Uncompromising nutrition for more muscle

People hate the topic of nutrition

What I mean by this is that they don't find nutrition-related topics as exciting - at least not as exciting as hot, new exercise programs. I know this because I used to be no different. I loved training hard and reading about new exercises and techniques, but I wasn't really interested in nutrition. I thought that nutrition was something boring. Instead, I wanted to read about the latest Bulgarian biceps mass program. You know, the stuff that's fun. That was a big mistake.

Nutrition plays a much bigger role in building muscle than I ever thought possible. In short, the foods you eat make a difference. You can't make up for bad eating habits with training. So if your progress has stalled, then your diet and supplement approach could be to blame.

With this information in mind, I asked some of the leading nutrition and supplement experts about a few hot topics and compiled their answers into practical information you can put into action today. Sound cool? Well, let's get started.

Aminos at midnight

"Wake up in the middle of the night and drink a protein shake."

I'd bet you've heard this before. The idea behind this advice is that during the night, when our body runs out of energy, we lose some muscle mass. To prevent this, you're supposed to take a few amino acid tablets or even a protein shake in the middle of the night to maintain your muscles and maybe even build some more muscle mass.

But does this work in practice? And if it does work, will the effect be strong enough to produce noticeable gains? How strong would the effect be if an exerciser took a handful of aminos or a protein shake every night for, say, six months? We asked the experts. "I don't believe in this," said elite strength coach Charles Poliquin. "Sleep is for sleeping. As soon as you wake up for more than 3 seconds, you mess up melatonin production and melatonin is part of the hormonal cascade that builds muscle. In addition to this, the digestive system is designed to rest at night."

And what about taking a handful of amino acids before bed? Poliquin said, "A lot of people find this too stimulating and wake up in the middle of the night." Instead, the best thing you can take before bed is something that will keep your blood sugar levels steady. Casein - a slow-digesting protein - is a good choice here.

It's a blow against middle-of-the-night meals. Next, we asked Christopher Mohr, PhD, RD. "An optimal sleep schedule is more effective than disrupting sleep to gorge on a few amino acids," he said. "There is very solid data on sleep quality, hormone levels and their effects on the body. Most exercisers don't get enough quality sleep anyway, and eight hours of restorative sleep will do more for recovery and regeneration than disrupting sleep to swallow a few aminos." Okay, and what about eating before bed? "If you're really worried about this," Dr. Mohr said, "eat some cottage cheese and some raw nuts - two slow-digesting food options - as a pre-bedtime snack."

Mike Roussell, nutrition expert and PhD student in nutritional science added: "I think the effects are more minor than most people would admit." From a muscle-building perspective, you'll benefit much more from undisturbed sleep than from an amino acid boost you get from a middle-of-the-night snack. People don't usually get enough sleep anyway, so you shouldn't forcibly interrupt what little sleep you do get to get some protein. Okay, so setting your alarm for 3am to get some aminos or protein is not a good idea, but what if you wake up at night anyway because you have to go to the toilet? Can you take some "bonus nutrients" in this situation to prevent any possible catabolism?

Roussel said, "Even though the effect will probably be very small, I'm always in favor of doing a lot of little things that add up to a bigger effect. So if you're waking up at night anyway, it can't hurt to take some BCAAs or a protein shake with added leucine." Lastly, we asked Dr. Lonnie Lowery, who cautioned us that all of this is quite speculative given the lack of data obtained with healthy people training with weights. However, he noted that glucose tolerance drops at night while we sleep, so BCAAs or a small protein shake with 10 to 20 grams of protein could be beneficial when you're waking up anyway.

"This snack provides muscle-sparing amino acids that won't provide too many calories and also won't spike blood sugar levels at a time when muscles are more insulin resistant," he said. Like Poliquin, Dr. Lowery felt that some "rest" may be necessary for the digestive tract.

Conclusion: Based on these opinions, what is the final answer? Well, we always encourage experimentation as everyone reacts differently, but here is some general advice:

1. Don't purposely wake up in the middle of the night just to grab a protein shake or some BCAAs. The benefits of undisturbed sleep outweigh the benefits of late night eating.
2. If you wake up anyway because you have to go to the bathroom or let the dog out, then a small protein shake (half a scoop to a scoop of protein powder) or a serving of amino acids (e.g. BCAAs) won't hurt. Simply place a glass of water and the amino acids on your bedside table or in the bathroom. If you opt for the protein shake option, place the powder in an empty glass with a spoon. Simply add some water at night and drink the mixture. Another option is to mix a small protein shake with some ice and place it on your bedside table. However, don't do any of this if it will disturb your sleep.
3. A better method than eating in the middle of the night is to choose your last meal before bed intelligently. Consuming a casein-rich meal such as cottage cheese or a casein protein shake will prevent any potential night-time catabolism if you eat a good breakfast containing an adequate amount of protein when you wake up. (The risk of muscle catabolism usually results from skipping breakfast, not from skipping a meal at 3am. So just drink a casein protein shake with 2 scoops of casein protein powder 30 to 60 minutes before you go to bed. Mix this shake with as little water as possible so that you don't have to go to the toilet too often at night. Mixing the protein powder into a thick pudding (lots of ice, very little water) is a good idea.

Those who are dieting and strictly controlling every single calorie should have some BCAAs right before going to bed - and right after waking up in the morning. Although Poliquin says that a pre-bedtime amino acid intake might disrupt sleep, we believe that most people will have no problems with a moderate dose. Will all this lead to more muscle? Well, at least it can't hurt, as long as it doesn't interfere with sleep. But in reality, you probably won't atrophy during the night anyway.

As long as you eat a good, protein-rich breakfast when you wake up, you probably don't need to panic about nocturnal catabolism. If you really want to get pedantic about nutrient timing, then you should focus your efforts on nutrition around training. It's at these times that your diligence and consistency will have the biggest impact.

The truth about taurine in energy drinks

Taurine: It's the standard ingredient in pretty much every energy drink. But what is taurine and what does it do?

According to Wikipedia, it has not been proven that taurine provides energy. So why is it in energy drinks? There are some conspiracy theories that taurine is actually an energy robber, included for the sole purpose of causing an energy slump so you need that next Red Bull. If you look at the popularity of energy drinks, taurine might be the most widely used supplement on the planet - and yet most people don't even know why it's in most energy drinks, or what it's supposed to do for energy.

So let's find out. First, we asked Dr. Jonny Bowden. "Taurine is an important conditionally essential amino acid and its levels are definitely reduced in hard-training athletes. But the idea of adding this amino acid to a drink to give you extra energy is absolute nonsense," he said.

To dive deeper into the science, we asked Dr. Lowery our question. He noted that energy drinks containing taurine also contain other ingredients such as caffeine or even creatine and that this dilutes the research. "A Danish study review looked at nine years of research from the National Library of Medicine's database and concluded that the energy-boosting effects of most generic energy drinks are mainly based on caffeine. They concluded that the "lesser-known ingredients" of energy drinks - including taurine - need further investigation."

Dr. Lowery told us about another study published by Hoffman and colleagues in JSCR that showed an increase in total repetitions, as well as greater insulin and growth hormone release after squats, when a supplement containing taurine was consumed before exercise. But this supplement also contained creatine, BCAAs and caffeine among other ingredients. Again, no clear conclusion can be drawn. Mike Roussell added: "With all the compounds you can put in an energy drink, I'm not sure why so many companies have chosen taurine. A recent article that looked at a whole range of amino acids and their functions listed the main functions of taurine as "an antioxidant effect, a regulation of cellular redox status and an osmolytic effect". There was no mention of an energy-providing effect." And what about the conspiracy theories? Roussel said, "A 1996 study found that 6 grams of taurine per day led to lower norepinephrine excretion, which the scientists said implied a suppression of the sympathetic nervous system." Isn't that the opposite of what we are trying to achieve?

"Red Bull has been shown to improve performance and mental function, but I would say that these effects are based more on the caffeine and sugar it contains than on other ingredients."

So what is taurine good for?

Taurine is found in muscles in large quantities and it acts as an osmolyte, which means it could have cell volumizing effects similar to creatine. However, Roussel noted that if you want to spend money on supplementing with specific amino acids, you should choose leucine rather than taurine. Bottom line: Most energy drink manufacturers probably put taurine in their drinks simply because Red Bull did it first and the drink became a commercial success. When it comes to marketing, some companies prefer to be on the safe side and copy the top dog rather than develop something of their own. This is seen as a risk by many manufacturers. And even if Red Bull addicts say idiotic things like "I need my taurine in the morning", they are probably just feeling the effects of good old caffeine.

Taurine may have some benefits for some hard-training athletes or bodybuilders, but it plays a minor role compared to high-potency amino acids like L-leucine.

'Maintaining' muscle mass after a mass-building phase

Before you start a fat loss diet, you should try to maintain the weight you gained during the mass gain diet for a while so that the new muscle gains "stick". That's the advice you'll often hear on bodybuilding forums, but is there any truth in it? And is it an own goal to go on a weight loss diet practically overnight? Let's let the experts have their say.

"I don't see any efficiency in staying fat for a few weeks to 'keep muscle,'" said Mike Roussell. He added, "I'm amazed that people still believe that they will lose muscle during a fat loss plan. The field of fat loss has evolved to a point where people losing muscle while dieting is the exception and not the rule.

"If you're a reader of this site and you're still losing kilos of muscle while dieting, then you should be smacked over the head with a big laptop because you're clearly not applying what you're reading! If your fat loss program is metabolically demanding and your diet is low in carbohydrates and includes adequate amounts of protein (and only added amino acids for good measure), then you will not lose muscle while dieting - period."

Dr. Mohr agreed, noting "More important is how you lose that fat. There's no scientific evidence that muscle 'sticks' if it's been there longer. If your mass is really lean body mass and not fat, then it will stay there." And the following seems to be important: the loss of real muscle mass vs. the perceived loss of muscle mass. On a lower-carb diet, the dieter may experience a temporary loss of muscle glycogen that leads to an unsatisfactory pump in the gym, but this is not a loss of muscle mass.

Many bodybuilders also panic that they might lose some upper arm circumference when they go on a diet, but fat is also stored in the arms. If all you lose is fat, then your arms will look more muscular in the long run - always assuming there is some muscle underneath the fat. Hey, fat people have a big upper arm circumference... but they don't look like they're working out. The most important thing is not to be too swayed by the sheer numbers. A large chest is great - but not if 10 centimeters of it is a layer of fat that gives you the appearance of a saggy chest instead of powerful pecs. When discussing maintaining muscle mass, it's important to keep in mind the ratio of true lean muscle mass to fat mass.

One message we've gotten from our experts is that a fat loss diet doesn't have to result in muscle loss if it's done correctly. "Properly" means a reduction in calories, but not an insanely high reduction. It means you're still eating plenty of protein and supplementing with muscle-preserving supplements. A fat loss diet also means that you don't forget the nutrient drinks around your workout, whose additional carbohydrates will not lead to fat storage if consumed in the time frame around a training session with weights. Proper nutrition around your workout can greatly help in maintaining your muscle mass during a diet.

And what if you go from a higher calorie intake to a lower calorie intake very quickly - e.g. from a mass-building phase directly to a dieting phase? Roussell said, "In terms of going directly from a mass-building phase to a fat-loss program, I've never been a big fan of very drastic changes in calorie intake. "For example, if you eat 4000 kcal on Sunday and then start with 2000 kcal a day on Monday morning, that's stupid because you could probably start losing weight on 3250 to 3500 kcal. Change your training program so that it is metabolism based, reduce your calories a little and see what happens. If you lose fat while eating 3250 kcal per day, would you rather only eat 2000 kcal per day?" His recommendation? "Go slowly on your fat loss diet," Roussell added. "Focus on what is the highest amount of food you can eat while still losing fat, not how little you can eat without wanting to hang yourself." Dr. Mohr agrees with this slow transition approach: "Diet, but diet smart. Don't go from 5000 kcal one day to 1200 kcal the next. Sure you'll lose a lot of mass this way, but certainly not just body fat." But Dr. Lowery thinks a little differently about these issues. "The concept of a (new) body mass set point has been around for years and it's no doubt driven by genetic and hormonal factors. I wish I could say that someone should maintain their weight for X months (or years) before trying to make a dramatic change, but as far as I know there is no definitive data on the subject."

# Even though Dr. Lowery is a scientist and doesn't like to speculate without data, we asked him to do just that. His response: "I think the idea of overdoing it a bit with the mass gain cycle and then 'growing into the new weight' over several months is interesting. My own mesocycles have grown to six months for similar reasons (more complete and hopefully permanent adaptations)." "You could say the same thing about dieting." Dr. Lowery added. "Without body mass losses of over 10% (say 15 to 20 pounds), it might be best to maintain the new body weight for many months before trying to go further. This is just a pragmatic suggestion based on what I've seen in clients/patients and what I know about endocrinologic changes."

From this point on, the topic can become theoretical and controversial. Dr. Lowery noted that even the scientists disagree with each other. And this is likely based on human variability. One factor could be where you were physically when you started your mass-building phase or your fat-loss phase. "Progress during a mass-building or dieting phase might depend on your specific body composition at the beginning - not how long you maintained that state," Lowery said.

The concept of "body composition memory" - fat vs. muscle mass at the beginning of a phase of change influencing subsequent progress - has been around since at least the nineties (see research by Dulloo and Forbes) "Some scientists report that excess body fat is oxidized first during dieting (i.e. fat people lose more fat and less muscle mass than leaner people when they start dieting). This could also apply to "excess" muscle mass (i.e. people with a lot of muscle mass lose more protein than people with less muscle mass)," Lowery said.

Based on these ideas, should you go on a strict diet after a mass-building phase during which you've gained both muscle mass and body fat? "It totally depends," Lowery said. "You'd be fatter at the start of the diet, which might help, but you'd also likely have less fat-burning machinery (e.g. mitochondria)." "There are other divergent interpretations among speculative gurus who say that a dieting phase should begin in a fairly lean state. This confusion is based on genetic and hormonal differences between different people." With our heads already on the verge of bursting, we asked Dr. Lowery to get a little more specific. "I wish I could be more specific, but nutrigenomics is a reality," he replied. "Not everyone builds well or loses fat well. That's why any plan someone creates strictly based on your starting body composition is largely speculative. You have to figure out for yourself how well you respond to a mass-building plan or a diet plan and whether there should be a maintenance phase in between."

Lowery then expressed an opinion that is shared by many nutrition and hypertrophy experts: Don't get too fat during mass-building phases - especially if bodybuilding is your goal.

Summary

1. Most, but not all, experts agree that there is no reason to "hold" total body mass after a mass-building phase in order to get the new muscles to "stick". However, a slow transition to a dieting phase is better than going straight from a large calorie surplus to a large calorie deficit. Lower your calorie intake slowly
2. Your results may vary. The guy who diets down from 30% body fat to 15% body fat is less likely to lose muscle during the diet than another who diets down from 10% body fat to 6%. Similarly, the very muscular, steroid-free bodybuilder will probably need to approach fat loss more intelligently than a bodybuilder who has less muscle mass. The use of supplements such as L-Leucine will help you to ensure that your muscle mass is maintained. Try four 5 gram servings per day with meals. However, due to genetic variation, ultimately the only way to find out what works best for you is to try different strategies.
3. Don't get too fat in the first place and you don't have to worry too much about any of this. Always remember that a high calorie surplus will not help you build muscle faster than an ideal calorie intake. Such a surplus will only help you build fat and that's probably not the kind of mass you're after).

The 'energy effect' of superfoods

Superfood blends have been available on the market for some time and people report a feeling of clean energy when using these products. They would not describe this as a stimulating effect but rather a general good feeling. Certain types of superfoods may contain minimal amounts of naturally occurring caffeine, but these amounts are so small that they cannot be responsible for this feeling of energy.

So what is the cause of this? We asked the experts:

"Most of us are so lacking in nutrients that it makes sense that we feel better when we eat 'clean' foods," said Dr. Jonny Bowden. "Superfoods are really good products that contain health-promoting bioactive compounds such as anthocyanins and phenols. Feeling energized is hard to measure scientifically, but I'm not surprised when people feel better when they eat something healthy." This makes sense and perhaps we are naturally meant to feel energized and good when we are well nourished or even over nourished. Most of us don't feel that way because our diets lack these powerful foods. Lowery added that some of these superfoods contain methylxanthines, which have an energy-boosting effect. Berries and green tea, which are often included in superfood supplements, have cognitive and neural/motor benefits.

"In fact, blueberry, spinach and dried strawberry extracts have been shown to not only prevent but even reverse neuronal decline," Dr. Lowery said. "I think these factors likely have something to do with the feelings of increased energy, improved mood and enhanced cognitive function that many superfood users report."

Conclusion: Foods can have drug-like effects. Some of these effects, such as a more positive mood and mental stimulation, can be noticeable with superfoods.

By Chris Shugart
Source https://www.t-nation.com/supplements/hardball-nutrition-for-muscle