"How can I keep gaining muscle mass while losing fat on
The Warrior Diet?"
? I am asked this question all the time now ? by people who have reached a plateau, with no further muscle gain and no other noticeable progress.
Through e-mails and private consultations, I realized that most of these people already suffer from severe dietary related problems such as fatigue, lethargy, sluggishness, fat gain, loss of libido, insomnia, irregularity and a decrease in muscle strength and endurance.
The purpose of this newsletter is to shed some light on the principles of muscle growth and rejuvenation and the nature of body composition.
Let me start with the reasons why people reach a plateau, or to say it another way, why people hit the wall.
People hit the wall when their body adaptation to physical stress through rejuvenation (growth and repair) is impaired.
Growth, proliferation and protein synthesis is being regulated by many factors such as glands, hormones, enzymes, hormonal receptors, cell membrane pH, mineral composition, osmotic pressure, outer-cellular plasma nucleotides, cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP, mitochondrial energy yield and sheer stress.
To put it simply ? growth is more complicated than just shoving in protein and pumping iron.
The principle of inducing growth is based on strong stimulation that signals rejuvenation (tissue repair) and proliferation (increase in tissue mass). The growth stimulation activates an anabolic process through receptors in the cellular membrane. This stimulation requires carriers such as hormones, steroids, growth factors and nucleotides can't be fully potentiated without the activation of cellular membrane receptors.
If the cell membrane receptors are insensitive (such as in the case of de-sensitized insulin, adrenal or IGF1 receptors) then growth will be impaired. There is much more to it but for the purpose of understanding the principles of growth, let me just say for now that cell membrane receptor activation is critical.
Growth activation depends on the body's ability to re-sensitize or recuperate its receptors. Recuperation and growth go hand in hand. The point that I'm trying to make here is that your body needs time to recuperate in order to resume growth.
The process of recuperation includes daily detoxification, the redesigning of daily nutrition and diet composition and most importantly the alleviation of stress on your liver to help regulate protein synthesis and fat burning.
The Warrior Diet gives you just that.
Sometimes it's good to take a step back in order to move two steps forward. Those who are concerned about losing fat and some muscle mass do not realize that at that preliminary stage, they have already improved their body composition (this means the improvement of the ratio of muscle to fat). In order to get out of a plateau and resume growth, one has to go through a preliminary stage of detox that often results in a temporary weight loss.
The Myth of Protein
Many people reach a plateau in spite of consuming monstrous amounts of protein, mostly from commercial protein powders. Those who consume 300 - 400g of protein per day don't realize that this is one of the reasons why they have stagnated.
Too much processed protein creates a protein imbalance that leads to -- guess what -- amino acid deficiency!
Moreover, in order to get rid of the extra aminos, the body converts them into energy or fat while taxing the liver with toxic byproducts of protein breakdown.
Low Carb Products
Most low carb products have ingredients that can seriously inhibit fat burning or glycolysis (the conversion of sugar into energy). Glycerin, ethanol and sorbitol are common ingredients in most low carb protein products. These chemicals can have a devastating effect on your liver's ability to regulate fat and sugar metabolism.
The subject of growth is intriguing and deserves much more attention. Nevertheless, in order to simplify things let me offer you twelve basic tips to help maximize your muscle growth while burning fat:
These are a few basic tips that will hopefully help you break out of stagnation. Let me note here that following the above recommendations will naturally accelerate metabolic efficiency that will result in fat loss.
Note:
Mitochondrial high-energy yield in the form of ATP is critical for growth and overall rejuvenation. Thus, protecting your mitochondrial DNA will keep your energy level high while slowing the aging process and keep you growing.
Dragon Door's author Ori Hofmekler is now offering personal phone
consultations to help you optimize the benefits of
The Warrior Diet
lifestyle program. For more information contact Ori Hofmekler directly by
emailing him at:
ori@warriordiet.com or calling him toll-free at:
866-WAR-DIET. Please note that you will be making these arrangements through
Ori Hofmekler and WarriorDiet, LLC. Dragon Door Publications is not handling
any aspect of your agreement for consultation services with Ori Hofmekler.
WD Website:
For more information on Ori Hofmekler's Warrior Diet, the website can be
accessed at
http://www.warriordiet.com.