Combine these supps with our gym-tested routine and watch your arms grow by an inch – literally – in just a few hours
By Jim Stoppani, PhD
FLEXONLINE.COM
>> Check out the full training program, as well as our bodybuilder trial, in the July issue of FLEX, on newsstands now.
As you read this, plenty of your gym brethren are busying themselves with debunking our claim: Add an inch to your arms…in a day! This bold assertion, which we make in our July issue, presents a dense, varied workout performed in small blocks of work each hour, on the hour, for 5-6 hours. Here, we explain the science behind the supplements that will help you achieve the craziest pump you’ve ever had, and leave you with a drastic, lasting increase to your upper arm measurements.
As we said above, you’ll perform work for your arms in several blocks of work each hour. At the end of the hour, it’s time to feed your wrecked muscle bellies with the building blocks of growth. So to be clear: if you are going through all six prescribed hours of work, you will be taking all of these supplements six times. Yummy.
Whey Protein: 20-30 grams You take a modest portion of whey to keep muscle protein synthesis, and therefore growth, maximized during and after these six hours of torture. What many people don’t know is that whey will also enhance blood flow to the muscles to deliver more of these supplements to them, as well as more fluid for them to fill up with.
Vitargo: 50-70 grams This extremely fast-digesting carb (about twice as fast as most sugars) rapidly restores the muscle glycogen you burn during this workout. This will help you to have the energy to keep going for six solid hours. Plus, glycogen holds water, which means it keeps the muscle cells fuller, for better arm-stretching results. Vitargo will also boost insulin, which will drive more glycogen, and the rest of the supplements you will be taking at this time, as well as boost muscle recovery and growth.
BCAAs: 5-10 grams Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are critical during a brutal workout like this for several reasons. For one, when you are pushing your muscles to their limits like this, BCAAs are used as an important fuel source. If you don’t make BCAAs available by consuming them at this time, the muscle will consume itself to get BCAAs from the muscle protein. So consuming BCAAs will prevent muscle wasting and prevent fatigue as you try to hang in there through this workout. BCAAs also boost insulin levels and protein synthesis.
Creatine: 2-3 grams What do we need to tell you about creatine that you don’t already know? Creatine pulls water into the muscle, which will help to swell the muscle cells more. Creatine is also an important form of energy during weight workouts. If you’re not currently taking creatine, a week before you peform this workout, load up on creatine by taking 5 grams four to five times per day, preferably with some fast-digesting carbs.
Beta-alanine: 1-2 grams This amino acid forms carnosine in the muscle, which can help to delay muscle fatigue (which will be critical at getting through this workout, trust us). But beta-alanine has also been found to enhance creatine’s muscle-growth effects. If you are not currently taking beta-alanine, take 3 grams twice a day with meals. On workout days after this, you should take it with your pre and postworkout meals.
Glutamine: 5-10 grams This amino acid will help to fight fatigue during the workout and boost growth hormone levels, which will further boost the muscle growth results you get from this workout. Glutamine is also a muscle cell volumizer, as it draws water into the muscle cell, helping to stretch your muscle membranes further.
Taurine:1-2 grams This is another amino acid that helps to get you through the six-hour plan by delaying fatigue and enhancing muscle strength. Plus it also pulls more water into the muscle cells.
Arginine: 2-3 grams This amino acid boosts nitric oxide (NO) levels, as you likely know. NO relaxes blood vessels, which means they widen to allow more blood flow through this means that you’ll get more of these supplements to your muscles, which will enhance muscle energy levels, recovery and growth. It also gets more fluid from the blood to the muscle cells for an even greater muscle pump.
Citrulline: 2-3 grams This amino acid gets converted in the body to arginine, which as discussed above, gets converted in NO. So if you’re taking arginine already, how come you need to take citrulline? The answer is that citrulline is better at getting absorbed by the body than arginine. So taking citruline is an even better method of boosting NO levels than taking arginine.
Pycnogenol: 50-100 mg From the French maritime pine tree, this antioxidant flavonoid enhances the conversion of arginine to NO by increasing the activity of the enzyme that catalyzes the reaction – nitric oxide synthase (NOS).
Water: 20-32 oz Do not overlook water consumption during these crucial refueling windows. You need fluid to fill your muscle cells with. So it’s critical that you drink plenty of water during this workout. An easy way to get it in is to be sure to use plenty of water when you make your shakes.
GETTING HIGH "TECH" As our test subject Tamer El-Guindy did during our shoot, you can get the same effect as the supplements above by taking the following MuscleTech products after each 40-minute workout block:
