Maximizing Muscle Hypertrophy with New Research: The Application

Here is part 2 as promised!

If you missed part 1, please check it out below

How To Build Bigger Muscles (Hypertrophy) with New Research : Part 1

Last time we talked about a super cool research study that looked at muscle and connective tissue hypertrophy.   This time there will not be any of those big words and we will check out the lifting world and see if the meatheads had already figured this out years ago (like most things, the answer is yes!).

Ever notice how old school mechanics have massive forearms?

Farmers that work all day just tend to be BIG.

As Mark Ripptoes likes to say “70s Big”

70’s Big Presents: Mark Rippetoe Interview Pt. 1 from 70s Big on Vimeo.

I decide to pull the elusive professional Strongman Adam T Glass out of his cold and dark cave in Minot, ND to get his thoughts on muscle and tendon strength.   Take it away Adam

Mike, first of- great article. My thoughts will come from my direct experience and the progress of my students. So whatever that is worth here it comes

Is frequency with the lift clearly a key element for tendon development?

My first thought is absolutely. For example, the only people i see day to day whose wrist tendons look like mine are men who work with hammers and tools all day- the farmers out here.

Is load important for tendon development?

I believe load is the key. I work with some bone heads who curl literally every day. They are typical weekend warriors.  A “workout” is bench press and curl. That means 185 on the bar and the partner does all the lifting “Its all you bro” for sets of 10. The curls range from mildly good w/35-40lbs to some wild $hitty looking cleans with 50’s and 60’s. So naturally i introduce them to the plate curl.-

How To Do a Plate Curl

95% of the men i show a plate curl to are unable to curl a 25 for 1-2 reps. Only one man has ever curled a 35 in front of me– Freak show Mark Wilson- A man who has spent most of his life lifting dry wall, swinging a hammer and other stuff.  (Editor’s note, if you are in the ND Fargo area, look up Mark Wilson RKC for training HERE)

If frequency is the key element, and SO many men do curls as their primary fitness vehicle, why is the plate curl so challenging for them?

At first i though it was the thumb pinch but every time they complain their wrist tendons hurt when they try it, they are simply not strong enough to handle the force. So in my opinion, based upon what i have seen– load has to play a role in this, but i have not tested enough to have any clear data to say the extent.  –Adam T Glass

Special thanks to Adam for his words of wisdom above!  Be sure to check him out on his blog below and if you are in Minot ND, you MUST get your butt in to see him and train.

Walk the Road Less Traveled

I have noticed that on wrist curls my wrist (and others too) tend to “bend too much” and not stay straight.   This shuts down the muscles of the arm via the arthrokinetic reflex as talked about last time.  “Jammed joints = muscular weakness”

Frequency and Load

Some of you are now rolling your eyes into your head muttering “This is nothing new” and you would be correct.   To others, this is earth shattering since it is rarely talked about in the popular media.    Chad Waterbury and Jason Ferroggia had a disccusion like this one below

Build Muscle Fast

How To Do It?

To Get Big, You Need to Lift Big.  Check this out!

Amazing lift!! Raw and no belt too. Wow!!

Progress

You  need to work to add more weight over time.  Keep track of your PRs (personal records) for your major lifts.  I have PRs for rack pulls, bench, DB bench, reverse bench, kettlebell press, kettlebell snatch, etc  I have about 20+ PRs that I regularly track.  I am always looking to add more load and/or reps over time.  Just the other night I was not feeling like lifting, but I made it to the gym and after some Z-Health joint mobility work I started out on my main lifts of low rack pulls and kettlebell presses.  Everything felt good and tested good (but not great) and over time it started to get better.  I opted for an old PR on the rack pull and added 2 reps to a 1 rep max weight and also did a bottoms up kettlebell press on my left side with the 24 kg kettlebell for a PR!  I felt great after that!  Make it fun and chart progress.  You do have a training journal, right?

Frequency

Chad Waterbury has talked about this before too and if you want to bring up a lift, and easy way is to add some bodyweight drills.   Since my bench is stalling a bit and I don’t have tons of time to add more bench work in right now, I am doing 50 pushups each day for a week, and then the following week I will bump it up to 60, etc.   I also added inverted rows (from a TRX or a straight bar) to keep it balanced out.  My goal is to get to 50 per day, and that may be sets of 10, 8, 15,,and it doesn’t matter.

Advanced Only

Finger Lifting:  Note, this is advanced, which means don’t go out and try this at home right away with a heavy weight.   You may find it is the last time you do any finger lifting.   Like all things, the dose is most important and start very very light and build up the load and frequency over time.   Adam has been done this MUCH longer than you; so you are for warned.

Summary

Frequency + Load = Bigger Muscles and more strength

We have outlined some great options for you to add some size and strength around this Holiday season.

Drop me a line and let me know how it is going and what PRs you are going to break!

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

Up now is a great review of the sports supplement HMB. I met Jacob briefly at ACSM and he hinted at some new data on HMB and it is released now.

You may remember HMB as being popular about 10 years ago (or maybe not). There were some great studies (not sure I agree with that) on it, but in reality it just never seemed to pan out. It did not help that the patent on it was held by Dr. Nissen–Hmmm. This is not inherently bad, but makes you want to dig a little deeper. See the patent HERE for yourself. Although HMB has sort of stood the test of time as it is still around and from a research stand point, we could learn some cool stuff.

Background
HMB, or “beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate”, is a second downstream metabolite of the amino acid Leucine and is produced naturally by the human body. HMB is produced from a metabolite of leucine, called ketoisocaproate (KIC), by the enzyme KIC-dioxygenase. If you have been around for a bit like myself, you will remember KIC as a supplement too. Personally, it did not do squat for me and tasted absolutely horrible and was stupid expensive. I worked at a supplement store while I was going to college the first 8 years and got it for dirt cheap when it did not sell it. It was back when they sold things in actual glass containers! I am feeling old now.

I will hold any future thought for now since the review is very comprehensive and all the others did their homework on it. Writing a review is a MUCH bigger pain in the butt than most realized, so kudos to them for all the outstanding work on it. It allows people like myself (and you) to sit back with a good cup of dark coffee and read the most recent work without spending hours and hours combing through 100+ papers.

Here is a link to the FULL study

Effects of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) on exercise performance and body composition across varying levels of age, sex, and training experience: A review.

Wilson GJ, Wilson JM, Manninen AH.

Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, USA. gwilson@abcbodybuilding.com.

ABSTRACT: The leucine metabolite beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) has been extensively used as an ergogenic aid; particularly among bodybuilders and strength/power athletes, who use it to promote exercise performance and skeletal muscle hypertrophy. While numerous studies have supported the efficacy of HMB in exercise and clinical conditions, there have been a number of conflicting results. Therefore, the first purpose of this paper will be to provide an in depth and objective analysis of HMB research. Special care is taken to present critical details of each study in an attempt to both examine the effectiveness of HMB as well as explain possible reasons for conflicting results seen in the literature. Within this analysis, moderator variables such as age, training experience, various states of muscle catabolism, and optimal dosages of HMB are discussed. The validity of dependent measurements, clustering of data, and a conflict of interest bias will also be analyzed. A second purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive discussion on possible mechanisms, which HMB may operate through. Currently, the most readily discussed mechanism has been attributed to HMB as a precursor to the rate limiting enzyme to cholesterol synthesis HMG-coenzyme A reductase.

However, an increase in research has been directed towards possible proteolytic pathways HMB may operate through. Evidence from cachectic cancer studies suggests that HMB may inhibit the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway responsible for the specific degradation of intracellular proteins. HMB may also directly stimulate protein synthesis, through an mTOR dependent mechanism. Finally, special care has been taken to provide future research implications.

Any comments, let me know.
Rock on
Mike N