For some, gaining muscle mass is a goal to be achieved for aesthetic or health reasons. So we broached the subject with Keven Arseneault, trainer at thecoaches academy.
Daniel: What are the benefits of gaining muscle mass?
Most people do it for aesthetics. The other benefits depend on the person: it depends on their age, lifestyle, etc. A football or hockey player, for example, is his protection, he's not going to do it for aesthetics, he's going to want to gain muscle mass to protect himself from injury.
In the same way, some elderly people will want to increase their muscle mass to have more autonomy.
Daniel: What are the best methods for successfully gaining muscle mass?
That's the question! There is no one way to do it, you have to combine a lot of elements to be able to gain muscle mass. We all have a genetic predisposition, we recognize a certain type of physique:
- Ectomorphic, more slender like the marathon runner;
- Mesomorphic, more muscular like a hockey player;
- Endomorph, a rounder person.
Of course, these are categorizations and no one is stuck in a category. But for example a line football player, you can't ask him to run a marathon, he doesn't have a physique that is made for that.
Conversely, a more slender person who likes to run, his predisposition will slow him down in his weight gain.
You have to admit your potential to adapt it and the lower the potential, the more you will have to take into account many factors: whether it is sleep, stress, diet, training in order to succeed in gaining mass.
There are 3 ways to use to gain muscle mass:
- 1st way is mechanical tension, we create tension on the muscle, we take a load, a weight, a kettlebell, or a bar, and the higher the tension, the more potential we will be able to have hypertrophy therefore a gain in muscle mass that will follow. But a newbie in training cannot take high loads because his structures are not suitable for so he will have to have the beginning of training with a progression;
- 2nd way is metabolic stress, for example we do 3 leg exercises one after the other and the accumulation of these series will create stress on the body which will activate metabolic signals to increase muscle mass;
- 3rd way it's a bit the result of all that, it's to seek muscle damage. It's micro tears that will force the muscle to rebuild bigger and stronger. It is not because we have micro tears that we have a gain in muscle mass. If the environment is not favorable, if we do not eat enough calories and protein, if we do not drink enough water or if we have bad sleep, the muscle will not overcompensate, it will going to keep the same level.
It's quite complicated and the best thing is to be supervised by a professional, ideally a kinesiologist.
Daniel: For a beginner in a gym, what would a typical program look like?
It would depend on your training experience. Between a person who is a beginner and who has never done sport in his life and a person who is new to training, but who has done sport all his life, there is a huge difference.
If you are an active person, you do not train, but you have already had movement at the muscular level, the first step to take is to do a program of the “push – pull – leg” type. Basically, it's a day in which you will work the pushing movements, a day in which you will work the pulling movements and a day in which you will work the legs.
When the person gains experience and can train 4 or 5 days a week, it's better because you can spread out the training better.
Daniel: Is it possible to gain mass at home with little equipment?
A person with a low level of training, her body weight is going to be a good load for her, it's going to give her good mechanical tension, it's going to cause damage, so she's going to be able to go for a gain during the first months. After a while there will be a plateau.
Then, other strategies should be used to increase the mechanical tension, such as using rubber bands or a Altterre bag.
Daniel: Are dietary supplements mandatory?
They are supplements, so no, they are not mandatory, they are dietary supplements.
Daniel: Does it make sense to get a little experience before taking supplements?
Yes that makes sense. On the other hand, I often talk about it, but I do not consider whey protein to be a dietary supplement.
It's not a supplement, it's another dietary choice. Is it mandatory? Of course not.
Does it help with muscle recovery? Yes. We often make an association between dietary protein, high level bodybuilders and with steroids. It is a mistake.
Daniel: Can you gain muscle mass and lose fat mass at the same time?
The body is able to do it, these are things that I have already seen in my practice. It is the change in body composition. We have a certain percentage of fat and a certain percentage of muscle, we will try to increase one and decrease another.
On the other hand, for most people who want to change their body composition, they will have a hypertrophy phase during which they will consume 300 to 500 more calories per day. This will promote muscle and fat gain.
Then they will fall into a period of fat loss.
Daniel: It's really interesting, how can we follow you and find out more about all this?
In 2022 with the Covid, I redirected myself to training. I had already written a book in 2013 and I have always had an interest in training. I was a speaker with the federation of kinesiologists of Quebec a few times. There I devote myself on a training school which is lcoaches academy. All content will be redone with 3 levels of training and nutrition. The launch of level 1 will be held in mid-February.
It will be for all people who are going to be interested in training and nutrition, for example the level 1 course, I will talk about exercise physiology, biomechanics, anatomy with videos. It's 12 to 15 hours per online training, so everyone at their own pace.
Great, finally the right time.
Good article!
Very good! Thanks!
Thank you!