mickey@altos86.UUCP (Mike Thompson) (11/12/85)
I have started weight lifting and have some questions about human muscles. Why do muscles get sore? Is it an injury? Like a bruising? Why does it take several hours to a day before they feel sore? Should I force myself to lift weights if my muscles are sore or can I injure myself that way? If my muscles don't get sore, does that mean I am not making progress? What is it exactly that triggers muscle development in humans? Is there some kind of chemical that gets released after physical exercise? What kind of foods/diet promotes muscle growth? Should I eat lots of protien? Carbohydrates? How important is diet for muscle growth? Should I concentrate more on lifting weights than on following a particular diet, or should my efforts in these areas be equally distributed? Is there anything else I can do to get maximum muscle growth in minimum time with a minimum amount of pain? thanks for your help.. Michael Thompson {ucbvax,decwrl}!dual!vecpyr!altos86!mickey
martin@yale.ARPA (Charles Martin) (11/18/85)
Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Keywords: You don't need as much meat as you were led to believe from childhood stereotypes. In fact, you don't need meat at all (which lots of veg- eterian athletes would love to tell you), just make sure you get the balance of proteins. An *athlete* needs about 1/2 g. protein per pound of body weight per day. What you should eat more of are (as was mentioned) potatoes, breads, etc---the complex carbs. Avoid empty carbs (sugar). Go for the fruit and veggies. Watch out for coffee, as it will inhibit the absorption of iron and calcium. Vitamin C, on the other hand, will help out. The biggest piece of advice is to make sure you're well-hydrated. Drink water all the time and especially after exercise (before eating). You need the water so that the proteins can be used. Check the color of your urine to see if you're getting enough---the lighter the better. Aerobic exercise is, in my opinion, indispensible. I don't agree that it won't `hurt', however...try to stay over 60% of your max heart rate for twenty minutes (the infamous rule of thumb). I usually go for a run before lifting, since it warms up all the muscles. DO NOT LIFT WITH COLD MUSCLES! If you don't have time for a run, do some stairs for five minutes, some situps, anything to get a little bit of sweat. Then stretch out again (stretch the muscles, don't strain them), then lift. Aerobic exercise is also good since it may give you an incentive to stick with your program for longer than a month ("Wow, I've cut my per mile time by ten seconds!"). Mixing exercises (running, swimming, etc) can also relieve incipient boredom. -- Charles Martin Martin@Yale.ARPA ...decvax!yale!martin@UUCP