We're entering Week Four of the Lean Body/Lean Bulk Challenge, and I want to add in something that will improve our recovery ability, our performance, our overall energy levels and our metabolism. And it directly affects our overall health.

It’s called VO2 Max. V is for Volume, O2 is for Oxygen, and Max is for Maximum.

VO2 max is literally the maximum amount, or volume, of oxygen that your cells can utilize during intense exercise, before you burn out.

And raising this allows us to raise overall performance, energy, endurance recovery ability and overall health.

And it allows us to push more over time and achieve more.

So let’s dive in.

We know about amino acids, hormones, and how different foods affect our ability to build lean muscle, burn fat and stay healthy.

But if we want to achieve maximum levels of energy, recovery, health and performance, and build the most lean muscle, then we need to go down to the cellular level.

After all, our bodies are just one big mass of some 100 trillion cells all bonded together.

How well we're doing is an exact reflection of how well our cells are doing.

And they require a multitude of nutrients and biochemicals, all held in equilibrium, to ensure they can work properly, produce energy, build muscle, and keep our body going.

When these aren't properly balanced we can get headaches, brain fog, low levels of energy, muscle cramps, slower recoveries from workouts, and imbalances in hormones.

But when everything is in place, we have the most powerful you that you can be.

So let’s see how this works.

Getting good sleep is one of the most important things we can do, not just for muscle building and fat loss but for our mood, energy levels, and overall health.

Sleep is when our body is able to recover and repair cells, a lack of it even affects our aging process, speeding it up internally, as well as visibly causing wrinkles and sagging skin.

During the first few hours of deep sleep is when many hormones, including growth hormone and IGF (major fat-burning hormone) are released.

Getting enough sleep also helps to keep cortisol levels lower and balance estrogen, testosterone, progesterone and thyroid.

So if we want a lean, toned or muscled body, then we need deep sleep every night for full recovery, muscle building, natural fat loss and hormonal balance.

Yet a third of Americans get poor sleep, and those with the worst sleep generally have poor health.

So what causes this and what can we do to not only get better, deeper, more refreshing sleep, but also to reverse the effects of poor sleep?

Let’s dive in and see.

We’re entering Week Three of the Lean Body/Lean Bulk Challenge!

If we are doing the Lean Body program, we should be slimming down and added muscle should be toning and shaping our body.

If we’re doing the Lean Bulk portion, we should also be reducing body fat while increasing overall lean muscle.

But this is largely due to our hormonal balance improving, allowing our body to utilize the nutrients we’re consuming for what we want and not for what we don’t want.

We’ve already covered how high Cortisol hinders fat loss and slows muscle growth. As well as how Growth Hormone, Testosterone and IGF help to speed fat loss and muscle growth.

But there is another aspect to this balancing act: Estrogen, Progesterone and Thyroid.

These hormones exist in both women and men, and are each necessary in proper amounts.

But when they go out of balance, they can create a vicious spiral that raises cortisol and cravings for junk food, lowers growth hormone, testosterone and IGF, and make gains much harder all around.

This is a longer article, but one of the most important. It hasn’t been cut up into individual articles only because each part needs to be examined with each other part.

And

So let’s take a look at what’s happening here.

In the last article we covered cortisol, a hormone which, among other things, acts to break down our muscle, breaking down the proteins in it into amino acids, and then converting them energy sources such as sugar and body fat.

At the same time, it holds onto body fat and acts to raise body fat levels, while also preventing protein synthesis for new muscle growth.

But it also lowers key muscle building and fat loss hormones such as testosterone, growth hormone and IGF (our major fat burning hormone)

So let’s cover what those are and how to maximize their production and use within the body for best results.

As we go through this challenge, our hormones are balancing to allow for maximum muscle building and swifter fat loss.

So I want to cover the points that can either prevent muscle gain, or slow it, and the things that allow us to maximize muscle gain and fat loss, and speed recovery from workouts.

And the first thing we’re going to cover is what slows muscle gain, or out-right prevents it, by slowing the protein synthesis necessary for the recovery, repair and building of lean muscle.

As we enter Week Two, cravings for junk food or processed sugars should be lowering or gone.

And you may not have added much in the way of muscle yet.

That’s fine, you’ve just started and it will come. Right now we’re dialing things in and balancing hormones for muscle building and body fat regulation.

You also may have found it hard to eat all of the natural proteins on the protocol. But this protein is necessary.

Building muscle is about injuring our muscles by putting more pressure on them than they’re used to so they’ll be forced to not only heal, but grow to accommodate the new levels of stress we’ve put on them.

It takes about 90g of pure protein to build a pound of muscle. Most of the rest is fat and water. A pound of muscle is about the size of a tangerine, so even one pound is noticeable if in the right places.

So we need to make sure we’re getting enough protein to not only heal and maintain the muscle we do have, but add to it.

If you’re having trouble getting in all the protein, first, make sure you’re taking your digestive enzymes. Most people’s digestive tracts are not set up to fully digest natural proteins anymore due to our diets. But this prevents us from getting the nutrition we need from this food.

Your digestive tract’s ability to fully digest and absorb protein determines, in large part, your body's ability to build muscle and lose body fat.

It also affects our energy levels, hormones, inflammatory response, and overall health.

When protein isn’t properly digested, this triggers a sequence of actions, involving our immune system, which leads to higher levels of cortisol, the hormone that prevents fat loss and breaks down muscle.

Even more, without full digestion, our body receives less of the protein we consume in a form it can actually use.

So we get less protein for muscle, properly balanced hormones, and overall health and energy, while at the same time we’re eating more that goes to waste.

This is a big deal. Due to processed foods and sugars, many of our digestive tracts don’t function at optimal levels, preventing a significant amount of the food we eat from being fully broken down so our body can use it.

Beyond this, improper digestion leads to not only heart burn, acid reflux, GERD, and gas and bloating, but also allows for harmful bacteria, parasites, and fungi to take root, further causing us trouble.

Everything hinges on protein.

So, understanding exactly how digestion works and how to keep or get it working properly is very important.

Those are some big claims in that title.

And how could they be true when we have statements like:

“BCAAs stimulate the building of protein in muscle and possibly reduce muscle breakdown.”

“Valine is needed for your muscle fibers to fire, for tissue repair, and for the maintenance of proper nitrogen balance in the body.”

“Leucine stimulates muscle protein synthesis and may be the dominant fuel involved in anabolic (tissue building) reactions.”

Well, unfortunately, the claims in the title of this article are true.

They come from research studies done on BCAAs, while the above quoted statements come from marketers.

BCAAs, or Branched Chain Amino Acids, taken on their own regularly and over time, can have a significant effect on body fat creation, muscle gain reduction, kidney trouble, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity.

And it's becoming quite a problem. Just google "BCAAs side effects" or "BCAAs and Type 2 Diabetes" and you'll find much more than you wanted to.

But how can they say these things and how does this all work?

Let's dig in and see.

Welcome to Week One of the Lean Body/Lean Bulk Challenge!

In this article we cover what metrics to keep track of, dialing in your macros and workouts, and what to expect during week one.

In the first week of this challenge we have several things happening.

We’re trying to switch our diet so our bodies are getting what they need to build lean muscle without the excess calories or hormone-triggering foods that would cause fat gain.

With this comes restructuring our cells so they will use the foods we’re giving them properly and balancing or increasing hormone levels so our body will prioritize building lean muscle over body fat.

We’re addressing digestion, which is crucial to our overall health as well as building muscle, as we need our cells to receive all of the nutrients and vitamins we’re consuming.

You will be consuming a lot of whole food proteins, which your stomach is probably not used to receiving, and it will need extra help until it builds up enough stomach acid and enzymes of its own.

So make sure you’re taking your digestive enzymes with each meal during this.

We’ll also be working to dial in our exact macros.

And we may be experiencing some cravings.

On this protocol you will be lifting 5 days per week.

As this protocol is very specific to building lean muscle and toning, there will mainly be weight lifting.

There will also be something called Zone 2 Cardio, which will not cause muscle loss, but other than that there is no cardio during this challenge.

If you would like to take a walk, that’s fine. But adding in other forms of cardio could hamper your progress.

And it’s only 30 days.

Okay, let’s run through a few key points and then jump into the workouts.

On this protocol you will be lifting 5-6 days per week.

As this protocol is very specific to building lean muscle and toning, there will mainly be weight lifting.

There will also be something called Zone 2 Cardio, which will not cause muscle loss, but other than that there is no cardio during this challenge unless you have extra energy for Day 6.

But if you really want to build muscle, extra cardio is not recommended.

If you would like to take a walk, that’s fine. But adding in other forms of cardio could hamper your progress.

And it’s only 30 days.

Okay, let’s run through a few key points and then jump into the workouts.