All humans are not created equal people. For example, a thoroughbred race horse will respond to training and conditioning differently than a regular work horse. An individual's response to good diet and exercise will be dependent on a number of different factors: genetics will play a role of course, age, gender, and previous fitness level. If a person has been an athlete their entire life they may adapt quicker to a training regime than say someone who is just getting started.

To answer the question bluntly, some people will just build muscle mass more efficiently than others. I know, I know... it's not fair. But life isn't fair and people have to keep the bigger picture in mind. Everyone can achieve their goals if they remain consistent and execute the whole plan (rest, eating clean, exercise, water). It may be over a longer time line for some, but that should not matter. The benefits alone to a healthier lifestyle should be reason enough, not a mean to an end, but an accomplishment in itself. Keep working hard people!! For those of you whose goals are solely in the name of just looking good, remember that good looks are a result of healthy living. Quick results usually go away as abruptly as they appear.

I suppose this is a short question with a long answer. When you think about it, in the beginning when humans were just nomadic hunter-gatherers, there probably wasn’t breakfast, lunch and dinner time spent around the table. Food was found, preserved and distributed according with what was needed to survive.  A typical day could have been spent foraging for food, running from predators, hiking to find shelter, resting and eating.

My point here is that our bodies were designed to operate at their full potential by eating through the day in 2-3 hour increments. This has a number of benefits, the main one being that your insulin levels stay at a constant. They never spike, therefore keeping your metabolism rate steady and achieving homeostasis in the body.

When the insulin levels in the human body spike, stress hormones are released in order to achieve balance once again with in the system. The brain senses this stress and will switch to what’s called the sympathetic nervous system. This is the part of the brain that’s in charge of fight or flight responses (survival mode). The body is prepared to do whatever it takes to survive, such as taking nutrients and storing them as fat.

After three hours of not ingesting food, the body can also go into what’s called a catabolic state where it turns to the muscle tissue for protein and begins to break it down. This is bad because muscle needs much repairing and aids in keeping the metabolic rate up. With less muscle and more fat, the body slows down and prepares for emergency…or hibernation.

Simply put, it seems to be much easier for the body to digest and process food into energy with smaller doses. Eating every 6 hours or longer probably seems a little like starvation to your system and therefore it perceives this as a problem. Ladies and gentlemen, we are simple creatures and we should not forget our origins. Our bodies were designed to do one simple thing: Adapt and survive.  It’s easy to fall away from where we began. The world is a much different place than when we humans first came upon it, but if we can listen to our bodies and treat them with the respect they deserve, perhaps we will find that a few changes in habit are worth the effort.

This one goes out to all the "old school" types who lift just to put up the big numbers and pay no mind to the form or quality of the movement. Ladies and gentlemen (more so the gentlemen), I realize putting up a large amount of weight on a squat, bench press, or bicep curl feels good and makes one feel accomplished, but without the proper form attached to those large numbers, you will eventually have to deal with the injuries that come with piss poor mechanics.

People will often rush through a progression and bump their numbers up on a lift just for the sake of putting up a few extra pounds, sacrificing proper movement mechanics. This creates compensations in the body and trains the brain to move the body with faulty movement patterns. After a while, these poor movement patterns cause asymmetries (imbalances in the body) that will eventually lead to injury.

Don't put the cart before the horse people! Take your time and don't rush. Nail down the proper form and movement pattern before raising the load that you're lifting. Your muscles, connective tissue and joints will thank you. After all, we lift weights and stay in good shape in order to enjoy an active lifestyle  outside of the gym. They are tools we use to balance out our lives, whether they be sedentary, repetitive, stressful or all of the above. Minding proper form will allow for greater strength gains in the future and prevent injury as well.  Putting up 10 or 20 more pounds before your body is ready isn't worth shoulder or back surgery.

Recipe from SPROUTED KITCHEN | Photos by Hugh Forte

WHEATBERRY SALAD WITH ARUGULA, CHERRIES AND POM DRESSING // Serves 4

1 Cup Wheat Berries
3 Cups Arugula
2 Cups Bing Cherries, pitted and cut in half
1 tsp Kosher Salt
Zest of one Lemon

POM DRESSING // This will look like a lot of dressing and seasoning, but the wheat berries are very dense and soak up a lot of the liquid from the dressing while in the fridge. Use less if you prefer, but it is what gives the wheat berries any flavor.

1 Shallot, roughly chopped
Big Handful of Fresh Fennel Fronds or Dill, Chopped
3/4 Cup Soft Goat Cheese
1/3 Cup POM, 100% Pomegranate Juice
2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ tsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
2 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper

1. Rinse the wheat berries in a strainer. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add the wheat berries. Boil for about 45 minutes or until tender and split open a bit, add water if they dry out before cooking. Put them in a large mixing bowl.
2. While the wheat berries are cooking, make your dressing. In a processor or blender, add the shallot, fennel frond/dill, POM, cumin and pepper. Blend to combine. Add the goat cheese and olive oil and give another whirl.
3. While the wheat berries are still warm add the dressing and mix. Let it cool for a few minutes. Add the arugula and cherries (and bacon if you please) and mix again. At this point, add the lemon zest and taste for salt and pepper. Don’t be shy with the seasoning.

~You can either serve at room temp, or chill in the fridge to let the flavors saturate and serve it as a cold side salad.