Fitness Model Secrets from Katarina Van Derham on How to Stay Healthy

 

Click HERE to Find Out How You Can Build Muscle & Lose Fat By Eating Plants

MODEL, ACTRESS, ENTREPRENEUR, PHILANTHROPIST, AND VEGAN

“A vegan diet will make you feel invincible, and you will start attracting more positive events. Your whole life will change. You are what you eat on a physical, mental, and spiritual level.”

As a model, Katarina Van Derham has landed on the cover of over 60 magazines worldwide and appeared in over 600 major media outlets. She appeared in 21 national and international print and TV commercials and has been voted one of the 100 sexiest women in the world by magazines on three different continents.

Katarina is a Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of classic, glamour lifestyle magazine VIVA GLAM established in 2012. VIVA GLAM offers alternative approaches to traditional lifestyle, with a strong focus on vegan, organic and cruelty free brands.

Being a vegan of 20 years and passionate about animals and nature inspired her to launch her own cruelty-free line of eyelashes KAT lash.

Traveling the world, Katarina hopes to start a foundation to build small vet clinics in the rural parts of the world and islands, where hurt animals are left to die without any chance of getting help. She believes the clinics are also very important due to a need to spay and neuter.

Katarina supports great charities such as SCIL, Peace4Animals and PETA. She has also worked with RedLightChildren.org to help end child slavery and exploitation.

Q: Tell us the story of arriving in the US with only $500 in your pocket at the age of 22. 

I grew up in Slovakia during the ’70s-90s socialistic system.

My upbringing was very humble but beyond beautiful and loving.

Until I was 10 years old, we didn’t have plumbing in the one-bedroom house by the train tracks.

We had to use an outhouse, which had magazine tear sheets plastered all over its inside as an isolation.

I remember always staring at James Dean’s cover of Life magazine. I remember thinking how good he looked and that we didn’t have men looking like that in Slovakia. I learned to be happy with having very little. I learned the value of life and family and the importance of staying humble and real.

But as did many Europeans during those years, I also got influenced by the Western culture. The music, the movies, and the fashion world became very fascinating to me. I started to realize I didn’t really fit in Slovakia and its people’s mindset. As a teen, I was very active and always searched for information about the Western world.

My first job was very lucrative. I worked for a French company in the office as a secretary and in accounting and marketing. It was then when I started to feel I was hitting a dead end in my life. For four years, I had a good job, a nice and simple boyfriend, and a daily routine, which was okay.

“Everyone would be asking me the same questions: When are you getting married, and when are you going to have kids? I started to feel as if I was choking.”

One day, someone from California came to my work to talk some potential business with my boss. His business card was my ticket out of my situation. I started to think about my options. In the ’90s, it was almost impossible to get any type of U.S. visa. Everyone’s application was getting turned down.

But not to bore you with all the details, I found a way to get my business visa. Once I did, I called the guy from California to see if he could somehow help me; in 1998, I was on my way to AMERICA. The currency rate exchange was brutal at that time, so I was able to collect only $500 from my family after I paid for my plane ticket.

Once I arrived to California, I was able to start working right away, passing out flyers for a cleaning company for $6/hour, working only four hours a day. That was enough money to buy food and pay for rent, which I shared with another six people in a three-bedroom apartment. I even had to share the bed.

“Looking back now, I don’t know how my parents even let me leave. But I know one thing: I owe them big time and am forever grateful they did.”

The ’90s were so different than now, so the advice I would have for someone who is 22 years old and wants to come to the U.S. now is this: whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

Q: With all of the success you have had (VIVA GLAM, KAT Lash, modeling, acting, etc.), what is your greatest professional achievement? 

I feel my biggest success in life is my life journey itself. I reflect on the past a lot, and to be honest, I don’t have any regrets.

“I was able to maintain my values, integrity, and never sold myself even when I was broke and had no roof above my head, even when I spent Thanksgiving among the homeless people at the Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard or had to sleep in the car.”

As a young girl, I was offered many shortcuts to “success and money.” I had men getting naked in front of me, trying to take advantage because they knew I had no rights in this country as an immigrant. Somehow I still managed to look at the sun, breathe the California air, and be happy.

Q: Tell us about the charity work you’re involved with.

I try to support charities as much as I can, but in life, I’ve learned you have to choose and focus on one cause because you simply can’t be everywhere and help everyone. Since my roots are deeply in nature and being a vegan, I choose to support animal charities.

I believe we need to start with changing and enforcing laws, and that’s why my favorite charity is SCIL (Social Compassion in Legislation) and of course, PETA.

Love them or hate them, PETA has changed laws in many countries and positively influenced millions of people around the world.

“I believe if everyone chose and focused on helping one cause, the world would be a much better place. You can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”

Q: Tell us the story of how you became a vegetarian and how in 2009 after reading Skinny Bitch, you became a vegan.

One beautiful day while taking a train ride with two of my best friends in Slovakia, I got to sit next to a vegetarian. We exchanged a couple of words, and I got really intrigued by this man. I asked him if he really believes people can live without eating meat.

He said, “absolutely,” and added that he hadn’t eaten meat for over 20 years. I observed his physique; he was lean and had a wrinkle-free face clean of any acne. He was calm. At that time, I was 18 and a big meat eater.

Everyone around me had diabetes, was overweight, and had some kind of illness. I also remember people not being too attractive, and somehow I linked it to eating high amounts of cholesterol and meat.

“So that day, I came home and asked my mom, who had type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, to make me my last meat dinner. It was a beef stew with cooked potatoes.”

I wasn’t sure how long I would last as a vegetarian, but I am happy to say that after 22 years, it is still my last meat dinner. My mom was very supportive of it. Four years later, I relocated to the U.S. and enjoyed eating all the American dairy products.

However, as years went by, I learned more and more about the quality of American foods, as well as the animal abuse that goes into it. Someone suggested the book “Skinny Bitch” to me, and that was it for me. I became vegan.

Q: What advice would you give to someone just starting out on this path?

First, it is important to know what a vegan diet and lifestyle does to people.

Becoming vegan will clarify your mind, and you will find answers to questions you’ve always had and couldn’t find.

A vegan diet will make you feel invincible, and you will start attracting more positive events. Your whole life will change.

You are what you eat on a physical, mental, and spiritual level.

Q: What did you eat yesterday?

Yesterday, I ate two slices of bread with Kite Hill vegan cheese, tofurky, and tomatoes for breakfast.

For lunch, I had a chopped salad from PitFire pizza with Daiya cheese, tomatoes, avocado, corn, and all the good stuff that comes with it. For dinner, I had a vegan margherita pizza from the same place.

Q: What does the first 60 minutes of your morning look like?

My first 60 minutes of every morning consists of drinking coffee, catching up on social media, and posting new content while still in bed.

Q: Favorite three exercises and why?

In general, I like to do body resistance training, circuit training, and weight training. I love doing squats because it is the best exercise for my lower body, which is naturally built thicker. I love doing crunches because my mid-section is long and strong and this exercise is pretty easy for me yet very effective. I also love doing push-ups because they make me feel like a superhero.

Q: Fun fact most people don’t know about you?

I am double-jointed.

I have a removable tooth in my mouth.

I’m a true Sagittarius woman. That is to say, Sagittarius Archers are fun-loving, free spirits. They are forgiving and have a great sense of humor. But if wronged, watch out! Archers can zero in on an enemy’s weakness and retaliate quickly. Energetic Sagittarius loves to travel and has a talent for gambling. Archers don’t like deceit or pretension. Their standards are high; they are loyal, intelligent, and honest.

Q: What is the biggest personal challenge you have had to overcome in your life?

My biggest challenge always has been my speech. Growing up I had a speech problem where I couldn’t pronounce the letter “r.” It is almost in every word. I was made fun of, and eventually, I developed a way of speaking where I was able to completely eliminate words including “r.”

As a teenager, I became so good at that, even my boyfriend of six years never knew I had this problem. When I was already living in the U.S., I’d developed very large polyps on my vocal cords. They got so bad that in 2008, I had to have them paralyzed for six weeks.

All that time, I had to walk around with a pen and paper and communicate that way. I still have to be very careful and not overuse my vocal cords. And the last but not the least is the fact English is my fourth language. Especially being a publisher, I struggle with the proper grammar all the time.

“But I work on it every day, and in a way, I find it a good challenge because I’m learning and growing and that always makes me feel alive and human.”

To get more fitness model secrets , watch this video – What we EAT in a DAY as Victoria’s Secret Models

Author Bio:

Chris Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.

V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.

A lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its progressiveness and efficiency.

The program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Instead of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.”

To find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – Fitness Model Secrets on How to Stay Healthy

5 Mindful Eating Tips for Weight Loss

 

Click HERE to Find Out How You Can Build Muscle & Lose Fat By Eating Plants

MINDFUL EATING TIPS (IT HELPS WEIGHT LOSS)

What is mindful eating?

Mindful eating is the act of bringing your attention to what you are doing in the moment: eating.

Too often, we use meal time to watch a TV show, get some work done, or engage in mindless conversation. You know the feeling when you sit down for a meal, and you get up ten minutes later, not remembering what you ate or how you ate it all so fast? That is mindless eating. Where is the mind-body connection or even enjoyment in all that?

Mindful eating is connecting to our food as we eat by fully engaging our awareness to the process. 

I never quite thought about the positive health implications of this beyond the fact that I began to feel more energized when I ate mindfully. But a plethora of recent research has shown that the benefits are much more than just emotional.

Mindful eating has a practical application when it comes to weight maintenance, treating obesity, weight loss, and even diabetes self-management.

In the April 2013 edition of the “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,” researchers reviewed 24 studies conducted on mindful, or attentive, eating to see what impact it had on diverse population groups. The researchers concluded that incorporating mindful eating into our diets provides an accessible and reliable way to monitor our food intake, maintain our weight, and aid in weight loss without the need for dreaded calorie counting. 

One main area that mindful eating seems to be affecting is our self-control with how much we eat.

One main area that mindful eating seems to affect is our self-control with how much we eat.

Through mindful eating, subjects seem to be more able to listen to their body’s physiological cues as far as how much food is needed, rather than just eating whatever is put in front of them. A study conducted on mindful eating in Australia found that mindful eaters end up eating smaller serving sizes of energy-dense foods, which is reputed by nearly every diet to be an effective way to manage our weight and metabolism.

Mindful eating allows us to observe our emotions during meal times and not have them override our physical needs. Another study found similar results in university students. 86 percent of students who engaged in mindful eating ended up eating healthier diets, and showed an ability to avoid overconsumption and weight gain (and presumably late night pizza runs). Through mindful eating, we become more aware of what we are actually eating, and are more likely to monitor our diets.

When it comes to treating obesity, mindful eating is also showing promising benefits.

Though obesity is a complex issue and highly individualized, researchers have found that individuals with obesity tend to be more impulsive when it comes diet choices. In this study, the impulsivity of individuals’ food choices was first tested in a control run before training individuals in mindfulness and mindful eating.

Participants who completed the mindful eating session showed to have more self-control and to make less risk-averse decisions when it came to choosing food. These findings illustrate that mindful eating can change behavior in a way that leads to long-term weight loss.

Even in other serious chronic conditions, mindful eating could help in treatment.

In diabetes self-management research conducted at Ohio State University, mindful eating was studied in conjunction with diabetes self-management education (DSME), which focuses on educating patients about their food choices. Participants were split into two groups: one practiced mindful eating for three months, and the other practiced DSME for three months.

Researchers found that both groups showed nearly identical outcomes when it came to weight-management, lessened depressive symptoms, and resulted in higher energy. Researchers hope that this study can lead to further use of mindful eating as a part of diabetes management as it would be a “treatment” that is minimally expensive (you can do it on your own), and perhaps equally effective. Though more studies need to be conducted, these results are intriguing and promising. 

In summary, these studies are proving what mindfulness practitioners have sensed for generations: mindful eating allows us to actually listen to what our bodies are telling us about what we are eating and how much we need.

You may be thinking to yourself:

• “Does this mean I have to eat by myself all the time?”
• “Do I have to change my diet? This is nice and all, but really, my schedule is too busy to set aside a long chunk of time to eat slowly every day.”
• “How is this practical?”

Mindful eating is not just another dietary fad. It isn’t asking you to change your food choices. Mindful eating will allow you to listen to your body to find the diet that’s actually best for you, whether that’s vegetarian, vegan, flexitarian, or something much more suitable for your lifestyle.

Mindful eating can be adapted to any diet effectively.

It does not ask you to eat as a hermit, either.

Communal eating is one of the best ways to connect with each other. What’s better than sharing a meal with family or close friends? By bringing mindfulness to eating with each other, we come back to the present moment.

Our phones are away, and our mind is on the people around us when talking and the food we are eating each time we take a bite. Our conversations have more depth, and we appreciate the meal much more.

Mindful eating does not have to be slow or take forever.

You can eat mindfully without moving at a sloth’s pace. Just pay attention to chewing the food. Put away your computer for a moment. I swear, you will still get your work done on time. After you finish eating, you will realize you weren’t only eating, but also meditating and recharging.

While eating slowly may help you ease into eating mindfully, you will soon see that it has more to do with focusing on eating when you’re eating, versus multi-tasking, which is what most of us tend to do.

Mindful Eating Tips

Here are a few suggestions on getting started:

1. Set aside a meal time when you have some flexibility in your schedule. For the first mindful meal, you’ll want to be able to take your time. Make sure you are free from distractions: TV off, computer put away, smartphone on silent and out of reach, etc.
2. Before you eat, take three deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Remind yourself to appreciate the good fortune that you have nourishment sitting in front of you (many don’t).
3. Process the food through your senses. Appreciate what it looks like. Think about what the food feels like in your hand. How does it smell? What is the texture as you bite through? What flavors are coming through and at which parts of your tongue? By doing this, you’ll engage your attention on the present moment and the food at hand.
4. Chew slowly, thoroughly, and mindfully. Remember, you’re not in a hurry and have all the time in the world right this minute. Put your fork/spoon down between bites.
5. Journal the experience. This helps crystallize the positive experience in your mind, and reinforces the behavior. Next time you sit down to eat, remember this mindfulness practice and simply be fully present with your food.

To get mindful eating tips for weight loss, watch these 2 videos below –

Diabetes Matters: Mindless vs Mindful Eating

How to Change Eating Habits with Mindful Eating

Author Bio:

Chris Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.

V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.

A lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its progressiveness and efficiency.

The program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Instead of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.”

To find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – Mindful Eating Tips for Weight Loss

Spot Reduction Exercises: How to Reduce Fat in Your Most Troublesome Spots?

 

Click HERE to Find Out How You Can Build Muscle & Lose Fat By Eating Plants 

FAT LOSS: CAN WE TARGET JUST THE BELLY?

Spot Reduction: Is It Possible and How Can You Do It?

Legendary bodybuilders like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, and Frank Zane did hundreds of sit-ups because they believed they could target an area with exercise and lose fat in that area (i.e. “spot reduction”).

In the fitness industry, the concept of spot reduction has been passionately debated and argued on both sides.

First, let me say that no one will argue that calorie intake in relation to how many calories are burned matters when it comes to fat loss.

However, new research seems to support what the bodybuilding legends used to practice.

The Case FOR Spot Reduction

Medical researchers and fitness professionals have yet to fully agree on whether spot reduction is possible or little more than a myth. But there is compelling and promising evidence that suggests targeted exercise can actually help you reduce fat in your most troublesome spots.

A study published in the American Journal of Physiologytested 10 healthy men while doing one-legged knee extension exercises at 25 percent of their max for 30 minutes, followed by exercise at 55 percent max for 120 minutes with the other leg and then at 85 percent max for 30 minutes with the first leg.

According to the researchers’ conclusion, “Blood flow and lipolysis are generally higher in SCAT [subcutaneous adipose tissue] adjacent to contracting than adjacent to resting muscle irrespective of exercise intensity.” Thus, specific exercises can induce “spot lipolysis” in adipose tissue.

Another study conducted by researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark required men to perform single leg extensions with light weight for 30 consecutive minutes. The researchers discovered increases in blood flow in the men’s subcutaneous fat cells in the exercising leg when compared to the other leg.

Ultimately, they concluded that body fat is disproportionately used from the specific part being trained. In their application statement, the researchers hypothesized that this effect would be replicated in other muscles and body parts as well.

The Case AGAINST Spot Reduction

However, some fitness experts are convinced (and some studies have shown) that it’s not possible to reduce fat in just one single area of the body. This argument points out that fat can only be lost from the body collectively as a whole by way of proper diet and exercise.

The American College of Sports Medicine states that believing spot reduction is possible is one of the top 10 most common mistakes people make while trying to lose weight. In an ACSM Health & Fitness Journal article, James A. Peterson Ph.D., FACSM writes, “No exercise will eliminate fat from a specific area of the body, just as no change in your level of caloric intake will guarantee that the fat will melt away in the area of the body you most want to address. As a rule, the pattern in which you lose body fat is genetically predetermined.”

Back in 1971, the University of California, Irvine conducted a study on tennis players because their arms see a disproportionate amount of exercise based on the nature of the sport.

According to the researchers’ experiment, there was “no significant difference in the thickness of subcutaneous fat over the muscles of the arm receiving more exercise as compared to the arm receiving less exercise.” These studies provide direct evidence against the validity of the concept of “spot reduction.”

More recently, researchers at the University of Connecticut studied 104 adults during a 12-week resistance training program to assess fat in their non-dominant arms before and after the program. The conclusion was that fat loss was generalized but not significantly more noticeable in the arm that was targeted. Their results were published in the journal, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Spot Reduction Strategies

But despite the skeptics and naysayers, I’ve found that spot reduction is an integral part of any holistic bodybuilding training regimen. There are so many different aspects involved in training, and spot training has its place in helping you achieve the shape and form you’ve been working towards.

First, let’s take a quick look at how the body burns fat:

• Resting metabolism (fuelled by your heart beat, breathing, and cell division)
• Digestive metabolism (as your body turns food into amino acids)
• Exercise metabolism (from physical activity)
• The liver stores energy as glucose and releases it into the bloodstream
• The brain receives signals to use stored fat as energy
• Hormones activate an enzyme in the blood vessels of fat tissue
• Energy is delivered to working muscles, using fat cells as fuel
• Fat tissue shrinks when exercised and muscle grows

Spot reduction exercises work by increasing blood flow and putting fat to use in the fat tissues closest to working muscles. The key is to contract the muscles adjacent to your targeted fatty area and schedule your aerobic activity and midsection workouts properly in your gym routine.

The results are often subtle and only measurable in small increments, which is why so many fitness buffs are quick to write off spot reduction as a myth. It can also take many months for spot reduction work to make a visible appearance on your body.

This means you’ll need an extra dose of dedication to stick with it. Medical researchers often only follow subjects for a few weeks or months, which may indicate why scientific results have been inconclusive.

Spot Reduction Exercises

The most effective spot reduction exercises are ones that involve high reps and combine those reps with high-intensity cardio workouts. Adding variety to your routine and interval training go a long way in targeting your problem areas.

Here are a few targeted exercises to try for your trouble spots:

Abs:

• Cable crunch
• Captain’s chair leg raise
• Air bicycle
• Planks

Glutes:

• Glute bridge
• Barbell hip thrusts
• Walking dumbbell lunge

Thighs:

Squats (stick with these and lunges)

Abduction machine (waste of time)

Love handles:

• Side plank crunch
• Medicine ball figure-eights
• Deadlifts

Observations & Conclusions

Spot reduction is always a popular weight loss topic because it seems logical and appeals to our intuition. When you target a specific body part with your training, you won’t exclusively lose fat in that one part; you’ll lose it everywhere. However, spot training helps you work more of the fat in your target area than anywhere else.

It’s easier to see the results of spot reduction training in athletes and bodybuilders who are already fit, while more casual exercisers should start off with a more general approach to getting in shape. This is particularly important to remember for abs workouts, which increase blood flow to the midsection to chip away at fat covering up the muscles underneath.

Remember that gender and genetics play a big part in where your fat accumulates and where you’ll lose it from first. Target the muscles around your fatty areas for the best results, and be patient with your progress. Spot reduction works to mobilize fat next to working muscles, but it takes time and is just one piece of the complex puzzle of body sculpting.

To get more ideas on how to reduce fat in your most troublesome spots, watch this video – 5 At​-​Home Exercises ​to ​Lose Belly Fat (CRAZY FAST)

Author Bio:

Chris Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.

V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.

A lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its progressiveness and efficiency.

The program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Instead of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.”

To find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – Plant-Based Recipes for Athletes

Bodybuilding vs. Powerlifting – How to Gain Muscle Mass Fast?

 

Click HERE to Find Out How You Can Build Muscle & Lose Fat By Eating Plants

WHAT GIVES BODYBUILDERS BETTER MUSCULAR SHAPE, SIZE & DEFINITION THAN POWERLIFTERS?

Donnie Thompson, Ryan Kennelly, Benedikt Magnusson, and Konstantin Konstantinovs are some of the biggest names in powerlifting, and without a doubt, their lifts are impressive.

But no matter how many records they break and titles they win, they will never achieve the muscular shape, size, and definition of the world’s top bodybuilders.

Bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman in his prime is an excellent example of perfected muscle definition. And the four-time Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler, was definitely onto something when he described how much more muscular he became after training with lighter weights.

The singular goal of a powerlifter is to lift the heaviest possible weight, just once. Their training regimen leaves them resembling freaky-looking beasts. But in fact, these types of muscular gains are far from healthy, sustainable, or desirable.

Many powerlifters are actually considered to be clinically obese, and male Olympic weightlifters tend to be between 10-17 percent fatter than athletes in other sports.

Meanwhile, bodybuilders have consistently been more successful at building up and defining their physique. This is largely due to higher reps, a more fluid tempo of lifting, and a varied approach.

In this post, we take a closer look at the science behind why bodybuilders have bigger and better muscles than powerlifters, to help you achieve the gains you crave at the gym.

Essentials of Muscle Hypertrophy

Muscle hypertrophy, a technical term for muscle growth, is a phrase that you’ve likely heard around the gym but have a few misconceptions about. To start, there are two types of muscle fibers: slow-twitch muscle fibers and fast-twitch muscle fibers.

The slow ones are less likely to grow and produce power. However, these fibers are more resistant to fatigue. Slow-twitch fibers are involved in low-intensity movements done over extended time periods.

Good examples of these are walking, swimming, and other aerobic activities. Slow-twitch muscle fibers have limited ability to generate extreme force or strength and are generally endurance oriented.

When subject to resistance training, they will increase in size, but not as fast as fast-twitch fibers will.

The fast-twitch muscle fibers are the ones that bulk up faster because they have a higher rate of contraction that boosts their strength and power. But unfortunately, these are the muscles that are more susceptible to fatigue after your workouts.

Non-contractile hypertrophy occurs when there is an increase in the muscle cell’s non-contractile elements, such as glycogen, collagen, and other cellular subunits.

Another term used to refer to this condition is “sarcoplasmic hypertrophy,” mainly because force is produced by the contractile units of skeletal muscle fibers called sarcomeres.

While sarcoplasmic hypertrophy will not affect your one-rep max, growth in muscle size will be evident due to the increase in non-contractile elements.

Understanding the Pennation Angle

Another key concept to understand in this comparison is the pennation angle. This is the angle formed by muscle fibers that are in line with a bodily action.

A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research compared 52 male bodybuilders and Olympic weightlifters and found that the bodybuilders had far greater isometric elbow extension force.

The researchers concluded that the larger pennation angle, the lower the force relative to a muscle cross-sectional area in strength-trained athletes.

So basically, as the pennation angle goes up, the muscle’s ability to generate force goes down. And the training methods of bodybuilders support greater pennation angles compared to powerlifters.

Another study involving men who underwent unilateral resistance training of the triceps brachii muscles for 16 weeks reinforced the fact that the way you train can induce changes in the architecture of your muscles and decrease specific tension.

Tension and Sustained Effort

Because a powerlifter’s training regimen is focused on the squat, bench press, and deadlift, their other muscles don’t have the chance to fully grow and develop.

Building tension is the most effective way to develop muscle, but there are many other factors to consider too. The type, degree, frequency, and duration of the tension you hold make a huge difference when you’re trying to build muscle.

There are several types of muscle contractions that play into how a muscle generates force and begins to grow. Concentric contractions involve a muscle actively shortening, while eccentric contractions are muscles that are actively lengthening.

Meanwhile, a passive stretch occurs when a muscle is lengthened while in a passive state, and isometric contractions involve holding a muscle actively at a fixed length.

Ultimately, passive tension doesn’t pack on as much lean muscle mass as active tension does.

Another factor to consider here is sustained effort through isometric contractions. To increase muscle across a region of the body, a balance between the active and passive length tension relationships must be achieved.

And to achieve the maximum force, eccentric resistance training can alter these relationships by increasing the structural units of myofibril in striated muscles.

Furthermore, increased stiffness in bone-to-bone connective tissues (ligaments, tendons, cartilage, extra-cellular matrix, etc.) can raise muscle-to-bone force transmission and result in improved muscular gains as well.

High- and Low-Rep Training Styles

One of the biggest reasons why bodybuilders pack on muscle better than anyone else is the higher number of reps they do. This is best achieved with a moderate rep range, say between six and 12 reps per set.

A study involving 15 young men that was published in PLoS One concluded that low-load, high-volume resistance exercise is more effective in inducing acute muscle anabolism than high-load, low-volume training.

When you train with very few repetitions because only one lift is required for competition, you increase strength but not necessarily muscle definition.

Powerlifter training also doesn’t allow enough time under tension for the slow twitch muscle fibers to develop. Conversely, bodybuilders expose their muscles to longer periods of stress to help these muscles grow.

Muscle Isolation & Execution Strategies

Muscle isolation is also a key strategy of bodybuilding, including many single-joint movements. Bodybuilding training works individual muscles through their entire range of motion and length to fully activate the muscle fibers inside.

In contrast, powerlifters utilize their entire body to lift a tremendous amount of weight for that one epic rep.

Also, the way you execute a lift makes a huge difference in how it develops your muscles. An important bodybuilding strategy is to position the body so the muscles at work can feel the stress and overcome it.

However, powerlifters generally focus on lifting the heavy weight in the easiest way possible to reach their goal.

Tendon Insertion

Strength is relative to a multitude of factors; however, one that stands out among the rest is tendon insertion.

TNation: Let’s use a biceps curl as an example. Say you’re curling a 60-pound dumbbell and you’re halfway up at 90 degrees and moving very slowly.

To figure out a general estimate of muscle force requirements of the biceps, you divide the moment of the resistance arm by the length of the muscle arm.

This means that you multiply the resistance (60 pounds) by the resistance arm (say 15 inches from the elbow to the dumbbell) and then divide it by the muscle arm (say 1 inch from the elbow to the biceps insertion).

This would give us 900 inch-pounds, a measure of torque. In this example, the biceps must produce 900 inch-pounds of force.

What happens if the individual’s biceps tendon inserts 2 inches away from the fulcrum? Now you divide by 2 instead of 1, which means that the biceps now only has to produce 450 inch-pounds of force to hold a 60-pound dumbbell at a 90-degree elbow angle.

This just goes to show how important tendon insertions are to the amount of external force one can deliver. Two individuals may have the same amount of strength in their biceps, but due to leverages, one can lift twice as much weight as the other.

Genetic Influences

Genetics come into play because each of us is born with a specific number of slow-twitch muscle fibers and fast-twitch muscle fibers that contribute to muscle hypertrophy.

These types of muscle fibers don’t typically convert into the other type, no matter what form of training you do.

Yet one study that looked at the muscle composition of powerlifters and bodybuilders compared test subjects with extreme hypertrophy to those who had undertaken six months of heavy resistance training.

This European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology study concluded that the elite group had more muscle fibers than the control group did, which means that some athletes may be predisposed to greater muscle growth because of genetics.

It’s also natural for people to gravitate toward the things they are good at, so it’s not surprising to see those with a higher propensity for strength become powerlifters.

In the same way, those who have a higher disposition for size are more likely to focus on bodybuilding.

That’s because bodybuilding focuses more on symmetry, conditioning, muscularity, and overall aesthetics, and powerlifting is all about leverages and technique refinement.

The Role of Supplementation

It’s impossible to ignore the fact that both bodybuilders and powerlifters take supplements, steroids, and other drugs to enhance their performance.

With the same levels of chemical assistance, bodybuilders still overpower powerlifters in terms of muscular development and physique.

Building muscle size and definition has nothing to do with lifting the heaviest weights. Rather, it’s all about technique, contraction, time under tension, and breaking down muscle so they can grow back bigger.

Resource: Ultimate Guide to Vegan Protein and Bodybuilding Supplements

Ultimately, It’s All About Training and Intensity

Although genetics and supplements may play a role in an athlete’s physique, muscular shape, size, and definition is ultimately determined by how they train.

This is because muscular definition is attained through a combination of isolation training, high-rep ranges, mind-muscle coordination, and calculated intensification strategies.

The way you lift weights can impact how your muscle fibers grow and develop, because a high-rep, low-load style of training stimulates slow twitch muscle fibers that are less likely to grow.

It’s also important to note that more reps don’t necessarily translate into more muscle growth, because intensity has a great deal to do with your overall gains.

A final study to point out is a 2015 one published in Physiological Reports.

The researchers found that the test group that performed high-intensity workouts four times per week with four sets of three to five reps gained significantly more muscle than the group that did 10-12 reps in each set with less intensity.

Not only did the group that trained at 90 percent of their one-rep maximum (instead of 70 percent 1RM) gain more strength, but they also gained more muscle.

This was because they activated their muscle fibers in an advantageous way to impact a greater percentage of muscle tissue.

If you look at pictures of powerlifters and bodybuilders side by side, you’ll begin to notice clear differences in their physique and how the “bodybuilder look” is the most aesthetically pleasing and powerful.

So, focus on your intensity and reps more than the amount of weight you have on the bar if you want to achieve it.

And after all this research and comparison, there’s one glaringly obvious fact that stands out: Powerlifters stand to gain more muscle when they begin to train like bodybuilders — it’s that simple!

To get more ideas on how to gain muscle mass fast, watch this video – 5 Proven Ways to Build Muscle (5x Faster)

Author Bio:

Chris Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.

V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.

A lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its progressiveness and efficiency.

The program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Instead of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.”

To find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – Plant-Based Recipes for Athletes