heart rate to pump in meaningful ways.
Repeated targeted exercises that focus on working and building specific muscle groups. This includes high intensity sports like squash, basketball or hockey.
A healthy lifestyle can be had for less than a gym regular; just be sure to actively move and work your body throughout the day by standing up, stretching and taking short walks.
Whether you spend a lot of time in high activity mode, or maybe just perform medium activity regularly throughout the week, you are stressing and working your muscles, and that's a good thing.
Your body slowly evolves to meet the challenges of your active lifestyle, pulling protein from the blood stream to constantly create stronger bonds and flexible tissue so that you are always ready to meet growing challenges!
To fuel a muscle, the body metabolises food to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and muscle cells turn ATP into mechanical energy.
So the second part of the equation is to make sure your body has the ingredients to do its job properly. This is where the right type of protein supplement help!
Your body needs proteins to build muscle.
Of the 20 amino acids found in protein:
(produced naturally by the body)
(cannot be produced by the body)
Some proteins have all of them, and these are called Complete Proteins.
Proteins put your body in an Anabolic state, where it's building and maintaining muscle mass . Lack of protein puts your body in a Catabolic state where the body breaks down muscles for energy. That's why it's important to make sure you have enough.
Research has shown that consuming 20-30 grams of fast-digesting protein has a higher chance of building muscles. This typically takes the form of powder that can be turned into power-giving drinks.