Category: Making Muscle

This category covers things that relate to building lean muscle mass. It can include nutrition, rest and recovery, movement, and neurological functioning.

Branched Chain Amino Acids – The Case For Supplementation

Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) have been given a lot of publicity recently as a possible way to boost recovery, performance and size. However, much of the *evidence* for their efficacy comes from the supplement companies who have a vested interest in people buying them given the high price they can charge for them. On Saturday Rachel and I have a big debate about them and, since my friend Pete in Ottawa is waiting my review of them, I figured I’d address both of their concerns with a newstasis.com article.

Branched Chain Amino Acids are the essential amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine. These three amino acids have aliphatic side-chains that are non-linear. It is estimated that 1/3 of muscle is made up of these amino acids and there is evidence linking them to a variety of processes including protein synthesis. BCAA do not provide energy to the muscles during workouts and as of yet, there is no evidence linking them to any improvements for endurance athlete.

The evidence in favor of BCAA supplementation:

Muscle is 1/3 BCAA. While not evidence per say, the fact that so much of the muscle is made up of BCAA is a good case for consuming more of them. Providing sufficient raw materials for building muscle is a good idea if you want to build muscle because the inverse is true – you will not grow if you do not eat sufficient amounts of protein.

Promoting insulin activity. Insulin is an anabolic hormone because it promotes cell storage and protein synthesis. It also lowers blood cortisol levels; cortisol is released in response to stress in an attempt to liberate sugar from protein. Of all the amino acids, leucine is special because it can promote insulin release in the absence of blood glucose. It is believed that BCAA supplementation will inhibit protein degradation because it increases the release of insulin.

Promoting translation of protein. Translation is the first state of protein synthesis and it is mediated by intercellular insulin and leucine levels. It is believed that BCAA supplementation will promote protein synthesis because it provides the body with leucine with acts as both a trigger for translation and a promoter of insulin release.

My rational for taking BCAA goes something like this – I know that my body enters a catabolic state when I work out. I know that muscle protein is broken down when I’m in this state and therefore my muscles will not grow. The sooner I can rid my body of cortisol, the sooner it will begin to grow again. Insulin decreases cortisol. The first step in protein synthesis is translation which is initiated by leucine and insulin. BCAA supplementation will increase insulin release and initiate protein synthesis. I believe that I will grow more because my body will be less catabolic, more responsive to insulin and have what is needed to initiate the first step of protein synthesis.

I’m not sure if my reasoning holds up in the real world or if I am supplying my body with enough material to advance protein synthesis once the increased levels of insulin and leucine have started translation but I feel comfortable with my understanding of what is going on with this small be key aspect of the puzzle.

Changes In My Training Since I Started at SST

I have gained 8 lbs since I started working at SST. My body fat has remained more or less the same. I credit this to a number of variables but the most significant one is the dramatic decrease in the amount of cardio exercise I am doing. I’ve gone from riding 2 to 3 hours a day to doing 1 or 2 cycling classes a week. Doing 15-20 hours of cardio training a week is stressful on the body and causes a dramatic increase in the amount of cortisol that the body releases and, since cortisol helps the body liberate energy from protein, I wasn’t growing very much when I was riding in the summer.

I have been aware of the theoretical implications of excessive cortisol secretion for a while, this is just the first time that I set out to eliminate it. When I was bulking last year, I cut out most of the cardio and dramatically increased the amount of resistance and strength training that I was doing but did so much of it that I don’t think there was as big a decrease in cortisol secretion as there has been recently (heavy lifting is very stressful on the body and it causes a release of cortisol). I’m doing about 4 hours of lifting with one hour of cycling per week vs about 10 -12 hours of lifting last year.

Given the time of year and the dramatic drop in temperature recently, I don’t miss riding so much because I’m used to having to stop. I also don’t miss doing hours of indoor riding. In fact, I enjoy the one class I teach a week MORE than ever because I have enough energy to give it 100%. The intensity is much higher when you have had enough time to recover completely and I am more authentic on the bike – when the choreography calls for breathless I am able to get to breathless which makes the participants work that much harder – a big change from the summer when I was teaching 7 or 8 classes a week, most of them in the evening after riding the trails for a couple of hours.

The approach I am taking this year is smarter because I have a lot more support from the coaching team at SST. They have filled in many of the gaps I had in my understanding of how the body functions and what I need to do to get more growth out of it. Their insistence that I eliminate most of the steady state cardio to decrease cortisol secretion and keep testosterone levels high has made my body more anabolic, and their suggestion to change my diet to replace most of the grain carbohydrates with fish oil and protein has helped me avoid gaining fat.

I know the summer will return and I’ll race again next season, so I’ll be back on the bike again next spring. But for now I’m enjoying the changes in my body composition that the decrease in cortisol and the off season bring.

German Volume Training GVT – Experience So Far

So far I can say that it is by far the most gruelling workouts that I have ever done. It starts off fairly easy because the weight isn’t anywhere close to a maximum lift (it’s closer to 75%) but after a few sets the fatigue begins to set in and it becomes tougher and tougher. By set 5 I am questioning whether or not this is the day that I’m cutting my workout short because I realize that I’m only half way through.

Others report that sets 7 and 8 are the toughest and then things begin to get easier, and I’m starting to notice this too. Mentally, set 6 is the worst and physically sets 7 to 9 are brutally hard – particularly on back day when I’m doing pull-ups.

The pump I get is decent but my body tends not to hold it for the full duration of the workout. The only exception is day 4 when I train arms for 10 sets of 10 then 2 shoulder exercises for 3 sets of 12. My biceps get so bloated that I find it really tough to curl the weight completely. I don’t normally train my arms because they have always seemed to grow enough with just the back, and the chest and shoulder workouts that I do. They’ve responded extremely well to the direct training GVT prescribes.

I have been at it for just over 3 weeks and am enjoying the changes that my body has gone through over the last 24 days. My muscles look fuller than normal and I have delayed onset muscle soreness throughout the entire length of the muscle vs. just at certain parts. While DOMS doesn’t necessarily indicate that you have had a good workout, paired with the new fullness of my muscles I’ll take them as a good sign.

Bulking Phase – Decreased Cardio, BCAAs and GVT

My job at SST has exposed me to a lot of different mass and strength training methods that I have never tried before. On November 1st I picked three things to try so I can see what happens to my body.

Decreased cardio. After about 45 minutes of intense exercise the body begins to release cortisol. Cortisol has a wasting effect on muscle because it breaks down protein. When I was riding 12-15 hours a week in the summer, my body spent a lot of time in a catabolic state. I’m hoping to change that by doing one hour of cardio a week in the form of my Wednesday evening RPM class.

Taking branch chain amino acids BCAA’s. Most strength coaches recommend taking BCAA’s because of their ability to stimulate protein synthesis. Poliquin recommends taking 20-40 grams of them during a workout so I’ve bought a big bottle and started taking them before and during my workouts.

Trying German Volume Training GVT. Another Poliquin theory being tested. 10 sets of 10 reps done super-setted with two antagonistic movements. E.g. 10 reps of narrow grip pull-ups then 10 reps of decline press then 90 seconds rest. Repeat 9 times. It takes about 30 -35 minutes and it is brutal. Really hard mentally because it is hard and boring.

Last November I did my first bulking phase and of the three things I’m doing now, the only one that I am repeating is to cut back on the amount of cardio because of the amount of evidence there is that it dramatically impairs muscles development.

Just One Exercise – T-nation article

Just One Exercise by Michael Boyle of t-nation is one mans answer to the question “if you could only do one exercise, what would it be?”

He says push a heavy sled because each step engages one leg and there is massive core muscle recruitment involved with single leg movements. While this is not a single leg exercise, each step of it is so the core activation is superb. It also engages the glutes and hamstrings in the way that you come to expect from glute ham raises or good mornings. Check out the videos in the article if you’re not sure what he’s referring to.

I would have answered differently but for a similar reason. I say one arm corner barbell shoulder press because they recruit the pec, deltoids, triceps and the muscles of the core.

Once I started doing single arm and single leg work, I was able to dramatically reduce the amount of oblique work I was doing. In fact, I haven’t performed a single side bend or side planking movement in months and I’m happier than ever with the way my mid section looks.

Cutting Back On Frequency And Volume

It is the end of racing season so I have cut back on the frequency (2 workout per week vs. 7 or more) and volume (3-5 sets per body part vs. 10-15) of my resistance and strength training this summer and some unusual things have started to happen.

1) I gain body fat much easier. It’s a relative thing because I’m still very lean but if I’m not careful with what I eat, I gain weight. I can have very few cheat days. The reason this is happening is because the amount of work I’m doing is dramatically reduced. While my calorie output is probably a little higher because I am riding so much, the long term recovery cost of bike riding is a lot lower than what it is for weight training because the amount of micro damage caused to the muscle fibers is much lower.

2) I get delayed onset muscle soreness after almost every workout, and particularly in my traps. This one is weird because I used to do 2 or 3 high volume trap workouts per week and I rarely felt anything more than a pump.

3) I’m enjoying the movements more, but liking going to the gym less. I guess it’s a mode thing because during my last bulk, I LOVED going to workout 2 or 3 times a day. Now I kind of dread it, until I get there.

4) I pay a lot less attention to the people around me and find focusing on the workout very easy. It is as though I am alone in a crowded gym.

5) The speed on my movements has increased. I still keep the lowering phase controlled, but the lifting portion of the movements is a lot more explosive.

6) I’m sleeping a lot better. I used to go to bed exhaused and wake up a lot, now I’m sleeping right through most nights. I’m also waking up faster in the morning and able to engage the world effectively within minutes of waking instead of dragging my butt around the house until the first couple of coffees take hold.

Deconstructing Paul Chek – T-nation Article

Deconstructing Paul Chek by t-nations by Chris Shugart is a bullet point recap of a 4 hour conversation with the therapist / trainer / coach. He has been at it for a very long time and remains in the best shape of his life.

Personally I like the holistic nature of his approach; even though I’m not religious, I can see the value of including all aspects on ones identity into their health and fitness development plan. He draws a distinction between the different religious views that people hold but only in so far as to say that each is a very important aspect of the individual.

• It’s only through a healthy body that you can have a functional, rational mind. Aristotle made his philosophy students workout with the Olympic wresting team. One of the main reasons I train my body is so that my mind works effectively.

• Toxicity means you’re bringing in more toxins from the outside than you can release. You can’t have a functional detoxification system unless you have a functional digestive system. Anyone who’s eating cheap food is likely to have a digestive system that isn’t working.

• If you don’t want to have problems, eat real food. Stop eating all this cheap crap. I’ve had multi-millionaires and world-class professional athletes in my office tell me that organic food is too expensive.I walk them to the window and point to their $140,000 sports car and say, “Eat that fu#ker then! Because when you die they aren’t going to bury that son of a bitch with you!” It’s just a matter of getting your priorities right. The more toxic your body is, the lower your quality of life is.

• We have a tremendous dehydration problem today. The only thing that substitutes for water is water. When you’re drinking water you’re actually drinking nature’s most powerful detoxification agent. The best solution for pollution is dilution. And that means water, not tea, not soda pop, not orange juice… water!

It will probably take a few reads for everything to sink in. Even if you don’t agree with all that he says, try and let his words impact you if for no other reason than he’s 44 and still stronger than everyone you know.

Anti-aging Drugs And Performance

Drug Test – A Cautionary Tale is a first hand account to see the impact that taking anti-aging drugs has on long distance cycling and performance. Over an 8 month period, and a price tag of over $7000, the author uses a combination of human growth hormone, EPO, deca and testosterone and finds the boost he was looking for.

The entire experience was done under doctor supervision and is completely legal in the US.

… I remained skeptical about all the drugs until March 29, when I rode an event along the central coast of California, the Solvang Double Century, at what for me was a fast and hard pace, finishing in around 11.5 hours. About ten hours in, it dawned on me that something was definitely happening. Sure, I’d been training hard, but I’d done enough of that to know what to expect. All around me were riders—good, strong riders—who looked as worn out as you’d expect after ten hours in the saddle. I was tired, but I felt curiously strong, annoyingly talkative and fresh, eager to hammer the last 40 miles.

The last time I’d ridden 200 miles, I felt awful the next day, like I’d been hit by a truck. After the Solvang race I woke up and felt hardly a touch of soreness. I also felt like I could easily ride another 200, and I realized that I’d entered another world, the realm of instant recovery. I’ll be frank: It was a reassuring kind of world, and I could see why people might want to stay there.

When I checked in with the good doctor soon after the race, he wasn’t surprised about what I’d experienced. “With your hematocrit levels higher, you don’t produce as much lactic acid, which means you can ride harder, longer, with less stress. The growth hormone and testosterone help you recover faster, since you’re stronger to start with and recover more quickly. All those little muscle tears repair much more quickly.”

How Much Exercise Should You Be Doing?

This is a question I get a lot and my answer of “it depends” leaves a lot of people a little disappointed because they are looking for a quick answer.

Why it depends?

How much exercise a person needs ranges none to +60 minutes per day and the amount depends on a number of factors. The following is a guide to help you determine how much exercise you should be doing based on some variables.

Do you smoke? If you do, it’s time to start exercising about 20-30 minutes a day. This will not cut the risks associated with smoking but it will help to slow the decline of your body. Make no mistake about it, smoking is killing you and it is ruining your health.

Have you maintained your weight over the last few years? If you have, your need for exercise is low – about 5 minutes per day – and is aimed at maintaining your cardiovascular health. Your goal will be to increase you heart rate in response to movement.

Do you want to decrease your weight? If you do, you should be exercising 30-60 minutes per day. The more you do, the faster you will see the weight drop, but 30 – 60 minutes of exercise should be enough to help anyone jump start their weight loss efforts.

Do you tire easily or have low energy? If you do, you need to do 20-30 minutes of moderately intense exercise per day to increase your cardiovascular health. A healthier heart and lungs will allow your body to deliver blood more efficiently increasing your energy levels.

Do you have any specific training requirements? If you do, you need to exercise enough to address these needs but not so much as to become over trained. This occurs when your body does not have enough resources to recover from the last bout of exercise. The most common cause of over training is too much exercise, but it can also be caused by not eating enough.

There are very few people who would not benefit from exercising a little more. Determine the amount you need and do it every day. It is going to improve the quality of your life.

Never Too Late To Look Like You Pick Apples

Rachel has fantastic neck development. When I comment about it she just laughs and tells me to go pick some apples.

Her grandparents used to own an apple orchard in Brockville and Rachel spend a fair bit of time with them growing up. As a young person, she learned to make fun out of everything and in the fall, she would help pick apples for them to sell. It was play time for her and probably fun time for them because they got to spend it with their grand daughter. They taught her that the best apples are the ones that are about to fall off the tree due to their ripeness, but not the ones that have fallen because they are bruised. The best apples are picked by hand and you need to reach for them.

There’s a skill to knowing which apples are about to fall. They feel a particular way when you touch them and you need to give them a gentle pull – it’s a finesse thing because too much effort will free any apple and too little will leave a ripe apple allowing it to fall when the next wind blows in. At the beginning of the harvest, you’ll be trying 10’s of apples to get one good one. As the season grows on, you need to attempt fewer apples to get the good ones.

Rachel spend a huge portion of each September and October doing single arm over head shrugs, single arm shoulder raises and single arm shoulder press movements. Early on in the season, she would be doing 100’s or 1000’s of reps per day to fill the bushels. They paid her a little for the help, but to her is was mostly play and in hind site, it create a solid foundation of body and neural firing awareness. As a consequence, her upper body, and particularly the muscle for raising the arms above the shoulder line, are extremely well developed.

Many years later, she doesn’t need to do the volume of exercise to fatigue these muscles as I do because she has more complete control over the firing patterns – 10000’s of reps is the only thing that will deliver you this level of awareness.