GET FIT AND BUILD MUSCLE

One question that often comes up is surrounding building muscle whilst getting fitter at the same time.

Understandably, gaining muscle, getting stronger, and getting fitter is a desirable outcome for most people, however it can be difficult to balance the inputs we need to give our body for this desired result.

HOW WE DO IT?

We can 100% be getting stronger, getting fitter and building muscle all at the same time, but we need to make sure that we are strategically doing that. In order to do this, we periodise our training blocks and progress that blocks at different times within those specialisms/goals.

So, typically in one 8-week training block, we will focus on higher volume which is going to favour hypertrophy (muscle building)

Then in the next training block, we will start to increase the intensity of our conditioning and our strength work, and we will decrease the overall bodybuilding volume within that block, which is what's going to allow you to peak your strength and your conditioning whilst maintaining the muscle mass gains that you will have done over the course of the block.

NUTRITION

In order to build muscle, it is imperative that you are in a caloric surplus. A caloric surplus is absolutely necessary for your body to repair, recover and gain weight. It is also important that you support your training with enough protein every day. We recommend around 2g of protein per kg of body weight.

If your goal is less muscle gain and more getting stronger while getting lean, you must be in a calorie balance or in a deficit. This can be as little as 100 calories per day, making training and life much more enjoyable!

CONCLUSION

It can be very difficult to balance trying to improve multiple elements of fitness altogether and at the same time, so we have to be a little bit more intelligent as to how we place that volume and intensity over our training blocks, being mindful of stimulus vs recovery and take each day as it comes...

Written by Peter Varga - 18/07/24