Hello athletes, welcome and thank you for tuning into the Coach Katie Danger Podcast recorded live from Omaha, Nebraska. I'm your host, Coach Katie Danger, U S army veteran, fitness coach and founder of Red H Nutrition. Here's a fact for you, 99% of us are not elite athletes. We're individuals from all backgrounds, juggling life priorities, including jobs, our families, their needs, and trying to find time to take care of ourselves every single week. When you tune in, I'll be discussing clear, concise and actionable strategies you can use to get the most from your fitness, nutrition, and mindset. So you can optimize your life without compromising your time. So athletes settle in and get comfortable. I'm here to educate, inspire, empower, and entertain you to help you enjoy the unique fitness journey that you are on.
(00:52): Hey, Hey athletes, what is up? It is coach Katie danger, and you are joining me for episode number 83 of the coach, Katie danger podcast. And this week I've got a topic that is near and dear to my heart, and it is called how do muscles grow? How do muscles grow? It's really not as complicated as you think. And what I'm going to try to do today here is discuss the mechanisms of how muscles grow. And then from a ladies out there, I want you to know why strength training is super important. And while you're not going to wake up after lifting one day and looking like Hulk. So this is to answer some questions about what mechanisms help muscle grow. Maybe some supplements you can add in there. And then why ladies, why you won't be gaining large amounts of muscle, unless you have some sort of help.
(01:37): But before I dive into the meat of the podcast, man, okay, so triathlon training is picking up. And I just want to tell you a little bit about what's been going on with me and what I'm training for swim, bike run. And then of course, strength training. It makes up almost all of my entire day. So luckily I've got a couple employees. They do most of the tasks that I used to be used to have to do myself. So with freeing up, some of that time really has allowed me to focus a lot on training and training. Well, so when I did CrossFit, it feels like training is a little different this time because I've learned a lot more. So when I train in CrossFit, I wouldn't necessarily say I had a period ice training program that had cycles involved. So like micro cycles, macrocycles mezzo cycles, all of those components of a period diarized structured training program, where you start at one point, you can end up at another point.
(02:31): Now what I've done. And I know that I've done this. Like I don't not throw this out there to brag. Like I just think at the time I was naturally gifted enough and the competition wasn't good enough that I was able to stand out in kind of a, I was a big fish in a small pond, so to speak. And I'm not trying to take anything away from myself because having physical gifts has still helped me up to this point in terms of my athletic desires, progress, whatever. But with CrossFit, I just really didn't ever start with the in mind. So when you're putting out a training program, you've got a goal. You're like, well, where am I and where do I want to go? And you're always heavily focused on where you want to go right at the end. It's really important to know what the end looks like though.
(03:11): You have to know what the end is in order to get there, to set goals, to measure progress. If you haven't already check out episode number 82, and it's talking about goal setting in 2021, which could be very, very helpful for you setting goals for next year, and then just kind of assessing where you are anyways. But what I'm getting at here is, is starting with the end in mind. And that is what I'm doing differently. Like I'm looking at where I want to be. I have set and metric goals where I want to swim. I want to bike what I want to run because the half Ironman is a swim bike run event. It's a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 run. So half marathon after you bike 56 miles. So it does take training, right? You can't just like be fit enough.
(03:53): Even if I had just got done with the height and peak of, of being a CrossFitter and that fitness, there is just a different level of fitness needed. And I've noticed that. And I suppose that my CrossFit experience has helped me realize that there are some deficiencies in the way I've trained in the past. So I'm not gonna make the same mistakes I did before I have a coach. I have a period I's progressive training program that incorporates testing phases. And that's where I'm at right now. I'm at the testing phase. This week was testing and I was excited and nervous at the same time. Now, when I tested the first time, this was eight weeks ago. And I mean, I wouldn't say it was out of shape, but I wasn't triathlon shape. I've done a few triathlons since eight weeks. You know, I didn't want eight weeks ago and then maybe six weeks ago now.
(04:34): And I was just, I decided I was humbled. I was humbled because I realized I am not my ability level as a triathlete at 36 years old, just wasn't where I thought it would be. This wasn't where I thought it would be. I did not finish and do as well as I thought. So it was humbled. I'm like, man, you're like fell, felt, love things I need to work on. So after I got real with myself and decided that I wasn't just gonna wallow in my disappointment with my physical capacity at the time, got a coach, got a training program, rolling with it, doing the work as far as compliance, if a hundred percent is hitting all my days, I would say 85 to 90% of my workout days. I hit over the past eight weeks, which I think is great. I mean, running my own business, you know, other things in life 85 and 90% is pretty good.
(05:19): I mean, I always aim for 80 20 with most of the things I do, but 85 90 I'll take it. So I was very compliant. So I knew that these tests were going to be like, I knew I was going to improve a lot because my fitness just wasn't the same. And just simply by doing the work, you're going to get more fit, which segway foreshadowing. We'll talk about a little bit here in the physiology of muscle growth itself. When we talk about how muscles grow, but back to the triathlon, like just doing the work you're going to get more fit. So you would be more fit. My numbers went from, they just increased. Like I don't even get the details. I'm a faster swimmer, more efficient swimmer, and I'm a more powerful biker and I'm a faster runner. So by paces went up, right. I am more fit than I was before in terms of the metrics of what makes a triathlete.
(06:00): And one thing that I have a treated to my success is strength training. If you know, a little bit about me, triathlons were my first love, my first entrance into competitive fitness. For example, like I found CrossFit because I was frustrated with how much time I had to put in triathlon training when I was in college. So I found CrossFit endurance and they used the high intensity interval training principles and applied them to swim, bike and run. And I found CrossFit. I started lifting and, you know, drank that old Kool-Aid and the rest is history. So now that I'm back at triathlon, I'm still remembering those principles, but at the same time, I really just forgot what my train of thought was there. The point is, oh, strength training. So strength training, very, very important. I'm just not gonna throw that out the window because I know it is super, super important to your strength training.
(06:45): I did not do that as a triathlete 10, 12, 13 years ago, when I first got into this competitive sport or just sport in general. So strength training twice a week. I know that's why some of my swim has gotten better. I know that's why when I tested my bike, I was far more powerful than I was before. So it was really, really great strength training, do not ever discount strength training. And this is going to lead us right into what you want to know about how do muscles grow. I do not want you to ever think that you should not strength, train. I don't care how young you are. I don't care how old you are. I believe it is my core philosophy as a human speaking to you as a fitness coach. And knowing what I know is that if done appropriately keyword appropriately straight training is great for any human being on earth.
(07:31): Now, of course, there's different goals or different body types. People respond to adaptations quicker, slower. I get all that. But at the end of the day, strength training strength training is so important for anybody, for anybody. Even if you can find a way to, to fit strength training in when you're ill or maybe dealing with a chronic illness, it's still important to stay strong. So I highly encourage everybody to be and prioritize strength in their life. It's very, very important, I think is either the Greg Glassman say this or another one of the first time CrossFit guys like old school CrossFit said strong. People are harder to kill. Might've been mark Rippetoe to a starting strength guy, whatever. Whoever said it is so true. Strong people are harder to kill. If you're strong, you're more resilient. If you're strong, you can take a beating. And that includes mental and emotional and physical pain as well.
(08:20): So strong people already kill. I really promote strength training. And that's why I really love the podcast we're talking about today. So if you're a typical human being, you go to the gym, you probably have one or two goals and they probably overlap. I asked this to all the people. I start out with my clients, I say, Hey, what's your number one goal? And they say, well, I want to build muscle and I'll lose fat. And I'm like, well, welcome to everybody else on earth, right? So you want to burn fat and build muscle. A lot of people, a lot of coaches out there, they either say you got to focus and you do have to like, take your focus kind of specific, right? But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if someone was to build muscle or lose weight, they're going to be doing strength, training.
(08:58): Okay? Strength training. Is that important now that now there's different types of muscles, right? Like we have cardiac muscles and then we have the muscles we think of when we lift weights, okay. Our biceps or triceps. Those are the things that we're trying to influence in terms of how can we get stronger? And then if you want to build muscle and actually grow hypertrophy. Now, when you lift weights, there is an adaptation that will occur. So there are 650 skeletal muscles in the human body. And they can, when they receive signals from motor neurons, which are triggered from a part of the cell called the sarcoplasmic reticulum, go back to high school biology, motor neurons, tell your muscles to contract. And then the better you become at having those signals to tell your muscles, to contract the stronger you're going to get. This is where repetition and time in the weight room comes into play.
(09:46): Now, when someone like a powerlifter is able to live very heavyweight, despite not looking very muscular it's because they have an ability to activate motor neurons and contract their muscles better. You don't necessarily need to be bigger to be stronger. So that's why some powerlifters are comparatively smaller than bodybuilders, but they're still stronger. So remember like size doesn't necessarily matter. Motor unit recruitment. It also helps to explain why after a lot of practice, certain movements become easier to perform. And then those initial strength gains start to come. So as you do things that they become easier. Imagine that, all right. So here's like the first topic that we're going to hit hard is the physiology it's actually goes on in your body. After you work out, after you get done working out after you get done lifting Rowan, biking, swimming, running, whatever your body is working to repair and replace that damaged muscle fiber.
(10:36): And it's done through a cellular process where it fuses muscle fibers together, and it forms new muscle protein strands or myofibrils. So just be prepared. There is a little bit of biology here that I may be talking about, but I still think it's really important. Now these repaired myofibrils they increase in thickness in number to create hypertrophy. So growth right now, this adaptation, it doesn't actually happen when you lift weights. So it happens after you done working out when you rest. So that's, that's another reason why there's lots of the things like muscles are built in the kitchen. Muscles will be built during recovery and recovery, inclusion, nutrition, and includes your rest, includes your sleep. So then how do you actually add muscle to your muscle cells? So this is where we start to talk about satellite cells and they act like stem cells for your muscles.
(11:16): So when you activate your satellite cells, they, they start communicating with your body, with your nervous system, like, Hey, we got to go between here and we've got to repair here and we got to go here. So that's why, you know, you have the stress or you have the stimulus satellite cells wake up and they go, oh my gosh. Okay. So then they rushed to wherever they need to go. And that's where that protein synthesis starts to occur. Now, there are people who are genetic freaks and there's also people and on both ends of the spectrum, they build muscle quicker or they're really hard gainers. They don't build muscle as well. And this really has to do with satellite cells. There are some people out there who are non-responders and they actually can have 0% growth. Now this probably isn't anybody listen to this podcast, don't worry about it.
(11:59): But generally, generally people are modest responders. And that means there's 28% activation in terms of out of a hundred percent, 28% activation or growth. Hey, I know. And you know that, I talk a lot about using supplements on your fitness journey and reaching your full potential, how I believe they're integral pieces of the puzzle to reaching your best self and best fitness results. But do you know how supplements fit into your plan? Do you know what to take for your goals and how much of a supplement you should take if you ever had any of those questions and you want to know how supplements can work for you and your goals, go to your fitness supplements.com and take the free, free, free three point personalized supplement assessment. And with just a few questions, you'll have a complete personalized supplement recommendation in less than 60 seconds. You'll know more about how supplements fit into your fitness goals. What's safe and what's effective and perfect for you. So type in your fitness supplements.com in your internet browser, take the free assessment and get on the fast track to your best fitness results.
(13:07): No, there's three mechanisms that make muscles grow. So there's muscle tension, muscle damage, and metabolic stress, muscle tension. In order to produce muscle growth, you have to apply a load of stress that is greater than what your body has previously adapted to. And you do this with a progressive period ice training program. That additional tension, it helps the muscle call on more satellite cells for activation. And then that muscle tension dramatically affects the connection to the motor units, to the muscle cells together. So with these two factors, it helps explain why some people can become stronger, but not as bigger as some other people, then there's muscle damage. So if you've ever had that delayed onset muscle soreness, you know what it feels like to have damage after working out, and this is local muscle damage, and it causes a release of inflammatory molecules and immune system cells that activate the satellite cells to jump into action.
(13:57): This is another thing limit the satellite cells. I don't know where they're hanging out, but when they get that message, it's like the bat signal up in the sky, right? They're like, okay, we're on it. I hear you. I see you. I feel you. So it doesn't mean that you need to feel sore in order for this to happen, but instead of the damage for the workout has to be present in your muscle cells. So typically soreness can be diminished over time, especially as you get more acclimated to the gym. So don't think that you have to necessarily be sore for those satellite cells to be doing what they need to be doing behind the scenes. Soreness is just kinda like, I dunno what it is. It's not a placebo effect, cause it's true at the same time. It, sometimes we think we need to be more sore to get a better workout, not the case, not the case.
(14:38): And the last thing is metabolic stress. So if you've ever had the burn or the exercise or the pump up together, the gym, you know, do some bicep curls, you look at your bicep, you're pumped, right? That's when you've had the effects of metabolic stress. So scientists using the, this term to question whether bodybuilders, when they sit the pump causes their muscles to become larger. And it seems like after the scientists look into what the bros were saying, they were onto something. So here's what happens. Metabolic stress causes cell swelling around the muscle. It helps to contribute to muscle growth, but not necessarily increasing the size of the muscle cells. So this is from the addition of muscle glycogen, which helps the muscle to swell up along with a connective tissue growth. So this type of growth is known as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. And it's one of the ways that people can get the appearance of larger muscles without increases in strength, AK bodybuilders.
(15:29): So now that you know that the three main mechanisms of muscle growth are tension, actually lifting heavier day to day, week to week, month to month muscle damage, you don't necessarily need to be sore in order to have the satellite cell activation and then metabolic stress metabolic stress. That's when they're swirling around the muscle and it helps contribute to muscle growth with the addition of muscle glycogen. Now there's hormones. And this is ladies where I want you to pay attention. So hormones are another component that are largely responsible for muscle growth factor and repair IGF one insulin growth factor one and testosterone are the two most vital mechanisms that promote muscle growth. So testosterone is the main hormone that people think about when they think about lifting weights and testosterone does increase protein synthesis. It inhibits protein breakdown. So not only are you building more muscle, but you're breaking down less, it activates satellite cells.
(16:22): And then it stimulates other anabolic or muscle building hormones. And although most testosterone is bound in the body, so does not free 2%, 2%. So out of a hundred percent, only 2% of testosterone is free and in the body and available and useful. But here's the deal. If you strength, train strength, training shows through scientific study and analysis, observation, strength training increases the amount of free testosterone in the body. So if you have more testosterone, you can stimulate muscle growth hormone and increase the presence of those neurotransmitters at the damaged fiber site. So when those satellite cells come in, they work on hyper-drive activating protein synthesis, repairing rebuilding your muscle tissue. And here's why muscles need rest to grow. If you do not provide your body with adequate restroom nutrition, if you're one of those dudes who thinks that it's more noble arrest, when you're dead, you're wrong, you're wrong.
(17:13): And you can reverse the anabolic process by not resting. So you can actually continue to break down your muscle tissue, no matter how much time you spend in the gym, if you don't rest. So the response of muscle protein metabolism to resistant exercise lasts for about 24 to 48 hours. So that means the interaction between protein metabolism and any meals consumed in that 24 to 48 hours will impact the diet of muscle hypertrophy to eat well, 80% of the time, 20% of the time. That doesn't mean you get to be an idiot about it just means maybe you get to enjoy some of the finer things in life. Here's another thing. So if you're going lifting weights and you're like, oh, I don't want to get too big and bulky something typical that most ladies who enter the strength training realm will often say, well, I just want to get toned.
(17:54): I don't want to get bulky. You ain't going to get bulky. I'm going to say it flat out right now. You're not going to get bulky. Unless you start injecting steroids in to your body. It just will not happen. Okay? That takes a long time. And a lot of work, rapid muscle growth is unlikely for the majority of people. Now you have genetic freaks and you have people on the other end who just don't necessarily eat or just don't necessarily gain muscle very well. But I'm not talking about, I'm talking about the majority of individuals who are not taking anabolic steroids, who may or may not be taking like an over-the-counter testosterone boosting supplement like a natural herbal remedy, horny goat, weed fenugreek extract. There's lots of them out there. Addiction nutrition has H drive. So what you need to realize is strength training is like the secret.
(18:39): It is the magic pill. So to speak for freeing up testosterone in your body for promoting hypertrophy and muscle growth for not necessarily putting on size, but strength. Okay? There's lots of other things you can do to promote size. But if you're just like, I want to get strong for sport, or I just want to get strong for life. You got to lift weights and you got to do it in a way that is progressive periodized that has muscle tension involved, increasing in weight day to day, week to week, you get that metabolic stress. So we've gotta be lifting to a point where like, Hey, there's that burn? And then there may be, there will be muscle damage. And you may feel that muscle damage delayed onset muscle soreness. And you're probably not going to grow muscles overnight unless you're taking steroids. And last but not least, you need rest for your muscles to grow.
(19:32): You need to eat well and you need breasts. I would say all the two components rest is probably what we do the least of rest is probably where most people could make the biggest gains. If they just, if they just went to bed like 30 minutes earlier, if they just had a little better sleep hygiene, I don't think it's nutrition. I think it's easy to get. Nutrition is a lot easier to get. Then sleep is easy to get for lots of different reasons, not going to go into down podcast, but sleep affects people, lack of sleep or trouble. Sleeping comes from many different realms, but this podcast generally doesn't cover. So if you're looking for a way and you think you've gotten nutrition dialed in and you know, when you're hitting the gym and maybe you're at a plateau, look at what your rest and recovery is like, are you one of those people?
(20:15): Who's like, I got to work out seven days a week, or else you feel like crap. You're probably going to continue to feel like crap. In fact, you might feel like crap because you work out seven days a week. It is okay to take a rest day. I mean, God rested on the seventh day. Why can't we? Right? A rest days are like a religion. They really should be like religion. You should, you should respect them. You should honor them and you should schedule them in and make sure you held yourself accountable to attend your rest days. So here's the conclusion of this entire podcast. And I want to invite you to something for muscle breakdown and growth to occur. You must force your muscles to adapt. You got to create stresses different than the previous threshold you'd already adapted to. You can do this by lifting heavier weights, changing your exercises, you know, or trying a different sport.
(21:01): There's lots of different ways to adapt, but generally you have to go, what was I doing? How can I add a greater stimulus to what I've already done? That's the question you have to ask yourself after the workout is completed. Most important part begins with adequate rest and ample fuel in that 24 to 48 hour timeframe. Like I mentioned now, if you're looking for a strength train programs, like, okay, cool, coach Katie. I got you. I understand what kind of program can I do? Do you have one? And I do. And I have all of my programs available to my full seven 30 fitness coaching members. It is a group. Coach is a group coaching program. And what I'm doing with that, I'm going to pull up the page here so I can give it the adequate homage. It deserves. But as far as what I'm doing with the full center, fitness coaching group, I used to have a free Facebook group and it really just got watered down.
(21:46): I wasn't really doing anything well with it. So I wanted to focus on the people who are truly interested in bettering themselves. And I made a monthly membership site. It's $9 a month. And it's like having a coach in your back pocket to help you lose weight, get strong, feel great, have the motivation. And it's a group coaching supportive environment. So if you're a person who knows and understands that the company you keep is important, it's a place for you. And you can sign up at any time. It's nine bucks a month. Here's what you're going to get. You're going to get a daily challenge workout every single month. We have a daily challenge. I can tell you what this month is, because then you probably wouldn't join. So I don't give any of the way I don't give any of this stuff to just anybody.
(22:23): You gotta be part of my membership group, monthly challenge every single month. And then you get access to all of my coaching programs, all of my strength training programs, including my nutrition programs, leg day, leg day, it's brutal. And it's awesome. And it's leg day, three times a week, progressive period eyes. It has those adaptations built in. So you do get stronger and you get bigger. The 50, 60 training method, it's a total body workout program for massive muscle and strength. And I put together the three very specific ways of lifting. So on top of knowing how muscles grow, then I break it down even more. So we look into rest between sets. We look at how many reps you should do and then muscle time under tension. So that's available to you. I have dumbbell a hero. I have a ladies four week lower body strength program, a six week functional bodybuilding program, bodyweight muscles.
(23:10): So if you don't have any weights around, you can still get a great body weight, workout, indicat, you know, stimulate and adapt your body in a different way. So if you want access to all of those, that's the, how I gave you the what right now we know how muscles grow. So you have the blood. If you're looking for the, how, that's where my full Sen fitness coaching group comes in, and all you gotta do is go to my website, coach Katie danger.com. You'll see, join my challenge group. Get in, you'll get in the Facebook group and you'll get access to my entire library collection of fitness, coaching programs, nutrition guides, and you get me in a group. You know, you get me in a group. You can ask me questions. Now it is not a one-on-one coaching program. So I'm not going to write a specific coaching program for you.
(23:50): That is a different opportunity we could discuss, but if you're looking for something to help you get started, try something new, or just find a different way to do strength, training and adapt. This is for you both send fitness coaching, go to my website, coach Katie danger.com. Click on the tab says, join my challenge. I would love to have you there love to have you there and any new program that it comes out, it's also available to you, the very first people to get access to it. So let me know if you guys have any questions on that. You can always send me an email with anything katie@coachkatiedanger.com, but I'm really, really a proponent of strength training for any age, any condition, anybody like strength training is so important. And if you are an endurance athletes, specifically listening to this and you are neglecting your strength training, you will pay for it and not in a good way.
(24:41): It will catch up to you. Your body will break down all of the grounding pounding that you do with your legs and on your bike and swim. You need to make sure that your muscles are prepared and strong. So that's what I highly recommend for you. I'm going to go ahead and wrap this up. If you guys have any questions, let me know. You can always reach me. Katie@Coachkatiedanger.Com. In the meantime, make sure you hit the gym and lift weights a couple of times a week, no matter who you are. I also want to end this like I always do with just that brief bit of motivation, where once you understand that whatever your goal is, you can have it. We always think there's certain slices of the pie and we all have to, you know, get a certain cut of it, but everybody can have their own pie and you can have your cake and eat it too. If you have something in mind and you want to get it, you just got to put in the work, start with the end in mind, know where you want to go be the person that you need to be, whatever you do, you leaving yourself, trust the process and don't ever, ever, ever quit on yourself. You guys, I hope you had a fantastic time sitting here with me on episode number 83. How do muscles grow? In the meantime, this is coach KDD. And for this week over and out,
(25:46): This is the podcast factory.com.
