Tag Archive for: muscle

Should You Increase Your Protein Supplement?

/in /by

The research paper we’re reviewing demonstrated that there seemed to be a dose-like response to protein intake after intense exercise; that is, the more protein, the more muscle synthesis. And it lasted at least 12 hours instead of the prior four to six hours for a lower dose. Also, the excess protein intake wasn’t used to make energy to any great degree as previously thought; that means less strain on the kidneys, because when protein is broken into individual amino acids, the nitrogen group won’t have to be eliminated via the kidneys.

As always, there are more questions to be answered before this study becomes the new normal.

To Be Determined

The obvious issue is that the subjects were all young men from 18 to 40. Would the same results happen in women? And would the same result happen in older subjects, such as those in their 50s or 60s?

Next question: would the extra protein be absorbed and used the same way without the intense exercise session? The subjects did four different exercises using the legs and chest with four sets of ten reps, pushing the subjects to failure on the final three sets. Pushing yourself that hard can be challenging and even dangerous without help. Could someone with known cardiovascular disease push themselves as hard without causing a cardiovascular event? Would metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes impact how protein was utilized?

I could go on, but you get the point. One study with fewer than 40 young subjects, using testing procedures that will not be easy to duplicate, isn’t a basis for changing protein intake after exercise for everyone.

What Does It Mean?

The obvious answer is that it provides a new area of research. I would be most interested in how the use of essential amino acids could impact the protein synthesis in addition to additional protein intake. But let’s stick to what it means beyond future results.

On the days that you lift weights, even though perhaps not as intensely as the subjects in this study, add an additional 10 or 25 grams of protein to your post-workout shake. Milk protein was used as the source in this study, but other sources of protein powders would probably obtain the same result. The composition of protein powders doesn’t vary much, so choose whatever appeals to you.

The men began drinking their shake after they completed the exercise session. I recommend drinking extra water for a couple of hours after the shake. Do that for a specific number of weeks and see what happens. Track whether you’re able to increase weight or add muscle.

If you don’t do resistance exercise, you can see how you respond to the additional protein after a long walk or a yoga session. You might feel better with the additional protein.

The Bottom Line

Nutrition is a constantly changing field. Some basic assumptions that developed can now be reconsidered with better technology to test benefits or pitfalls. While it may take years or even decades before we have answers, what’s really important is how you respond. Adding some additional protein such as 10 or 25 grams to your morning or post-workout shake is not unreasonable to see how it benefits you. All the research in the world still comes down to how it affects you and your unique body; for example, certain antihistamines put some people to sleep and keep other people awake. As long as you’re reasonably healthy, you are your own subject.

Just remember: keep track of what you do and find a way to assess the outcome. After that, it comes down to one question: 

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Cell Reports Medicine https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101324

Reconsidering Protein Supplement Amounts

/in /by

One of the basic tenets in sports nutrition is that we shouldn’t consume more than 25 grams of protein in a drink product. The reasoning has been that more won’t help you to add more muscle after a workout. This has trickled down to the point that it applies to anyone who drinks a protein shake. Based on a recent study, that may not necessarily be true.

First, let’s review why you want to build muscle. Obviously, more muscle helps you do more with your body: lift heavier objects or move your body more easily. Muscle is more dense than fat, so it takes up less space; when you are more muscular you look slimmer as well as more fit. Maybe most important, more muscle burns more calories; you can use that fact to lose weight or to eat more food.

Researchers wanted to test how long muscle synthesis would continue after an hour-long intense weight training session. The study was simple in design: take 36 young men who were physically active, test their initial exercise capacity, and then subject them to an hour-long weight training session in a laboratory setting. Afterward, in a randomized way, 12 of them got 100 grams of a protein drink, another 12 got 25 grams of the same protein drink, and the final 12 got a placebo that had no protein.

That’s where the simplicity stopped. The protein had specific quantities of carbon-labelled amino acids including leucine, the amino acid responsible for initiating protein building in muscle. The objective was to monitor whether protein synthesis lasted more than four to six hours, the previous conventional thinking. The other question is whether the excess protein would be used for making energy.

The short answer is that protein synthesis lasts at least 12 hours (and perhaps longer) at the highest intake, 100 grams. There is more to it than that, and I’ll cover it on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Cell Reports Medicine https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101324

Your BMI and Shrinkage

/in /by

I received several interesting questions regarding the loss of height and its impact on BMI: should you use your current height or your tallest height? I checked the research and found some interesting ideas, but there’s no direct answer.

While it may change slightly over time, your current height should be used to estimate BMI. You’re measuring shorter than you were when you were younger not because you’re stooping (or melting like the Wicked Witch of the West), but because the vertebrae lose bone mass and the disks between them lose fluid and get smaller. You’ve also probably lost muscle mass, but that can be regained; when bones and discs degrade, it’s not reversible as far as we know. That may mean that a person, including yours truly, has a lower target to get to normal weight for his current height.

A new theory of obesity on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: J Am Geriatr Soc. 2012. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03832.x

The Key to Building Muscle

/in /by

The mega meta-analysis I talked about on Tuesday found that every combination of resistance, sets, reps, and number of days per week resulted in increased strength and increased muscle size compared to people who did nothing, but there were some combinations that provided the best results.

Finding the Best Approach to Building Muscle

Without question, lifting multiple sets with heavy weights improved strength the most. Even just one day per week showed an improvement in strength, but the most consistent results were found with at least two weight training sessions per week. What was surprising was that two sessions per week of multiple sets with light weights also saw a significant improvement in strength.

When it came to muscle hypertrophy, or more simply put, muscle size, lifting light weights for multiple sets twice per week saw the same improvement as lifting heavy weights multiple sets twice per week. That seems a little odd but may be supported by another recently published study.

In a pilot study with 22 subjects, half the group was put on a low-resistance, high-repetition weight training program while the other half was put on a more traditional heavy weight training program with fewer repetitions. The low-weight, high-repetition group performed sets of 20 to 24 repetitions, while the heavy-resistance group did the more traditional eight to 12 repetitions per set. The results showed similar benefits. There was an increase in muscle strength and muscle size in both approaches. Also the mean age of the subjects was 59 years. That eliminates the “younger people are stronger to begin with” factor.

Volitional Exertion
The pilot study reveals the key: in both approaches, the subjects were trained to push themselves to voluntary or what’s termed in the business as “volitional exertion.” It doesn’t mean barely able to lift the weight without assistance—it means that it would be a challenge to do one more repetition. It wasn’t the weight; it was the effort.

The Bottom Line

Since I talked about the 3/7 weight training program in the last Super Bowl webinar, I’ve favored that approach the most in my recommendations. It would be the low-resistance, high-repetition, two days per week approach. It seems better for beginners because even a two-pound resistance will produce results as long as they go to volitional exertion.

The author of the Washington Post article got it wrong when she said it would be easy to add muscle; it still requires consistency and effort. But it’s easier because it can be done in the comfort of your own home. Now, if we can just get everyone to do that—but that’s a challenge for another day.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. Br J Sports Med 2023;0:1–12. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2023-106807
2. Experimental Gerontology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2023.112219

Finding the Best Weight Training Program

/in /by

This year’s Super Bowl webinar on Aging with a Vengeance focused on muscle mass: hanging on to it or building it up if you’ve lost it, and how to make it happen. The fitness columnist for the Washington Post recently wrote an article on weight training that caught my attention, and I decided to take a closer look at the research behind her commentary about how easy weight training could be. There was one point that was glossed over. Let’s take a look at a recently published study that was the basis for her commentary.

Researchers decided to do what could best be described as a mega meta-analysis reviewing thousands of studies on weight training to see which type of program worked best to build strength and to increase muscle size. There were three main focal points: identify the best resistance (light, medium, or heavy weights), the best combination of sets and reps, and the number of days in a week necessary to accomplish the goals of size or strength. They found 192 studies that fit the profile for inclusion in the review. The results of their analysis were depicted in the graphs that are the graphic for this memo. Amazing.

The thickness of the lines indicates the number of studies that examined a specific type of weight training program; that gives us an indication of where the focus of research on weight training has been. In the results section, every combination of resistance, sets and reps, and days per week demonstrated some benefit. Then the researchers tried to tease out whether the use of light or heavy weight was better. I’ll talk about that on Saturday and also give you the key to determining the best weight training program.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Br J Sports Med 2023;0:1–12. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2023-106807

Protein Intake: Perspective Required

/in /by

The research paper that concluded that higher protein intake was associated with muscle loss and sarcopenia seems to offer more questions than answers. That’s actually a good thing, because future research can examine those questions. But there are questions that the researchers didn’t mention.

Researcher Observations

This is an observational study. Simply put, the subjects who completed all the tests were followed for several years, depending on when they joined the study. Therefore, no cause and effect can be inferred because the researchers were watching, not intervening.

The original number of subjects with sarcopenia was low at just 4.3%. With so many subjects over 72, the number should have been closer to 10%. The researchers acknowledged as much. If the study’s subjects had less sarcopenia than the general population, it’s hard to draw conclusions that are helpful to everyone.

My Observations

The single characteristic most closely associated with loss of muscle mass and sarcopenia was age. Protein intake was a covariate for sarcopenia but it was actually in the middle of the pack as a risk; a covariate is a separate attribute that can be measured alongside the primary variable being investigated.

The study included limited data on diet and exercise. I would expect that not very many subjects were exercising at levels high enough to sustain or increase muscle mass. That conflicts with the research data from clinical trials that show that increasing protein intake in older subjects on a weight training program increases strength and muscle mass.

What stood out more than anything was the limited amount of testing for sarcopenia and the mixed bag of testing procedures. If it’s such a problem, which every researcher in aging admits is the case, why aren’t there better diagnostic tools available to diagnose the condition? How can physicians treat a disease they aren’t diagnosing?

The Bottom Line

There is no reason to worry about protein intake as we get older based on this observational study. What we need to do is begin to retain muscle mass or reclaim our muscle through resistance training, better protein intake, and the strategic use of supplements. If you’re interested in a program to do just that, the Taking Back Your Muscle is still available on my website.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/52/2/afad018/7036280

Is High Protein Intake Associated with Sarcopenia?

/in /by

If there’s one thing I’ve learned studying health, fitness, and nutrition for 35 years, it’s this: what we thought we knew yesterday may change based on what we learn today. Given that, I was still surprised to see an article in my news feed with a title “High Protein Intake Associated With Sarcopenia.” The Taking Back Your Muscle webinar uses strategies that research has shown help increase muscle strength, including eating more protein. What gives with this latest research?

Researchers selected as their subjects from the TwinsUK cohort. Subjects must be over 60 years old and have completed specific tests since 2010. Just over 3,300 men and women were selected to be included in the data analysis. Researchers examined a variety of variables including education, income, other diseases and conditions, strength, and muscle mass. Protein intake was measured. Researchers did find the opposite of what they expected: higher protein intake was associated with sarcopenia.

Did I get it wrong? I’ll talk about the rest of the study on Saturday. I wouldn’t change your protein intake just yet because there seems to be a larger problem that looms over us as we age. The article is open access, and you can read it at this link.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference:https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/52/2/afad018/7036280

Aging Stressor: The Muscular System

/in /by

Sarcopenia is the number one issue that impacts muscles—that’s the loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength that comes with age. It can begin as early as the 20s in some and accelerates once we pass 60; it’s thought to be primarily due to the genetics of aging. There’s also little question that a sedentary lifestyle contributes to muscle loss. Losing muscle mass impacts not just strength, but also stamina, posture, balance, and the ability to move your body.

There are several types of muscle fibers, but they all appear to become slow-twitch fibers as we age. And they get smaller. However, and this is important, they don’t ever seem to go away completely. Strength training has been shown to be effective even for people who are 100 years old; they get stronger, which helps deal with all those issues I mentioned before. The research hasn’t demonstrated that muscles will get larger, but most studies end at three to six months, which is too soon to really judge results; it’s probably going to take more than six months to gain back what we lost over many decades.

The key to dealing with sarcopenia is strength training—the earlier in life the better, but it’s never too late. Strength training can encompass many approaches from doing squats by standing up from sitting in a chair (using a walker if balance is an issue), push-ups and other calisthenics, and weight training using bands, tubes, machines, and free weights.

There are hundreds of programs and thousands of exercises to help build strength using every modality. I think it should all begin with an evaluation by a healthcare professional to test posture and balance, as well as strength. The next step is to see a physical therapist who can evaluate your limitations and put together a plan to get you started safely; it’s hard to keep your positive attitude if you get hurt right away and need to pause. Once you get approval and a plan to train, then getting muscles prepared is important. Calisthenics, which include chair exercises for those with arthritis, are a good place to begin.

Final memo before Christmas on Tuesday with one more place to attack when we’re aging with a vengeance.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Should You Increase Your Essential Amino Acids?

/in /by

The question from Tuesday was this: how did the essential amino acids affect the transgenic tau mice on the low-protein and normal-protein diets? The addition of EAA to the transgenic mice on either diet appeared to neutralize the impact of the genetic mutation. The brain scans appeared to mimic the scans of the control mice fed either type of diet. There were positive changes in the genes impacted by the EAA supplementation as well as on neurotransmitters and other biochemicals.

Before we get too excited, a couple of facts.


Mice Are Not Humans

The results of this study are exciting when we consider brain health, but this was a study on rodents—the applicability to us as humans may be limited. What is encouraging is that when the same research group did a study on humans with EAAs, they found improvement in attention and cognitive flexibility. They’re now doing a study specific to the aging brain in human subjects similar to this one on rodents. It will be interesting to see what happens when it’s published.


EAAs Are Not All Equal

The EAA blend in this study was slightly different than what is typically offered. The company providing the EAAs for the study included high amounts of phenylalanine, almost the same amount as leucine which seems to always be found in the highest amount. Does that make a significant difference? Phenylalanine is important in the manufacture of signaling proteins. Might that be important for neurological benefits? We just don’t know yet. On top of that, there’s a small percentage of people with a genetic inability to process phenylalanine very well, so they would probably have to avoid higher amounts.


The Bottom Line

While this research update is interesting, there’s still a lot to learn about the use of EAAs for neurological benefit. I’ll keep an eye on it.

However, the research on EAAs and increasing muscle is solid; there’s little question about the benefit of keeping protein intake higher to retain muscle mass as we age. The critical factor is to be consistent, because digestive issues and satiety issues can sometimes derail good intentions. If it helps our brains as well, that’s a bonus at this point.

Tomorrow is the last day of the 25% off sale on Supplementing Your Diet as either a download for yourself or CDs to share with others, and that’s in addition to Member and Insider discounts.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Science Advances. Oct 2021. (7) 43. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd5046

New Research Links EAAs and Brain Function

/in /by

I’ve talked about essential amino acids in the past as it relates to increasing muscle mass in those of us 50 and older. A recently published study may give us another reason for taking essential amino acids: it may reduce, delay, and perhaps reverse neurological signs of dementia.

To understand the research, you have to know about tau: it’s a structural protein found in nerve cells that help stabilize them, and deterioration of tau is associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers in Japan examined the response to normal and reduced protein intake both with and without supplemental essential amino acids in mice susceptible to developing high levels of tau (rTg4510 mice) along with control mice. They used a variety of tests to determine outcomes including brain scans, biochemical analysis, and genetic expression.

Because the data from the brain scans are so visual, they’re the easiest to assess. In the controls, there was very little impact of the 5% versus 20% protein diet in the cortical area. However, in the tau mice, there was evidence of decline in brain matter with normal protein intake, but the decline was much greater in those with reduced protein intake.

We’ll examine the impact of supplementation with essential amino acids in Saturday’s memo. One thing is certain: it’s important to increase protein intake to at least 20% of calories as we get older. Regardless of your age, it might be a good idea to monitor your protein intake by all sources this week.

Reminder: you have the rest of this week to take advantage of the 25% off sale on Supplementing Your Diet as either a download for yourself or CDs to share with others, and that’s in addition to Member and Insider discounts.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: SCIENCE ADVANCES. Oct 2021. (7) 43. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd5046