Literature Review: Squatting For Bigger Arms? Think Again.

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"Why do I have to lift legs?  I want bigger arms."
"Well, if you lift your legs, you will get a greater base of anabolic hormones to work off of later and that will allow you to build bigger arms."
I swear I have had this conversation with almost all of my male clients.  Unfortunately, the advice I gave is dead wrong.
Check out my review of literature for this study below!

Review of Literature for "Resistance exercise-induced increases in putative anabolic hormones do not enhance muscle protein synthesis or intracellular signalling in young men" by West et al.

Introduction

In the lay fitness world it is often said that performing exercises that increase anabolic hormone levels will increase hypertrophy everywhere throughout the body (2).

It is shown that exercise can acutely increase anabolic hormone levels (3, 4, 8, 9).  Additionally, it is shown that exercise can increase muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and intracellular signalling proteins (5, 6, 7).  However, it has yet to be shown that an increase in anabolic hormone levels leads to a concomitant increase in either MPS or the phosphorylation of intracellular signalling proteins.

The aim of this study is to determine whether an increase in anabolic hormone levels after exercise leads to an increase in MPS and intracellular signalling proteins in tissues that were not challenged during the exercise (1).  The authors hypothesized that an increase in anabolic hormone levels would lead to an increase in both MPS and the intracellular signalling proteins (1).

Methods (1)

Eight healthy men aged 20 ± 1.1 years participated in the study.  The participants didn’t have any formal weight training experience.  They also had not consistently partaken in weight training during the previous year.

Immediately before exercise, participants were infused with l-[ring-13C6]phenylalanine.  This was done so the participants had amino acids that were available during the MPS process.

The participants performed biceps curls unilaterally on one day.  This was the “Low Hormone” (LH) day.  On another day the participants performed the same volume of biceps curls using the contralateral arm.  These curls were followed by multiple leg exercises designed to acutely increase anabolic hormone levels.  This was the “High Hormone” (HH) day.

Muscle biopsies were taken from the involved biceps of the participants after both of the exercise days.  These were analyzed for intracellular signaling proteins.  Western blots were used for this analysis.  One factor ANOVAs were used for the statistical analysis.

Blood samples were taken at baseline and at the end of each of the exercise days.  These samples were analyzed for lactate, glucose, insulin, cortisol, testosterone, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels.  Two-factor repeated measures ANOVAs were used for this statistical analysis.

Results (1)

All of the anabolic hormones were at their highest levels 15 minutes after completing the HH exercise.  Except for cortisol, all of these levels returned to the baseline levels within 60 minutes of completing the HH exercise.  Cortisol returned to the baseline level by 120 minutes after the HH exercise.

There was no difference in the amount of MPS in the biceps brachii tissue between the LH day and the HH day.

The phosphorylation of STAT3 and p70S6K were elevated after both exercise days, but there was not an additive effect of the anabolic hormones.  The other signalling proteins were either unchanged after the different exercise days or slightly decreased after the HH day.

Other Literature Findings

MPS is elevated for up to 36 hours after exercise (5, 6, 7).  IGF-1 levels are also elevated for up to 24 hours (8).  GH returns to resting levels two hours after exercise and testosterone returns one hour after exercise. (8, 9).

Pharmacological doses of testosterone increases MPS (10, 11), but there are conflicting findings on the effects of short-term GH supplementation (12, 13).

There are conflicting opinions in the research regarding the mechanism of MPS.  While some research cites the availability of amino acids as the mechanism of MPS (14), other research finds insulin to be the stimulatory agent (15).  By the same token, other research has found insulin to prevent protein breakdown instead of stimulate MPS (16).

More recent research cites the contraction of a muscle as the mechanism that begins the process of MPS (17).  Following contraction, phosphorylation of mTORC1 occurs (17).  This begins a series of biochemical reactions that ultimately leads to the phosphorylation of rpS6, which is said to both increase the size of cells as well as the proliferation of cells (17).

Discussion

This study contradicts much of what is said in the lay fitness world (2).

There are three important takeaways from this study.  The first is that the acute increase in anabolic hormone levels does not increase muscle protein synthesis.  A concept that is often described in fitness magazines and blogs is that by performing exercises that increase anabolic hormone levels, hypertrophy of tissues that were not challenged will occur at a greater rate (2).  This study shows that it is highly probable that this claim is false.

The second important takeaway from this study also contradicts the lay conversation.  An idea often thrown around the corporate gym environment is that the spike in anabolic hormones from exercise carries over from one day to the next.  What this study shows is that anabolic hormones return to resting levels within 60-120 minutes after completion of the exercise.

The third important takeaway is that in order for a tissue to hypertrophy it has to be challenged directly.  This means that if somebody wants bigger biceps, they have to challenge their elbow flexor system.

One application of this study is in regards to exercise design.  Understanding that a tissue has to be challenged in order for MPS to occur within that tissue may lead to more appropriate exercise design.  If this information is not understood, an appropriate challenge may not be created.

Another application of this study is to aid in the defense against the misinformation circulating among the lay regarding muscle hypertrophy.  Understanding the conditions by which muscle hypertrophy occurs will allow for more intelligent training and discourse on the subject.

References

1. West D, Kujbida G, Moore D, Atherton P, Burd N, Padzik J, Lisio M, Tang J, Parise G, Rennie M, Baker S, Phillips S.  Resistance exercise-induced increases in putative anabolic hormones do not enhance muscle protein synthesis or intracellular signalling in young men.  The Journal of Physiology.  587(21):  5239-5247, 2009.  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/jphysiol.2009.177220/pdf.
2. King R.  How Squatting Gives You Bigger Arms.  RobKingFitness.com.  May 17, 2010. http://www.robkingfitness.com/supplements/how-squatting-gives-you-bigger-arms/.
3. Nicklas B, Ryan A, Treuth M, Harman S, Blackman M, Hurley B, Rogers M.  Testosterone, Growth Hormone and IGF-1 Responses to Acute and Chronic Resistance Exercise in Men Aged 55-70 Years.  International Journal of Sports Medicine.  16(7):  445-450, 1995. https://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-2007-973035.
4. Kraemer W, Gordon S, Fleck S, Marchitelli L, Mello R, Dziados J , Friedl K , Harman E, Maresh C, Fry A.  Endogenous Anabolic Hormonal and Growth Factor Responses to Heavy Resistance Exercise in Males and Females.  International Journal of Sports Medicine.  12(2):  228-235, 1991.  https://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-2007-1024673.
5. Kumar V, Selby A, Rankin D, Patel R, Atherton P, Hildebrandt W, Williams J, Smith K, Seynnes O, Hiscock N, Rennie M.  Age-related differences in the dose-response relationship of muscle protein synthesis to resistance exercise in young and old men.  The Journal of Physiology.  587:  211-217, 2009.  http://jp.physoc.org/content/587/1/211.short.
6. Chesley A, MacDougall J, Tarnopolsky M, Atkinson S, Smith K.  Changes in human muscle protein synthesis after resistance exercise.  Journal of Applied Physiology.  73(4):  1383-1388, 1992.  http://jap.physiology.org/content/73/4/1383.short.
7. MacDougall J, Gibala M, Tarnopolsky M, MacDonald J, Interisano S, Yarasheski K.  The Time Course for Elevated Muscle Protein Synthesis Following Heavy Resistance Exercise.  Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology.  20(4):  480-486, 1995.  http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/h95-038#.Uo0iWBlWyTE.
8. Takarada Y, Nakamura Y, Aruga S, Onda T, Miyazaki S, Ishii N.  Rapid increase in plasma growth hormone after low-intensity resistance exercise with vascular occlusion.  Journal of Applied Physiology.  88(1):  61-65, 2000.  http://jap.physiology.org/content/88/1/61.full.
9. Daly W, Seegers C, Rubin D, Dobridge J, Hackney A.  Relationship between stress hormones and testosterone with prolonged endurance exercise.  European Journal of Applied Physiology.  93(4):  375-380, 2005.  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00421-004-1223-1.
10. Griggs R, Kingston W, Jozefowicz R, Herr B, Forbes G, Halliday D.  Effect of testosterone on muscle mass and muscle protein synthesis.  Journal of Applied Physiology.  66(1):  498-503, 1989.  http://jap.physiology.org/content/66/1/498.short.
11. Urban R, Bodenburg Y, Gilkison C, Foxworth J, Coggan A, Wolfe R, Ferrando A.  Testosterone administration to elderly men increases skeletal muscle strength and protein synthesis.  American Journal of Physiology.  269:  E820-E826, 1995.  http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/269/5/E820.
12. Yarasheski K, Zachweija J, Angelopoulos T, Bier D.  Short-term growth hormone treatment does not increase muscle protein synthesis in experience weight lifters.  Journal of Applied Physiology.  34(6):  3073-3076, 1993.  http://jap.physiology.org/content/74/6/3073.short.
13. Fryburg D, Gelfand R, Barrett E.  Growth hormone acutely stimulates forearm muscle protein synthesis in normal humans.  American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism.  260:  E499-E504, 1991.  http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/260/3/E499.
14. Bohe J, Low J, Wolfe R, Rennie M.  Latency and duration of stimulation of human muscle protein synthesis during continuous infusion of amino acids.  The Journal of Applied Physiology.  532:  575-579, 2001. http://jp.physoc.org/content/532/2/575.full.
15. Biolo G, Williams BD, Fleming RY, Wolfe R.  Insulin action on muscle protein kinetics and amino acid transport during recovery after resistance exercise.  Diabetes.  48(5):  949-957, 1999.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10331397.
16. Gelfand R, Barrett E.  Effect of physiologic hyperinsulinemia on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and breakdown in man.  The Journal of Clinical Investigation.  80(1):  1-6, 1987.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC442193/.
17. Drummond M, Fry C, Glynn E, Dreyer H, Dhanani S, Timmerman K, Volpi E, Rasmussen B.  Rapamycin administration in humans blocks the contraction-induced increase in skeletal muscle protein synthesis.  The Journal of Physiology.  587(7):  1535-1546, 2009.  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/jphysiol.2008.163816/full.

Testosterone and Insulin Sensitivity

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Check out this study by Kapoor et al. discussing the effects on testosterone replacement therapy on insulin sensitivity and glycaemic control.

Could these results indicate a valid use for testosterone supplementation as a form of diabetes management?  Could similar results be found in subjects who did not already display low testosterone levels?

Could an exercise program/lifestyle designed to improve testosterone concentrations see similar results?  Or could the type of lifestyle and exercise regimen required to do so (proper exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress management) in and of itself be enough to improve insulin sensitivity and glycaemic control equally as much as purely supplementing?

What are your thoughts?

Your body.  Your training.

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Engineering The Alpha

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Self Made® Book Store

"All men were meant to be heroes of their own tale."

--Engineering The Alpha

This past Friday I was sitting at dinner enjoying a double double-double (two pounds of ground beef plus cheese and bacon) when I saw a commercial come on for an FDA-approved testosterone boosting gel that was applied like a deodorant.  The ad wasn't trying to appeal to bodybuilders or guys who wanted to improve their rec league performance.  It was targeting middle-aged men who quite simply want to feel like men again.  This commercial is not the first of its kind that I've seen.  In recent years there have been more and more ads popping up asking the question, "Is it low T?".  That's where Engineering The Alpha comes in. 

Engineering The Alpha by Adam Bornstein and John Romaniello is specifically targeted towards men who want to optimize their hormones, including increasing testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin sensitivity.  Bornstein and Romaniello head the fitness division of Schwarzenegger.com and have helped hundreds of personal training clients achieve better physiques and better lives through diet and exercise regimens specifically designed to improve certain hormone levels.  After years of trial and error, Engineering The Alpha contains the workout advice and nutrition plans that they have found to yield the best results.

In addition to the diet and exercise advice, Engineering The Alpha gets into the psychology of boosting testosterone and what it means to be a man from a basic, primal perspective, in particular discussing the idea of the monomyth as proposed by Joseph Campbell.  Essentially, what the monomyth says is that all great stories of good versus evil follow the same plot line with only the characters and location of the story being changed.  This general story is what Campbell called the Hero's Journey, which he describes in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces.  The purpose behind Engineering The Alpha is to show all men that they too can live their own Hero's Journey.

Engineering The Alpha is not about becoming the top dog of your group of buddies or the people you know, it is about becoming the best version of yourself, the alpha version of you.

An easy read, I enjoyed the ideas proposed within the book.  Bornstein and Romaniello discuss intermittent fasting (IF) and the importance of sleep as they play to optimizing male hormones and I have found the former concept very interesting.  Currently, I am performing some IF trial and error on myself as well as going through the training program (with appropriate modifications) found in the book.

Engineering The Alpha is not about building huge muscles or becoming a testosterone-infused jerk.  It's about presenting basic diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes that can be made to have the greatest opportunity of optimizing specific hormones in order to become the best version of yourself.

Your body.  Your training.

Enjoy this review?  Get a copy of Engineering The Alpha in the Self Made® Book Store!

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The Interval Training Myth

Interval training is all the rage today when it comes to fat loss. High-intensity interval training, in particular, has become such a buzzword among fitness addicts and gurus that the actual exercise prescription is a very, very far cry from the original intent of the training means. Between boot camps, group-ex classes, and cardio equipment all claiming to provide “interval training for fat loss”, a very effective training style is being twisted into another fad of the fitness industry.

Interval training is a training method used by competitive and everyday athletes to both burn fat and improve cardiovascular function. The idea is that you have a working period of intense, all-out movement followed by a recovery period of little to no movement. The biggest factor when using interval training effectively is the intensity level of both the working and recovery periods. This one aspect alone dictates the time of the working and recovery periods, the total time of the training session, as well as if an external resistance should be added to the athlete during the movement. The intensity of the working periods when used for fat loss or conditioning purposes is to be maximal, i.e. an all-out, gut-busting effort. Recovery periods where the intensity is near zero, i.e. standing or light walking, follow this.

Today, the majority of “interval” training is performed at a sub-maximal level, often times just above the point where the person could have a conversation during the working period and only slightly less intense during the recovery periods. Essentially, people are fueling their aerobic exercise addiction by continuing to perform lower-intensity training exercises for longer durations. With high-intensity interval training, you want to stay as anaerobic as possible. Not only will this lead to a rise in testosterone and growth hormone, but there is also evidence that proves training anaerobically has a very high transfer to aerobic performance.[1]^,[2] Compare this to the more standard interval training of today where people spend most of the set in an aerobic state, which, if done too often, has been shown to spike cortisol, resulting in muscle degradation and power reduction.[3]

What does this mean for those who are staying aerobic? Well, for one, you could be furthering the problem you are trying to solve if your goals are fat-reduction related. Muscle is a metabolic regulator, and its degradation that is brought on by the cortisol spike leaves your body with little to go on once the stimulus (the training) has been removed. A perfect example of this is people who only do spin classes. As long as they keep going to the classes, they look and feel all right. However, once they go on vacation for a week or can’t make it because of work, they put on weight very, very quickly and often times regress three weeks or more because they don’t have enough muscle to sufficiently regulate their metabolism once they’ve stopped going to the spin classes.

In order to stay anaerobic during interval training, you must keep your working periods to 30 seconds or less and allow your recovery periods to be at least one minute. If you feel that a 30-second working period is too short, you are not exercising at the intensity level that is required for high-intensity interval training to be most effective. Remember, you are trying to perform all-out maximal-effort movements, so after 30 seconds of that you should want to collapse. After your working period you will have your recovery period, during which you will do next to nothing. This period is two to ten times as long, although I’ve performed exercises where the recovery period is up to 100 times as long, as the working period. This is to allow you to catch your wind and also to allow the ATP to regenerate in your muscles. Because you are attempting a maximal-effort movement for each set, you want to be almost fully recovered before you begin your next set.

The length of the entire interval training session should be no more than 30 minutes, with 10 to 15 minutes being ideal. I recommend 10 to 15 minutes sessions because most people really struggle to keep up the intensity if they try to go longer than that. I have most of my clients stop after five to seven minutes because their effort starts to decline after that. Remember, maximal-effort movements are not the most pleasurable experiences for a lot of people, so even though they may think they are going all-out, because they know it is painful, they probably aren’t pushing themselves quite as hard as they were at the beginning. This is something you have to regulate with your clients and yourself, understanding that there are times to keep pushing and there are times to end on a high note.

Interval training can be one of the most effective training tools in your arsenal if used properly. Performing low-intensity working sets of 60 seconds or more or hopping on an elliptical or stationary bike that only changes the resistance while you put forth the same relative effort are not going to get you or your clients the results you are looking for. Challenge yourself to train harder and smarter by picking up your intensity level and staying anaerobic with your training.

Get big or die tryin’.

Charlie Cates

Self Made®, Owner

Charlie Cates is a strength and conditioning specialist and the owner of Self Made® (http://selfmadefitness.com/) in Chicago, IL. He has worked with competitive and everyday athletes of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP's. He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

This article may be reproduced with biographical information intact.

---

[1] Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, Third Addition. Ratamess, Nicholas A. p. 108. 2008.

[2] Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, Third Addition. Ratamess, Nicholas A. p. 112. 2008.

[3] Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, Third Addition. Swank, Ann. p. 131. 2008.

Boost Your T

Interested in more ways to boost your T levels? Check out this article by Scott Mendelson to find out more ways to get your T levels to where they should be and where you want them to be.

Top Testosterone Boosting Tips, Part 2 by Scott Mendelson

Get big or die tryin'.

The World's Mine Oyster

If your muscles are refusing to grow or make strength gains, despite your relentless efforts in the gym, perhaps it is time to look back a few centuries to the works of none other than William Shakespeare to break out of your training rut. While Mr. Shakespeare hardly had the slightest notion that he was scribing a reference to one of the best, if not the best, testosterone-boosting food, we, on the other hand, are much more aware of the effect this wonderful mollusk can have on our hormone levels.

So what makes oysters so great at boosting T levels? Well first and foremost, they are LOADED with zinc, and zinc is a mineral that increases testosterone levels very well. In fact, 1 cup of oysters contains approximately 147 milligrams of zinc, which is well over 900% of the required daily value.[1] Due to the fact that ingesting too much zinc can lead to side effects such as diarrhea and vomiting it is suggested that a whole cup of oysters only be eaten once a week. However, even with this semi-rare consumption, your zinc levels will be high enough to pump up your body’s T levels.

Zinc is essential to allow your body to produce higher levels of testosterone for a couple reasons. First, if zinc levels in your body are low then your pituitary gland is unable to produce a couple hormones necessary to induce testosterone production—luteinizing as well as follicle stimulating hormones.[2]Secondly, zinc prevents the production of the enzyme aromatase, which changes testosterone into estrogen.2

Another mineral found in oysters that is related to testosterone is magnesium. According to a study in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomechanical Analysis, men who have higher levels of magnesium have been found to also show higher levels of free testosterone, and more free testosterone means more testosterone that is available to be used by the body.[3] One cup of oysters contains approximately 87.5 milligrams of magnesium, which is roughly 22% of the recommended daily value, so this is well within the range of what a healthy human can handle.1

The third component of oysters that improves the production and use of testosterone is protein. A higher intake of protein leads to higher albumin production, which means higher levels of free testosterone.3However, understand that diets that are too high in protein, specifically diets that have a higher percentage of protein than carbohydrates, are thought to lead to testosterone being excreted through urine.[4] For one cup of oysters, you can expect to get around 11.4 grams of protein, which is only 23% of the recommended daily value.1 So, while eating a cup of oysters will by no means put you in danger of losing your hard-earned T down the drain in the men’s room, be mindful of your protein consumption relative to the other macronutrients.

Finally, oysters contain a very small amount of saturated fat, approximately 1.0 gram per cup, which has also been shown to increase T levels.1 More specifically, studies have shown that individuals who weight train displayed higher testosterone levels when following a diet higher in saturated fat than individuals who did not weight train.[5] The potential side-effects of indulging in a high saturated fat diet are well documented, but as long as this is kept in check and you are continuing to hit the iron then you should be able to enjoy the effects of greater testosterone levels.

So, if you have been getting nowhere in the weight room or in the mirror try adding a weekly dose of oysters to your diet and see the world in a whole new light. As Pistol said, “The world’s mine oyster,” so start enjoying some oysters and start enjoying the world.

Get big or die tryin’.

Charlie Cates

Self Made, Owner

Charlie Cates is a human performance specialist and the owner of Self Made (http://selfmadefitness.com/). He is a Certified Personal Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist through NASM and has worked with competitive and everyday athletes of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP's. He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

This article may be reproduced with biographical information intact.

[1] http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4192/2

[2] http://www.advance-health.com/zinc.html#Zinc,%20Testosterone%20and%20Men's%20Health

[3] http://www.ergo-log.com/magnesiumtest.html

[4] http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/incledon/diet-01.htm

[5]http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_nutrition/saturated_fat_killer_or_testosterone_booster