Rules of Iron: Protein Intake

Of the four macronutrients – alcohol, carbohydrates, fats and protein – protein is the most critical. Every meal you prepare should be done so with an emphasis on maximizing protein intake.

You should, of course, worry about the quality and amount of carbohydrates and fats you consume. But you should make absolutely certain that your meals contain 30+ (and probably even 40+) grams of protein.

Protein is critical to building muscle. It’s also more satiating than the other macronutrients and has a tendency to help control the appetite.

Some considerations for protein:

• Make sure you are consuming essential proteins (i.e., essential amino acids). Essential amino acids are the proteins that your body cannot manufacture by itself. Unfortunately, plant-based proteins may not contain the essential proteins that your body needs, or at least they may not contain the quantity of essential amino acids that your body needs. If you are vegetarian or vegan, you need to find ways to get more essential amino acids.
• Wait 3 – 4 hours between meals that contain protein. 30 – 45 minutes after consuming protein, your body begins the protein synthesis process, which takes between 2 and 3 hours. During this time, your body WILL NOT absorb or utilize any other protein. Consuming protein during this time is an exercise in futility.

It goes without saying, but great sources of essential protein:

• Meat
• Dairy products – milk, cheeses, yogurt
• Meal Replacement drinks and bars

(My condolences to vegans and vegetarians.)

Rules of Iron: Progressive Overload

The concept of progressive overload is quite simple:

In your weight training – and especially with your top-tier exercises – you should always seek to add weight.

This is especially true as you begin your weight training experience, or if you’re returning after a long layoff.

Each week, add a few pounds or more to your lifts. Continue doing this week after week until you can’t do it anymore. When this happens, you’ve reached the end of your beginner training phase. You’ve picked the low-hanging fruit, and you will now need to start looking into more serious training methods and variations to maximize your strength gains.

You may also at this point have reached the strength goals you wished to achieve and can continue lifting at this same level, maintaining a fairly high level of strength as the years roll on.

This is why the top-tier exercises are called such. They are the only exercises that can really accommodate long-term progressive overload. None of the other exercises, perhaps with the exception of leg press and some other leg machine exercises, can be loaded and progressed at a steady rate like the top-tier exercises.

Keep a training journal. Log your progress. You can record either your maximum lift (1RM) or the weight that you are using for your standard 3 to 5 sets of between 5 and twelve reps.

An Excel spreadsheet with a simple chart in it that shows you going from a 150 lb. squat to a 300 lb. squat over the course of 6 or 9 months is impressive and confidence boosting.

Rules of Iron: Top-Tier Exercises

The foundation of your workout should be the top-tier barbell exercises:

• Squat
• Deadlift
• Bench Press
• Overhead Press

Your workouts should be based around these movements, and each workout should begin with one of these exercises. They are complex, multi-joint exercises that give you the biggest bang for your buck – more strength, more muscle mass.

Keep these rules in mind:

• Squat twice per week
• Press twice per week
• Deadlift once or twice per week
• The best warmup for these exercises is to perform the exercise at a lower weight for a few sets – the heavier the weight, the more warmup sets you’ll require
• 3 – 5 sets per exercise
• 5 – 12 reps per set

If you are not training for competition, then you really don’t need much more than this information. Training for powerlifting or bodybuilding is going to require a different approach. But for those who just want to gain and maintain strength, a simple weight lifting program built upon these exercises will suffice.