 Looking after your body is one of the most important things you can do for your general health and well-being. Not only will you reap the physical benefits, such as more energy and less risk of disease, you'll also reap the psychological benefits, such as cutting your chances of depression by half and increasing your self-esteem. Learning to train our muscles is a big part of this. After all, we have over 600 muscles in the body and every single one of them, along with their connective tissue, helps us to move about and function in the world. When we don't give our muscles the attention they deserve, they shrink in atrophy, leaving us weaker and less healthy than before. Our muscles were made to work, and from the moment we are born, we use them to accomplish tasks that would otherwise be impossible. Think you can open doors and drive your car without the use of healthy muscles? Think again. They literally help us do everything. When we are young, any physical activity is enough to grow new muscle. The damage and repair cycle of the muscle fibers is easily initiated. Over time, however, we adapt to these day-to-day activities and our bodies stagnate. As we age, we regress. In order to keep our muscles growing and to build a body we can be proud of, we need to continuously stimulate a natural bodily process called hypertrophy. This is when our muscle fibers have been damaged enough that the body needs to rebuild them in order to better deal with similar stresses in the future. There are three steps to optimal hypertrophy conditions in the body. The first is exercise. Consider how a muscle works. Save for instance, we are attempting a bicep curl. To start, our brain recognizes what is going on and sends signals to the motor neurons within our arms. In particular, our bicep muscles. The moment this message is received, the motor neurons fire, causing the muscle to contract and relax as necessary. The heavier the weight we use, the more motor units the brain hires to get the job done. Done repeatedly and with enough intensity, these contractions cause microscopic tears in the target muscle and, over time, result in bigger and stronger arms. Now, say we've been using the same weight for a while and have started to notice less and less in the way of results. This is because our bodies have adapted to the load and they no longer find it necessary to build more muscle. When this happens, we must increase the weight we lift to keep the damage repair cycle active. This principle of progression is the key to effective exercise. By generating more and more tension in your muscles, each and every time you exercise, you unlock the physical potential of your body. It will all be for nothing, however, if you don't take care of the second step, which is nutrition. Exercise can never do what it is meant to do if it is not supported by the right foods and rest periods. Eating a healthy, balanced diet with increased protein intake to match your activity level will ensure the optimal conditions are created for hypertrophy. High-quality protein, as well as natural hormones such as testosterone and insulin-like growth factor keep the body in an anabolic state where old tissue is repaired and new tissue is grown. This process occurs most when we are resting, so pair your diet with strategic rest periods to ensure you get the most from your training routine. The third step and the final piece of the puzzle is correct supplementation. Using supplements the right way can supercharge your training and nutrition. Not only do they help you save valuable time, they also make it easy to consume nutrients and vitamins that are not abundant in our daily diets. For instance, raising our protein intake to a level that is conducive to building muscle can be a difficult task for the busy person. This challenge can be surmounted instantly with a high-quality protein powder. The same can be said of getting enough vitamins and minerals to support our health, which can be solved with the daily use of a good quality multivitamin. Then there are minerals and nutrients we all lack or cannot produce, such as calcium, vitamin D, fiber, and even naturally occurring substances that have been shown to have a beneficial effect on athletic performance, such as creatine or nitric oxide. Supplements such as these, when used properly and in conjunction with a solid training and diet plan, can go a long way to helping you build a body you can be proud of. Getting into the habit of regular exercise and healthy eating can be hard, but the rewards are amazing. So these three steps and one year from now, you won't even recognize the person you see in the mirror. For more information, check out the resources section of this website or get in touch. We look forward to hearing about your success.