Proper diet manipulations can dramatically and positively affect
muscle-building hormone production. Accomplishing the proper hormone balance
for muscle building, without increasing body fat, is a function of
carbohydrates, proteins and fats being supplied in proper ratios, forms and at
specific times in relation to training periods while remaining within the
calorie allotment necessary for the weight gain goal. Using diet to harness the
body’s most powerful muscle building hormone, insulin, can reduce muscle
catabolism (breakdown) and increase muscle anabolism (buildup), offering the
potential to maximize muscle synthesis. In addition to stimulating muscle
protein synthesis, insulin also plays a major role in minimizing the damage
caused by exercise. Strength training triggers the release of the catabolic
hormones cortisol and epinephrine, which work to breakdown glycogen and muscle
protein to supply energy and produce work. However, this process also leads to
muscle damage. Although intense training is required to stimulate growth,
tissue damage can be minimized during and after exercise, so the body spends
more time utilizing incoming nutrients to build new muscle rather than
constantly repairing it, thus allowing training plateaus to be avoided.
Pre- and Post-Workout Feedings
There are certain times, primarily immediately post-workout, when muscle
building is at its peak. These times are referred to as metabolic windows and
may last up to 90 minutes. During the post-workout period, muscle cells
become highly receptive to the incoming nutrients responsible for muscle
growth. Therefore, if nutrients are low or absent, muscle building is minimal
at best. Insulin is the hormone that initiates the cascade of muscle-building
events during these short specific periods. By stimulating insulin at specific
times with the proper carbohydrate and protein intake before, during and after
exercise, cortisol and muscle breakdown can be blunted, while muscle building
and energy recovery can be significantly enhanced.(7) Therefore this small
“window of opportunity” requires a well-designed fast-acting formula to satisfy
the muscle’s exercise-induced demands.(8)
Numerous studies have demonstrated that the inclusion of “immediate” pre and
post-training, fast-acting carbohydrate/sugar and protein feedings can
stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS)(9.10) and reduce muscle damage to a
far greater extent than normal eating patterns.(11,12) In other words, no
matter how well you eat throughout the day, you recover faster and build more
muscle and strength by including these quickly absorbed pre- and post-exercise
formulas (see Figure 1).(13,14)
Figure 1: Training results from 23 experienced recreational bodybuilders
resistance training for 10 weeks with all things (diet, supplements, training,
etc.) equal except the addition of pre/post feedings yielded significantly
greater gains in body mass, LBM, strength and reduction in fat mass for the
pre/post feeding subjects. Adapted from Rolls et al, 2006.
Diet composition
As stated above, carbohydrates will play an important role in performance,
recovery and insulin levels. Carbohydrates should make up 45 to 65 percent of
total calorie intake while trying to increase muscle size. Without adequate
carbohydrates, ideal insulin activation will not occur, recovery from intense
workouts will not be ideal, and muscular stores of energy for the next workout
may be suboptimal. None of this contributes to maximum muscular gains. Protein,
which mistakenly receives the greatest focus by many exercisers, needs to be
high enough to allow for tissue growth. For even the hardest training athlete,
when calories are not severely restricted, a protein intake of up to 1 gram per
pound of bodyweight is more than enough to allow for increased needs due to
intense workouts and adding muscle. Higher protein intakes are not necessary
and may even impede progress if it takes the place of dietary carbohydrate.
Healthy fats will complete the picture, making up the remaining calories and
generally supplying 15 to 35 percent of total calorie intake.
Dietary Supplements
The final component to maximizing size and performance gains is the integration
of dietary supplements. The primary goal of incorporating dietary supplements
into food planning is to supply specific compounds that are used during energy,
force production (muscle exertion and subsequent damage) and are needed for
recovery and building. This helps keep calories within an appropriate range so
unwanted weight gain is avoided. Additionally, these specific compounds must be
supplied in greater amounts than are used so that a portion of their intake
will be deposited into the damaged or depleted structural tissues. This will
lead to the desired increase in muscle size.
For an analysis of specific dietary supplements to augment your training and
goals, click here: dotFIT.com/petekonradt
. Click the blue bar that asks "Which
Supplements are Right for Me?".
Summary
Optimal muscle gain requires extra calories and nutrients, ideal diet
composition, pre- and post-workout feedings, proper dietary supplementation and
progressive resistance training. Muscle gain will vary based on individual
differences including training experience and frequency.
References
1 Aagaard P. Making muscles "stronger": exercise, nutrition,
drugs. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2004 Jun;4(2):165-74. Review.
2 Cullinen K, Caldwell M. Weight training increases fat-free mass and
strength in untrained young women. J Am Diet Assoc. 1998 Apr;98(4):414-8.
3 McArdle WD, Kath FI and Katch VL. Exercise physiology: Energy,
nutrition and human performance, Third edition. Malvern, PA. Lea & Febiger,
1991.
4 Staron RS, Karapondo DL, Kraemer WJ, et al. Skeletal muscle adaptations
during early phase of heavy-resistance training in men and women. J Appl
Physiol 1994;76:1247
5 Green H, Goreham C, Ouyang J, Ball-Burnett M, Ranney D. Regulation of
fiber size, oxidative potential, and capillarization in human muscle by
resistance exercise. Am J Physiol 1999;276:R591
6 McCall GE, Byrnes WC, Dickinson A, Pattany PM, Fleck SJ. Muscle fiber
hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and capillary density in college men after resistance
training. J Appl Physiol 1996;81:2004
7 Kimball SR, Farrell PA, Jefferson LS. Invited Review: Role of insulin
in translational control of protein synthesis in skeletal muscle by amino acids
or exercise. J Appl Physiol. 2002 Sep;93(3):1168-80. Review.
8 Tipton KD, Rasmussen BB, Miller SL, Wolf SE, Owens-Stovall SK, Petrini
BE, Wolfe RR. Timing of amino acid carbohydrate ingestion alters anabolic
response of muscle to resistance exercise. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001
Aug;281(2):E197-206.
9 Koopman R, Wagenmakers AJ, Manders RJ, Zorenc AH, Senden JM, Gorselink
M, Keizer HA, van Loon LJ. Combined ingestion of protein and free leucine with
carbohydrate increases postexercise muscle protein synthesis in vivo in male
subjects. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Apr;288(4):E645-53. Epub 2004 Nov
23.
10 Esmarck B, Andersen JL, Olsen S, Richter EA, Mizuno M, Kjaer M. Timing
of postexercise protein intake is important for muscle hypertrophy with
resistance training in elderly humans. J Physiol. 2001 Aug 15;535(Pt 1):301-11.
11 Bird SP, Tarpenning KM, Marino FE. Liquid carbohydrate/essential amino
acid ingestion during a short-term bout of resistance exercise suppresses
myofibrillar protein degradation. Metabolism. 2006 May;55(5):570-7.
12 Baty JJ, Hwang H, Ding Z, Bernard JR, Wang B, Kwon B, Ivy JL. The
effect of a carbohydrate and protein supplement on resistance exercise
performance, hormonal response, and muscle damage. J Strength Cond Res. 2007
May;21(2):321-9.
13 Paddon-Jones D, Sheffield-Moore M, Aarsland A, Wolfe RR, Ferrando AA.
Exogenous amino acids stimulate human muscle anabolism without interfering with
the response to mixed meal ingestion. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2005
Apr;288(4):E761-7. Epub 2004 Nov 30.
14 Cribb PJ, Hayes A. Effects of supplement timing and resistance
exercise on skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006
Nov;38(11):1918-25.
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