Optimal Amount Of Muscle Mass

baccheion

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If I were to guess, I'd say it's enough to not have ribs poke out (while at 12% body fat). There are calculators online that output ideal/average weights given frame size and height. Bulking to the suggested weight range while maintaining 12% body fat likely results in the right amount of lean mass.

Ideal Body Weight Calculator: How Much Should You Weigh?

Adult acne and high estrogen imply the need for an aromatase inhibitor (like fat-soluble vitamins). Have you ever checked for nutrient deficiencies/imbalances (tests like NutrEval) or looked into genetic testing?
 
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Do you think there is possibly an optimal amount of muscle for a certain size frame to be carrying. What could the detriment be for lacking muscles - endocrine disfunction? Perhaps the body is so good at adjusting.

I am wondering if my hormones could be messed up (eg adult acne, high test, high e2, high cholesterol, high shbg), because I haven' allowed myself to develop the amount of muscle I should have developed had I lived a more natural life.

Has Peat commented along these lines?

Well How Big if your Frame?
Frame=/=Height

What is your Wrist Size? How Big is your Rib Cage? Bideltoids distance(clavicle length).

Not Accounting for Height
Large Frame= Easy Gainer
Average Frame=Normal
Small Frame= Hard Gainer

The Hormones that Increase Shoulder Width, Rib Cage are the same thing that allow one to grow muscle, while also allowing one to hold that muscle proportionally and easy. Genetics come in packages.

Too much Muscle Mass will not be possible without the use of steroids.
 
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Frequency is like two times a week for every muscle, giving it a three days rest. High load with low volume doesn't mean you should just do something like 5x3 bench press, you won't gain anything with that. Low volume means little amounts of exercises per muscle, so only 1-2 exercise instead of the typical 3-4 I see everyone doing without any significant gains. Let's say you are doing something for your breast muscles you start with dumbbell/barbell bench presses in 7-10 rep range for three sets after that you do something complementary for the same muscle but always with a high intensity. If you work out more than 45 minutes your volume is still too high or your intensity is too low. Intensity means relatively heavy exercises within rather short breaks.

Beating the ***t out of a muscle won't do anything. There are different kinds of exhaustion. The typical pump which many are seeking won't do anything as long you are not 'supplementing' testosterone. Your muscle should simply be tired after a intense set not just pumped.

Protein synthesis stops around 24-48 hours. So Theoretically every other day would be optimal.

Progressive overload and Frequency being most important. While Volume would take a back seat, since killing the same muscle groups every other day would lead to over training and potential injury of the surround supportive tissues.

You guys also need to research the Type 1 and Type 2 composition of each muscle.

Something like Chest, Bench Would respond FAR better to Higher Weights and Lower Reps since the the chest is mainly Fast Twitch.

Where as Traps are 90% Slow twitch and require higher reps of 15+. Glutes Being in the Same boat as Traps.

About 80% of muscle work should be higher weight, Lower Reps.
 
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You’re saying 5x3 wont do anything but 7x2 (or is it 7x3?) will make a difference? I don’t understand, and I would like to.

I do chest and shoulders in Wednesday:

Bench press: 7 sets in total, starting with really heavy load for about 6 reps, then gradually lowering weight and upping reps to 11 to 15 reps.

Military press: 6 sets, same premise, as low as 6 reps at first to 12 reps in the end.

Cable cross over: 5-6 sets, around 10-12 reps each.

Standing dumbel fly: 5 sets, about 12 reps each, heavier at first.

Generally speaking i lift very heavy, to failure. I take 1.5 minutes breaks, about 3 minutes between the excercises.

The whole thing take about 90 minutes.

On sunday its biceps, triceps, and back. Similar number of sets...curls, dips, etc.

Im very lean, minimal progess, although my arms look pretty pumped up afterwards.

I’m open to suggestions and willing to amend. I won’t work out more often though.
Protein synthesis stops around 24-48 hours. So Theoretically every other day would be optimal.

Progressive overload and Frequency being most important. While Volume would take a back seat, since killing the same muscle groups every other day would lead to over training and potential injury of the surround supportive tissues.

You guys also need to research the Type 1 and Type 2 composition of each muscle.

Something like Chest, Bench Would respond FAR better to Higher Weights and Lower Reps since the the chest is mainly Fast Twitch.

Where as Traps are 90% Slow twitch and require higher reps of 15+. Glutes Being in the Same boat as Traps.

About 80% of muscle work should be higher weight, Lower Reps
 

sladerunner69

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Muscle is determined by a few things: genetics, supporting hormonal profile and stimuli. In my case i am genetically very slender and long. If i wasnt training(or farm working) I wouldnt have any sort of appreciable size in my upper body.

As a reference genetically the male lines in my families are long and slender, 6ft-6'2 or so tall and between 160-180 at the very most. My grandfather weighed a staggering 120lbs when he enlisted in the 1930s :D

Adding size in people who arent genetically set up to carry it without stimulus comes AFTER disinhibition of normal inhibitory neural signals for it(what you do have) to contract harder(first)and generally AFTER increasing stored fuels locally(second), probably because its metabolically expensive to carry.

Can you define what you consider to be a "more natural life".

Peat isn't keen on promoting genetics as a source of health. Neither am I, because although genes to play a certain degree of influence, this seems very small or perhaps even insignificant. The laws of genetics are broken everywhere, and I have witnessed this. I am taller and more muscular than any men in my family, for instance. I started weight training when I was 14 and ate a ton of meat, eggs, complex carbs throughout my teenage years. My brother, whom one would believe has similar genes, only bears a slight resemblance to me. He has a much more slender frame, especially in the shoulders. He never lifted weights much, and didn't give much thought to what he was eating (and as a result probably ate far more sugar than me which could explain why he is only an inch shorter than me). However, he did spend a lot of time running around, playing soccer, and skateboarding. He actually has bigger calves than me, although maybe we are about the same size now that I am doing more walking and he sits in an office all day. Anyways the major factor separating our appearances is only nutrition and training, both of which are environmental factors. Genes had very little to do with it.

I would suggest that what is perceived to be the influence of genes can actually be more ascribed to attitudes and culture. You may have the same odd affinity for anchovie pizza, or talk with the same mannerisms and vocal inflections as your father or mother. You will take on your parents tastes, traits and preferences not so much because these were bestowed into your DNA at birth, but because these were engrained into you from an early age. Through the impressionable years you developed many similarities, and these can actually change with time, although at a much slower rate after one has become a young adults.
 

sladerunner69

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I think that Peat has mentioned a lack of Protein, Vitamins, and Minerals as the primary reason for weak muscle development.

From your post, it sounds like high-estrogen and possibly iron, so adding high-quality protein (dairy/gelatin) + weekly liver/oysters would probably help.

High protein intake increases muscle mass even w/o training

Iron from muscle-meats can be a significant problem, especially over time or with compromised liver function.

Iron's Dangers

Good example of normal vs weak muscle development:

180221132319-emma-gonzalez-david-hogg-780x439.jpg


That looks like a boy and his girl, so yes. Male vs Female muscle development.
 
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Peat isn't keen on promoting genetics as a source of health. Neither am I, because although genes to play a certain degree of influence, this seems very small or perhaps even insignificant. The laws of genetics are broken everywhere, and I have witnessed this. I am taller and more muscular than any men in my family, for instance. I started weight training when I was 14 and ate a ton of meat, eggs, complex carbs throughout my teenage years. My brother, whom one would believe has similar genes, only bears a slight resemblance to me. He has a much more slender frame, especially in the shoulders. He never lifted weights much, and didn't give much thought to what he was eating (and as a result probably ate far more sugar than me which could explain why he is only an inch shorter than me). However, he did spend a lot of time running around, playing soccer, and skateboarding. He actually has bigger calves than me, although maybe we are about the same size now that I am doing more walking and he sits in an office all day. Anyways the major factor separating our appearances is only nutrition and training, both of which are environmental factors. Genes had very little to do with it.

I would suggest that what is perceived to be the influence of genes can actually be more ascribed to attitudes and culture. You may have the same odd affinity for anchovie pizza, or talk with the same mannerisms and vocal inflections as your father or mother. You will take on your parents tastes, traits and preferences not so much because these were bestowed into your DNA at birth, but because these were engrained into you from an early age. Through the impressionable years you developed many similarities, and these can actually change with time, although at a much slower rate after one has become a young adults.

Is your brother younger? And how long of gap was there between you two?
 
D

Deleted member 5487

Guest
Peat isn't keen on promoting genetics as a source of health. Neither am I, because although genes to play a certain degree of influence, this seems very small or perhaps even insignificant. The laws of genetics are broken everywhere, and I have witnessed this. I am taller and more muscular than any men in my family, for instance. I started weight training when I was 14 and ate a ton of meat, eggs, complex carbs throughout my teenage years. My brother, whom one would believe has similar genes, only bears a slight resemblance to me. He has a much more slender frame, especially in the shoulders. He never lifted weights much, and didn't give much thought to what he was eating (and as a result probably ate far more sugar than me which could explain why he is only an inch shorter than me). However, he did spend a lot of time running around, playing soccer, and skateboarding. He actually has bigger calves than me, although maybe we are about the same size now that I am doing more walking and he sits in an office all day. Anyways the major factor separating our appearances is only nutrition and training, both of which are environmental factors. Genes had very little to do with it.

I would suggest that what is perceived to be the influence of genes can actually be more ascribed to attitudes and culture. You may have the same odd affinity for anchovie pizza, or talk with the same mannerisms and vocal inflections as your father or mother. You will take on your parents tastes, traits and preferences not so much because these were bestowed into your DNA at birth, but because these were engrained into you from an early age. Through the impressionable years you developed many similarities, and these can actually change with time, although at a much slower rate after one has become a young adults.

Is your brother younger? How long of gap was there between you two?



Prenatal enviroment could explain his lack of robustness, as your organism could have depleted your mother's fat soulable vitamins generally 2-3 year gap is optimal.
 

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