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christopher.barakat

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Muscle Damage ... Too Sore or Not Sore Enough? 🏋🏻‍♂️💪😫
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Although some may argue that muscle damage is not needed for muscle growth, I’ll also say if you’re never sore, you’re not going to be maximizing muscle Hypertrophy. .
Just like most things, the answer usually lies within a grey area. .
If you’re so sore that you can’t walk with a normal gait or sit on the toilet for 3 days post training ... you may have gone a bit too far 💩 🚽 .
Firstly, you’re NOT sore from “lactic acid”, you’re sore due to micro-trauma of your skeletal muscle. .
Secondly, this damage will require a certain amount of recovery demands (time & energy (I.e. amino acids)). Part of the reason why the more sore you get, the longer that soreness typically last. .
So although this damage can potentiate additional muscle growth, increase protein synthesis & help induce the positive adaptions we’re seeking (a bigger/stronger muscle)...if you create too much damage, you may not be able to effectively recover. .
This is going to vary from individual to individual based on a multitude of factors. But it’s important to understand there is a “minimal effective volume” (a certain amount of stimulus needed to create a positive response) and a “maximal recoverable volume” (a stimulus threshold, where going past this point has diminishing/negative returns)
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Understanding muscle damage at the cellular lcan be a bit complex, but coach @joshtbrad did a great job diving into that with this weeks SoG article (link in bio) .
My personal viewpoints are:
1. if you’re never sore, you’re not going to maximize growth.
2. If your never sore, it’s NOT because you’re not doing enough work; you do NOT need MORE.. you need BETTER! You MUST either improve your execution to increase mechanical tension of the target muscle 🎯💪 and/or increase your intensity/effort and train closer to failure.
3. If you’re super sore for 48+ hours & not recovered before your next session, you’ll likely be better off doing LESS.
4. Controlling your eccentrics are key 🔑 , but doing eccentric dominant exercises that overload the lengthened portion of a muscles range needs be to intelligently programmed
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Your thoughts 🤔/ ❓👇

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Hit a Solid Pull Session straight out of my #SchoolOfGainz #Elite program with my man @teddygrams84 today!
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A1) Lat Pull Downs - top set of 8 + back off sets
B1) Upper Back CS HS Horz Row - top set of 8 + back off sets
C1) Deadlifts - first time pulling since June! Really excited to have these back in rotation and to actually be training again! Kept it light at 275x10 for a few sets at a low RPE to relearn the movement and get comfortable w it again. Lifetime PR is 405x12 and goal is to hit 405 x 20 and 500x10 before prepping again for Sept 2021 ..:
After those three movements we got into more metabolic work
Low Rows & High Rows for 12-15 with drop sets on the final set.
Rear delt row, High rep.
Banded Spider crawls @mountaindog1 style
Spider Curls 💪
Posing
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Swipe Right and a Check out IG stories for some epic Gainz 💰👨🏻‍💻🏋🏻‍♂️📖🥝🥦🥩💪
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@teddygrams84 awesome catching up w you bro
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#NaturalBodybuilding #Back #PullDay #BackDay #September2021

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BLACK FRIDAY X LEGION ATHLETICS!
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This is @legionath BIGGEST SALE of the year with up to 30% ALL PRODUCTS and a guaranteed 15% OFF with my code CB15! .
If you’re not familiar with Legion Athletics, let me tell you why I proudly represent them and what makes them better than the rest. .
🔹Highest Quality Ingredients (I.e. NonGMO antibiotic/hormone free whey, patented ingredients for purity)
🔹FULL Clinically Effective Dosing
🔹 NO Proprietary Blends (you know exactly how much you’re getting of each ingredient!) 🔹NO Artificial Colors/ Sweeteners or Fillers
🔹ALL NATURAL (no banned substances by WADA/USADA) as a Competitive Natural/ Drug Tested Bodybuilder this is very important to me!
🔹Sustainably sourced ingredients! 🔹 and so much more 👇
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One thing I love about Legion is their transparency and honesty!
They literally tell their customers, you do NOT NEED supplements and that exercise & nutrition comes first. (Literally right on their home page 😅)
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They lead with education 👨🏻‍🏫👨🏻‍🔬
Every product on their website has in depth explanation demonstrating why it’s beneficial, how it can be used to improve your results with all the scientific references. 🔬 (as a researcher and educator myself this goes a long way w me... most companies make such b/s claims with no scientific backing 💩)
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Additionally, I’ve heard the owner @muscleforlifefitness on podcast be 100% transparent and talk about how much his products cost, what their margins are, and why he even started this supplement company in the first place, and I’ve never seen that level of transparency from any other company. 👀 .
If you want to get the BEST bang for your buck, I highly recommend you always use Legion Athletics, but right now, with the largest sale of the year, you need to take advantage before it’s too late! 💰 .
🔹Legion is so confident that you’ll absolutely love their product, they offer a 100% money back guarantee! .
Courtesy Note 📝: Say goodbye time all your other sport supplements you’ve previously used. Once you try the best, you’ll never use the rest. 💪🙌👏
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#TeamLegion
#LegionAthletics
#Supplements #PreWorkout #Protein
#Bodybuilding #Performance #Recovery

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Full Show Day Recap From WNBF Worlds Now Live! 🙌💪🏆🥇🥈🥉🏅
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If you’re a fan of bodybuilding, or someone who has never been to a physique competition, but are interested in bodybuilding and enjoy the lifestyle, I highly recommend you check out this show day recap. .
I can’t help but think back to the fall of 2010, when I first learned about “natural” bodybuilding. One of my college classmates (now lifelong friend) @devlin10 told me he was competing in a natural bodybuilding show. I loved the lifestyle, was lifting 5-6x/week, was trying to build muscle and loved learning about nutrition. ... after attending his show in 2010 to support him, I knew I had to give this competitive outlook a shot! .
Nearly a decade later, it completely changed the trajectory of my life. Impacted what I pursued for my masters, where I currently live, and now what I do for a living.
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The full video will give you some insight as to what the night before a competition looks like and what show day is about. .
Plus you’ll see some of the best natural physique competitors in the entire world! .
@youtube channel: #CompetitiveBreed
Title - Team Competitive Breed at 2019 WNBF Worlds .
Shoutout to @kythecreative for the 🎥🔥
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@wilfitpower48 @francisconavarro.md @arowback @stacytheos @figureover40 .
Mentions and some stage footage in the full video @samokunola @teddygrams84 @3dmj_godfather @ironlord1 and many more. I can’t recall .
#NaturalBodybuilding #Bodybuilding #WNBFWorlds #WNBF

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Successful Preps Occur Due to Successful Improvement Seasons!
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@arowback and I started working together back in April of this year, however Andrew made epic progress during his improvement season. This season, we stepped on stage ~8lbs heavier (and I’d like to argue that’s closer to 10lbs of “muscle” as we got a bit leaner than his previous preps) .... so how the hell did a natural athlete gain 8lbs of stage weight in his late twenties, years into his lifting career? He was much more focused on “bodybuilding” and got away from some of the popular trends in the natural bodybuilding community (hybrid power building with a lot of emphasis on the big 3). Are the big 3 necessary to build a great physique ... Absolutely NOT. Can they help, for sure. But they are simply a better fit for some than others. .
Andrew focused less on the big three (Squats Bench Dead’s) and more on improving his mind muscle connection, hitting his muscle from multiple angles through increasing exercise variation and using some advanced techniques. I know he ran some of @mountaindog1 training programs during his improvement season. .
A lot of times, squats and deadlifts don’t have the greatest band for your buck when it comes to the stimulus to fatigue ratio. Hitting squats and dead’s at high intensity’s can reduce your ability to train hard for the rest of the session, tax your system heavily, and you can simply find other exercises to get the job done. For example, after a day of heavy squats, my glutes and quads will be a tad sore (more glutes than quads) but I will be extremely fatigued. On the other hand, I can create more mechanical tension on my quads through machine back squats, and have less total body fatigue (low back isn’t as taxed) and have much more soreness the next day where I actually want it! .
I’m really looking forward to working with Andrew during his improvement season as I genuinely believe we will add Another 10+lbs to his frame before peeing down for another competition season.
Andrew is a complete workhorse and a champion athlete that loves bodybuilding. .
Great job this season @arowback! Onwards and upwards!
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#CompetitiveBreed #NaturalBodybuilding #Prep

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Your RATE of LOSS will often determine BOTH your short term & long term success!
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Some common mistakes made when trying to lose weight/body fat is that people often underestimate how much they actually have to lose (especially for prep) & people also try to lose weight way to quickly. .
During @figureover40 prep, we lost ~20lbs in 22 wks time. (Quite the opposite of all these b/s ads. (I.e. “lose 20lbs in 2 weeks!))
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Wether people are getting ready for a physique comp or just want to get ready for the summer time, an event, a personal goal, having a realistic timeline is going to ensure your approach is sustainable, & once you reach that goal, you will decrease your risk of rebounding.
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A slow & steady approach is simply less extreme. Thus, physiologically, the extent of the negative metabolic adaptions aren’t as significant (generally speaking). most importantly, psychologically you’re not as deprived/burnt out. So you have a much better relationship with food, aren’t doing excessive amounts of cardio, & can reverse out of the deficit with better success rates. .
This was this first season I ever worked with Julie & she explained this prep as being relatively “easy” compared to previous preps.
Cardio wasn’t extreme like past preps & her energy in/out of the gym was solid throughout. .
A good rule of thumb for weight loss is to aim for 0.5-1.0% of total body weight per week. So for Julie’s starting point back in June at 127lbs, that would be 1.27- 0.65lbs per week. (when she first came to me she was maintaining 118lbs but I increased cals to further support training performance/recovery to build additional muscle, as well as build up her metabolic capacity to increase the likelihood of a successful diet phase). Exceptions to this rule are for obese individuals where losing more than 1.0% is very acceptable, but never going over 2.0% & on the opposite side of the spectrum when you’re very lean, losing at a slower rate (less than 0.5%) may be smart to increase lean mass preservation and training performance with a smaller deficit. .
Having a game plan before dieting with objective goals & realistic timeline is so important!
#CompetitiveBreed
#Figure

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“It’s good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” Ernest Hemingway .
Often time we see the “end” of a contest prep as the end of that journey, but it’s who you’ve become, what you’ve done, and how you’ve grown throughout that truly matters. I’m so proud of how every athlete on the team performed, presented and placed.! And our journeys continue! .
WNBF Worlds! The epitome of Natural Bodybuilding!
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Yesterday was an incredibly competitive Worlds Competition.
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I forget the exact numbers of how many competitors were in each class but I know some class these awesome athletes were competing in had 18+ athletes, some I believe over 20! .
With 360+ athletes and 70% of them being international competitors, the caliber of athlete was incredible. Everyone had to qualify to get here so basically everyone brought it. .
@stacytheos was in pro figure short and took 4th place in a huge class! Really happy with coming in as full as possible and brining your best ever to the stage. .
@figureover40 took 2nd place in open figure short, just missing her open pro card (already has her WNBF Master Pro card) and the one competitor that edged her yday ended up winning the overall! .
@arowback was in the stacked Pro Heavyweights with I think 18 competitors. We didn’t crack top 5 and I’m not sure where we landed but this was surely his best physique to date! Excited for his future!
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@francisconavarro.md Doc took 2nd in masters BB and has had such an amazing prep returning to the stage. I’m really glad our paths crossed and love how you’re bridging the gap between mental and physical health with movement. #BeyondTheStage
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@wilfitpower48 finished 3rd right behind Cisco in Masters BB. Wilfred brings such a grainy, hard look that is rare and really make you appreciate the beauty of muscle maturity. He’s a bodybuilder in his heart and I look forward to his future successes. .
My bro (not client) @samokunola brought his best package of the year. Something I love about Sam is how he balances being a professional BBer with everything else in his life and how he makes prep look stress free. Congrats! . 🤞❤️🙏🤗💪
#CompetitiveBreed
#WNBF

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