Ask the Exercise Scientist

[MuscleScience]

I have read several of post on this thread..You are the man bro. I have learned so much and just want to take the time to thank you...great job....

Your welcome and thanks for the kind words. I have to say that I honestly enjoy everyone's questions as I have said before. The best thanks I can get is for everyone to ask more questions if they got them. Again I dont know everything thats for sure, but I do have some knowledge on exercise related subjects that I would like to share as best I can.

[MuscleScience]

"Fast twitch" muscle vs. "slow twitch" muscle. I have read that there are a few different types actually. Perhaps you can explain these in a bit more detail, I am about to graduate with a degree in biology so lay it on. Maybe some questions to help facilitate conversation:

What types of muscle are there?What is the basic difference in these types of muscle?
What type of training(with weights) fosters growth and each of these?
Any significant weight/strength/size comparisons for these muscles types?
What might be a good routine for just fast twitch? Or slow twitch? A equal combination of both?

Great question, my undergrad was in biology and is a great degree to have.

There are three basic muscle types in the body. Smooth Muscle, Cardiac Muscle and Skeletal Muscle. In this conversation we are going to talk about Skeletal Muscle just for everyone's clarification that may be reading this.

Within Skeletal Muscle (SM) there are different subtypes of fibers. For the purpose of this discussion we will talk about the three most accepted subtypes. Slow Twitch, Fast Twitch type IIA and Type IIB. I must point out that some researchers have possibly identified addition subtypes which I will only briefly mention as not to confuse everyone because it is not completely agreed upon by all authors the last time I checked.

Type I (slow twitch):

Type I slow twitch muscle fibers (ST) are fibers that express high levels of aerobic enzymes relative to other types and are very dense in mitochondria. The muscles themselves have a very high capillary density to bring in additional blood supplies. ST fibers are resistant to fatiguing and can contract and stay contracted repeatedly without fatiguing to a point. The main energy pathway of ST fibers is that of aerobic means, due to the increased expression of aerobic enzymes. These fibers can produce energy under anaerobic conditions but do not have the capacity to do so verses other types of muscle fibers. These muscle fiber types are generally used in everyday activities and are for long duration lower intensity exercises such as walking or jogging.

Fast Twitch Fibers Two Types:

Type IIb Fast Glycolytic (FG):

FG fibers are a type of fast twitch fiber that produces energy almost exclusively via anaerobic means. (without oxygen) They fatigue very rapidly and produce a very fast and forceful contraction relative to that of ST fibers. They are very low in mitochondrial density and have low capillary density along with decreased expression of aerobic enzymes relative to that of ST fibers. These fibers are mainly involved in very short and forceful contractions such as jumping or throwing a baseball. These fibers can best be trained by plyometric exercises as well as relatively heavy weight lifting.

Type II A Fast Twitch Oxidative Glycolytic (FOG):

FOG muscle fibers are a kind of hybrid fiber type between FG fibers and ST fibers. They display characteristics of both fiber types in that they can use both aerobic and anaerobic means to produce energy. FOG fibers can contract fast and forcefully just like FG fibers do but they also have built in fatigue resistant properties that ST fibers have. This is achieved by having more mitochondria and aerobic enzymes along with a higher capillary density in the muscle compared to FG fibers. These fibers are postulated to have the ability with training to morph into either ST or FG fibers. Meaning that with specific training such as in long distance running, that a FOG fiber can adapt and mimic to an extent the properties of ST fibers. These fibers will start to act more like a ST fiber than that of a normal Fast Twitch type of fiber and vice versa.

Additional Fiber Types:

In 2003 a paper authored by Spangenburg and Booth, proposed that there was an additional fast twitch fiber type called Type IIx. This is described as a fiber type between that of Type IIa and type IIb. Just to confuse everyone Type IIx use to be a alternate nomenclature for Type IIb fibers. The reason I bring it up at all is that depending on the text book and author this fiber type may or may not appear or be taught. Although Spangenburg and Booth are not the only ones to describe this potential new fiber type, their paper is the most commonly cited one in the literature. Just in case anyone is doing research at home or has learned it different in exercise physiology class.

References:

Essentials of Strength Training & Conditioning by Thomas R. Baechle, S Roger W. Earle,. Second Edition
Human Kinetics (2000)

Molecular regulation of individual skeletal muscle fibre types
E. E. Spangenburg and F. W. Booth (2003)
Acta Physiologica Scandinavica
Volume 178 Issue 4, Pages 413 - 424

[gst528i]

I pm'd you since i didnt wanna whore your thread ..
thanks

[MuscleScience]

I pm'd you since i didnt wanna whore your thread ..
thanks

Replied....

[Phate]

whole foods create a greater thermogenic effect than liquids, but what about liquid foods, like egg whites

do you lose thermogenic effect if you drink them instead of eat them?

[MuscleScience]

whole foods create a greater thermogenic effect than liquids, but what about liquid foods, like egg whites

do you lose thermogenic effect if you drink them instead of eat them?

I already answered the egg white question back on page 9.

As far as liquids verse whole foods. Liquids tend to require less energy to absorb by the body. With liquids there is an increase in surface area of the nutrient for absorption and processing by gastric enzymes because a liquid is less dense than that of a solid or whole food if you will. Part of the digestive process is chewing your food, this increases the surface area of the food stuff and jump starts the process of digestion. Salivary amylase starts to break down carbohydrates, when the food stuff reaches the stomach HCl starts to denature proteins by breaking the proteins structure down to its primary structure. Which is a linear protein string but for the most part the peptide bonds between the amino acids are not broke until they reach the duodenum were pancreatic enzymes and bile salts break down the protiens, carbohydrates and fats into simpler compounds that are easier for the body to absorb.

[xlxBigSexyxlx]

Either tonight or tomorrow, I'm going to make a workout routine for speed, agility, and power. Basically a football workout.

Any advice, suggestions, info, whatever...?

[MuscleScience]

Either tonight or tomorrow, I'm going to make a workout routine for speed, agility, and power. Basically a football workout.

Any advice, suggestions, info, whatever...?

Specificity is the key, in other words choose sport specific exercises that mimic situations that you would expect in competition.

BTW I thought you were training for hiking???

[xlxBigSexyxlx]

Specificity is the key, in other words choose sport specific exercises that mimic situations that you would expect in competition.

BTW I thought you were training for hiking???

Yeah, thats not until May or so.
So I figured I'd create a football workout for shits and giggles

[MuscleScience]

Yeah, thats not until May or so.
So I figured I'd create a football workout for shits and giggles

That sounds like it will be fun. I miss the days of being in high school sports and how intense it was in our weighroom. The sound of iron plates and screaming meat heads still pumps me up, instead of sterile gyms with rubber coated plates and chalk free environment.

[BuffedGuy]

Do you answer questions about diet?

[RangersLTW]

Hey can you answer my thread about HIT

[MuscleScience]

Do you answer questions about diet?

I can, however I usually do diets for a little bit different type of person. I do special populations and non-body building type athletes in my professional life. I answer more theory questions on diet really. Nark and NovaStepps (spelling) thread diet 101 is a real good place to post diet questions.

Go ahead and shoot, if I cant give you a specific answer your looking for hit that other thread up too.


Nark and Nova's diet thread:
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=341121

[MuscleScience]

Hey can you answer my thread about HIT

Of course post me a link.

[BuffedGuy]

I can, however I usually do diets for a little bit different type of person. I do special populations and non-body building type athletes in my professional life. I answer more theory questions on diet really. Nark and NovaStepps (spelling) thread diet 101 is a real good place to post diet questions.

Go ahead and shoot, if I cant give you a specific answer your looking for hit that other thread up too.

Well, I haven't lifted weights in a couple years, so I think I fit your patient description, lol.

OK, here goes:

I'm currently on a keto diet...lost almost 30 pounds now. My two questions were:

1. Is it OK to eat after doing cardio? If not, then how long does one have to wait?

2. Is it OK to eat before sleeping?

Thanks.

[RangersLTW]

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=373100

[MuscleScience]

Actually i did until recently, I started researching low carb diets and doing pwo, protein only. I read a couple of really good studies that looked at protein synthesis PWO with carbs + protein ingestion vs carb only or protein only or control. In both studies protein synthesis pwo was not significantly different in the protein+carbs vs the protein only group. I wish I could find the studies i am not sure were I put them. I think it was in ACSM's journal MSSE in the may or june edition. I can not remember I read so many papers throughout the week Its hard to remember were i got them all. I will see if I have them in my endnote file if you really want them.

Anyway what brought me to those papers is there is an effect called after burn where the body is in a fat burning mode to make up for the O2 debt and the effect of adrenaline post exercise. It has been know for sometime that for about 2 hours after exercise the metabolism is raised and a larger percentage of fat calories are being use to generate ATP for growth and repair and other energy needs. However as soon as insulin hits fat and muscle cells it virtually cancels the effects of adrenaline and causes a virtual shut down on fat burning. The reason for this is that insulin and adrenaline have an inhibitory effect on each other in the intracellular second messenger systems. (AC, PP-1, IP3 and probable some others I cant think of right now)

There is still some debate on how much fat is actually burned PWO by this after burn mechanism. The argument is that steady state aerobic exercise burns more fat calories. However the opposing argument is if that was true then all sprinters, wrestlers and basketball players would be fat instead of ripped up. The theory on that is durning competition that the body possible burns virtually no fat as compared to the amount burned from sugars durning
anaerobic exercise.

That camp states that most of the fat burning is due to the large increase in anaerobic demands and a huge increase in adrenaline. Adrenaline release is directly related to exercise intensity. Since there is a two fold effect, both huge O2 debt to "repay" and a large amount of adrenaline circulating. Fat being the preferred energy source is burned at a high rate and may potentially extend the after burn zone to meet energy demands.

That should give you a good idea on question one:

Well, I haven't lifted weights in a couple years, so I think I fit your patient description, lol.

OK, here goes:

I'm currently on a keto diet...lost almost 30 pounds now. My two questions were:

1. Is it OK to eat after doing cardio? If not, then how long does one have to wait?

2. Is it OK to eat before sleeping?

I would normally say yes but since your not weight training I see no need to eat prior to bed. Generally when someone is weight training they eat just before bed to shorten the fasting state between PM dinner and AM breakfast. Will it cause you to store extra fat, maybe. On the other side of that if your running excessively it make be good to eat before bed to help facilitate repair. I know lots of marathon runners that eat just before bed so that they will be able to perform better during their practice session the next day. Really it depends on your goals.
Thanks.

Hope that helps, and ask any follow up questions that you have.

[MuscleScience]

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=373100

Ok thanks, I will post up in your thread tomorrow. I am sleepy....

[RangersLTW]

thanks

[BuffedGuy]

That should give you a good idea on question one:



Hope that helps, and ask any follow up questions that you have.

Thanks. So the answer is: "no" to both questions right?

So how long after cardio can I eat?

[dehydromethandrotren]

Do specific muscles in the human body consist of mainly type 1 or type 2 fibers?

What is the typical ratio of muscle fiber types in your main bodyparts?

Is there a way to determine what type of muscle fibers are predominant in any given part of our own bodies specifically?

[xlxBigSexyxlx]

That sounds like it will be fun. I miss the days of being in high school sports and how intense it was in our weighroom. The sound of iron plates and screaming meat heads still pumps me up, instead of sterile gyms with rubber coated plates and chalk free environment.

hahaha your telling me.

I talked with my football coach, and now I have access to the weight room and track/field.

So it should be fun

[MuscleScience]

Thanks. So the answer is: "no" to both questions right?

So how long after cardio can I eat?

At the particular point that your at, I would say take advantage of the post exercise fat burning effect for as long as you can. You have a two hour anabolic window to eat after exercise that wont effect protein synthesis in a negative way. Now if you started weight training again then i would say eat after your workout.

[MuscleScience]

Do specific muscles in the human body consist of mainly type 1 or type 2 fibers? Yes, for example postural muscles of the back are mostly slow twitch muscle fibers. While the gastrocnemius has a higher ratio of fast twitch fibers.

What is the typical ratio of muscle fiber types in your main bodyparts?

For example the quads have a fairly even mix of ST to FT fiber types, of course individual genetic variation does play a role to and extend the variation between individuals. Really the human body is designed for endurance. Believe it or not, humans are the best endurance athletes on land in the animal kingdom. So the vast majority of our muscular makeup is more towards the ST and FOG fibers. We are not a terrible explosive species as we are not very fast and relative to our primate cousins, not very strong.

Is there a way to determine what type of muscle fibers are predominant in any given part of our own bodies specifically?

There are different methods such as EMG and muscle biopsy. Indirectly you can base it off power numbers and various formulas that give you a ratio. Though I do not know how terrible accurate they are and most nobody uses them.

[Deltasaurus]

my Abs Came in recently some days i can see them really good other days not so well, Why is this?
Glycogen?

[MuscleScience]

my Abs Came in recently some days i can see them really good other days not so well, Why is this?
Glycogen?

Water retention most likely, maybe some differences in nervous tone depending on when the last time you worked out was.

[Deltasaurus]

nothing to do with Glycogen? or Carbs for that matter, I have increased sodium in my diet.


also whats best way to deplete sodium? and make me look full and round

[Deltasaurus]

DP oops

[MuscleScience]

nothing to do with Glycogen? or Carbs for that matter, I have increased sodium in my diet.


also whats best way to deplete sodium? and make me look full and round

Glycogen pulls water into cells with it, something like 7 parts water to 1 part glycogen.

One good way to get ride of excess sodium is to not eat processed foods? Another way is to exercise, you lose lots of sodium that way.

[Terinox]

What are the signs of over training? How can you tell if you are over training?

Also, I hear so many people say that multi-vitamins are not really necessary, especially if you are young (I'm in my mid 20's). They say the piss comes out dark yellow/orange cause your body has too much vits/mins and is getting rid of them. Is this true? Does it have a negative affect on say the kidneys/liver? I condisered buying children's chewable vitamins and taking 1 of those a day, just so i'm not taking in too much. (And yes, my diet is fairly good, with fruits and veggies in it, high protein, etc...so...does that affect the need of multi-vits? Waste?).

Thanks,
T.

[dehydromethandrotren]

For an endomorph would it be better to adhere to dieting in a carb cycling manner i.e.:
4 days low carb high protein, 1 day high carb low protein, 2 moderate carb high protein days (Limiting dietary fat to that which is already in foods, but kept to a minimum)? Not just for fat loss, but in general and to avoid becoming insulin resistant etc?

I was thinking this would be better for someone like myself who carries more bodyfat than most, and therefore, to my knowledge, I should produce more insulin than a leaner individual which can increase my likeliness of becoming insulin resistant and therefore create a huge problem for me when trying to diet properly.

can you give me any advice regarding proper dietary strategies for an endomorphic individual?

I have been reading chris acetos (Jay cutlers dietary counselor I believe) books and dan duchaines, all of which basically say similar things and recommend carb cycling as essentially the best way to eat.

BTW I totally appreciate you taking the time to do this, you have more patience than I. Admirable.

[Deltasaurus]

so to look cut and still have glycogen i would want to go low sodium and what???

[MuscleScience]

What are the signs of over training? How can you tell if you are over training?

The signs and symptoms for over training vary somewhat from person to person but there are some general symptoms.

Fatigue
Excessive Soreness/prolonged soreness
Decrease in athletic performance
Decreased mental acuity
Decreased performance in the gym
Prone to injuries/decreased healing time
Decreased immune function (catch cold more often, longer illness duration)
Decreased sex drive
Quick Tempered
Trouble Sleeping
Trouble getting motivated.

There are also more.

There are also a plethora of clinical symptoms that an Exercise professional would also look at including blood panels and varies performance testing.



Also, I hear so many people say that multi-vitamins are not really necessary, especially if you are young (I'm in my mid 20's). They say the piss comes out dark yellow/orange cause your body has too much vits/mins and is getting rid of them. Is this true? Does it have a negative affect on say the kidneys/liver? I condisered buying children's chewable vitamins and taking 1 of those a day, just so i'm not taking in too much. (And yes, my diet is fairly good, with fruits and veggies in it, high protein, etc...so...does that affect the need of multi-vits? Waste?).

Thanks,
T.

To be honest I think that the only time that someone in our particular area (bodybuilding) needs to take vitamins is if they are on a really restrictive diet. I am not a big believer in a lot of supplements especially vitamins. If you get your servings of fruits and veggies in like your suppose to. You will have all the vitamins and minerals that you will ever need. Plus something about whole foods makes vitamin and mineral absorption more effective.

The only time you need to worry about vitamin toxicity with maybe a few exceptions is with fat soluble vitamins. (A,D,E,K) Water soluble vitamins are freely filterable in the kidneys and really do not put much strain on your body at all. Where as fat soluble vitamins have to be processed by the liver.

[MuscleScience]

For an endomorph would it be better to adhere to dieting in a carb cycling manner i.e.:
4 days low carb high protein, 1 day high carb low protein, 2 moderate carb high protein days (Limiting dietary fat to that which is already in foods, but kept to a minimum)? Not just for fat loss, but in general and to avoid becoming insulin resistant etc?

I was thinking this would be better for someone like myself who carries more bodyfat than most, and therefore, to my knowledge, I should produce more insulin than a leaner individual which can increase my likeliness of becoming insulin resistant and therefore create a huge problem for me when trying to diet properly.

can you give me any advice regarding proper dietary strategies for an endomorphic individual?

I have been reading chris acetos (Jay cutlers dietary counselor I believe) books and dan duchaines, all of which basically say similar things and recommend carb cycling as essentially the best way to eat.

BTW I totally appreciate you taking the time to do this, you have more patience than I. Admirable.

I Dont really like carb cycling per say, only because it doesnt really work for me. I try to keep complex carbs high in proportion to that of simple carbs. However, this is more from an athletic point of view. Where you do not want to vary nutritional intake from day to day unless a competitions is coming up. The reason you do not do that is because from a professional stand point the more variables you have in your athletes training regime the harder it is to pin point what is working and what is not.

For me I think it is important to keep a homeostatic environment when it comes to diet. If you think about it from a physiological standpoint. If your going really high in carbs for three days then you go very low the next. You will send your body into a state of shock and it will retard the metabolism because it is use to having a set point. The same can be for going low carb and then cycling up. All of a sudden the body is fed and excess of nutrients, whats it going to do. Its going to store those nutrients because it feels that there may be another week were it is being starved. And by stored I am of course referring to fat.

As I have referred to before Narks and NovaStepp's nutrition thread would be a good place to get a opinion from a bodybuilding standpoint.

BTW, no thanks is needed I enjoy answering questions as best I can. Keep em coming...

[MuscleScience]

so to look cut and still have glycogen i would want to go low sodium and what???

Low body fat...

[anabolictonic]

When i run after about 2km my lower back on the right side starts cramping up and gets real tight. I do have one leg half an inch longer than the other cos i broke it wen i was two but the chiro said my body would have adjusted. and i can reach way past my toes so i dont think its my hamstrings. I did have ITB trouble last year on the right leg and am having alot of trouble on my left hip like at the top of the femur. the myotherapist said somethin about a bursa? It hurts like a mother some times. Could the hip and back pain be related. Any ideas or thoughts on how to fix?

[MuscleScience]

When i run after about 2km my lower back on the right side starts cramping up and gets real tight. I do have one leg half an inch longer than the other cos i broke it wen i was two but the chiro said my body would have adjusted. and i can reach way past my toes so i dont think its my hamstrings. I did have ITB trouble last year on the right leg and am having alot of trouble on my left hip like at the top of the femur. the myotherapist said somethin about a bursa? It hurts like a mother some times. Could the hip and back pain be related. Any ideas or thoughts on how to fix?

I would think so, did anyone you saw give you any foot inserts???

[xlxBigSexyxlx]

Whats the deal with these bumps under my arms?
They come one or two at a time, are red, and hurt like a mother.

[MuscleScience]

Whats the deal with these bumps under my arms?
They come one or two at a time, are red, and hurt like a mother.

Dont have a clue.

Have you seen your doctor about them?

[xlxBigSexyxlx]

Dont have a clue.

Have you seen your doctor about them?

No.


I want to say they are swollen lymph nodes. Not sure what causes them....
I just seem to get them more frequent these days.

From what I've read, seems it can be anything from a little bacteria infection to cancer.