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Think Muscle Newsletter #18March 14, 2002
Message from Think MuscleIntroducing the launch of the official Hypertrophy-Specific website! Bryan Haycock, editor in chief of ThinkMuscle, author and founder of the Hypertrophy-Specific Training (HST) method and Hypertrophy-Specific Nutrition (HSN), now has a new website up to be a home for HST and HSN. This is the culmination of Bryan's years in the industry and culture/sport of bodybuilding. Bryan began lifting weights in 1978. Over the last 23 years he has incorporated his passion for bodybuilding into his education as a physiologist and career as a writer and consultant for the sport supplement industry. In 1998 Bryan was invited to write and work as editor-in-chief for the online magazine Mesomorphosis, founded by Millard Baker. The magazine experienced rapid growth in popularity and set a new standard for scientific accuracy in fitness publications. In July 2000, Mesomorphosis was replaced by ThinkMuscle. ThinkMuscle began offering a newsletter that, through word of mouth, has grown to nearly 25,000 enthusiastic subscribers in only two years. With Bryan in the editorial driver's seat, ThinkMuscle has grown to world-renowned status. In 2001 EAS™, the second largest sports supplement company in the industry declared ThinkMuscle as "one of the great destination sites of the industry² and advised readers to be able to recognize the name "Bryan Haycock" as he "produce[s] some of the best information this industry has to offer." Currently, nearly 2,000 new subscribers sign up for the newsletter each month. In October of 2000, Bryan wrote a short unassuming article describing a method of training that research had indicated would lead to the greatest degree of muscle growth. He called it Hypertrophy-Specific Training. Although he and his clients had been using this method for sometime, he had never shared it publicly. Slowly, after publishing the article in the ThinkMuscle newsletter, people began to apply HST to their own training, and the mail started flooding in. In late 2001, frustrated with currently available supplements, Bryan recognized the opportunity to better meet the needs of his peers working professionally in the health/fitness industry by creating a line of ultra high quality products that could be used by him and other professionals. Seeing the consumers' growing distrust of supplement companies and their aggressive marketing, he decided to extend the availability of his exclusive line to ThinkMuscle readers. www.Hypertrophy-Specific.com will allow Bryan to discuss HST and HSN freely without threatening the unbiased nature of ThinkMuscle and the newsletter. Protein, Part 1 by Lyle McDonaldIf you ask 10 bodybuilders what the most important nutrient is for putting on muscle, you will most likely get 10 identical answers (a rarity in sports nutrition). That answer is, of course: PROTEIN! Every bodybuilder knows that, no matter what else you do, if you aren't getting enough protein, you won't grow. Unfortunately, the obsession that bodybuilders have with protein has made them susceptible to all kinds of marketing hype. Whether it involves protein intake, quality, type, form, etc., marketing types know how to push a bodybuilder's buttons when it comes to protein. If you want to sell a lot of protein powder, just throw around terms like 'nitrogen balance/retention', 'biological value' or 'anti-catabolic' and the money will start rolling in. If you want to scare bodybuilders into listening to you, start talking about amino acid oxidation (burning) with high protein intakes and how 'horrible' it is (too bad sarcasm doesn’t carry to the written word). Then move in for the kill and sell them your product. Like most aspects of bodybuilding (and the supplement industry in general), the issue of protein is driven more by marketing hype than physiological reality. The purpose of this article series is to address some technical issues regarding protein and to clear up some of the major misconceptions that currently exist. Although some of the information is decidedly technical, I will try to avoid unnecessarily nasty details as much as possible. This first part will deal primarily with some definitions and technical background, so that later information will make more sense. In part 2, protein quality as well as a simplified model of amino acid metabolism will be developed. This will help readers to understand the discussion of adaptation to both high and low protein intake, as well as varying calorie levels. Although a discussion of every amino acid is beyond the scope of this article series, specific amino acids such as glutamine, leucine and alanine will be discussed as necessary. Full text: http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/mcdonald/protein-01.htm Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition to Maximize the Training Effect by Bryan HaycockWhen implemented properly and consistently, strategic pre- and post-workout supplementation can greatly increase the effectiveness of your training. Without optimum nutritional strategies, the body's response to training can only be considered a compromise at best. From this perspective, training and diet can not be considered as separate factors. The food and supplements that you take, and the work that you faithfully perform in the gym, are both part of your training. On the day of competition it will not be the athlete who trained harder who wins, it will be the athlete who trained smarter. Exercise causes acute changes in the metabolic environment of muscle tissue. First there is a significant increase in blood flow to working muscles. There is also a sharp increase in catecholamines (e.g. noradrenalin, adrenalin). These changes favor catabolism during exercise, and anabolism immediately after exercise. Because these changes are acute, some lasting only a few hours, the pre and post exercise meals are critical to optimizing the anabolic effect of exercise. This article will discuss pre- and post-exercise nutritional strategies based on current research in this area. Full text: http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/haycock/hsn-01.htm Supplement Fact & Fiction: Tribulus Terrestris by Bryan HaycockI first read of a tribulus terrestris product called Tribestan®, which I believe was the first tribulus terrestris product marketed to the public, in Dan Duchaine’s Underground Steroid Handbook. Since that time I have accumulated mostly second hand accounts of how, and how well, it works. Tribulus is an herbal supplement used since the late 70's in Eastern Europe. It’s purported effects include increased luteinizing hormone release and thus testosterone production, increased sperm production, increased ejaculatory volume, and increased libido. In young patients with a condition known as hypogonadism, an increase in pubic hair has also been observed. All of these effects make tribulus an interesting supplement indeed. Full text: http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/haycock/tribulus-terrestris.htm |
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