Think Muscle Newsletter #27
March 2004

ISSN: 1532-0561
19,356 opt-in subscribers

Full PDF Version: http://www.thinkmuscle.com/newsletter/027.pdf (178 kb)
Full Word Version: http://www.thinkmuscle.com/newsletter/027.doc (164 kb)

======================================================================

The Think Muscle Newsletter publishes the latest news and research on exercise physiology, dietary supplements, performance enhancement, lifestyle management, health & nutrition, and bodybuilding & fitness. The newsletter is dedicated to providing accurate and unbiased scientifically based information.

======================================================================

1) Message from the Editor in Chief

2) Pharmacological Approaches to Fat Loss: Targeting Beta-Adrenergic
Receptors by Bryan Haycock

3) Stretching the Truth: The True Benefits of Stretching by Bryan Haycock

4) Rimonabant: Diet Pill Extraordinaire by Bryan Haycock

5) Reader Survey: Give us your FeedBack!

Message from the Editor in Chief
by Bryan Haycock

We have some great announcements this month. First I want to thank my good friends Dave and Laree Draper for sharing a fantastic book with me, Dick Tyler’s new book, West Coast Bodybuilding Scene: The Golden Era. Who is this book for? Everyone who loves bodybuilding. Reading this book is like sitting down and hearing all the stories from the golden era of bodybuilding straight from the guys who lived it. In fact, that’s exactly what this book is. It is a wonderful experience and it leaves you feeling uplifted. In a day when the bodybuilding scene is full of tuff-guy attitude, competitive isolation, name calling, and poor sportsmanship, this book breathes new hope into the possibilities of what bodybuilding once was and could be again.

The book contains 160 rare and candid photos of all the big names from that era including, Arnold, big Mike Katz, Frank Zane, Dave Draper, Sergio Oliva, Steve Reeves, Reg Park, Franco Columbu, Ed Corney, Vince Gironda, Rick Wayne, Larry Scott, Bill Pearl, and many, many more. If you love bodybuilding, or are even just curious about what it used to be like before Synthol, buy this book.

Head over to DaveDraper.com and tell him “bryan” sent you. You wont be sorry.

We’ve also got a new eBook by Charles Ridgely. Charles’ previous articles have been so successful that we decided to offer an entire eBook written by Charles outlining how to set up a training routine specifically to build muscle as fast as possible. This is some GREAT info. You don’t want to miss it. The following is just a sample of what you’ll learn from the book:

• How to select the most Efficient Mass Building Exercises
• How to select the right Volume to Maximize Gains
• How to Prevent Fatigue from Destroying your Progress
• How to use a Constant Workload throughout your Entire Cycle
• How to use Drop Sets Without Reducing Volume

These are just a few of the things you will learn. There is much, much more in the information-packed eBook. It is detailed while keeping your attention. It’s scientific, yet easy to read and understand.

To learn more about Charles Ridgely’s new eBook click HERE. To learn more about the author, click HERE.

In addition to these two great books, we've got some informative content this month. I light of the FDA's recent ban on ephedra, we're reprinting the classic ThinkMuscle article, Pharmacological Approaches to Fat Loss. If you missed it the first time, be sure and read it now. This kind of straight forward information about ephedra is hard to find these days.

Do you stretch before working out? Do you stretch to prevent injury? If you said yes to either of these questions, you'll want to read, Stretching the Truth. You'll either be surprised or shocked at the results of a recent study on the benefits of stretching.

Finally we've got news of an exciting new diet drug called Rimonabant. This drug brings a brave new world that much closer. Check out Rimonabant: Diet Pill Extraordinaire for more.

If you haven't taken advantage of the sale going on for Primer and Driver, click HERE for the best prices ever on the best proteins you can buy. If you're an HSN Street Teamer click HERE for a deal that will probably not happen again due to the cost on this end. Don't miss it!

-bryan

======================================================================

Editor’s Note: So we already know that the FDA doesn’t like ephedra. Never mind the politics involved, it is simply a part of their agenda to get herbs that actually do something to our bodies off the shelves, and according to the most recent ruling posted February 6th the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids (ephedra) is officially prohibited because “such supplements present an unreasonable risk of illness or injury.” So in honor of “the end of ephedra”, I thought I would reprint the following article, “Pharmacological Approaches to Fat Loss: etc, etc” because it speaks directly at an issue that no one seems willing to talk about. And that is this, if an herbal supplement were to actually work, the FDA will pull it off the shelves because if it has a demonstrable physiological effect, it is in fact a drug. That leaves us in an industry where effective herbal supplements are illegal to sell over the counter, and those who do sell herbal supplements ensure that they don’t actually work because otherwise they would face near fatal liability risks. So without further adieu, here it is.

Pharmacological Approaches to Fat Loss: Targeting Beta-Adrenergic Receptors

by Bryan Haycock, M.Sc., CSCS

Introduction

There are dozens of products on the market that claim to be "fat burners." There is such a demand for effective supplements and drugs to "burn fat" it has driven diet drugs and supplements into a big money industry. Amidst the clamor to try the latest drug to meet FDA approval an ancient and common remedy has been widely overlooked by the general public. Bodybuilders, on the other hand, have been using it widely for some time. What is this "ancient Chinese secret"? Ephedra of course.

Ephedra has been used in China for at least two thousand years. The most familiar form of Ephedra is the Chinese herb ma huang. Its active ingredient is ephedrine. Ephedrine is an alkaloid that acts as a sympathomimetic and has thermogenic and anorectic properties. It is commonly used as a smooth muscle dilator in the treatment of asthma, bronchitis and nasal congestion. So what does this have to do with fat loss you ask? In order to properly use ephedrine as a tool for fat loss, its mechanism of action needs to be understood. Hereafter we will explore the possible mechanism of ephedrine’s thermogenic/lipolytic effects and it’s potential as a fat loss agent. Then we’ll take a look at human studies involving the use of ephedrine and a couple of additional compounds that seem to enhance ephedrine’s fat reducing properties.

As a sympathomimetic, ephedrine acts to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system. It does this by causing pre-synaptic nerve terminals to release norepinephrine, or what is commonly called noradrenaline (NA), into the synaptic space. It also has the effect of increasing circulating adrenaline (Adr), the body’s chief beta-2 agonist. Noradrenaline, once released into the synaptic space, interacts with adrenergic receptors on the surface of adipocytes (also known as plain old fat cells). This initiates a sequence of events within the adipocyte that increases lipolysis.

Click Here to Read the Full Article

======================================================================

Stretching the truth:
Can the benefits of stretching towards injury prevention be proven?

Title: The Impact of Stretching on Sports Injury Risk: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Researchers: THACKER, STEPHEN B.; GILCHRIST, JULIE; STROUP, DONNA F.; KIMSEY, C. DEXTER JR.

Institution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Source: Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 371–378, 2004.

Summary: We conducted a systematic review to assess the evidence for the effectiveness of stretching as a tool to prevent injuries in sports and to make recommendations for research and prevention.

Methods: Without language limitations, we searched electronic data bases, including MEDLINE (1966–2002), Current Contents (1997–2002), Biomedical Collection (1993–1999), the Cochrane Library, and SPORTDiscus, and then identified citations from papers retrieved and contacted experts in the field. Meta-analysis was limited to randomized trials or cohort studies for interventions that included stretching. Studies were excluded that lacked controls, in which stretching could not be assessed independently, or where studies did not include subjects in sporting or fitness activities. One author screened all articles initially. Six of 361 identified articles compared stretching with other methods to prevent injury. Data were abstracted by one author and then reviewed independently by three others. Three authors using a previously standardized instrument assessed data quality independently, and reviewers met to reconcile substantive differences in interpretation. We calculated weighted pooled odds ratios based on an intention-to-treat analysis as well as subgroup analyses by quality score and study design.

Results: Stretching was not significantly associated with a reduction in total injuries and similar findings were seen in the subgroup analyses.

Click Here to Read the Full Article

======================================================================

Rimonabant: Diet Pill Extraordinaire
It’s like willpower, but without the hassle of “self” control.

Introducing “N-piperidino-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methylpyrazole-3-carboxamide”! Or, if you have any trouble saying that three times in a row you can just call it “Rimonabant.”

On March 9^th, the French drug company Sanofi-Synthélabo, announced the early results of two Phase III studies with their new drug they call “ACOMPLIA™” (rimonabant). Rimonabant is the first in a class of drugs called Selective CB1 Blockers. They report that overweight/obese patients lost weight over 12 months while improving their lipid and glucose profiles. Not only that, but smokers who had previously unsuccessfully tried to quit smoking, were able to quit in 10 weeks without the usual post cessation weight gain. The results of both the RIO-Lipids (Rimonabant In Obesity) and STRATUS-US (STudies with Rimonabant And Tobacco USe) trials were presented for the first time at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in New Orleans, LA. Rimonabant phase III programs in obesity and smoking cessation are due to be completed at the end of 2004; the product is still non-approved for marketing.

The “CB” in CB1 stands for cannabinoid receptor type-1. This receptor is the primary receptor involved in the actions of cannabis (delta 9-THC). The cannabinoid system is involved in everything from sleep/wake cycle to sexual behavior. Not only will Rimonabant help you eat less, but it will also help you get up in the morning, stop smoking, and stop drinking. In essence, this drug takes away the brain’s “reward” after ingesting/inhaling most addictive substances (including sugary-fat) and/or behaviors.

Is this type of brave new drug good for us? I mean, is it better to use a drug to control others, and our selves, or is it better to struggle and fight until we grow stronger and are able to overcome our weaknesses?

To be honest, I used to feel that people who overate themselves into the hospital from obesity, diabetes, and related complications deserved what they got. After all, no one was forcing them to eat. They knew that they were making themselves sick by eating so much and exercising so little. Over the years however, I have had a change of heart.

After working with thousands of individuals to help them improve their health, whether it was by eating better, exercising, or using medications to lose weight, I have gotten to the point where it just seems better for some people to staple their stomachs or take mind altering drugs to get them to stop eating so much. After all, I’ve seen many obese people spend a great deal of time and money on the best trainers and dietitians and still not overcome their devastating eating habits. In the end, what does it accomplish to keep throwing “self control” at them when it obviously doesn’t work? After 10 years of struggling I would say nothing.

Write in and tell me what you think of the ever-increasing trend towards the use of medications to control our own behavior. I’ll share some of your responses to this question in the next newsletter. So if there is something you want a lot of people to hear, write to me at (bryan at hsnhst dot com). Sorry I can’t just write it out but the SPAM bots sniff out email addresses from the website and bombard me with junk ...

Until next time, be healthy and be happy.

-bryan

======================================================================

Reader Survey

Tell us what you Think?

1. Message from the Editor in Chief
• [  ] It was good.
• [  ] It was okay.
• [  ] I didn't like it.
• [  ] I'm not interested.
2. Pharmacological Approaches to Fat Loss: Targeting Beta-Adrenergic Receptors
• [  ] It was good.
• [  ] It was okay.
• [  ] I didn't like it.
• [  ] I'm not interested.
3. Stretching the Truth: The True Benefits of Stretching
• [  ] It was good.
• [  ] It was okay.
• [  ] I didn't like it.
• [  ] I'm not interested.
4. Rimonabant: Diet Pill Extraordinaire by Bryan Haycock
• [  ] It was good.
• [  ] It was okay.
• [  ] I didn't like it.
• [  ] I'm not interested.
5. What type of articles would you like to see in the future? (Check all that apply.)
• [  ] Anabolic Steroids and Pharmaceuticals
• [  ] Anti-aging medicine
• [  ] Body Transformation
• [  ] Children's Health and Nutrition
• [  ] Competitive Bodybuilding
• [  ] Diet and Nutrition Reviews
• [  ] Dietary Supplements
• [  ] Exercise Physiology
• [  ] Fitness Competitions
• [  ] Fitness Psychology
• [  ] General Health Topics
• [  ] Lifestyle Management
• [  ] Men's Health
• [  ] Powerlifting
• [  ] Seniors Health Topics
• [  ] Sports Specific Training
• [  ] Women's Health and Nutrition

======================================================================

I hope you have enjoyed the latest issue of the Think Muscle Newsletter.
Suggestions? Comments? Questions? I’d love to hear them!

Best regards,

-bryan

www.thinkmuscle.com