Ask the Exercise Scientist

[MuscleScience]

http://www.1 fast 400 dot com/?products_id=7292 - myoshock hsp


http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3469796 - hsp active


heres a couple

Lets just say that I am very skeptical on this concept. HSP are rapidly expressed in some isoforms during extreme physiological stress. I do not see them actually isolating a specific HSP that will stimulate muscle recover. Like I said its a fairly large class of proteins. The last time I checked out of the roughly 30,000 proteins estimated in the body. We know some of the functions of about 6000, if I am not mistaken. This should increase rapidly in the next ten years as the Human Proteome Project (http://www.hupo.org/)

[IM708]

Lets just say that I am very skeptical on this concept. HSP are rapidly expressed in some isoforms during extreme physiological stress. I do not see them actually isolating a specific HSP that will stimulate muscle recover. Like I said its a fairly large class of proteins. The last time I checked out of the roughly 30,000 proteins estimated in the body. We know some of the functions of about 6000, if I am not mistaken. This should increase rapidly in the next ten years as the Human Proteome Project (http://www.hupo.org/)

Good to know, I sell these products and was curious is there even was validity to them. Guess not, thanks.

[MuscleScience]

Good to know, I sell these products and was curious is there even was validity to them. Guess not, thanks.

I am not saying there isnt any value. What I would do is find out the active ingredient of the supplement and basically pubmed it and see if there is any valid studies on the compound.

[peachfuzz]

Serving Size 2 Capsules
Servings Per Container 15

Amount Per Serving % DV

TEX-OE® Prickly Pear Extract (Opuntia ficus-indicia) (fruit) 5000.00 IU **

** Daily Value (DV) not established



REALLY?

[IM708]

Serving Size 2 Capsules
Servings Per Container 15

Amount Per Serving % DV

TEX-OE® Prickly Pear Extract (Opuntia ficus-indicia) (fruit) 5000.00 IU **

** Daily Value (DV) not established



REALLY?

I'm going to assume anything about the product. I'm definitely not going to sell it or recommend it to people.

I did a quick google and that extract does enhance the formation of hsps but what does that translate into for a bodybuilder? Any siginificant effects???

[Pocketbattleship2B]

Hey MuscleScience.I recently posted a question in your bog, have you had a chance to look at it.Thanks for any help you can give me.

[MuscleScience]

Hey MuscleScience.I recently posted a question in your bog, have you had a chance to look at it.Thanks for any help you can give me.

Replied,

BTW you a historical fan of the Kriegsmarine???

[MuscleScience]

I'm going to assume anything about the product. I'm definitely not going to sell it or recommend it to people.

I did a quick google and that extract does enhance the formation of hsps but what does that translate into for a bodybuilder? Any siginificant effects???

I honestly couldnt see much relevance especially when you compare it to creatine or AAS. Having said that I am not well versed on the literature on HSP supplementation or modulation. It is not really something I have seen a lot of in the literature as far as relevance to BB. I actually worked with extremophilic archaea in undergrad so i am somewhat familiar with HSP.

[Swifto]

Volume vs. HIT?

Is it worth isolating the front head of the Delt, or does it get stimulated enough from incline chest press's and other incline chest exercises? I'm guessing it depends on the persons unique physiology...?

[Barium]

What are some of the negatives and positives of eating or drinking meals before bedtime? Like say 2 hours or less before you fall alseep. Thanks much.

[MuscleScience]

Volume vs. HIT?

Is it worth isolating the front head of the Delt, or does it get stimulated enough from incline chest press's and other incline chest exercises? I'm guessing it depends on the persons unique physiology...?

I think both HIT and Volume training are beneficial, to say one vs the other is better would be pure dogma. At least at this point in time as far a the scientific literature is concerned. I personally will do HIT for 12 weeks and then switch to a more Volume type workout. Because in all reality the body adapts to whatever style or type of exercise program that one is on and will plateau in gains. If you switch the program up then the body has to start to adapt to a new and unique stimulus.

As far as training anterior delts, I do not think you really need to isolate them much. Any benching type exercise will hit the shoulders to a large extent. I personally do not even train shoulders on their own. Now everyone is different of course but based on my genetics my delts will grow if I even think about lifting.

[Phate]

could you go look at this thread and give your opinion


cardio on empty stomach

[MuscleScience]

What are some of the negatives and positives of eating or drinking meals before bedtime? Like say 2 hours or less before you fall alseep. Thanks much.

It depends on what your goals are. For example if your trying to bulk up, eating before bed will decrease the fasting time that the body is in between the last meal of the day and breakfast.

If your cutting, then it may hinder to some extent the rapidness of weight loss that your trying to accomplish.

[Pocketbattleship2B]

Replied,

BTW you a historical fan of the Kriegsmarine???

Thanks for replying.No im not realy,to be honest I just wanted a picture to go with my name and this one seemed appropriate.

[MuscleScience]

Thanks for replying.No im not realy,to be honest I just wanted a picture to go with my name and this one seemed appropriate.

So your name is Pocketbattleship???

I am somewhat confused....

[higherdesire]

could you go look at this thread and give your opinion


cardio on empty stomach

Phate you beat me to it! BTW Musclescience I would appreciate your wieghing in on this one.

[MuscleScience]

could you go look at this thread and give your opinion


cardio on empty stomach

Phate you beat me to it! BTW Musclescience I would appreciate your wieghing in on this one.

Yeah I will check it out....

[AnimalGear]

Hey, MS, what's up with your body's recepters not responding to 'X' amount of test after a while? Does that apply to hrt? Can you tell me anything else about this?

[reardbandit]

Yo Muscle,

I love power cleans, I love clean and presses, and I do both movements along with a bunch of similar ones a lot.

However, my question is this: What the hell is the difference in a clean & jerk, clean & press, and a clean & push press? Also, the difference between a power clean and a regular clean?

You know, I am a PT, and I think I know a little about exercises. However, I am at a loss on this one and have never really had this question answered

[MuscleScience]

Hey, MS, what's up with your body's recepters not responding to 'X' amount of test after a while? Does that apply to hrt? Can you tell me anything else about this?

Well its basically like this, when you take in a drug you take it at dose X over time the body builds up a tolerance to the drug because of a specific class of enzymes called cytochrome p450.(CYP) These enzymes are highly expressed in the liver and act to basically neutralize any foreign compound in the body. Due to continued exposure, over time CYP will be expressed in higher and higher amounts. Thus the liver is able to neutralize the drug faster. CYP is expressed in virtually all cell types to some extent its just that the liver is one place that it is very highly expressed.

This is one mechanism by which drug tolerance is developed. As CYP is expressed at higher and higher levels. A larger dose of a Drug is needed for the same therapeutic effect.

[AnimalGear]

So if you were on hrt at like 250mg/wk...how long would it take for you to have to up the dose to get the same muscle building effects? Does this tolerance go down after some "off" time?

[MuscleScience]

Yo Muscle,

I love power cleans, I love clean and presses, and I do both movements along with a bunch of similar ones a lot.

However, my question is this: What the hell is the difference in a clean & jerk, clean & press, and a clean & push press? Also, the difference between a power clean and a regular clean?

You know, I am a PT, and I think I know a little about exercises. However, I am at a loss on this one and have never really had this question answered

There is no real clear distinction in my mind between some of these exercises accept to say the risk vs benefit.

For example I love Hang Cleans myself. Which are cleans from the standing position just so we are on the same page. I think they are safer than doing a full Power Clean from the floor. They do basically the exact same thing its just one is a lot less flexion, thus a lot less stress on the lumbar discs.

as far as push press and things like that its simple a manner of names between different groups really

For example a simple push press (aka push jerk) is from the standing position. But a clean and push is a power clean+push press.

A good resource to have if you dont have it already is the NSCA's book on strength and conditioning. Especially for PT, a great cert is the CSCS. I know a lot of them that have that and work with athletes a lot.

[MuscleScience]

So if you were on hrt at like 250mg/wk...how long would it take for you to have to up the dose to get the same muscle building effects? Does this tolerance go down after some "off" time?

Thats hard to say how long, everyones physiology is different and to be honest a doctor would only be concerned with serum levels anyway.

After time the CYP enzymes will start to decrease in their expression in the liver, again I am not sure of the time frame. I think I posted on this topic in this thread or another. But I actually talked to a toxicologist about this very subject, as far as CYP expression goes.

[IM708]

MS, I ended up talking to a bud of mine who has his masters in biochemistry. Basically what he said was has been studied for about a decade now but products enhancing its effects are new to the market. The MRI brand product is legit unlike the muscletech product which is an assload of caffeine. It may be beneficial for athletes in sports and such but may be basically useless for bodybuilders because the damage on an athletes bod vs bodybuilder are at vastly different levels.

[MuscleScience]

MS, I ended up talking to a bud of mine who has his masters in biochemistry. Basically what he said was has been studied for about a decade now but products enhancing its effects are new to the market. The MRI brand product is legit unlike the muscletech product which is an assload of caffeine. It may be beneficial for athletes in sports and such but may be basically useless for bodybuilders because the damage on an athletes bod vs bodybuilder are at vastly different levels.

That is awesome you have a resource like that, use it to your full advantage. One of my good friends is going into research for his Ph.D in drug delivery, I have learned a ton from him from our talks.

Much like he said I have seen bits and pieces here and there in the literature but its not like its anything that jumps out, if you know what I mean...

[IM708]

That is awesome you have a resource like that, use it to your full advantage. One of my good friends is going into research for his Ph.D in drug delivery, I have learned a ton from him from our talks.

Much like he said I have seen bits and pieces here and there in the literature but its not like its anything that jumps out, if you know what I mean...

The dude is so damn smart, I ask him soooo many questions. If you got any pm me or post in here and i'll send them his way...

[reardbandit]

Thanks Muscle. I really had no clue. I have actually been doing hang cleans then, because I start from standing. I also been doing the hang clean & push press. I never start from the floor. Thanks again

[MuscleScience]

The body has a mechanism that can render drugs inactive. If you think about it anytime you put something in your body you disrupt its normal physiology. The body wants to be in its normal operating range. The Liver specifically expresses a family of enzymes commonly know as the cytochrome P450 oxidases (CYP). This group of enzymes is very diverse and has important functions.

When the body is exposed to a compound lets call it compound X. The body reacts to it by up regulating the expression of CYP that is specific to that compound. CYP will react with compound X rendering it chemically inactive. Usually by oxidizing the compound which is known as Phase I metabolism by pharmacologist. This leads to drug tolerance which requires more drug to get the same therapeutic effect.

Which leads me to what i think is responsible for your instance. Chronic use of caffeine can and will certainly lead to a increase in drug tolerance. There are conditions where people who consume large amounts of caffeine start to up regulate receptors for adenosine. Caffeine is an adenosine antagonist and though I do not completely understand the mechanism, from what I remember from biochem and some studies I have read. When the adenosine receptors in the CNS are up-regulated they counteract the effects that caffeine would normally have.

Thats hard to say how long, everyones physiology is different and to be honest a doctor would only be concerned with serum levels anyway.

After time the CYP enzymes will start to decrease in their expression in the liver, again I am not sure of the time frame. I think I posted on this topic in this thread or another. But I actually talked to a toxicologist about this very subject, as far as CYP expression goes.

Here is the two compiled CYP post I have on this thread.

[JiGGaMaN]

alright, so ive noticed in the gym lately a few minutes into my workout, rather than break into a sweat i seem to get an allergic reaction. basically, once i start working out i get intensely itchy, no idea why. im on 100mg/wk test and 480mg/wk deca . explain.

[MuscleScience]

alright, so ive noticed in the gym lately a few minutes into my workout, rather than break into a sweat i seem to get an allergic reaction. basically, once i start working out i get intensely itchy, no idea why. im on 100mg/wk test and 480mg/wk deca. explain.

This is not uncommon, its basically a Huntings' response (not the same thing as huntingtons disease) or a reverse Primary Raynaud phenomenon(Though this is not exactly a correct way to describe it for both).

Basically the itchiness is thought to be brought on by sudden vasomotor dilation of blood vessels and increased activity of the sweat glands, even if you are not sweating yet. The rapid perfusion of blood to the superficial capillary beds to dissipate heat as exercise intensity increases is believed to be one plausible cause. Although I was taught that its cause is idiopathic in nature.

[JiGGaMaN]

This is not uncommon, its basically a huntington response (not the same thing as huntington's disease) or a reverse Primary Raynaud phenomenon(Though this is not exactly a correct way to describe it for both).

Basically the itchiness is thought to be brought on by sudden vasomotor dilation of blood vessels and increased activity of the sweat glands, even if you are not sweating yet. The rapid perfusion of blood to the superficial capillary beds to dissipate heat as exercise intensity increases is believed to be one plausible cause. Although I was taught that its cause is idiopathic in nature.

but it does not occur in the extremeties, it occurs generally on the arms, back and head.

[MuscleScience]

but it does not occur in the extremeties, it occurs generally on the arms, back and head.

Yeah, Mostly the upper chest, neck and upper back are general areas where it happens. I myself sometimes get it in my mid to lower back sometimes. Itches like crazy for awhile. Sometimes I get in on my thighs and other times its my arms,forearms and hands.

[peachfuzz]

What are your thoughts on the relationship between steroid use and cushings syndrome or addisons disease. Is this something we should be concerned with? Not something i hear mentioned alot so id assume not so much but wanted to see what you thought.

[DSM4Life]

Is it ever worth it to cut off my nose to spite my face ?

[MuscleScience]

What are your thoughts on the relationship between steroid use and cushings syndrome or addisons disease. Is this something we should be concerned with? Not something i hear mentioned alot so id assume not so much but wanted to see what you thought.

The most common cause of Cushings disease is chronic and over use of cortical steroids . As far as I know, AAS is not a concern in Addisons or Cushings for that matter. At least I have never heard of anyway.

[Bojangles69]

Muscle do you think Vitamin C is the single best vitamin anyone can take?

Just from my experience (6000mgs a day) vitamin C is known to synthesize collagen which is what 70% of skin and joints are made from.

I use to have problems with my knees and also with feeling the need to crack my bones (knuckles/knees/etc) and ever since I've been taking high doses this has stopped + it also seems my joints never bother me anymore.

I've taken other vitamins but high doses of vitamin c is the only thing I actually feel that does anything beneficial for me. Any thoughts?

[Flagg]

Muscle I have a question concerning Arm Wrestling.

Coupla weeks back I was out on a week long field trip with my Uni. In the evenings everyone would go to this pub for a coupla beers, game of pool, etc. Anyways one night I was challeneged to an arm wrestle by some of the guys. Now the last time I did this, I seriously ****ed my arm up and being an idiot, threw caution to the wind and went ahead anyways. And last week, my shoulders and arms in general felt pretty sore to the point where any exercise was actually quite painful.

Now, how do these profesional arm wrestlers train? Because some of them look like pretty big bastards, so I want to know how they manage to arm-wrestle and manage to work out without damaging any tissue during contests. Is it just down to bad technique that injuries can incur?

[MuscleScience]

Is it ever worth it to cut off my nose to spite my face ?

I dont get it DSM???

[MuscleScience]

Muscle do you think Vitamin C is the single best vitamin anyone can take?

Just from my experience (6000mgs a day) vitamin C is known to synthesize collagen which is what 70% of skin and joints are made from.

I use to have problems with my knees and also with feeling the need to crack my bones (knuckles/knees/etc) and ever since I've been taking high doses this has stopped + it also seems my joints never bother me anymore.

I've taken other vitamins but high doses of vitamin c is the only thing I actually feel that does anything beneficial for me. Any thoughts?

Well it certainly cant hurt you since its a water soluble vitamin. All the studies are back and forth on the subject, one week you hear its good the next week a study says it has no effect. I think as long as Vit C is cheap and you feel it helps then why not take it.

Linus Pauling was a huge advocate of supra-supplementation of Vitamin C, although lots of detractors try to say his research on the matter was flawed or what not. However most of his detractors didnt win the Nobel prize like he did.

[MuscleScience]

Muscle I have a question concerning Arm Wrestling.

Coupla weeks back I was out on a week long field trip with my Uni. In the evenings everyone would go to this pub for a coupla beers, game of pool, etc. Anyways one night I was challeneged to an arm wrestle by some of the guys. Now the last time I did this, I seriously ****ed my arm up and being an idiot, threw caution to the wind and went ahead anyways. And last week, my shoulders and arms in general felt pretty sore to the point where any exercise was actually quite painful.

Now, how do these profesional arm wrestlers train? Because some of them look like pretty big bastards, so I want to know how they manage to arm-wrestle and manage to work out without damaging any tissue during contests. Is it just down to bad technique that injuries can incur?

Sure Technique plays a big role in any athletes ability to compete. Training at its most basic theory is to gradual stress the body to adapt and improve.
This causes the body to be able to handle the demands of whatever sport your training for better.

Arm Wrestlers have to train the same as any other athlete would. I imagine they do a lot of exercise that mimic situations they would face in competition.(basically any exercise that internally rotates the upper arm) By doing so they help to decrease the chance of injury if they train properly. This has several components not only physical but also mentally at an conscience and neuromuscular level. If the body is ran through enough motor patterns the nervous system will remember if you will these patterns and will be more effective at coordinating these movements when needed. The conscience component is learning from past experiences and integrating this information to help coordinate the whole of the body during dynamic situations that occur in competition.

Fatigue decreases athletic performance in all aspects including mentally. This is the danger zone as far as injuries are concerned. When the body fatigues it is less able to respond to demands. Mentally the pain caused by fatigue causes the mind to loss focus. Great athletes like say Lance Armstrong can block out the pain of fatigue to a certain extent and not wain in mental focus. Of course this ability is enhanced with training and experience.

I see it as being no different for professional arm wrestler or any other athlete for that matter. Its all about proper training, experience and mental focus that allows someone to compete at a high level, with relative safety.