If you feel at all like I do, then you know how difficult it is to work out five days a week and to be stronger than you’ve ever been, yet still find the size you’re looking for a little bit elusive. When I hit the gym real hard a couple years back, I packed on 20 pounds of muscle in about six months and increased my bench from about 200 to 250, but I still didn’t have the bulging arms and chest that had been my goal in the first place. What was the step I missed?
When I realized what was absent from my life, I kicked myself for skipping something so obvious. I’ve always had a pretty high metabolism. I never had to watch what I ate in order to stay fit. That being said, never before had I pushed myself so hard for a very specific goal - I wanted my arms to be big and ripped, I wanted the muscle to cut a shadowy line, I wanted the ladies to faint when they saw me. What I realized though after working my butt off for a really long time and not seeing that result was that there was more to it than just time in the gym. What I realized was that there was still a lot I needed to do with my diet that would fuel my body to build the muscle I wanted to see.
So I looked for the answers with trainers and journals, trends and jersey boys. I found two very simple truths in almost all that I read…
Number one was that if I wanted to grow, I needed to hydrate my body. All the literature I read told me that I should start my day with a lot of water, that your body actually dehydrates a lot during the night as you sleep so it’s important to replenish in the morning. The first thing I do now when I get to the kitchen is drink 4-6 cups of water. Most days this very quickly wakes me up and gives me instant energy as I head off to work. But it doesn’t stop there. Throughout the day I drink at least a quart of water and another in the evening before I go to bed. Since I’ve made this a habit, I’ve not only noticed an increase in energy, but my skin is a little clearer and I am generally less apt to crave snacks before my meals. I started to get the “ripping” effect in my arms.
Number two was that protein was a staple I needed to ensure wasn’t lacking. Even if I was getting my recommended daily allowance, to get the results I wanted out of my workout I was going to have to increase my intake. So what I did was add a shake of whey protein in the morning to give me the essential energy and vital nutrients my muscles needed to grow through my workouts. And I’ll tell you what, as soon as I increased the protein in my daily diet, I saw an almost immediate increase not only in the size I was looking for in my arms and chest, but in the strength I thought I had been satisfied with all along. Adding the whey protein was amazingly simple yet I would use the word “dramatically” to describe how it affected my results.
Water and protein are essential elements to a healthy lifestyle, elements that are important for all of us to pay attention to if we want improved physique and energy. Two simple places to start…at your tap and with the essential nutrients you can find in a basic shake of whey protein. All you’re looking for may be only a few modifications away. Don’t let your workout suffer because the fuel in your body is lacking. It takes more than gym time to get the size you’ve been looking for.
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