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Thursday, April 28, 2016

When Whey Casein Unite in the Spirit of True Physique Improvements BCAAs Glutamine Better Shut the F Up

Ever wondered, why you hit a plateau, "although" youve started to use this whey protein w/ extra aminos?

I have to admit this is not a new paper and though I have not written about it explicitly, some of you will probably have seen me cite it in previous posts. With some recent rambling about how great BCAAs were and that whey alone could never achieve what its overpriced, but revenue generating parts could do, I just felt inclined to dig into the archives of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research to bring back up one of those excellent randomized controlled, double-blinded long-term resistance training + supplementation studies, you wont find in the supplement write-ups very often, cause they would make most of the "great innovations" look pathetic.

You can learn more about protein intake at the SuppVersity

Are You Protein Wheysting?

Cod protein for recovery

Protein requ. of athletes

High EAA protein for fat loss

Fast vs. slow protein

Too much ado about protein?

In the case of the paper Chad D. Kersick et al. published in the March Edition of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in 2006. The latter, i.e. the looking pathetic applies to the combination and addition of "extra-anabolic" amino acids in form of BCAAs and glutamine to a simple whey protein supplement.

Table 1: Overview of the resistance training progamm (Kersick. 2006)

And when I am talking about "looking pathetic" I do not refer to the packaging or the powder itself; no, not even to the strength gains, which were more or less identical in all of the 36 resistance-trained males men (mean age 31, 84kg, 17% body fat) who followed the 4-day training protocol you see in Table 1 for 12(!) weeks.

That was a pretty long time, and as you can see in Figure 1, it was long enough to produce significant results. Significant results that tell you that the only addition you want to make to your cheap whey protein is some (not so cheap) micellar casein to achieve what I outlined in Mai 2012 and on countless other occasions, a stable hyper-aminoacidemia (= elevated levels of amino acids in the blood) for several hours (learn more)

As you should be able to see even without scrutinizing the bars in Figure 1, the latter lead to significant increases in lean mass in an already resistant trained group of subjects.

Figure 1: Changes in total body mass, lean mass and fat mass

The addition of 3g of BCAAs and 5g of glutamine, on the other hand, "made" the whey protein as "anabolic" *lol* as the 48g of plain sugar the CHO control group was guzzling their shakes within 2h (ideally immediately after) their workouts.

"Thats not true, cause Ive had great success with bullocks advanced proteins!"

Now, I obviously know already that there are certain people who dont like to hear facts like this. These people who are actually oftentimes only unwilling to admit that they have been screwed who will now probably be freakin out about "what if"s like "What if the casein made them hungry, so that they ate much more" ... I hear ya, folks, but how would that explain that the fat mass of the whey + casein (WC) group increased by 100g, while the guys on the "advanced" formula gained 200 albeit statistically non-sigificant grams?

Table 2: Energy & macro-nutrient intake in the whey + casein (WC), whey + BCAA + glutamin (WBG) and the carbohydrate control (P) group (Kersick. 2006).

Furthermore, the data in Table 2 clearly indicates that the only significant difference in terms of the total energy intake and the macronutrient content of the diets was the intended difference in protein content between the WC & WBG group and the P, i.e. the carbohydrate control group.

Figure 2: Leucine balance as a measure of protein balance after the ingestion of different forms of protein / amino acids (same net nitrogen load; Dangin. 2001; Bilsborough. 2006)

What? But thats impossible, right!? If we do have a closer look at what Dangin et al. found out about the digestion rate of protein as an independent regulating factor of postprandial protein retention (see Figure 2) and assume that the addition of BCAA and glutmine in this study could have had a similar negative effect on the total net protein retention as the free form amino acid supplement, the six young man in Dangins study consumed, it does no longer sound impossible that not a single gram of what were effectively 48g of protein ended up in their biceps, triceps, chest, quads, hams, etc. for which there was no leucine or any other aminos left, when the free form AAs switched their bodies into "protein wasting mode".

Dangins study did after all demonstrate that the same amino acids you will find in casein will induce a negative leucine balance, when they are administered in their isolated (see Figure 2). If you are still not angry that youve been fooled time and again, you probably havent bought any of the pertaining "improved protein" let alone "pro-anabolic free form amino acid supplements" in the past decade - lucky you; and dont tell me you just couldnt afford it ;-)

References:

Bilsborough, Shane, and Neil Mann. "A review of issues of dietary protein intake in humans." International Journal of Sport Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism 16.2 (2006).
Dangin, Martial, et al. "The digestion rate of protein is an independent regulating factor of postprandial protein retention." American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology And Metabolism 280.2 (2001): E340-E348.
Kerksick, Chad M., et al. "The effects of protein and amino acid supplementation on performance and training adaptations during ten weeks of resistance training." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 20.3 (2006): 643-653.

Using Ubuntus heads up display HUD

The Ubuntu 12.04Unity interface includes a heads-up display (HUD) that gives you an alternative to navigating through menu paths. If you remember a command (or part of it) that is the path target, you can use HUD to search for that command and execute it directly.

Using HUD to execute commands - You can use HUD to search for and execute commands, which you can also access through traditional menus. To use HUD, do the following:

Press Alt to display HUD as the "Type your command" search field.
Start typing the command you want (or part of it) until HUD displays it as an item in a menu path.
To execute a command, such as for opening a window, click on the command. Alternatively, you can scroll to it and press Enter.

Note: Executing a command closes HUD automatically. To close HUD before you execute a command, press Alt.

Example system commands - System actions you can perform through Ubuntu HUD commands include:

Launching the Update Manager by typing u and then clicking Device > Software Up to Date.
Displaying the User Accounts window by typing ac and then clicking Users > User Accounts.

Example GIMP commands - The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is an application that lets you perform actions through its associated HUD commands.

Note: HUD works only with applications that use the Unity global menu bar, such as GIMP, Chrome, and Image Viewer.

GIMP actions you can perform through HUD commands include:

Displaying the Scale Image window by typing sc and then clicking Image > Scale Image.
Displaying the Brightness-Contrast window by typing br and then clicking Colors > Brightness-Contrast.
Converting an image from RGB (full color) to monochrome (black and white) by typing gra and then clicking Image > Mode > Grayscale.

Setting up Xubuntu

Xubuntu is a community-developed Linux distribution based on Ubuntu core components and the Xfce Linux desktop environment. As I show in Getting started with Xubuntu, it works very well immediately after you install it. However, you can set up (customize, configure) Xubuntu according to your needs or preferences.

After studying and/or trying example set-up procedures for Xubuntu, you can more easily perform its other setup procedures. This document contains the following example procedures:

Displaying the Settings window
Customizing the date and time display
Customizing windows
Setting up the mouse

Notes:

The example procedures in this document specifically apply to Xubuntu 12.04, and generally apply to all Xubuntu releases.
My example settings show only how I have set up my Xubuntu PC. Of course, despite my sophisticated taste, you must set up your PC according to your preferences. :-)

Displaying the Settings window -The Settings window contains icons through which you can set up almost all Xubuntu features. To display your Settings window, do the following:

Move your mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen to display its bottom panel, which contains several application icons.
Place your mouse pointer over the Settings Manager icon to display its name and description.
Click the Settings Manager icon to display the Settings window.

Customizing the date and time display - To customize the date and time display in the top panel on your Xubuntu screen, do the following:

Display the Settings window according to the procedure above, click Panel to display its window, and then select Panel 1 (if not already selected). Note: Panel 1 is at the top of the screen, Panel 2 at the bottom.
In the Measurements section, use the Size (pixels) slider to change the panel size to 35 pixels. Note: Increasing the height of Panel 1 makes your date and time easier to read.
Close the Panel window.
Right-click the current date and time to display the Datetime properties menu.
Click Properties to display its window.
In the Layout section, set Format to Date, then time.
In the Date section, click the current font, set its style to Bold, set the Format to mm/dd/yy, and then click OK.
In the Time section, set the font style to Bold, set the Format to 23:59:59, and then click OK.

Customizing windows - To customize all windows that display on your Xubuntu desktop, do the following:

Display the Settings window according to the procedure in the Displaying the Settings window section above.
Click Window Manager to display its window.
In the Theme section, scroll to and select Wallis.
In the Title font section, increase the font size to 11 pt.
In the Button layout section, click and drag buttons to place Close, Maximize, and Hide buttons on the left; and the Menu button on the right.
Close the Window Manager window.

Setting up the mouse - To set up your mouse (or touchpad), do the following:

Display the Settings window according to the procedure in the Displaying the Settings window section above.
Click Mouse and Touchpad to display its window.
Make adjustments according to your preferences. For example, in the Pointer Speed section, you can increase Acceleration to 5.0.
Close the Mouse and Touchpad window.

Power Up Your Bench With Maximal Velocity on the Bench Almost 2x Greater Strength Gains Compared to 50

Bench press bros, listen up! You better push that weigh up fast, if you want to make maximal strength gains - O-lifting says "Hello" ;-)

Do you train deliberately slow? If so, you may be limiting your strength gains. A recently published paper in the European Journal of Sports Science shows: "Movement velocity can be considered a fundamental component of RT intensity, since, for a given %1RM, the velocity at which loads are lifted largely determines the resulting training effect" (Gonzalez-Badillo. 2014).

Before we take a closer look at how "large" the effect of training the training velocity actually is, I would like to invite you to take a closer look at the design of the corresponding experiment that was conducted at the Pablo de Olivade University in Seville, Spain.

Squatting will always remain the most versatile muscle builder & fat shredder

Optimizing Rest for Size and Strength Gains

Alternate Squats & BP for GAINS!

Farmers Walk or Squat? Is Strong- men T. For You?

Full ROM ? Full Gains - Form Counts!

Battle the Rope to Get Ripped & Strong

Up Your Squat by 25% With Sodium Bicarbonate

The experiment was designed in an attempt to clarify the influence of repetition velocity on the gains in strength consequent to isoinertial resistance training. To this ends, the scientists conducted two separate studies:

Study I compared the effect of two distinct RT interventions on strength gains using movement velocity as the independent variable. Two groups that only differed in actual repetition velocity (and consequently in time under tension, TUT): maximal intended velocity (MaxV) vs. half-maximal velocity (HalfV) trained three times per week for 6 weeks using the bench press (BP) exercise, while the remaining programme variables (number of sets and repetitions, inter-set rests and loading magnitude) were kept identical.
Study II was a complementary study that aimed to analyze whether the acute metabolic (blood lactate and ammonia) and mechanical response (velocity loss) was different between the type of MaxV and HalfV protocols previously used in Study I

Of the 24 men who volunteered to participate in Study I, only 20 successfully completed the entire study (mean ± s: age 21.9 ± 2.9 years, height 1.77 ± 0.08 m, body mass 70.9 ± 8.0 kg). Therefore, the scientists recruited 10 additional participants (25.3 ± 3.4 years, 1.77 ± 0.08 m, body mass 75.2 ± 8.7 kg) for the follow up study (Study II).

High speed training works, as long as you maintain maximal velocities: F. Pareja-Blanco and his colleagues from the Pablo de Olavide University and the Instituto Navarro de Deporte y Juventud (INDJ) in Spain report in another recently published paper that doing squats with maximal velocity concentrics lead to significantly greater improvements in maximum strength and that "[m]ovement velocity seemed to be of greater importance than time under tension for inducing strength adaptations" (Pareja-Blanco. 2014). Similar results had been observed by biceps curls (9.7% with fast, no gains with slower concentric contractions | Ingebrigtsen. 2009). In studies with untrained subjects, on the other hand, similar benefits have not been observed (Pereira. 2007) - a difference that may be explained by the inability of someone who has never bench pressed or squatted before to actually push the bar at maximal velocity while, at the same time, keeping proper form. Another factor that may explain the existing differences between pertinent studies may be related to whether the exercise was performed to failure. In that case, the prescribed velocity cannot be maintained for all reps, so that the differences between the high speed and the regular / slow speed groups vanish.

The participants were physically active sport science students with 2–4 years of recreational RT experience in the bench press exercise - a fact that may be important if you take into consideration what I wrote about the Pereira study in the red box above.

Figure 1: Schematic timeline of study design (Gonzales-Badillo. 2014)
"Based upon pre-test 1RM strength performance, participants were allocated to one of the two groups following an ABBA counterbalancing sequence: MaxV (n = 9) or HalfV (n = 11) [the non-random allocation to the two groups ensured that there was no significant strength difference between the two groups at the beginning of the study].

The only difference in the RT programme between groups was the actual velocity at which loads were lifted: maximal intended concentric velocity for MaxV vs. an intentional half-maximal concentric velocity for HalfV [note the difference between doing each rep at maximal velocity and trying to do so!]."

Both groups trained three times per week, on non-consecutive days, for a period of 6 weeks using doing nothing but bench presses on each of the workout days. In that, Study I and II were performed 3 weeks apart using a different sample of participant.

Figure 2: Changes in bench press 1-RM over the course of Study I. The relative changes are 16% increase in the maximal 9% increase in the 50% velocity group (Gonzales-Badillo. 2014)

As you can see in Figure 2 the scientists are right, when they say that it seems as if "[m]ovement velocity can be considered a fundamental component of RT intensity, since, for a given %1RM, the velocity at which loads are lifted largely determines the resulting training effect" (Gonzalez-Badillo. 2014). A corresponding difference in lactate production during the workouts was yet detected only if the exercise was performed at low intensities and high speed, i.e. 3 × 8 with 0.79 m/s at ?60% of the 1RM and with 3 × 6 with 0.62 m/s a ?70% of the 1RM.

Figure 3: Root-mean-square amplitude (RMS amp.) before (initial) and after fatigue under varying speed-controlled conditions (slow, medium, and fast) and intensities (40–80% 1RM) for pectoralis major (a), anterior deltoid (b) and triceps medial head (c). Results show mean ± standard deviation for 13 subjects (Sakamoto. 2012).

Bottom line: It appears unlikely that the small changes in lactate production are whats responsible for the superiority of maximal (intended) velocity contractions as strength builders. Rather than that it would appear logical to assume that the muscle fiber recruitements between fast and slow contractions differ. An assumption that is in line with the results of a 2012 study by Sakamoto et al.

In said study, the Japanese researchers determined the muscle activations of the pectoralis major at varying lifting speeds and intensities during bench presses and found the maximal velocity to be highly superior during the initial phase of the training. When the fatigue set in and the subjects were no longer able to perform at a maximal velocity, the benefits vanished (see Figure 3) - an observation that is in line with my previous elaborations on the differences between the existing comparisons of the effectiveness of working out at different velocities in the red box. Accordingly, the results of the study at hand may not be applicable for those of you who like to peg out under the bar and/or crawl out of the gym after a workout that was long and intense enough to trigger a near-death experience | Comment on Facebook!

References:

González-Badillo, Juan José, et al. "Maximal intended velocity training induces greater gains in bench press performance than deliberately slower half-velocity training." European journal of sport science ahead-of-print (2014): 1-10.
Ingebrigtsen, Jørgen, Andreas Holtermann, and Karin Roeleveld. "Effects of load and contraction velocity during three-week biceps curls training on isometric and isokinetic performance." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 23.6 (2009): 1670-1676.
Pareja-Blanco, F., et al. "Effect of Movement Velocity during Resistance Training on Neuromuscular Performance." International Journal of Sports Medicine EFirst (2014).
Pereira, Marta Inez Rodrigues, and Paulo Sergio Chagas Gomes. "Effects of isotonic resistance training at two movement velocities on strength gains." Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte 13.2 (2007): 91-96.
Sakamoto, Akihiro, and Peter James Sinclair. "Muscle activations under varying lifting speeds and intensities during bench press." European journal of applied physiology 112.3 (2012): 1015-1025.

High Fructose Consumption Inflammation Up LDL HDL Ratio Down Is That Good or Bad For Your Heart

Remember: If anything fructose from beverages (including juices), yet not fructose from whole fruit is a problem. In fact eating whole fruits will decrease your blood lipids and high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP) inflammation markers.

Fructose is bad for you, right? Right. According to the latest study from the University of Newcastle, the consumption of only one drink containing containing 50 g of either fructose or glucose or sucrose dissolved in water will have detrimental effects on the #1 indicator of whole body inflammation, which is high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).

Much to the researchers surprise, though, the same amount of fructose had significant beneficial effects on the plasma lipid levels of the healthy male and female adults (n = 14) between the ages of 18-60 years who were recruited by advertisement and underwent study procedures at the Nutraceuticals Research Group Clinic rooms at the University of Newcastle in Australia.

Learn more about fructose at the SuppVersity

Bad Fructose not so Bad, After All! Learn its Benefits.

Fructose From Fruit is NOT the Problem

Americans Dont Eat More Fructose These Days!

An Apple A Day, Keeps... & More (Guestpost)

Fructose is Not Worse Than Sugar

The Obesogenic Fructose Fat Connection

Since the exclusion criteria were: diagnosed hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, currently on fructose/sugar restricted diet, vegan diet or weight loss program, undergone any surgical procedure for obesity, pregnant or lactating mother, taking lipid-lowering or anti-inflammatory drugs and BMI >30kg/m², the results may well be different in "sicker" individuals, but for the guys and gals who drank the three 50g "sugar" solutions on three different occasions after an overnight fast, the "negative effects" of fructose were far from being conclusive.

Figure 1: Changes in hs-CRP, HDL and LDL in response to the ingestion of the test drinks (Jameel. 2014).

Even if you belong to the ever-increasing numbers of brainwashed fructose haters who believe that fructose and not a general overconsumption of energy was to blame for the obesity epidemic, you will have to admit that the data in Figure 1 leaves the significance of concomitant increases in hs-CRP and significant improvements in the HDL/LDL ratio, as the scientists phrase it, "to be delineated when considering health effects of feeding fructose-rich diets" (Jameel. 2014).

Apples reduce, apple juice increases hs-CRP in healthy volunteers (Ravn-Haren. 2013).

Dont mistake fruits for pure fructose: Studies indicate that a high fruit consumption is associated with reduced hs-CRP scores and a lower mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of some relevant proinflammatory gene markers (Oliveira. 2009; Hermsdorff. 2010). This is yet not the case for fruit juices, as you may remember from a previous SuppVersity post discussing the results of Gitte Ravn-Harens 2013 study which showed that the intake of whole apples had beneficial, the consumption of apple juice, however, detrimental effects on plasma lipids and - as you can see in the figure to the left - hs-CRP levels of the healthy volunteers (Gitte Ravn-Haren 2013).

Well, yes, but (a) its only an acute response and (b) while increased levels of hs-CRP have been found to be associated with heart disease (Rifai. 2001; Danesh. 2004), the same can be said for a high LDL/HDL ratio (Fernandez. 2008).

Figure 2: CRP-dependent risk levels for cardiovascular disease according to the American Hear Association.

If we also take into consideration that the baseline hs-CRP level of the subjects was 1.5mg/L and thus low to mid-range for the average Westerner (depending on his or her ethnicity | Albert. 2004), an increase of 10% to a maximal value of 1.65mg/L would not bring them to critical heights of which the Farmingham study says that they start at 3mg/L for Westerners (Wilson. 2005). Thats not ana optimal level, but considering the fact that we are talking about "average Joes and Janes" who probably dont work out, eat whatever they like and give a damn about their sleep hygiene (all three factors have previously been linked to elevated hs-CRP levels) thats not astonishing and has absolutely nothing to do with the ingestion of 50g of fructose.

Furthermore, a comparison of the predictive value of different risk markers for cardiovascular disease by Folsom, et al. (2006) indicates that the hs-CRP values did not add to the prognostic value of the standard risk factors which are age, race, sex, systolic blood pressure, smoking status, diabetes and - you guessed it - total and high density lipoprotein cholesterol, which increased by almost 7% while the amount of LDL dropped by maximally 6%. Thus the LDL/HDL ratio decreased from 1.84 to 1.62. Thats a 12% decrease that would be health relevant if the subjects LDL/HDL ratio was not far away from the danger-zone (>5 | see Manninen. 1992), already. Similarly, the total cholesterol to HDL ratio dropped by -1.97 but wasnt in the danger zone before, either.

Incremental area under the curve for glucose and insulin 0-120min after consuming the test beverages (Jameel. 2014).

So what? Overall the results provide no evidence that the occasional consumption of a larg(er) bolus of fructose was unhealthier than the same amount of glucose or sucrose. If you take a parting look at the glucose and insulin response you will also see why fructose has long been haled as the "healthier" alternative to sugar for type II diabetics: there is no increase in glucose or insulin in response to the ingestion of 50g of fructose. And even the dreaded increase in triglycerides that occurs when the liver converts the fructose to fat did not occur (in fact, the levels dropped by ~4%, while they increased when the subjects consumed glucose (+11%) or sucrose (+4%).

So, if youve been drinking your first real coke of 2015 last night, dont worry. It probably didnt hurt your heart. If you plan to continue drinking 1l of the brown sugar-liquid everyday, this year, though, I would not guarantee that the extra pounds you may be gaining and the diabetes you may be developing wont have negative consequences for your heart and maybe liver health | Comment on Facebook.

References:

Danesh, John, et al. "C-reactive protein and other circulating markers of inflammation in the prediction of coronary heart disease." New England Journal of Medicine 350.14 (2004): 1387-1397.
Fernandez, Maria Luz, and Densie Webb. "The LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio as a valuable tool to evaluate coronary heart disease risk." Journal of the American College of Nutrition 27.1 (2008): 1-5.
Folsom, Aaron R., et al. "An assessment of incremental coronary risk prediction using C-reactive protein and other novel risk markers: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study." Archives of internal medicine 166.13 (2006): 1368-1373.
Hermsdorff, Helen Hermana M., et al. "Research Fruit and vegetable consumption and proinflammatory gene expression from peripheral blood mononuclear cells in young adults: a translational study." (2010).
Jameel, Faizan, et al. "Acute effects of feeding fructose, glucose and sucrose on blood lipid levels and systemic inflammation." Lipids in Health and Disease 13.1 (2014): 195.
Manninen, Vesa, et al. "Joint effects of serum triglyceride and LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol concentrations on coronary heart disease risk in the Helsinki Heart Study. Implications for treatment." Circulation 85.1 (1992): 37-45.
Oliveira, A., F. Rodriguez-Artalejo, and C. Lopes. "The association of fruits, vegetables, antioxidant vitamins and fibre intake with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein: sex and body mass index interactions." European journal of clinical nutrition 63.11 (2009): 1345-1352.
Ravn-Haren, Gitte, et al. "Intake of whole apples or clear apple juice has contrasting effects on plasma lipids in healthy volunteers." European journal of nutrition 52.8 (2013): 1875-1889.
Rifai, Nader, and Paul M. Ridker. "High-sensitivity C-reactive protein: a novel and promising marker of coronary heart disease." Clinical chemistry 47.3 (2001): 403-411.
Wilson, Peter WF, et al. "C-reactive protein and risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women from the Framingham Heart Study." Archives of internal medicine 165.21 (2005): 2473-2478.

ONLINE DRIVERS MEDIA

Thursday, April 28, 2016

When Whey Casein Unite in the Spirit of True Physique Improvements BCAAs Glutamine Better Shut the F Up

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Using Ubuntus heads up display HUD

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Setting up Xubuntu

Monday, April 11, 2016

Power Up Your Bench With Maximal Velocity on the Bench Almost 2x Greater Strength Gains Compared to 50

Monday, March 28, 2016

High Fructose Consumption Inflammation Up LDL HDL Ratio Down Is That Good or Bad For Your Heart