If you’ve never heard of mTOR (and even if you have), listen up as this is one of the most under-rated anabolic pathways to increase protein synthesis. And chances are you’re not even coming close to maximizing its enormous potential. mTOR (Mammalian Target of Rapamycin) is a large proline-directed serine-threonine protein kinase that’s responsible for a wide range of physiologic and metabolic functions in several cell types, including both fat cells and muscle cells. Among its many roles, mTOR is responsible for hypertrophic growth (an increase in muscle cell size), protein synthesis and tissue morphogenesis.

A wide range of data have suggested that amino acids are capable of directly regulating mTOR signaling pathways in skeletal muscle including the possibility that they activate some of the cell signaling elements upstream from mTOR in the insulin/growth factor signaling pathway. Of the amino acids which can have this effect BCAA’s are the most effective with L-Leucine being at the top of the list. In practical terms taking in BCAA’s before or during a workout can speed recovery and build muscle.

The name of the game in pre-workout products seems to be stimulants and more of them. But can too much be a bad thing? This depends on the person and you need to monitor how you feel both during your workouts as well as throughout the day. If you are feeling chronically tired, having mood swings, or a reduction in sex drive you may want to consider adjusting the dose of stimulants you are consuming. The main culprit for the negative effects is geranium extract which is listed in many products as 1,3-dimethylamylamine. Don’t misunderstand me; I am not saying this ingredient doesn’t work or that it doesn’t have its place. I have personally had some great workouts while using it. I am just trying to make the end user aware of some of the potential negative effects which may be experienced by some people. If you have experiencing any of these problems we recommend taking 2-3 days off and getting some extra sleep and then starting back up with a pre-workout that is using caffeine rather then geranium (1,3-dimethylamylamine). Also keep in mind that because these products are allowing you to train harder you may need more days off and possibly extra sleep to recover. It only makes sense that if you are taxing your body to a greater extent that recovery becomes that much more important. You should also be taking a good post workout recovery product like AfterGlow.

Proteins provide the body critical amino acids that serve as building blocks for the formation of new muscle. But not all dietary proteins are equal. The major proteins in milk are casein and whey. These two milk proteins are both excellent sources of all the essential amino acids, but they differ in one important aspect-whey is a fast-digesting protein and casein is a slow-digesting protein.

Whey stimulates protein synthesis
Fast-digesting whey means it is emptied from the stomach quickly, resulting in a rapid and large increase in plasma amino acids. This translates into a quick but transient increase in protein synthesis, while protein breakdown is not affected. Whey also has higher levels of leucine, a potent amino acid that stimulates protein synthesis. Whey protein is superior at augmenting protein synthesis rapidly, but this positive effect is short-lived. Consuming repeated doses of whey allows for sustained high levels of blood amino acids and repeated bursts of protein synthesis that provide superior effects on muscle protein balance.

Casein offers a positive protein balance
Casein is the most abundant protein in milk. It is relatively insoluble and tends to form structures called micelles that increase solubility in water. During the processing of milk, which usually involves heat or acid, the casein peptides and micelle structure become disturbed or denatured to form simpler structures. As a result, a gelatinous material is formed. This is the basis for why casein has a slower rate of digestion, and results in a slow but steady release of amino acids into circulation.

In one study, researchers gave healthy subjects 30 grams of either whey protein or casein protein and made several measures of the anabolic and catabolic effect for 7 hours after the meal. Whey protein resulted in a rapid increase in blood amino acids and protein synthesis, but it was short-lived. Casein, on the other hand, resulted in a prolonged increase in blood amino acids that resulted in a 34% reduction in protein breakdown. The net protein balance remained more positive after intake of casein protein over a 7-hour period. The superior long-lasting effect of casein was attributed to a delayed gastric emptying and slower absorption rate from the gastrointestinal tract to the blood.

Whey and casein are better together
Since whey rapidly increases protein synthesis and casein blocks protein breakdown, a combination of both would be ideal.

A recent study compared the effects of supplementing with either a combination whey and casein protein versus carbohydrate on several markers of muscle anabolism during strength training. Untrained men participated in a 10-week resistance training program and either supplemented with 40 grams of carbohydrate or 40 grams of protein containing a mixture of whey and casein. Half of the supplements were consumed one hour before and then immediately after exercise on workout days. The results were overwhelmingly positive for the combination protein group. Despite similar background diets and identical training programs, supplementation with protein resulted in greater increases in several measures of muscle anabolism, including greater increases in lean muscle mass, thigh muscle mass, muscle strength, anabolic hormones and muscle specific proteins.

In a similar study that lasted 14 weeks, untrained men performed resistance training and received either 25 grams of carbohydrate or 25 grams of a combination whey and casein protein one hour before and immediately after exercise. The combination protein group had significantly greater increases in muscle fiber size compared to the carbohydrate group. These studies provide strong evidence that a combination protein consumed before and after workouts increases muscle size.

Renowned muscle researcher Dr. Bill Kraemer has published a handful of excellent studies showing that the acetylated form of L-Carnitine increases androgen receptor content following whole-body resistance training workouts.

Kraemer showed that 21 days of supplementation with acetyl-L-carnitine led to a significant increase in the androgen-receptor content of the vastus lateralis muscle in the thigh. (The vastus lateralis is the traditional spot from which to take muscle biopsies and if the number of androgen receptors increased there, they increased in all muscles.)

Additionally, Kraemer noted that the athletes’ blood levels of Testosterone plummeted after a workout. While that initially sounds like a bad thing, it’s not. Instead, it shows that something good happened.

Since the “roads” (blood vessels) had less Testosterone flowing through them, it meant that Testosterone had pulled off the road and “parked” in the new Testosterone receptors found on the acetyl-L-carnitine user’s muscle.

Since there were more parking spots for Testosterone to park, it leads to more protein synthesis, which literally means more muscle.

Furthermore, the temporarily low level of free Testosterone in the blood stream tells the brain (the pituitary-gonadal axis), through negative feedback, that it needs to start producing even more Testosterone.

Look for Acetyl-L-Carnitine in ANS TNT.

Taking protein before working out has become more popular as it has been shown to increase protein synthesis which has been assumed will lead to increases in strength and muscle gains.  The research on this is mixed in that it does show some increase in protein synthesis but that has not equated to long term gains in lean muscle or strength.

I am not a big fan of protein pre-workout due to the water costs of digesting protein.  It takes a considerable amount of water to digest protein and research has shown that increases in protein can lead to dehydration.  Even very mild dehydration can lead to significant decreases in athletic performance.  You can very easily negate any increases in protein synthesis by losses in performance due to mild dehydration.

Any easy solution is to consume a BCAA product like Intek’s BCAA Evolution prior to your workout rather than a whole protein.  A BCAA product will provide the benefits you would get if you consumed a whole protein (increase in protein synthesis) but will not lead to dehydration and loss of performance.

A Pre-Workout for Enhanced Performance

Powerful results can be achieved with proper pre-workout performance enhancement. That’s why Muscle Sport Mass Revolution is designed to promote muscular pumps that lead to gains in performance.  It’s designed to increase your time to exhaustion and support the oxygen needs of your muscles.  Mass Revolution provides support to absorb, force, and squeeze more oxygen, more glycogen, more electrolytes, more carnosine, more nitrogen, more muscle building nutrients, and more creatine, into the muscle cell.

The Hollow Pump

Every day athletes take pre-workout formulas and other nitric oxide containing supplements in an effort to achieve better pumps during their strength training workouts. Since the achievement of a pump is thought to coincide with the conditions required to stimulate muscle hypertrophy, these products are expected to enhance the gains in muscle mass and performance normally expected from working out.  At first glance, these supplements appear to succeed: Following consumption they often cause your muscles to volumize or swell to a greater extent as you proceed from one set to the next. Some products manage to produce this effect within as little as 30-60 minutes of the first serving. But all too often a closer examination reveals that something is missing as pre-workout users frequently report experiencing little or no increases in muscle size or strength after days, weeks or even months of consuming them. It’s as if any additional pump produced by these products is not a real pump, but rather a hollow pump lacking any real muscle building results or performance enhancement.

The Reason

It’s called the “Hollow Pump”, and many theories have been proposed to explain it. Perhaps the most popular among them is the idea that certain ingredients common to pre-training and other nitric oxide-containing formulas, including certain forms of creatine, cause water to be retained not only inside muscle cells (i.e. in the intracellular space, where it can promote anabolism), but also within the space between cells (i.e. the extracellular space). This presents a problem, since an excess of water and sodium retention in the extracellular space is associated with an anti-anabolic state, muscle atrophy and a loss of muscle definition and hardness -all of which is the very opposite of what an athlete needs and wants.

The other major problem with most pre-workouts is that they are loaded with stimulants like caffeine and geranium and not much else.  Take the popular Jack3D which based off of its proprietary blend has a gram or less of each of its active ingredients.  So the only ingredients that are in effective doses are stimulants.  You have a situation where companies are putting doses of the active muscle building ingredients like creatine, arginine, beta alanine, etc. in doses too small to be effective.

The Pre-Workout Solution

The solution is simple but most companies won’t do it because it is much cheaper to load a product with stimulants rather than with the more expensive muscle building ingredients.

Mass Revolution is not the strongest product for producing a stimulant effect but it just may be the most effective performance pre-workout on the market.  If you are looking for strength, size and improved athletic performance this is the product for you.

The reason Mass Revolution is so effective is very simple all you have to do is look at the label and you will find significant doses of each of the active muscle building ingredients.  You get five grams of creatine, six of arginine, two of beta alanine, two of GPLC, one of Agmatine and the list goes on.  Notice again how each of these doses are the effective doses of real strength building ingredients.<–>

Building muscle requires that you feed your body properly.  Proper training stimulus and proper nutrition will ensure you maximize strength and muscle building.  Below is a simple nutritional strategy that can help add muscle while minimizing any gains in body fat.

This mixture should be consumed 1-3 times per day

Optimum Health Mass 600 1 ½ scoops

Mixed with ¾ scoop of Intek Evolution protein

Consume 4 times per day

1 BioRhythm Olio or Intek CLA

Consume once per day

½ scoop of ANS Diesel Fuel creatine

In determining how many times per day to consume the Mass 600 and Protein mixture you should take into consideration your goals and your body type.  If you are a person who gains weight easily consume fewer servings.  If you are more of a “hard gainer” than you will need to consume more servings to see results.

This protocol is designed to produce gradual consistent gains in lean mass without causing gains in body fat.

Researchers wanted to look into the combined effects of CLA, creatine, and whey protein supplementation during strength training. Sixty-nine participants were split into three groups: the 6g CLA + 9g creatine (yes, a pretty high daily dose) + 36g whey group (CCP), the 9g creatine + 36g whey + placebo oil group (CP), and the 36g whey + placebo oil (P). All groups lifted weights for six days per week for five weeks. The results are somewhat surprising. The bench press of the CCP group increased almost twice as much as the CP group, as did the leg press (although the increases themselves weren’t mind-blowing). While all groups added muscle, the CCP group had greater increases than both the CP and P groups. This study echoes the results found by Tarnopolsky M et al in 2007 who found that CLA and creatine improved strength and body composition in the elderly.

Conclusion:  Adding CLA to into a supplement regimen that includes creatine and whey protein can help increase lean mass and strength.

D Aspartic Acid has been shown in human studies to increase testosterone by 42% in as little as 12 days.  D Aspartic Acid has potential for use in a several different ways.  Older men can use it to bring testosterone levels up to levels they had when they where younger.  Both younger and older individuals can use it to help build muscle and get leaner (testosterone will help with both).  And it can be used as a component of post cycle therapy to help get testosterone levels back on track.

D-aspartic acid is an amino acid present in the neuroendocrine tissues of humans, playing a role in the synthesis of both LH (luteinizing hormone) and testosterone. LH, of course, is secreted causing a subsequent release of testosterone from the testes. D-aspartic acid is synthesized when aspartate racemase converts L-aspartic acid into D-aspartic acid. This conversion occurs in the testes as well as other tissues throughout the human body. Supplementation with 3 grams (3,000mgs) per day, orally, resulted in a 42% testosterone increase while raising LH by 33%.

Look for this compound in two new products from Muscle Sport International.  One product will be a protein containing the researched amount of D-Aspartic Acid.  The other will be a capsule delivery system.

Muscle Building Simplified

The key to building muscle is progressive overload which simply means continually applying more stress to the muscle.  In practical terms this means continuing to lift heavier weight each time you go to the gym.  The difficult part is making that happen.  Most people make progress for awhile and then hit plateaus or sticking points.  Good supplement choices should help you make it through these sticking points or even avoid them all together.  There are a couple products that are a must in order to maximize your results. 

1)    In order to grow you must feed your muscle.  Protein is just that, the food for muscle tissue to repair and grow.  Post workout try something like After Glow and to ensure you take in enough protein throughout the day use a blended protein like Intek Evolution Protein.

2)    Workout intensity is also a must and that’s why pre-workouts where invented.  A pre-workout will give you the energy and mindset to make sure each and every workout is productive.  We recommend Juice or Lean Revolution for two of the best pre-workouts available.  If you haven’t had a chance to try one ask us for a free sample.

3)    Handling more reps and more weight means greater strength and more muscle.  This is what creatine is designed to help with.  Creatine works via a couple pathways (depending on the product) and a good one will have you setting personal bests in your favorite lifts.  In this category ANS Diesel Fuel is head and shoulders above the rest.  Anyone who has tried it can attest to the significant results it provides.

4)    Testosterone reigns supreme as a muscle building hormone.  Several products on market can optimize you body’s production of it making it easier to get stronger and build muscle.  Quality products include Test Revolution, Natural Test and TNT.

There are a numerous other products that can help the muscle building process but these are some of the most important.

Pre-Workouts for Energy and Performance
Most people judge their pre-workout based off of how much energy it provides.  Don’t get me wrong I love the energy feel but don’t short change your results by using energy as your only point of evaluation.  A good pre-workout should be designed for four key components.

1)    Energy

2)    Cellular Energy – allows the body to push more weight

3)    Fatigue Buffering – extends time muscle is under tension

4)    Pump (Enhanced Cellular Storage Capacity)

Diesel Fuel

When you step outside of the hormone category Diesel Fuel is probably the most effective muscle and strength building product on the shelf.  In a sense you are combining three potent muscle building pathways in one product. 

1)            Cell Volumization

Diesel Fuel stretches the muscle cell allowing it to super hydrate while at the same time turning on protein synthesis.  The result is quick gains in strength and over time muscle hypertrophy or size gains.

2)            Enhanced ATP Production

Progress in the gym is all about muscle overload.  Being able to hand more weight and more repetitions leads to improved strength and size gains.  ATP is the energy substrate that allows your muscle to do work.  Having more of it allows them to do more work.

3)            Insulin response and Glycogen storage

Diesel Fuel enhances cellular storage capacity for glycogen and by doing so creates an anabolic environment which is beneficial for muscle growth.  It is designed to drive fluids, amino acids, and energy specific nutrients into the muscle cell.

Weight Gainers
The idea behind a weight gainer or high calorie meal replacement is to help the end user take in more quality calories and protein to encourage greater strength and muscle growth.  Be careful when you choose one of these products as the one with the most calories is typically not the best product.  If total calories where the only consideration in what you consume on a weight gaining diet than you would eat all your meals at fast food restaurants.  Quality is just as and probably more important than total calories.  Think about this, would your body function better on steak, potatoes and greens or KFC.

We typically find that most hard gainers have the most success with Optimum Health’s Mass 600.  Not only does it pack 600 calories per serving but it does so by using high quality whey isolates and casein proteins.  It also uses complex carbohydrates and essential fats derived from flax oil.  Muscle is gained when the body is fed with high quality nutrients; unfortunately most people with low quality weight gainers just end up getting fat.