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Differences in Training Men vs Women
The Muscle PhD
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Differences in Training Men vs Women
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Fernando de la Espriella
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What is Periodization?
Does the Protein Window of Opportunity Exist?
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![What is Periodization?](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qrMc2NtGHlE<p>Have you ever walked into a gym, looked around at all the exercises you could be doing, and asked yourself “What am I going to do now?” Granted, if you’ve reached a high enough level, that wouldn’t be called aimlessly looking for exercises to do, that’d be called the “instinctive principle of training.”</p>
<p>However, before you reach that stage, how will you grow your body in a way that won’t stagnate or hit any roadblocks? By doing the complete opposite of that. It's called “<a href="https://themusclephd.com/periodization-in-bodybuilding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">periodization</a>.” We’ve probably all heard of it, but never actually gotten around to finding out what it is!</p>
<p>Periodization exists because of one law, the biological law of accommodation. This law basically means that any biological entity, including humans, would stop adapting (or in our case, growing) when exposed to a constant stimulus. So, if you’re constantly going into the weight room and doing the same workout every single day, you’ll eventually stop growing from it.</p>
<p>How can we combat this constant exercise routine? By doing the complete opposite of it.</p>
<h3>Variation</h3>
<p>You need to program your training in a way where you keep on switching up your workouts to keep your body on its proverbial toes. Try to set your body up with a certain training principle for a period of time and then switch it up with another principle or exercise. You’ll find that you’re making strides whereas you might have been stuck in a rut before!</p>
<h3>Rest</h3>
<p>Have you ever woken up from a really good <a href="https://themusclephd.com/sleep-and-bodybuilding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sleep</a>, and tried getting out of bed only to find that your body feels like it’s made of fragile glass? That’s because variation isn’t the only facet of periodization, it’s also anticipating your rest. If you only focus on pushing your body to its limit, then your body will eventually hit its literal limit and you’ll have to give it time to rest.</p>
<p>But what if you’re in the middle of a workout cycle? Too bad, your body feels sick and it needs its rest! To combat this phenomenon, you’ll have to anticipate when your body <a href="https://themusclephd.com/deloads-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">needs its rest</a>, and work your periodization within it, not around it. So, instead of losing progress, you’ll consider your rest period as a continuation of your goal.</p>
<h3>Micro, Meso, Macro</h3>
<p>When we talk about periodization, we’ll inevitably go back to its traditional stages. You can vary your training in an exercise, a set, a day, a week, month, or even year. Essentially, the sky's the limit! However, there are terms we use in order to facilitate the segmentation of your periodization stages. What we normally would call a week, we’d call a microcycle when coming up with your periodization plan. And if you’re planning a 1-3 month training plan, we’d call that a mesocycle. A macrocycle however, can range anywhere from 3 months to a year. If you’re trying to simplify it, think of your macro cycle as your end goal.</p>
<p>Say your macrocycle would be to bulk, so you’re trying to put on a lot of mass. Then you strategize your training weeks, and change things up for the maximum effect. Break your bulking journey into components, think of your first meso cycle (1-3 months) as only gaining mass. Don’t forget to include rest! We call rest periods the taper or recovery cycle. Macro cycles depend on your end goal, if it’s to bulk, we’d call that a bulk macro cycle. If you’re trying to shred, you would call it a shredding macro cycle, and so on.</p>
<p>We hope this article helped you get the hang of periodization and its wondrous effects on your training! If you're looking for more clues on how to apply periodization in your own training, check out our article series on how to create your own training program: <a href="https://themusclephd.com/writing-your-own-program-part-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Part 1</a>, <a href="https://themusclephd.com/writing-your-own-program-part-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Part 2</a>, <a href="https://themusclephd.com/writing-your-own-program-part-3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Part 3</a>, and <a href="https://themusclephd.com/writing-your-own-program-part-4/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Part 4</a>.</p>/0.jpg "What is Periodization?")
![Does the Protein Window of Opportunity Exist?](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pkG0wnEruTw<p>You’ve probably heard of someone claiming that they never take pre-workout before going into the weight room. Maybe they claim that their pre-workout drink is their morning coffee, and that’s what gets them going. That someone might even be you! If so, we congratulate you on your mental fortitude. However, studies show that you’re actually not maximizing your gains, especially if you train in a fasted state!</p>
<p>Right now, the big trend is that everything that matters in your bodybuilding lifestyle is your calorie balance and your total protein intake, throwing nutrient timing out of the window. If you’ve been wondering whether you should take your protein before or after a workout, then this article was made for you!</p>
<p>First things first, is there really a protein window? Does your body react better or worse to protein depending on the time of day? And if so, how does it know?</p>
<h3>Studies Don’t Lie</h3>
<p>Previous <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00333.2003" target="_blank" rel="noopener">studies</a> have shown that when training in a fasted state, your protein synthesis does go up, however your protein breakdown rate actually exceeds your protein synthesis. What does that mean? In essence, you’re not gaining muscle, since you’re in a negative balance. In fact, you could be losing muscle. <a href="https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/resistance-exercise-enhances-myofibrillar-protein-synthesis-with-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Studies</a> have also shown that when you lift weights, your body's machinery that drives growth actually becomes more sensitive to protein, being able to respond better when introduced to it. During this particular study, they found that when rested, individuals who took up to 20g of proteins had their protein synthesis increase, however, there was no difference in protein synthesis when the subjects consumed 40g.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean you should only eat 20g of protein a day! Because once they took the same individuals, had them perform resistance training and then consume 20 or 40g of protein, their protein synthesis saw an <a href="https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/resistance-exercise-enhances-myofibrillar-protein-synthesis-with-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increase between 20 and 40g</a>. That’s because your muscles become more sensitive, and more of your protein intake can contribute to muscle growth! So, exercising actually extends your protein synthesis window!</p>
<p>However, your next question would probably be…</p>
<h3>How Long Till the Window Closes?</h3>
<p><a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpregu.00636.2007" target="_blank" style="font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif; font-weight: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-weight ); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" rel="noopener">Research</a> has shown that when individuals are not trained at all, their protein synthesis can last anywhere between 30 to 72 hours. That’s one reason why, during your early bodybuilding stages, you found it so easy to grow! However, <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpregu.00636.2007" target="_blank" rel="noopener">studies </a>suggest that trained individuals’ protein synthesis rates go back down to baseline after only 12 hours, and only last anywhere from 4-8 hours after they workout.</p>
<p>However, in our “How do you Read Research Studies?” video, we explained how sometimes studies can be a bit out of touch with the bodybuilding industry. Because once you take a look at who researchers consider as “trained”, you’d find that they’ve only been training for 12-16 weeks. Even people who’ve been lifting weights for a few months wouldn’t be considered trained in the bodybuilding world.</p>
<p>So, if you’re an advanced bodybuilder, probably training for years or even over a decade, that means you might not even be stimulating protein synthesis at an elevated rate for more than 4 hours after you train.</p>
<h3>When Should You Take Your Protein?</h3>
<p>Assuming you’re adequately trained, are there studies that support protein having a timing effect? Definitely. <a href="https://journals.lww.com/co-clinicalnutrition/Abstract/2008/01000/Effect_of_whey_protein_isolate_on_strength,_body.9.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Studies</a> that looked at muscle and fat mass compared taking protein before or after your workout, versus delaying it to early in the morning or later in the day. They showed that bodybuilders who took protein before and after their workouts made way more gains in muscle, and lost more fat while getting stronger.</p>
<p>However, a similar <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/19/2/article-p172.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study </a>was conducted without a high quality protein (collagen, in this case), and it showed that the athletes did not make any different gains than usual. So it’s important to take into account having a quality protein before and after your workouts in order to grow.</p>
<h3>Age</h3>
<p>If your 20s are behind you then we recommend that you absolutely time your protein intake! Studies show that as you get older, and you don’t have any protein after your workouts, you’ll probably not grow at all. The older you get, the more timing becomes important. If you’re a master bodybuilder that’s been training for a long time, you should listen to your body and time your proteins.</p>
<h3>Our Recommendations</h3>
<p>We recommend having a preworkout with an immediate or fast digesting protein source, and after training you should take advantage of that protein synthesis window by taking your quality proteins. We hope this article helped alleviate your concerns on protein timing! We’ll see you next time you have any questions.</p>/0.jpg "Does the Protein Window of Opportunity Exist?")