CHALK'S GUIDE TO

MUSCLE GAIN VOLUME 1 | WWW.GYMRYAN.COM

CREATE AN ANABOLIC

ENVIRONMENT
Learn how to prime your body

for optimal muscle gain

HOURS
BEFORE
The hours before an event may

not be as important as you think

MINUTES BEFORE
Pre-game snack or not?
Muscle Gain - What is it? An Anabolic Environment
When we say 'muscle gain', we are speaking
The stimulus is one part of the equation, the
mainly about hypertrophy or the increase
light-switch if you will. Now, we need the

in the cross-sectional diameter. This is the

electricity, or the raw materials, to actually

primary way in which you can accrue

produce more muscle, or in this example,

additional muscle tissue a.k.a size. light.

To stimulate this process, you need to

So, what is this anabolic environment, I

consistently subject the muscle to

speak of? Does it involve me sitting in a

mechanical and metabolic stress

sauna, with a fire fueled by creatine?
through regular resistance training.
The 'Anabolic Environment' is a term I

This is the hypertrophic 'stimulus' that

give to the range of physiological factors

you often hear people mention and it that are needed for optimal muscle growth.

simply means to stretch and stress the

These include:
muscle so that it promotes recovery,

adaptation and growth in size.

Regular &

Sufficient Sleep

Caloric Surplus
WHAT?
Progressive

Hypertrophy is the increase

Resistance Training
in the muscle fiber cross-

sectional area, which is the

High Protein

Intake
main mechanism by which we

accrue muscle mass.

Recovery-rich

Diet & Routine

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How to Achieve An

Anabolic
Environment
The following are five of the main areas
Study Spotlight: Insufficient

that are essential for building an optimal

sleep leads to muscle loss instead

Anabolic Environment. It is important to

of fat loss
note that while each factor may
In a very well-known study, researchers

contribute to hypertrophy and muscle

wanted to find out whether fat loss with

gain, most if not all of these need to be

insufficient sleep had any different

achieved, for optimal muscle gain. results than the exact deficit with

sufficient sleep.

Overweight participants were

Regular & Sufficient

monitored in a lab for 2 weeks each.

Sleep For two weeks, they were allowed in

bed for 5.5 hrs a night, and in the

Insufficient and irregular sleep promotes a

second, 8.5 hours a night.
catabolic internal environment. Namely,
it does this by influencing several important
After the two weeks in each condition,

hormones including testosterone, growth overall weight loss was the same,

hormone, IGF-1 and cortisol. however, 60% more of this weight was

lost as lean mass (or muscle) when

In a study of young males, five nights of

sleep deprived!
sleep restriction led to reduced muscle
Study
protein synthesis rates, compared to those

with regular sleep patterns (Source: NCBI).

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How to Create an Anabolic Environment
How to build muscle, by doing the basics!

The anabolic environment is your diet, training and lifestyle as a whole that promote the

building of muscle, in a way that concords with the evidence. While there are many more,

check out the main five factors that contribute to this anabolic environment.

SLEEP SUFFICIENTLY & REGULARLY

1
None of the below factors have the ability to overcome the

negative effects that insufficient sleep will exert. Try and get

between 6 - 8 hours each night, and keep it to regular schedule.

ACHIEVE AN ENERGY SURPLUS

An energy surplus as achieved when you consume more Calories

2 than you are expending, and it is believed that this is essential for the

up-regulation of several key hormones and anabolic processes

underlying muscle growth

PROGRESSIVELY RESISTANCE TRAIN

Resistance training is unfortunately not enough. You need to increase

3 the weight, sets, reps, tempo and/or decrease the recovery times to

continue to stimulate your muscle fibers. This stimulus (or

breakdown) requires increasing the difficulty over time.

GET PLENTY OF PROTEIN

Aside from an energy surplus, feeding your body enough protein to

4 quite literally synthesize new tissue (muscle) is crucial. Certain

amino acids in protein are also needed to signal and stimulate the

growth process.

CREATE A RECOVERY-RICH ENVIRONMENT

5
When it comes to muscle gain, recovery is a largely overlooked

area. Give yourself time to rest, replenishing your fuel stores and

getting plenty of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to manage

inflammation, provide energy and support immune function

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Caloric Surplus

Whilst muscle gain can be achieved by

How do I achieve a Caloric Surplus?
some population subgroups without the

presence of an energy surplus, it remains.

Here are the simple steps you need to
the essential ingredient for the majority of
create and maintain an energy surplus. You
people (Source: NCBI) will need:

Get a rough approximation of your

Caloric needs. If you have never done
this before, then CLICK HERE

An energy surplus tells your

Choose a macro split that enables you
brain and body that you are

to achieve these Caloric targets.

overfed and this, when

combined with regular and

progressive resistance
Download any of the popular food
training, , can initiate the
tracking apps and focus on meeting
signaling for muscle growth. those targets objectively for just 1-2
weeks

A Caloric surplus has been consistently

Once you have established a nutrition
shown to promote muscle accrual with and routine that enables you to meet these
without resistance training. In one study,
goals, take a break from tracking
pairs of twins adhered to a surplus diet for
and continue with the habit based
100 days, without resistance training. This
approach.
led to increases in fat mass (5.4 kg) as

expected) but also muscle mass (2.7 kg) was

affected too.

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HOW TO ACHIEVE A CALORIC SURPLUS
How to eat more than you expend daily

Creating and maintaining a Caloric surplus is dreaded by many young athletes with the

goal of muscle gain. It doesn't have to be! By adding a little strategy to your daily routine,

you can easily create this surplus, without stuffing your face every 1-2 hours.

GOAL:
INCREASE ENERGY DENSITY OF YOUR DIET
The goal is not necessarily to increase the amount of food you are eating,

but rather the energy density of you food you are currently eating

Snack on nuts, seeds &

Smoothies & Shakes
nut butters

Use full fat dairy Add Avocado

Add an extra tsp of olive

oil when cooking Drink lattes intstead of

americanos

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Progressive Resistance
Training
Here are the five overarching types

To build muscle, you need to provide the

of Progressive Overload
stimulus. This is the spark or initiating event
Here are the simple steps you need to
that signals to your body that it needs to

create and maintain an energy surplus. You

repair and rebuild the damaged muscle

will need:
tissue... bit bigger and stronger than ever!

Increase the number of 'working

sets' or the sets lifting the goal weight

Walking non-chalantly into a gym

Increase the amount of repetitions
2-3 times a week, and doing
per set (In a hypertrophy program,
whatever exercise tickles your
moving from 8 to 10 to 12 reps over
fancy is NOT 'Progressive
time).
Overload'. You need to plan and

record your sessions, and

Alter the tempo of the lifts. These are

incrementally increase the reps,

sets, weight or some other factor. denoted as 1-0-1-0, for the concentric
movement, hold at top, eccentric
contraction and hold at bottom. Longer
Many people believe 'Progressive
eccentric contractions can be beneficial
Overload' simply means to increase the
for hypertrophy.
weight lifted. However, increasing weight is

only one of five main ways to progress your

Increasing the weight lifted in each set
training, and not always the main way we

do so. Take a look at the list to the right, for

Only if it is warranted (e.g. hypertrophy is
the main ways a program can be
the goal), reducing the length of rest
progressed. periods, but not to typically less than 90
secs.

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High-Protein Intake

Protein is the master nutrient for

stimulating muscle protein synthesis. This

process of literal muscle generation, is

"turned on" by the amino acid leucine,

contained in protein. However, we also

require the other 19 dietary amino acids

to actually build the new tissue. That's why

supplemental BCAA's don't have much

benefit for muscle gain - as they only

provide 3 of the 20, leucine, isoleucine and

What are the priorities when it

valine. comes to muscle gain?

2.2. -2.4 g
When it comes to protein intake, here are
the priorities -

Daily protein intake is the absolute

/kg lean body mass
main priority

Getting this protein via 3-4 equally

1.4 - 2.0 g spaced out doses over the day seems

to be more effective than consuming
it one or two larger doses (Source:
/kg body mass or ideal body mass

NCBI)
(if overweight/obese)
PMID:28642676 Consuming at least 20 - 40 grams in
each of your main feedings (mealtimes)
is required to maximally stimulate the
process of muscle protein synthesis
In one study, young males were overfed

with a Caloric surplus but split into three

Making sure you are getting 20-40
different protein intake groups (5, 15 of
grams of high-quality protein (animal,
25%) of energy intake. supplemental, complementary) sources
is also important
Whilst all groups gained similar amounts of
If you are plant-based, pairing up
weight, only the groups with 15 and 25%
complementary sources can help
gained lean mass (Source: NCBI). with this
Examples

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Recovery-Rich Routine Fruits & Veggies

I often question people about the rationale

The Recovery-rich routine is comprised of

for fruit and veggie reccomendations.

any other recovery-promiting habits and

factors that can contribute to better

Most people will mention the fiber content,

recovery.
but less common is the vitamin, mineral and
antioxidant content mentioned.
Aside from sleep, which we have already

touched on, these include:

Fresh produce contain these essential

micronutrients which are important for

Prioritizing rest days

energy production, immune function, mood,

Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables

sleep and managing levels of inflammation

Replenishing carbohydrates
(all of which are adversely affected by

Engaging in non-lifting forms of exercise

consistent training).
and activity
Supplementation, when necessary
Carbohydrates
Rest/Recovery Days
In athletics and sports, the role of

carbohydrates is well known. In

When it comes to rest days, there is no pre-

resistance training, because of the

defined frequency at which they should be

connection it has with body composition,

implemented into your routine.

carbohydrates are often not prioritized.
My reccomendation is to implement them at
For lower volume and intensity training, this

least 1-3 times per week, depending on the

is perfectly OK. However, for more intense

overall training volume. These can be slightly

training and volume training, carbohydrate

reduced over time, as you increase your

intake should be a main focus to replenish

capabilities. However, there should always be

and refuel for later trainings.

1-2 deload weeks in a 12-16 week mesocycle

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Supplementation when
Tart cherry juice - Manages

necessary inflammation levels

When you are doing all of the above

Whey Protein - Extra doses of high-

consistently, and looking for an extra edge,

quality protein
supplementation of well-studied ergogenic

aids may be appropriate. Creatine - Replenish high-intensity fuel

source
But this is not a recommendation, simply

for informational purposes. The main

Electrolyte mixes when needed -

supplements that are shown to accentuate

Fluid balance
or support recovery are shown to the right.
Multivitamins - Extra dose of

essential micronutrients

www.gymryan.com | Page 10
 Take your
fitness further
with these
tools:

WHY CHALK PERFORMANCE

TRAINING?
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programs in the world. Since the start of my mission, The Chalk
I have created and developed several one of a kind
Performance
training routines that have helped shape the way
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used in just about every country around the globe. A Custom
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MY PHILOSOPHY:
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help you see these boundaries and crush them.

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