2 week plan (Oct 11-21) summary

How to maintain a good diet in order to gain muscle? When trying to gain muscle it's important to maintain a calorie surplus, while also incorporating lots of protein. Foods to think about incorporating into your diet include steaks, chicken, salmon, yogurt, cottage cheese, bread, oatmeal, etc. It would probably be a good idea to add in a protein shake or weight gainer that would model a whole meal throughout your day because usually people have an easier time drinking something than eating it. Overall you should be incorporating 3-4 meals a day while mixing in snacks in between each of them, it is important to intake about a gram of protein for however much you weigh each day, while also eating around 20 calories per pound of your bodyweight for energy. Ex: If i weight 140 lbs i would want to eat anywhere around 140-160 G of protein a day, and 2,800 calories per day.

Why is it important to rest your muscles? This goal seems somewhat self explanatory, but everyone has their own style of rest days. During my research I found that even during your "rest" day its important to still stay active, weather its a hike, sport, walk, etc. Many exercise enthusiasts have stated that when they use their rest day to just sit on the couch, they actually feel more lethargic and unenergized the next day when they go back to the gym. It is very important to rest though because it gives a psychological break as well as physical due to weight lifting using so much mental toughness. Physically, a rest day repairs your muscle tissue, which is detrimental to your muscle growth, and to prevent injuries.

What is a good workout split? and Why? Throughout my research I found that there really is no "perfect" split, although there are a few that are recommended. What is true is that no matter what, it is important to always stay active and get some sort of exercise, whether it's in the gym or not. With that being said if you're trying to build muscle mass in the gym the most ideal and common splits look a little something like this... Day 1: Chest, shoulders, triceps. Day 2: Back & biceps. Day 3: Legs. Day 4: Rest. Day 5: Chest, shoulders, triceps. Day 6: Back & biceps. Day 7: Legs. It is also important to be adding in core workouts at least three times a week after you have finished your workout.

Summary

I believe that my goals for this week were realistic, and I enjoyed researching these topics. The goals definitely gave me a better understanding on my research of ideal muscle gain. The biggest achievement I saw in my work was the important information I found on giving yourself rest days, and letting you muscles relax. Improvement could come in my ability to record all my goals and stay on track. In the future I plan on making an instagram or youtube page in order to get my goals and reserach across to viewers.