Weightlifting: A Pathway to Self-Improvement for Young Men

Oftentimes people find themselves wondering what they can do to make them a better person through weightlifting. Then, they finally make a commitment into weightlifting and attempting to keep fit and they start to see a little progress finally, but it doesn’t seem like enough. Well for those individuals in that boat, there is good news. An answer is finally here. However, it must be noted that the following information provided includes information intended for male teenagers and young adult men. However, it is worthwhile for women to read this. Furthermore, women need to take this with a grain of salt as some exact figures are not catered towards women. Now this sounds relatively like a cliche, but to be able to make one’s time more worthwhile

The body’s cells are composed of proteins, particularly in the muscles. So, focusing on consuming proteins is vital for a handful of reasons. The body’s muscles crave amino acids and proteins to carry out muscle protein synthesis, or MPS. MPS in short, is the rebuilding of the body’s muscle cells during recovery, which is also known as myocellular recovery. The body’s muscle protein metabolism reaction to a weightlifting session occurs within approximately twenty-four to forty-eight hours, which is why it is vitally important to diet correctly as it will impact the reaction produced by the muscle protein metabolism within this timeframe. With anything consumed within this period affecting how the resistance training done previously will impact hypertrophy, naturally one would want to weed out things to limit or to even cut out of a diet. In a scientific study, it was concluded that, “...daily overfeeding with protein and carbohydrates in conjunction with resistance training for eight weeks does not improve body composition and muscle performance or increase the concentration of markers indicative of MPS and myogenic activation in resistance-trained men.”(Spillane 24). So that being said, it can reasonably stated that carbohydrates need to be limited to a minimum. Using a high protein, low carbohydrate diet allows the body to burn off stored body fats while providing adequate amino acids and proteins to aid in MPS to achieve muscle hypertrophy. Now, referring to the myocellular recovery, it is recommended to take in thirty to eighty grams of fast-digesting carbohydrates supplemented with thirty grams of whey protein immediately following a session of resistance type training to allow insulin to function properly and begin the myocellular recovery process (Robson, para. 27). Additionally it has been proven that whey protein supplements the