Which protein works best at building muscle? The answer will SHOCK YOU!

If you follow popular bodybuilding advice you’ve probably heard that different types of protein powders are consumed at different times for different reasons.

For example, “Casein Protein” (a very slow digesting protein) isn’t as bio-available to your muscle.

But because casein forms a solid “clot” in your stomach, it’s digested and absorbed very slowly, reportedly helping to prevent muscle breakdown over a longer period of time.

This is said to be especially effective for “hardgainers” whose metabolism may shoot right through more powerful proteins.

On the flip side, powders like “Whey Protein Isolate” are easily soaked up by your muscles but are said to best be used for times immediately after your workout.

The advantage is that you fast track the aminos to your muscles…downside has always been that it doesn’t “last” as long in your body and leaves your muscles “high and dry” unless you constantly refill your body’s amino acid reserves.

Well, it may be time to forget EVERYTHING you’ve been told!

The absolute highest bio-available protein is “Whey protein hydrolysate” and it’s like crack cocaine to your muscles because it’s digested and absorbed faster than any other protein source.

For 99.9% of the “experts” out there, that would mean you should ONLY use it IMMEDIATELY after your workout.

But a study out of the Copenhagen (Denmark) Muscle Research Center may reveal a shocking insight…

Researchers discovered that out of all of the proteins, whey protein hydrolysate not only had the highest availability of amino acids (meaning your body uses more of what you ingest)…

…but it ALSO had the highest availability of amino acids during the entire 3 HOURS after consumption!

That would make whey hydrolysate the KING of all proteins when it comes to muscle building!

Now, I’ve recently been experimenting with this new discovery.

Specifically, I’ve been working on my own “homemade” formula for an upcoming update to my popular program “Homemade Supplement Secrets” (www.HomemadeSupplements.com)

Here’s what I’ve found from my current experiments:

1.  My muscle growth has increased by about 20% while only using hydrolysate 3 times a day when compared with the same 6-week mass-gaining cycle using casein protein.

(Note:  I was using my Optimum Anabolics program for this test (www.OptimumAnabolics.com) and based it upon a 3-week “Progressive Load Cycle” followed by a 3-week “Hyper-Adaptive” cycle)

2.  The whey hydrolysate powder is a bit more expensive than casein and WAY more expensive than concentrate or isolate.

(I bought 25 lbs for $239 at allthewhey.com compated with $151 for whey concentrate)

3.  The powder “cakes up” much more in protein drinks and tastes almost like “plastic”…”2 Stars” on the flavor rating.

The Muscle Nerd Analysis?

20% could mean a lot more muscle for you, especially if you’re a more advanced lifter and have to fight to push your genetics further and further.

If that’s YOU, then you may want to test your own results with hydrolysate.

But for value, or if you’re not as serious a lifter, I’d say stick with whey protein isolate as it has excellent bioavailability and works well for 95% of the “Average Joe’s” out there.

Don’t be a victim to “weak genetics”! Here’s a simple way to defeat the “hardgainer” curse!

Are you a “hardgainer”?

You know…someone who is reeeeeally skinny and has a hard time putting on muscle mass?

If so, then this hardgainer bodybuilding tip is just for YOU!

The “Hargainer Problem” (well…ONE of them!)

There’s no doubt that “hardgainers” have the odds stacked against them!

And one of the big problems they have is that the don’t have a hormone system that processes the “test0sterone chain” as efficiently as other guys.

Sucks, doesn’t it?!

But here’s a little trick you can try that is guaranteed to kickstart some new gains…

How To Boost Testosterone For More Muscle Mass…

Ok, here’s what you do…

For ONE WEEK, before each of your workouts (no matter which body part you’re targeting)…

…do 3 SETS of high volume SQUATS!

I know, I know…you hate doing squats period, right?

But especially for scrawny hardgainers (yeah…you women too!), squats are the “King” of all mass building exercises because they use more total muscle fibers than any other exercise.

Here’s Why This Works…

By starting your workout with 3 sets of squats (shoot for high reps…like 15-20), you jumpstart your endocrine system to kick up the production of anabolic hormones like testosterone.

Plus…using a higher volume rather than lower, you also stimulate the release of more human growth hormone that stimulates muscle growth.

Do this 3 TIMES a week and then move on to the rest of your workout (such as your chest, shoulders, etc.)

Repeat this trick any time you feel like your gains have plateaued and the flood of healthy, mass-building hormones will benefit your entire body to slather your scrawny frame with layers of muscle in no time!

What I am about to tell you is not going to make me a very popular person with many supplement manufacturers. In fact, some of them are going to be down right pissed off at me. On the other hand, some of them are going to be happy someone spilled the beans and told the truth. Finally, some of them will be totally unaware of this information and will be shocked when they read it. Basically, I fully expect this article to cause a sh*% storm that will reverberate throughout the supplement industry.

The only people who I know are going to be happy about this article is the consumer, but I am getting ahead of myself. As we all know, creatine is one of the best bodybuilding supplements ever discovered. It increases strength, lean body mass, and, to a lesser extent, endurance. If that were not enough, it’s relatively cheap to boot! What more could we ask for from a supplement? When creatine was first introduced it was sort of pricey, but no one really cared because it worked so well. As time went on and more companies began selling creatine, the inevitable price war began and prices came down.

At that point creatine was only being produced by a few companies, so creatine was basically creatine and the price was the only real consideration. As is typical of the market place, once creatine became big business, several new manufacturers popped up and it became no longer a price war as much as a quality war. The expression “creatine is creatine” no longer holds true. More on that shortly.

At this time there are probably four-five companies large enough to mass produce creatine for the sports nutrition market. These companies in turn sell their product in huge bulk amounts to various distributors around the world. As far as the mass producers are concerned, there is a large German company, two companies out of China, and two in the United States. Though there are various other companies, for this article we will basically concern ourselves with these five major producers which probably comprise 80-90% of the creatine production market.

Why I had to write this article

The supplement industry in the United States is by and large a self-regulated industry. Unlike other countries, we (the USA) don’t have government constantly telling us what we can and cannot do with our supplements. Though they have been trying to discredit supplements for decades, the FDA and pharmaceutical/ medical industrial complex have largely failed to do so. As a self-regulated industry, we must do just that. Let me state here and now, I am all for self-regulation and totally against government regulation when it comes to supplements. When we find gross problems, we have to expose them no matter what the cost. Any supplement that is found to be potentially dangerous, terribly misleading, or otherwise a total scam, must be exposed as such.

If we don’t do it, then we allow the “powers that be” (who have an interest in discrediting the supplement industry) to get one step closer to the Orwellian scenario of other countries. I thought long and hard as to whether or not I should write this article, but in the end, as a person of good conscience and ethics, I knew I had to. In the end, it will cost the entire supplement industry far more than any one loss could ever cost a single company if problems with a certain product are not exposed.

As far as I am concerned, this is us airing out or own dirty inter-industry laundry and policing our own, instead of waiting for the “don’t confuse us with the facts” popular media or other groups to come after the supplement industry. I know it must sound like I am almost apologizing for writing this article, and in a way I am. It could potentially cost certain people a great deal of money. On the other hand, it could also make some other person a great deal of money, depending on where they fall (this will make more sense to the reader as you read along). In the end, the truth can never been denied, it can only be delayed. With each day of delay, the cost to everyone goes up. Nuff said.

Are you getting more than you paid for?

Most of us are always happy when we get more than we paid for, but in some instances, it’s not such a good idea. If we are buying say vitamin C and the label says “500mg per capsule” and laboratory analysis reveals it contains 600mg, then that is a great thing. However, if we test a product and not only does it contain what the label claims, but several other compounds we did not know were in there and had no place being in there, then that’s a completely different story. For example, when the amino acid L-Tryptophan was taken off the market for the death of several people, it was not because of the L-Tryptophan itself, but because of a chemical contaminant found in a batch of the L-tryptophan that was not supposed to be there. This was a perfect example of getting more than you paid for in the worst possible scenario. What I am going to write about in this article certainly is not as bad as the L-tryptophan fiasco, but it could be a potential health concern.

So after that long, cryptic, and bizarre introduction, what am I getting at? Recently, a company tested the five largest creatine manufacturers products and tested the products of various distributors from the USA, Germany, Great Britain, and other countries. At this time, the company who did the testing wishes to remain anonymous, lest they be accused of throwing stones at the supplement industry. However, this is a very large and reputable company and they stand behind their test results.

Also, I know this company to be one of the worlds most reputable companies, so I had no problems with their testing results or methods. The test results came to me through the back door so to speak. So what was tested for and what did it reveal? The creatine products were tested for: Dicyandiamide, Creatinine, Dihydrotriazine, and sodium content. What did the tests reveal? It revealed that there is a wide range of differences between creatine products from different manufacturers. The purity level of all the creatine products were also tested and they generally fell between 88 and 92%. Now before you go off yelling “but my creatine says 99% pure creatine monohydrate on the bottle,” you have to remember there is a small amount of water in creatine monohydrate.

Before we bother with the results, we need to take a look at the chemicals that were tested for-and subsequently found- in these samples. What really bothered me was the fact that there is little safety research on some of these chemicals, most notably the dihydrotriazine. I did Med-line searches, looked through various chemical data related books (i.e. the Merck Index and other publications), made many phone calls to chemists, spent hours on the internet, and was amazed to find so little real safety data on some of these materials.

Considering the fact that some creatine products contain fairly high amounts of these chemicals, the lack of solid safety data did not make me feel very comfortable. The major point of this is really the amount of creatine ingested in relation to the amount of contaminant present. It’s not that a compound has a small amount of some contaminant per se, but the levels of the contaminant is found in relation to how much of the product is consumed is the real question. In the December issue of Health and Nutrition Breakthroughs (p12, 1997) Dr. Podell addressed the same concern regarding creatine as I have when he stated “…there is the potentially important issue of product purity. Given the high doses of creatine most people take, even a minute toxic impurity could have a dangerous effect. Unfortunately we cannot be sure of a manufacturers’ quality controls.”

As we all know, people don’t just take 500mg (1/2 a gram) of creatine, they take 10,000mg (10g), 20,000mg (20g), or even 30,000mg (30g) of creatine per day, so even a small amount of a contaminant (such as the dihydrotriazine) can add up quickly. For example, one creatine product contained as much as 18,000 parts per million (PPM) of Dicyandiamide. If a person is taking in ten grams per day of creatine, that’s 180 mg of this chemical a day. If you are taking in 30g a day of creatine-as is often the case during the loading phase-you would be getting a whopping 540mg a day of dicyandiamide!

The Chemicals

Dicyandiamide (DC): DC is actually a derivative of one of the starting chemicals (cyanamide) used in creatine production. DC is formed during the production of creatine products, and large amounts found in a product are considered the result of an incomplete or inefficient process. A quality creatine product will contain very small amounts, less than 20-50ppm. At this time, DC does not appear to be a particularly toxic chemical. Oral studies with animals (rats and dogs) lasting up to 90 days have not shown serious toxicity or carcinogenic effects, and acute poisoning also takes very high amounts. DC appears to have many uses in the chemical industry. Some of the more interesting is the use of DC in the production of fertilizers, explosives, fire proofing compounds, cleaning compounds, soldering compounds, stabilizer in detergents, modifier for starch products, and a catalyst for epoxy resins.

At the concentrations found in some of the creatine products (see below), it’s a good thing this stuff does not appear to be particularly toxic. However, as far as I am concerned, I don’t want to be eating the stuff. One interesting point as it relates to DC and toxicity is, if one looks at the safety sheet on the stuff it states that DC breaks down into hydrogen cyanide gas when exposed to a strong acid. Hydrogen cyanide gas is very toxic and has been used as a chemical warfare agent! As Bruce Kneller points out (see side bar), stomach acid, which has a PH of 2, is a very strong acid. Is even a tiny amount of hydrogen cyanide gas produced from the intake of large amounts of DC? The chemist I spoke to did not seem to think so and the safety data with animals would tend to support this, but who knows. Bruce might be overreacting a bit on this, but it’s better to lean on the cautious side with such things. Bottom line, it’s best not to be eating large amounts of DC in this writer’s opinion.

Dihydrotriazine (DT): DT appears to be the real mystery chemical as far as potentially toxic contaminants found in some creatine products. One company had it listed as “…Dihydrotriazine is often found in various creatine products. This substance is a byproduct of non-optimized creatine productions and consequently widely spread over creatine products. Dihydrotriazine is a compound with unknown pharmaceutical and toxicological properties.” It was virtually impossible to find any useful safety data on this chemical.

However, DT is part of a large family of chemicals known as the “triazines.” It is an organic base with many derivatives. Some of these derivatives are toxic while others are known to be non-toxic, so it is very difficult to come to any real solid opinion regarding the potential toxicity of this chemical. One chemist I spoke to from a major pharmaceutical supply company said to me on the phone “it’s safe to say that there will be major differences in toxicity between derivatives since ‘triazine’ simply means possessing three C=N-H groups. Some derivatives are highly toxic.”

Bill Roberts, a medicinal Chemist and writer for Dan Duchaine’s Dirty Dieting news letter commented after I sent him over this information: “There really is no way to say just how high a chronic intake of this chemical [these chemicals] is safe in humans from the information given. If the amounts were very small, say a few milligrams per week, it’s a reasonable guess that there would probably be no problem.

But if a creatine brand has say 1% of this impurity [these impurities] then people are going to be consuming thousands of milligrams of this compound [these compounds] over time. I think we have to be concerned about taking so much of something that really isn’t well studied in humans for safety. It would certainly be unwise to assume thattoxicity is not an issue. If the consumer has a choice between a creatine brand that contains this impurity [these impurities] in significant amounts, and one that is more pure, I’d certainly recommend spending the extra money and obtaining the purer product.”

So as you can see, we are left with a major question mark regarding DT. For me, the less I know about a chemical the less of it I want to find in any product I am ingesting. Though this chemical might turn out to be perfectly harmless, I think it should not be found in any amount and thus should be non-detectable (n.d.) in the ppm range until we know more about this chemical. As you can see from the tests, some companies have n.d. amounts while others have far more than that. I find this unacceptable, and so should you.

Creatinine: Creatinine is one of the easy compounds to discuss on this list. Creatinine is actually a natural byproduct of creatine metabolism in the human body and of creatine production. A small amount can be found in every creatine product. However, in some products large amounts can be found, as high as 7700 ppm in one case (see chart). It is probably safe to say that the ingestion of creatinine is a safe endeavor. There is some research that links the ingestion of creatinine from meats with increased colon cancer incidence, but in all honesty I would not put much stock in that or get all worked up about it . The point is, when I buy creatine I want to eat creatine, not creatinine. Though a natural byproduct of creatine metabolism, it does not have any ergogenic effects and therefore I don’t want large amounts of it in my creatine, period. A high quality creatine product should contain less than 100ppm of creatinine in my opinion.

Sodium: Like the aforementioned creatinine, sodium is an easy one to talk about. Also, like creatinine, it is a generally safe thing to ingest at normal intakes. At the levels found in these creatine products, the amount of sodium added to the diet is very small and should pose no problems, even to the most sodium phobic person. However, like I said before, when I pay for creatine I want creatine, not sodium. The lowest sodium content was 20ppm and the highest was 500ppm. I leave it to the reader to decide what is a tolerable sodium content to them.

Conclusion

Believe it or not, the company who did the testing told me that although those were the main chemicals they tested for, some creatine products read like a who’s who of different chemical compounds, though they admitted that they are usually found in trace amounts. As for the consumer, if it were me, I would demand the HPLC test results from whom ever I was buying my creatine from regarding the chemicals listed in this article. If you don’t care, that’s OK also. As for me, I will make sure my creatine comes only from companies and distributors who sell creatine made by the large German company, or other companies, who clearly have their collective act together when it comes to producing an ultra pure creatine product. Bottom line? The expression “creatine is creatine” no longer holds true. However, a high quality creatine product it still the best thing going in bodybuilding/sports supplements.

Will Brink’s eBooks

Bodybuilding Revealed
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Story by: Lara McGlashan (Art/Images by: Aaron Ashley)

Some rules are made to be broken. Eating dessert before the main course is certainly justified in the case of a bodybuilder who has recently completed a 16-week diet to prep for a competition. And surfing the Internet for March Madness scores during work hours is defensible when you’ve got $50 riding on an underdog like Georgia Tech making it to the Final Four. Likewise, when you read training articles that implore you to train through a full range of motion… fuhgedaboudit!

Of course, there’s a time and place for full-range-of-motion training, but when you’re trying to bust through a sticking point that’s put the skids on your training progress, you need partial reps so you can reap big-time muscle gains.

PARTIAL TO PARTIALS

Partial reps are just that - a portion of a complete repetition that requires the muscle to work in a shortened range of motion (ROM). Partials can begin from either the bottom or the top of a repetition, moving only a quarter, half or three-quarters of the way through a full ROM. Within this feature, we explore how to execute partials on the squat, bench press and preacher curl.

Partial reps allow you to train around a “sticking point” - that part of the ROM where the weight feels the heaviest - by working the areas of a muscle that haven’t been exhausted yet, which can lead to additional muscle growth. For example, after you do eight reps of heavy biceps curls and can’t complete another full rep, you could 1) put the weight down and end your set, or 2) continue the set by doing partials over the beginning half of the ROM.

Here’s why it works: When you reach failure on a particular repetition, you can’t move the weight past the sticking point because of muscle fatigue. But that doesn’t mean other areas within the full ROM are equally affected; in fact, you can still bang out reps over smaller portions of the ROM, like at the beginning or even the end of the rep. This way you can work beyond failure, in a sense, taking the muscle to further exhaustion.

Alternatively, partial reps can be used to increase overall strength when you significantly overload the weight and train through only a shortened ROM. This gives you more power and force to move through the weaker parts of a lift, like the bottom part of a bench press. Powerlifters, arguably the strongest guys on the planet, regularly use partial reps to increase their strength in the bench press, squat and deadlift. And a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that when experienced lifters performed only partials in the bench press for 10 weeks, they gained as much strength in the full-ROM bench press as those who trained using full reps.

Of course, we’re not saying that you shouldn’t complete full-range reps in your training. You absolutely should - that’s the basis of symmetrical and balanced muscle growth. However, adding a high-intensity technique like partials to your workout for several weeks at a time can help increase your muscle strength and size, and finally get you off that training plateau.

THE NUTS AND BOLTS

Incorporating partials into your training can be done the same way you’d add other advanced training techniques. Perform partial reps in 4-8-week blocks, in a strength or growing phase. “I recommend doing partials for the last two sets of an exercise, when you’ve already gone all-out on the previous sets,” says David Sandler, MS, CSCS, director of fitness consulting firm StrengthPro. “But I wouldn’t suggest more than two sets of partials per lift, because they’re very difficult and extremely taxing on the stabilizing joints and soft connective tissues.”

Although you could do partials for any bodypart, Sandler especially recommends them for heavy-hitting, multijoint moves like squats, deadlifts and bench presses. “Not only do partials train the larger muscle groups in the body to lift heavier weight, but they also train the stabilizing muscles to assist with larger loads,” he explains. “The stronger the stabilizing muscles, the better you’ll be able to balance and handle an increase in weight.” M&F

GUNTER’S TAKE ON PARTIALS

Does partial-rep training work in the real world? For confirmation, we turned to IFBB pro Gunter Schlierkamp, who has made dramatic changes to his physique in the last three years. Changes he attributes, in part, to partial repetitions.

Under the guidance of his trainer Charles Glass, Gunter has incorporated partials into his leg, chest, back and shoulder routines. Training at Gold’s Gym, Venice, Gunter says:

“We wanted to try new ways of stimulating the muscle fibers while increasing strength at the same time. Since I started using partials two years ago, I’ve definitely noticed an increase in my strength, but I’ve also seen a big difference in muscle density.”

About three months out from a competition, Gunter integrates partials into his program for a solid eight weeks. He typically uses them for the bench press, squat, deadlift and military press. Gunter will complete 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps with his regular training lifts, pyramiding his weight as he decreases his reps. Then he adds about 25% more weight and does two more sets of 3-6 partials. For his bench press, Gunter likes to work over the top half of the repetition, doing partials from just above mid-rep to lockout.

“I feel a different kind of tension on my muscles when I do partials for bench press, as if I’m working muscle fibers that haven’t been worked before,” he says. “And I’m really sore the next day, which is different than when I just train regular lifts without partials.”

For deadlifts, Gunter prefers to use partials for all his working sets as well as a few sets at the end. “I don’t like to come all the way down to the floor with my deadlifts because it puts a lot of pressure on my lower back and spine,” he explains. “So I do four sets of 8-15 knee-height three-quarter repetitions to save my back while still building muscle thickness.” At the end of his working sets, Gunter adds a few short-range partials, working from the top quarter of the rep to lockout for two sets of 4-6.

So do partials really work? Gunter, who competes at around 300 pounds, is a believer. “Partials definitely helped me gain muscle volume in my chest, back and shoulders,” he says. “I’d say they’re a big contributing factor to the shape of my physique today.”

EXERCISES

SQUAT
One way to use partials is in a progression, which over time will allow you to increase your max. To increase your squatting capacity, complete your regular working sets, then set the blocks in a squat rack 4-6 inches below your full leg extension level at the top. Increase the weight by about 20% over your working weight, then do 2-3 sets of 4-6 partial reps in this shortened range of motion over the top part of the movement. In the following weeks, slowly lower the blocks 2 inches at a time from the top, and before long, you’ll be squatting full ROM with a heavier weight.

BENCH PRESS
You can train with partials both at the top and bottom of a rep, and you should hit both at least once during a workout. “Training partial reps from the bottom of a motion can give you better starting strength, and training from the top will give you more power to finish a rep,” Sandler notes. For both portions, use a Smith machine or power rack in which you can set the stop blocks to arrest the motion of the bar. For bottom partials, set the blocks about 6 inches above your chest; for top partials, set them about 6 inches below lockout. If you don’t have a squat rack or Smith machine, recruit a spotter to make sure you’re working in the correct range of motion, because you’re pretty fatigued by this time.

Once you complete your full-ROM working sets, position the blocks for the top set of partial repetitions and increase the resistance by about 20% over your working bench-pressing weight. “You’re trying to increase strength here, so you want to push the limits of what you can do,” says Sandler. This increase in weight calls for a decrease in reps, so shoot for 3-6 partials for each segment of the lift. When training from the top, lower the weight toward your body, let the bar just touch - not rest on - the blocks, then immediately press it back up to full arm extension. Don’t rest the bar on the blocks or pause at lockout at any time, both of which take the tension off the working muscles.

After completing one set of partials in the top position, reset the blocks for the lower part. Press the weight up to tap the blocks, then lower it to touch your chest without allowing it to rest or bounce off.

PREACHER CURL
While the previous two methods require you to add weight and do additional sets, another way to use partials is to add them onto the end of a set. Say you’re doing preacher curls, and you take a given weight to failure at eight reps. Instead of ending your set, contract your bi’s to bring the weight as high as you can, and do 3-4 reps over this shortened ROM. This is best done with machines or a spotter.

For all partial reps, correct form is imperative. “There should never be momentum when training with partials,” says Sandler. And unless you’re a powerlifter or professional bodybuilder like Gunter (see “Gunter’s Take on Partials”), Sandler advises restricting your use of partials to four-week segments with at least four weeks of rest before using them again. “At the end of four weeks, you should see a pretty significant increase in strength, but don’t overdo it,” he warns. Use other techniques like drop sets, supersets and forced reps to increase workout intensity until you can do partials again.

Former fitness competitor Lara McGlashan is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. She can be reached at larafitgal@aol.com.

Enzymes are proteins produced by all living organisms, and, like all proteins, they consist of amino acids. What makes these proteins different from other proteins is how they behave in the body. By definition, enzymes are catalysts that make many essential biochemical reactions ‘happen’ and are not used up or chemically altered in the process. As a catalyst, they help a chemical reaction take place quickly and efficiently. Some reactions would either happen very slowly or not occur at all without enzymes. So a little bit of enzyme can effect a big change.

The same variety of amino acids that occur in all living things make up enzymes. The amino acids connect in particular sequences to form protein chains. The amino acids in the chain often bond together creating folding patterns and twisting into certain shapes. The particular folding pattern of each enzyme gives it distinct characteristics and functions. When anything disrupts the specific folding pattern, the enzyme often loses its ability to function, becoming inactivated or destroyed.

How Do Enzymes Work?

Each type of enzyme has a special function and works in a particular way. Enzymes are essential to every aspect of life and carry out all the daily biochemical functions. They are the basic elements that activate all functions in the body, facilitate reactions that build compounds from the body’s raw materials, transport elements throughout the body, break down substances, and eliminate many unwanted chemicals in the body.

Enzymes are chemicals that facilitate other chemical reactions. Food itself is essentially just a mixture of chemicals that are broken down by enzymes. The released nutrients are the raw materials. Vitamins and other nutrients cannot work in the body by themselves. They require enzymes to transport them throughout the body and make use of them. Enzymes unlock the benefits of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and hormones and put them to work in the body. Enzymes are the workers and assist many biological, chemical, and metabolic reactions, but are not ‘alive’ themselves.

Sometimes particular enzymes need certain vitamins and minerals in order to function. Magnesium participates in over 300 enzyme reactions. These additional elements are called co-enzymes. A co-enzyme may give the enzyme the three-dimensional structure it needs to create the ‘active site’ necessary to perform its catalytic function. If a needed co-enzyme is not available, the enzyme will not function.

Why Should I Care?

Enzymes run every function in our entire body. Digestive enzymes breakdown the food we eat so it can be used as a source of nutrients and a source of energy. Every cell relies on the raw materials provided to the body by digestive enzymes. If you do not have enough enzymes you can develop a vast myriad of illnesses. All the food and nutritional supplements you consume will not do any good if they are not sufficiently broken down and absorbed by the body.

Digestive enzymes have been found to influence an amazing array of health conditions.

“Injuries are not caused by methods per se, but by the inappropriate, premature, and/or excessive application of methods.”
– The Author

In all the years I’ve been involved in sports conditioning, I’ve never seen an issue with as much longevity and potential for heated debate as the question of whether or not it is necessary, safe, and or effective to perform “explosive” or “ballistic” movements in the weight room. If you’re active on the internet, you’ll discover endless, passionate (and often, ugly) confrontations between those who advocate slow lifting speeds, and those who espouse so called explosive training techniques, such as Olympic lifting and it’s derivatives, and plyometric training methods.

While it is true that explosively-performed (i.e., high velocity) repetitions can be potentially more dangerous than low velocity movements, it’s just as true that heavier weights , since they put more tension on the musculoskeletal system, are potentially more dangerous than lighter weights. So it really becomes an issue of using the right tool for the right job. Remember- in order to train a biologic system, you must apply stress to that system. Too much stress leads to injury; too little leads to little or no effect; just the right amount leads to a training effect.

As you read this article, please resist the human instinct to either agree or disagree with the statements I will make. Instead, simply listen. Observe. Correlate the material to your own experiences. In this way, you’ll give yourself the best opportunity to come to an intelligent decision regarding this issue.

What is Training?

Training involves the exposure of a biologic system to the systematic application of increasing stress at a frequency, intensity, and duration below that system’s maximal tolerance limit, which, over time, causes a resultant increase in that system’s tolerance limit (1).

Different training methods cause different adaptations. For example, sets lasting between 20 and 70 seconds seem to promote hypertrophy better than sets of greater or lesser duration (2). Sets performed with incomplete rests develop anaerobic capacity through a greater proliferation of capillaries in the muscle(s) being trained (3). High repetition sets develop Type I (slow twitch) fibers, while low repetition sets with heavy weight challenge Type II (fast twitch) fibers. Long-term performance of an exercise which takes a muscle through less than it’s full range of motion promotes a shortening of that muscle, while chronic use of exercises which take the muscle through it’s full range of motion encourage the muscle to become longer (4).

These examples of the specificity principle strongly imply that the neuromuscular and musculoskeletal systems are capable of adapting to explosive movements just as they are capable of adapting to any other type of stimuli, provided- is this is the real key to understanding this issueó that the athlete moves through an appropriate series of progressions which allow a sequential exposure to a gradually increasing stimulus. If you skip any part of this progression, or if you progress too quickly, injury may result as you exceed the body’s “maximum tolerance threshold” to that stimulus.

Defining the Issue

Before we proceed further, please appreciate that this issue is a difficult one to analyze, since there are several ways to lift a weight. For example, powerlifting is not normally considered an “explosive” event, since at 1RM levels, the bar moves very slowly, due to its mass. Nevertheless, the lifter is attempting to maximally accelerate the bar. So, are we discussing the actual speed of the lift, or the attempt to maximally accelerate the weight (even if the implement speed is low to to its mass)?

Also, we must distinguish between lifting weights at a fast tempo, and lifting weights in an accelerative manner (increasing the speed over the duration of a repetition). Further, are we speaking of lifting light to moderate weight, or heavy weights? For instance, when performing the deadlift, using a fast lifting speed with a light weight would simply reduce both the tension, as well as the time under tension, of the involved musculature, leading to a compromised training effect. However, when deadlifting a challenging weight, you stand a better chance of making the lift if you attempt to accelerate the bar. It is important to understand that this is a smooth acceleration, not a rapid “jerk” on the bar, which would in fact, increase the likelihood of injury.

Incidentally, I define “good form” a bit differently than most. If you enter a workout with pre-determined parameters such as number of sets and reps, tempo, optimal body alignment, range of motion (which may be complete or partial) length of rest periods, and you maintain these parameters, you’re using “good form.” So for example, you may set out to use a 2 second tempo, which is relatively fast (and may or may not be safe, depending on the exercise, your experience, the weights being lifted, and a host of other factors). However, if you set out to do a 4 second tempo, and due to fatigue or inattention it ends up being a 2 second tempo, this shows a lack of control, which in my opinion, heightens the potential for injury.

So, although many people cite the dangers of “fast” or “explosive” lifting, I hope you can now appreciate that the issue is far more complex than most people consider. During this article, I will make reference to explosive, ballistic, and accelerative lifting techniques, in an effort to cover the various possible methods.

Is Accelerative Activity an Inherent Characteristic of Human Movement?

The phenomenon known as the stretch-shortening cycle (or SSC) strongly hints that the body is in fact designed for ballistic and accelerative stress (5). To illustrate this concept, I’ll ask you to imagine the act of throwing a baseball, overhand style.You grab the ball, extend your throwing arm behind you, and, just as the arm nears complete extension (the eccentric portion of the throw), you rapidly reverse the motion (the concentric phase) and release the ball. Now, just as an experiment, extend the arm back, and pause for three seconds before you throw. It’s intuitively obvious that the second throw, aside from feeling totally unnatural, will travel much slower and result in a shorter throw.

When you throw (or jump, hit, etc) correctly, the musculo-tendinous unit stores potential kinetic energy during the eccentric phase of the movement. At full stretch, the muscle begins its reversal into the concentric phase. If you use proper timing (the “switch” between eccentric and concentric must be very rapid), you can recover all that potential energy and return it during the concentric phase. If you wait-even for a split second- the energy will dissipate. A simpler way to visualize the SSC is to imagine the muscles as elastic bands that stretch during eccentric activity, and contract during the concentric portion of the movement. (Incidentally, plyometric training- usually consisting of various jumps and throws, are designed to train the elastic potential of the musculoskeletal system.)

If you watch people carefully in various situations, you’ll notice that, whenever there is an option to accelerate a load, people will take that option. On stairclimbing machines, people will, especially as fatigue sets in, tend to step in a bouncy, choppy manner. When a heavy box must be lifted from the floor to a high shelf, a person will accelerate the box throughout the lift. Further, the motor cortex will normally choose a movement pattern where more muscle groups can participate in the effort, in order to conserve energy and avoid dangerous levels of stress to any single muscle involved in the movement.

Optimal Progression Ensures Safety

Now the question becomes “If this is how muscles work in everyday activities, should we train muscles this way?” My colleague Paul Chek often asserts that “First isolate, then integrate.” What Paul means by this is that before asking the chain to produce high levels of force, one should first strengthen each link of the chain- especially the weakest links.

When training a link, you must “isolate” that link- in other words, create a movement or exercise where associated links have no ability to assist in that movement. Since muscles are the links in any kinetic chain, another way to view this progression is to “First, train muscles, then train movements.” Either way you choose to conceptualize it, most accelerative lifting movements (such as modified Olympic lifts such as power cleans & snatches, push-jerks, jumps, throws, etc.) involve large numbers of muscles. Therefore, if these individual muscles are brought to maximum strength levels prior to accelerative, multi-joint movements, the athlete lessens the potential for injury. However, if any link in the chain is relatively weak, that link would logically have a greater potential for injury during any explosive type exercise that involves it.

As an example of the proceeding progression, an athlete wishing to perform power cleans might spend 6-9 weeks developing strength in the quads, hamstrings, spinal erectors, trapezius, glutes, scapular retractors, and gastrocs, and then gradually switch to more explosive training methods, while maintaining the strength of the individual muscle groups, using a reduced volume (about 30 to 50 percent) of work. In my experience working with Olympic weightlifters, I have used various permutations of this progression and have never witnessed a serious injury. A recent study by Brian P. Hamill (please see sidebar entitled Multi-Sport Comparative Injury Rates) collaborates my observations (6). In his analysis of statistics derived from surveys and competitions, Hamill found that competitive weightlifting is safer than many other sports, including soccer, recreational weight training, and (believe it or not) badminton. In his analysis, Hamill suggests that qualified supervision is the most important precondition for safe participation in both competitive weightlifting and recreational weight training.

Should Bodybuilders Perform Ballistic, Explosive, or Accelerative Weight Training?

Legions of successful competitive bodybuilders have achieved their goals without using these techniques. However, it has been my experience that many top physique stars have achieved their success in spite of their training methods and habits, not because of them. When you have a superior somatype and a favorable hormonal system to support it, and when you have a superior ability to train hard on a consistent basis, you don’t need to sweat the details. Recreational pharmacology should be factored in, also.

But let’s assume that you’re at least the fourth generation of your family to stand upright. Let’s also assume you have a job, and limited chemistry skills. Let’s further assume that your training program could benefit from a bit of variation, and even some fun. If you fit this profile, and if you employ qualified supervision (I’d recommend calling the United States Weightlifting Federation at 719-578-4508 in order to find a qualified weightlifting coach in your area), I would urge you to explore these methods. The downside? For starters, HIT Jedis will call you a fool. Also, you may abandon bodybuilding for the sport of Olympic weightlifting. You also run the risk of slow twitch fiber atrophy, as your Type II fibers hypertrophy to unprecedented size. Finally, you may suffer guilt pangs as you find yourself actually enjoying training again. On balance, I’d say it’s worth the risk.

Is “HIT” Dead?

For years, the most vocal faction of coaches and athletes in opposition to explosive lifting techniques has been known as “HIT” an acronym meaning “High Intensity Training.” The HIT doctrine took root through the teachings of Arthur Jones, and has been furthered by Mike Mentzer, and several collegiate strength coaches. HIT has traditionally favored single set, low-speed, machine based movements, and has been vehemently opposed to multi-set periodized approaches, explosive lifts and plyometrics, and free weight exercises. Recently, however, the HIT “Jedi” (the self-appointed term for adherents of the HIT philosophy) have all but merged with the mainstream on issues of number of sets, repetition ranges, and the use of free weights. They remain steadfast on the of explosive lifting techniques, however. In the recently released HITFAQv2.0a , the section describing “proper form” advises “raising and lowering the weight in a deliberate, controlled manner.” The FAQ continues “Anytime, anyone, be they Mr. Universe, or whomever, tells you to move a weight fast, in an ‘explosive’ style, just walk away. That person is a fool.” (I always thought that anyone who took comfort in applying blanket statements to a wide range of circumstances was a fool, but maybe I’ve got it wrong!)

Important Terminology

1) Torque: the effectiveness of a force to produce rotation of an object about an axis (7). Measured as the product of force and the perpendicular distance from the line of action of the force to the axis of rotation. The SI (International System) unit of torque is the newton-meter (N.m)

2) Force: that which changes or tends to change the state of rest or motion in matter (7). Force may increase or decrease the velocity of an object. The SI unit of force is the newton (N).

3) Work: the product of an expressed force and the distance of displacement of an object, irrespective of time (7). The SI unit of work is the joule (J). To measure work, you would multiply the force applied by the distance the force was applied over.

4) Power: the rate of performing work (7). The SI unit of power is the watt (W). To measure power, you would

5) Velocity: a change in either the speed or direction of an object, or a change in both the speed and direction of an object (8). Most people use the term velocity to describe a change in the speed of an object.

6) Explosive strength: One of two elements of speed strength (power) -the ability to apply a maximal force against an external object (such as a shot put or barbell), or ones own body, as in sprinting or jumping, in minimum time (9).

7) Ballistic: Infers movement which is accelerative, of high velocity, and with actual projection into free space (10). Ballistic activities include throwing and jumping.

Multi-Sport Comparative Injury Rates

Sport Injuries (per 100 participation hours)

Schoolchild soccer 6.20

UK Rugby 1.92

South African Rugby 0.70

UK Basketball 1.03

USA Basketball 0.03

USA Athletics (Track) 0.57

UK Athletics 0.26

UK Cross-country 0.37

USA Cross-country 0.00

Fives 0.21

P.E. 0.18

Squash 0.10

USA Football 0.10

Badminton 0.05

USA Gymnastics 0.044

UK Tennis 0.07

USA Powerlifting 0.0027

USA Tennis 0.001

Rackets 0.03

USA Volleyball 0.0013

Weight Training 0.0035 (85,733 hrs)

Weightlifting 0.0017 (165,551 hrs)

References:

1) Gross, J., Fetto, J., & Rosen, E, . Musculoskeletal Examination, 1996. Cambridge, Blackwell Science, p.p.5.

2) Poliquin, C., The Poliquin Principles, 1997, Napa, Dayton Publisher’s Group, p.p. 24

3) Fleck, S.J., & Kraemer, W.J., Designing Resistance Training Programs, 1987, Champaign, Human Kinetics, p.p. 58.

4) Komi, P.V (Ed.), Strength and Power in Sport (1992). London. p.p.29

5) Komi, P.V (Ed.), Strength and Power in Sport (1992). London. p.p.169

6) Hamill, B.P., Relative safety of weightlifting and weight training. J. Strength and Cond. Res. 8(1);53-57.1994.

7) Knuttgen, H.G., Force, Work, and Power in Athletic Training. Sports Science Exchange. 8(4). 1995.

Norkin, C.C., & Levangie, P.K. Joint Structure & Function. F.A. Davis Company (1992), Philadelphia. p.p.17.

9) Kurz, T. Science of Sports Training. Stadion (1991), Island Pond. p.p. 85

10). Kraemer, W.J. & Newton, R.U., Muscle Power. Muscular Development. March, 1995, p.p. 130-131.

In the first large study of vitamin B6 in the general population, researchers measured blood-plasma levels of vitamin B6 in 7,822 males and females at least one year old. Nearly 25 percent of those who did not take supplements had low levels of vitamin B6, as did 11 percent of supplement users. Four groups were more likely than most to have low vitamin B6, including women of childbearing age—especially those taking or who had taken oral contraceptives—male smokers, non-Hispanic African-American men, and men and women over age 65. Three in four (75 percent) of women who had taken oral contraceptives and did not take vitamin B6 supplements had very low levels (deficiency) of B6. Investigators noted that the federal government uses the same blood-plasma measure to set the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin B6 and that even those who said they consumed more than the RDA had low vitamin B6 levels.

In an arthritis study of women over age 55, including 18 women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 33 healthy women, researchers measured blood levels of vitamin B6, folate, fats, and signs of inflammation. Participants weighed the food they ate for seven days and described their pain and ability to perform daily tasks. Compared to the healthy women, women with RA had lower levels of vitamin B6, folate, and more inflammation. Because the women in both groups consumed the same amounts of nutrients, doctors theorized that those with RA do not absorb vitamin B6 as well as healthy people, and may need to take supplements.

In a Parkinson’s disease (PD) study, researchers examined the diets of 5,289 healthy participants over age 55 and followed up for 10 years. Those who consumed at least 231 mcg of vitamin B6 per day were 54 percent less likely to develop PD than were those who consumed less than 185 mcg per day.

Reference: Journal of the American Dietary Association; 2008, Vol. 108, No. 3, 443-53.

Reference: Journal of Hepatology; 2008, electronic publication ahead of print.

Reference: Nutrition Journal; 2008, Vol. 7, No. 11.

In a vitamin K study, doctors examined the diets of 11,319 men and followed up for about 9 years. Overall, men who consumed the most vitamin K2 were 35 percent less likely to have any prostate cancer compared to men who consumed the least, a result researchers said was not statistically significant. In measuring risk for advanced prostate cancer, men who had consumed the most vitamin K2 were 63 percent less likely to have advanced prostate cancer compared to men who consumed the least, which was a statistically significant result, doctors said. In previous lab studies, vitamin K cut cancer in prostate-cancer cells, but this is the first vitamin K/prostate cancer study in humans.

In a lab study, researchers exposed healthy and cancerous prostate cells to hydrogen peroxide, intentionally damaging cell DNA. Investigators then exposed the damaged cells to vitamin D which increased antioxidants in the healthy cells, but not in the cancerous cells. Doctors concluded that, “We have demonstrated that [vitamin D] can protect nonmalignant human prostate cells … suggesting a possible role of [vitamin D] in prostate cancer prevention.”

Reference: International Journal of Cancer; 2008, Vol. 122, No. 12, 2,699-706.