Fat or muscle - which is heavier in the human body? How to determine normal weight

There is concern that bodybuilding or big set muscle mass negatively affects the heart. I am a certified personal trainer and part-time bodybuilder. My cholesterol levels and blood pressure are within normal limits. Skeptics insist that the harmful effects of bodybuilding on the heart with excess muscle mass will make themselves felt in the future.

I would like to understand how these people came up with the idea that bodybuilding is bad for the heart, because they have not done any research to support this myth. Steroid use, which is common among bodybuilders, can have negative effects on the heart. However, this article only applies to natural bodybuilders and other athletes who build muscle entirely naturally.

Is there research showing that lifting weights is good for your heart? Yes, I have!

A report published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that lifting weights improves heart muscle health. Research conducted by author Barry Franklin, Ph.D., states: “We now have a clearer understanding that weight-lifting training can significantly reduce some factors that influence the risk of heart disease, including lipid and cholesterol levels, blood pressure, obesity and glucose metabolism."

You might be thinking, “Okay, this all applies to lifting weights. But what about bodybuilding and building big muscles?” The minutes of the American Heart Association's Scientific Council meeting, where weight lifting was discussed, recommended the following: one set of exercises of 8-15 repetitions, including 8-10 different standard exercises, 2-3 times a week.

They will train much more than indicated above, especially with regard to the number of approaches. However, if the recommendations of the ACA protocol are followed at the most intense level, then a person (if he is genetically predisposed and follows a maintenance diet) can become quite muscular. If a person chooses to lift weights, which makes doing 8-15 reps of the exercises quite difficult, then he is not intending to develop the muscle as much as he would if he chose resistance exercises, which makes doing 8-15 reps almost impossible.

In addition, rest time between sets of exercises, which is not specified in the ASA report, plays an important role in muscle development. No matter how diligently a person adheres to this protocol, he will not become ridiculously large, although he may become quite muscular enough to be skeptical that all that muscle is harming his heart.

Other studies show that weight-lifting training helps lower resting blood pressure (Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association). Lead author Dr. George A. Kelly suggests: "Even if this reduction in blood pressure is small, it may reduce an individual's risk of heart disease and angina."

Although these studies do not analyze bodybuilding regimens, anyone can conclude that several steps strength training on the way to the world of bodybuilding will not lead to heart damage. And why on earth should they lead to this?

One person on a bodybuilding forum said that he heard from someone that having too much muscle increases body mass, and that this extra weight eventually leads to a deformed heart... the heart muscle is stretched due to excess weight, whether it is muscle mass or fat mass . According to this theory, more tall people have a greater risk of developing heart disease because tall people are generally heavier than short people.

Of course, being tall is not a risk factor for heart disease! Body obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease. Franklin said, "The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate, and the more calories you can burn every day." Competitive bodybuilders, and those who are competitive bodybuilders at heart, have a low percentage of body fat relative to their total body weight.

This makes all the details of their muscle structure more visible, creating the illusion of even the weakest bodybuilders large quantity muscles. Low body fat (in the "athletic" range) does not lead to heart problems. Franklin adds that for typical healthy adults at low risk of heart disease, lifting weights is safe.

Who Shouldn't Do Regular Weight Lifting?

Franklin believes that people with unstable angina, uncontrolled arrhythmia and uncontrolled blood pressure. However, those who criticize bodybuilding or excessive muscle mass, believe that these activities are harmful to the hearts of healthy people or may become harmful over time.

According to the American Heart Association, the following risks for the development of heart disease include obesity, smoking, hypertension, high levels of “bad” cholesterol, hyperlipidemia (exceeding the level of fat in the blood), diabetes, constant mental stress, excessive consumption of fatty foods, hereditary predisposition and... . lack of physical activity.

Other risks for developing heart disease include a body mass index over 25, constant increased level blood sugar (prediabetes), insomnia, sleep duration at night 6 hours or less or 9 hours or more, apnea syndrome (sudden cessation of breathing during sleep). Does a bodybuilder or person with large muscle mass fit these criteria?

Large muscle mass does not lead to any of these risk conditions.

Men and women who work hard to increase muscle mass are very conscious about eating healthy. Although they do consider cheating with their food intake, the bulk of their diet remains healthy, so all their food is highly refined, with significant restrictions on white sugar, white flour products, saturated fats, trans fats and other ingredients harmful to health.

Regarding the idea that the heart is deformed by body weight when there is a lot of muscle mass, understand that the heart of such a person is well conditioned as a result of bodybuilding, as well as the heart exercises that accompany the entire bodybuilding lifestyle.

Bodybuilding and a healthy heart- Video

If you are actively training, but you are unable to burn fat and the numbers on the scale remain motionless, as if all this time you have been serenely lying on the couch, do not be discouraged and read this material - we will tell you why this happens.

Any exercise, whether cardio or strength training, can contribute to muscle gain and loss. excess fat, so the fact that the scales have frozen does not mean that all efforts are in vain. The thing is that muscles are more dense than fat. Thus, one kilogram of muscle is significantly less in volume than one kilogram of fat, but they have the same mass.

Which is heavier - muscle or fat?

Have you ever heard the statement that a kilogram of muscle weighs more than one kilogram of fat? It should be noted right away that in in this case we are talking about comparing the mass of two bodies, and not about weight, as is commonly believed. Thus, the mass of the two bodies is identical, and it’s all a matter of volume, since one kilogram of fat takes up four times more space than muscle tissue. That is, you can look and feel thin even if your body weight remains the same. Alas, the same thing “works” in the opposite direction - you can look and feel plump, despite the fact that the scale arrow will remain motionless. This is especially typical for older people, since muscles tend to decrease in size with age, because the process of restoring damaged muscle cells is much slower than in youth. In addition, with age, a person, as a rule, begins to move less, and this, in turn, significantly affects the increase in fatty tissue in the body.

In any case, excess fat can be a factor contributing to the development of serious diseases such as stroke, coronary artery disease and diabetes. It is difficult to determine the optimal ratio of fat and muscle in the body for each person - for this it is necessary to conduct special research, since the final indicator will depend on the person’s lifestyle, and on the characteristics of his body, and on the sport in which he plays. However, insufficient body fat is also undesirable, since a lack of fat can cause serious damage to the body, including reproductive function in women. It should be remembered that the ability to lead an active lifestyle largely depends on understanding the fact: the body needs both muscle and fat.

Igor Zavyalov

Do not forget that body weight consists not only of muscle and fat tissue - there are also bones, internal organs, liquid, glandular and nervous tissue. Therefore, I am against frequent weighing when it comes to determining the effectiveness of training and rational nutrition. Instead, use a measuring tape and your feelings - whether the clothes are becoming looser or, on the contrary, narrower. Yes, you can weigh the same at 50 years old as at 25, but only in youth did muscles prevail in these conditional 65 kilograms, and now fat prevailed, although the mass remained unchanged. And don't believe the claims that if you don't exercise, your muscles will turn into fat. No, muscles don't turn into fat, fat doesn't turn into muscle, bones don't turn into brain. Is it possible wooden house become stone? The same thing here - different materials, which cannot turn into each other in any way. If a person stops taking care of himself, fat mass naturally begins to predominate. Plus, with age, the body somehow gains fat mass and lose muscle - after 30 years, there are fewer muscle cells, metabolism slows down, and a person uses less energy. This is a natural mechanism, but not a death sentence. If you want to continue to be active, keep leading healthy image life and exercise, and the older you get, the more time you should devote to maintaining your physical fitness. You just need to do this consciously and under the guidance of a professional who can competently plan the load, taking into account your age.

Modern scales allow you to measure body composition and determine percentage muscle and fat mass. If you are not preparing for professional competitions, such scales will be quite enough to track not only muscle growth and fat burning, but also monitor fluid loss. This is important to consider to prevent dehydration. For example, many people wear special rubber suits for training, run for hours in them and then proudly say that they have lost three kilograms. Only now they lost not fat, but water. Professional athletes even have this rule - they weigh themselves before the match and always after. This allows them to determine exactly how much fluid the body has lost. In order to restore water balance, they must drink water within two hours at the rate of 150% of lost body weight - they have “lost weight” by two kilograms, which means they need to drink three liters of water. If this is not done, the recovery process will take a long time and be less effective.

The average person can safely lose 500 grams of fat per week, or no more than two kilograms per month. Yes, you can lose weight faster, but it will no longer be safe, and you may experience a “reverse wave”, which is inevitable with sudden weight loss. Remember, the body will always take its toll. The main thing in this matter is to know your characteristics and tendencies and not go to extremes.

Yes, the numbers on the scale may remain stationary for a long time, but the ratio of muscle mass to fat mass will still change. So don’t give up swimming or daily workouts in the gym just because the scale arrow isn’t moving in the direction you want. Stop weighing yourself for a while and try to measure your results in other units, such as centimeters or the minutes you spend doing the plank.

When determining how much you should weigh, we look at your lean body mass. We cannot assume your age, height or body type. The weight charts your doctor uses are based on all of these factors combined. Such tables were useful until nothing better was available, but today it is clear that they give deviations of ten to fifteen kilograms for each individual. You can have excess weight in accordance with these tables and at the same time - lack of fat. The opposite is also true. We have measured many thin people who, according to these tables, were underweight and at the same time had excess fat. They have no visible subcutaneous fat, but their muscles are covered in fat.

We define ideal weight a person by the size of his skeleton or muscle mass of his body. If you have large bones and muscles, we plan for you to weigh more than a person of the same height who has thin bones and little muscle.

Let's take for example a man three years old. different periods his life. When he is twenty years old, he is in college and is involved in wrestling, gymnastics and weightlifting. All three activities increase muscle mass, and his lean body mass is 66 kilograms. He may have 11 kilograms of fat and weigh 77 kilograms.

At age thirty-eight, he is a businessman whose only physical activity, aside from weekend skiing and occasional golf, is running. Running keeps him lean and healthy, but it's not a sport that builds muscle. In fact, since the upper body muscles are not working with his current activities, he will lose some of them. Therefore, he will only have 63 kilograms of lean body mass left. Accordingly, he should not have more than 10 kilograms of fat and weigh more than 73 kilograms. His body adapts remarkably well to its new role. Obviously, a runner does not need the upper developed muscles of a gymnast. Muscle mass decreases, and overall weight should decrease.

Let's take the third situation. Suppose our man, now over forty, finds himself in some extreme conditions. For example, two years on the brink of starvation in a prisoner of war camp, or chronic debilitating illness for several years. He will lose a lot of muscle and a lot of fat. At the end of such an ordeal he will be exhausted and skinny. His mother, and perhaps the doctor, will want to fatten him up. I strongly protest. If his muscle mass has decreased to 52 kilograms, he should not have more than 9 kilograms of fat, and his total weight should not exceed 61 kilograms. The only healthy way to regain body weight in such a case- is to build up lost muscle by adding fat only within 15 percent. If he eats to gain weight, he will only gain fat weight and end up obese, like most typical fat people - even though he may remain thin.

Many sedentary Americans not only lose muscle mass as they age, but their fat content also increases.

Let's consider the changes in a woman leading a sedentary lifestyle. Let's say that at age twenty she has a healthy 22 percent body fat and weighs 55 kilograms. At thirty-five, she is proud that she has gained only 2 kilograms - and yet she has 30 percent body fat. If you look at the chart on page 36, you'll see that she actually gained 5 kilograms of fat while losing 3 kilograms of muscle. The muscle mass of her body today is only 40 kilograms, and to have 22 percent body fat, she must weigh no more than 51 kilograms.

You see that the term " correct weight" is actually quite vague. A person's correct weight changes as the body's lean mass changes. If the woman we examined exercised physical exercise, she will be able to restore the muscle mass of her body to the original 43 kilograms and thus earn the right to weigh 55 kilograms again. If she doesn't exercise, her correct weight is 51 kilograms.

The amount of muscle mass you have in your body also largely determines how much you should eat. Ultimately, it is muscle mass that burns calories. When you put gas in a car, it is the size of the engine that determines the gas consumption, not the size of the entire car. The fat part of the body does not need calories for any practical activities. You don't need to feed fat calories; fat is calories. Two people can be the same weight, but one may have more fat and therefore less muscle mass than the other. If they both eat the same number of calories, the one with less muscle mass will gain weight. In the next few years, there will be calorie charts that will help you determine how many calories you should eat based on the amount of muscle mass in your body.

When calculating our ideal maximum weight, we must start from the active part of the body, which burns calories all day long, even when we sleep. We must proceed from the amount of active tissue involved in metabolism, our lean body mass. We then calculate how much fat you can add to your muscle mass to make it 22 percent if you're a woman or 15 percent if you're a man. If you exercise in such a way that your muscle mass increases, then your caloric needs also increase, and you can have more body fat without exceeding the ideal 22 or 15 percent.

Muscle body mass in men depending on their height (height, cm/MW, kg)

165/49-54, 167,5/50-57, 170/51-58, 172,5/54-60, 175/55-62, 177,5/58-66, 180/60-69, 182,5/62-74, 185/64-76, 187,5/65-80, 190/66-83

Muscular body mass in women depending on their height (height, cm/MW, kg)

152,5/32-39, 155/33-40, 157,5/34-41, 160/35-42, 162,5/37-44, 165/38-45, 167,5/39-46, 170/40-48, 172,5/42-49, 175/43-52, 177,5/44-54

This data represents the range of lean body mass of people I measured who had normal body fat percentages—about 15% in men and about 22% in women. Unfortunately, I don't have enough data to give a range for men under 165cm or women over 178cm, so these people will have to estimate their desired muscle mass based on the value closest to their height. You can calculate your ideal total weight by dividing your lean body mass by 0.85 if you are a man and by 0.78 if you are a woman.

K. Bailey

"How to determine normal weight" and other articles from the section

Many athletes and people far from this are wondering what is heavier: muscles or fat. There is a sufficient amount of controversial information on this matter.

Fat or weightlifter?

You can often find a common example in the comparison of fat and muscle: a well-fed person can weigh 100 kg and not look very beautiful, and a bodybuilder who also weighs 100 kg, but has a low percentage of fat, nevertheless looks quite aesthetically pleasing. Same weight, but different shape. In the first case, the person will seem much larger in size than the second, but in the meantime they have the same weight, so what is the mystery?

Having understood the question “Which is heavier: muscles or fat in a person,” everyone can clearly understand what actions they need to take depending on their goal of building a figure. After all, only having certain knowledge in a certain matter can you competently approach solving a problem.

Fat or muscle - which is heavier?

Having understood this topic, you can clearly understand why such dramatic differences in weight and appearance arise. If we consider the question "is muscle or fat heavier?" from the point of view of cellular structure, the clear answer is that muscles are heavier, since their cells have a higher density compared to fat cells.

Muscle cells contain protein and water, while fat cells contain only fat, or lipids. You don’t need to have any special knowledge of body structure to understand that protein and water, aka muscles, will be much denser in composition than fat.

Functions of fat deposits

Fat is not a useless phenomenon; its critical level poses a threat to health, so you need to take a responsible approach to the process of losing weight. Layers of fat protect internal organs and create an additional source of heat in cold weather, which explains the decrease in metabolism in winter as the body tries to conserve fat reserves.

Having learned the answer to the question “fat or muscle - which is heavier”, many try in every way to get rid of fat, which exceeds in volume; however, it is worth understanding that there is a limit beyond which it is not advisable to go.

The lowest fat level threshold for a woman is 12%, then problems may begin with both appearance, and in a feminine way. Men can feel great with 5% body fat.

However, a high percentage of fat is harmful to the body, since it increases the likelihood of developing diabetes mellitus, energy decreases, metabolism slows down, lethargy sets in.

Why doesn't the weight change?

Due to the difference in the weight of muscle and fat, when losing weight, your weight may stay the same. In progress sports activity As fat is burned, muscle mass is built. Due to the fact that the proportion of body fat may be lower than the proportion of muscle, the effect of stagnant weight change can be created. In other words, two processes occurred simultaneously - fat went away and muscles increased.

Based on this, one should not attach great importance numbers on the scales. Visually you can see changes, a decrease in volume in certain areas, but remain at the same weight.

Many people believe that if they work out in the gym, their figure will in any case become athletic, whether they initially have fat or muscles. What is harder - burning lipids or increasing lean mass?

You need to understand that fat does not transfer to muscle. Intense exercise, of course, reduces body fat in a sense, but good results can only be achieved by limiting carbohydrates.

Heavy bones?

A fat man has a large share fat in the body, the proportion of muscle and bone tissue changes slightly. It is inappropriate to believe that weight can increase due to bone growth, since a change of even 10% in the proportion of bone tissue leads to only 1-1.5 kg.

Can be achieved sharp growth weight subject to availability physical activity And proper nutrition, since muscles are heavier than fat and bones. Because of this, the athlete will have large muscle mass and weight, respectively. Although, according to the classification of acceptable parameters and weight, he will belong to the overweight group, while having a low percentage of fat reserves.

Today there is a so-called bioimpedance analysis, which allows you to calculate the percentage of muscle mass in the body. Based on this, we can conclude whether a person needs to lose weight or gain weight.

When wondering whether fat or muscle is heavier, you need to consider many factors that influence weight gain.

In some cases, for example, during premenstrual syndrome in women or with heart disease, weight may increase due to fluid retention in the body. In this case, you need to consult a doctor. But almost everyone is associated with excess fat.

When understanding the question “Which is heavier: muscle or fat?”, it is important to pay attention not only to weight, but also to the distribution of fat across parts of the body. Thus, a woman, even if she is overweight, can look harmoniously built, which is due to the uniform distribution of fat deposits throughout the body.

The ratio of hips to waist volumes, taken as the norm, for women is 0.7, for men - 1.

Body types

There are two female type- “pear” and in masculine terms - “apple”.

People belonging to the first type have a concentration of fat in the buttocks and lower abdomen.

Those in the second type have deposits, usually in the upper part of the body. These people are susceptible to obesity, diabetes, ischemia, and atherosclerosis.

You need to be aware that weight does not play a big role; what this weight consists of is much more important. The same weight of fat and muscle will look different. How? - many will ask. For example, 1 kg of muscle occupies a volume 2 times less than 1 kg of fat.

To replace fat with muscles, you need to eat protein and give up unhealthy foods, then you will no longer worry about what is heavier - muscles or fat in a person.

It's great that we are all here today. Hello! And on the agenda is the topic “How to gain muscle mass.” After reading, you will learn everything about the practical aspects of muscle growth: exactly what “tools” allow you to gain mass qualitatively and quantitatively. Most likely, the article will turn out to be voluminous, then we will have a second part. But we are in no hurry.

So take your seats in auditorium, we begin!

How to gain muscle mass: a detailed analysis

How can you characterize the materials that are now on the Internet answering the question of how to gain muscle mass? It all comes down to recommendations like “you need to eat more”, “train hard, build a base”, “sleep 8 hours”. Such a superficial study of the question gives rise to superficial answers. In this article we will not talk about nutritional supplements, what you need to eat and how to train. We will talk about the physiology of mass gain, its theoretical and practical side. Let's take everything apart and dwell on each factor. Ideally, we want you to start gaining weight from just one reading :). Let's see what we can get out of this. Go!

Note:
For better assimilation of the material, all further narration will be divided into subchapters.

The main rule of muscle growth: all about protein synthesis

Let's assume that you are a beginner and have just started visiting Gym. You know nothing about muscle growth and its growth factors, as well as about protein - the main building component. But you still see the changes happening to your body, so you don’t bother with theories. But then there comes a plateau, when nothing happens to your muscles for a long time. This is where you start asking yourself questions: maybe I’m doing something wrong? Why isn't muscle mass growing?

And here you need to understand the following. Muscle mass (and weight in general) is not taken from thin air; protein balance, determined by the formula, is responsible for it:

Protein balance = protein synthesis – protein breakdown.

Muscle growth occurs when the first component (synthesis) dominates and exceeds the second.

Protein synthesis is influenced by many factors various factors. The main ones include:

• age;
• nutrition (food, sports nutrition, pharmaceutical support);
• hormones;
• exercises (nature of the training and its parameters);
• sex life;
• conveyors;
• plasma proteins;
• structural proteins;
• blood alcohol level;
• muscle mass;
• enzymes;
• antibodies.

Synthesis is the combination of several components into a single whole. When it comes to muscle protein synthesis, it refers to the creation of new muscle tissue from amino acids. The latter are small molecules (building blocks) that together form proteins, and they are constantly disassembled/assembled in your body.

The process of destruction of amino acids in muscle tissue is called muscle protein breakdown, breakdown, proteolysis. These processes of breakdown and synthesis are simultaneously active, but to varying degrees.

For example, when you are hungry, protein breakdown levels increase, and if they exceed protein synthesis levels, you lose muscle mass. This is called condition negative balance squirrel. In turn, when you consume protein, the rate of protein synthesis increases, and once it exceeds the breakdown rate, the result is muscle growth. This is called a state of positive protein balance.

So your body every day (depending on the conditions formed for it) moves between anabolic and catabolic states. With normal health and diet, muscle tissue is fairly stable and the cellular regeneration cycle remains balanced. Here's what it looks like during the day:

As you can see, each increase in protein synthesis is accompanied by a subsequent increase in protein breakdown, they more or less balance each other out. That's why average person Doesn't lose or gain muscle over time (conditionally lives all year + - at the same weight). On a daily basis there is no noticeable change in total body weight.

How Protein Synthesis Affects Muscle Growth

Every shift, “push” (excess over decay) will lead to muscle gain. When rates of protein synthesis exceed rates of protein breakdown over an extended period of time, our muscles become stronger and stronger. Thus, what we consider " muscle growth" is actually the result of protein synthesis rates exceeding protein breakdown rates over time.

To put it simply: when your body produces more muscle proteins than it loses, you gain muscles. This is the key point in answering the question of how to gain muscle mass. When the body creates less protein than it loses, weight loss occurs due to muscles. When generations are equal to losses, the body is in an equilibrium state.

Note:

You can often hear from girls that they are not satisfied with their own weight, they only want to pump up their butt without increasing it. Here it is worth understanding that an increase in the % of muscle mass always leads to a change in the protein balance towards a skew of the “scales” to the right (positive balance). Gain always means “+” to something, in this case to body weight. This weight can be compensated by reducing the % of fat mass or “draining water”. But this is more subtle work on improving the quality of the physique.

Protein synthesis is a multifactorial process. All factors cumulatively determine whether you gain or lose muscle mass.

Methods for measuring protein synthesis

There are plenty of them, but for some reason they usually talk about only one or two on the Internet. To complete the picture and as an educational program, let’s consider all of them (the main ones).

No. 1. N/nitrogen balance

Carbohydrates and fats are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Protein also contains nitrogen. So the nitrogen we get through our diet must come from protein. As protein is broken down by the body, most of the protein derived from nitrogen must be excreted in urine or accumulate and become toxic. It is fairly easy to measure nitrogen in food and human waste. So we can calculate:

Nitrogen balance = nitrogen intake - nitrogen excretion

If nitrogen consumption is greater than its excretion, then we are in a state of positive nitrogen balance. This indicates that our body stores more protein than it loses, thus being in an anabolic (growing) state.

Note:

The nitrogen balance method gives very little information about what is happening in the body (particularly with muscle mass) In fact. You can have a positive nitrogen balance while you are losing muscle tissue. For example, your body may be producing intestinal protein at a rate that exceeds muscle loss. Thus, nitrogen balance is not the most informative method for measuring protein synthesis for athletes. It only generally indicates whether the body is in an anabolic or catabolic state.

No. 2. Tracers

Tracers are compounds that can be traced throughout the body. Amino acid tracers are the most common type of tracer for assessing muscle protein synthesis. These are amino acids with an extra neutron. These amino acid tracer functions are identical to normal amino acids. However, they weigh slightly more than a normal amino acid, which allows them to be distinguished.

A normal carbon atom has a molecular weight 12 . When we add a neutron, it increases and becomes equal to 13 . These special carbon atoms are indicated (in documentation/research) as follows: L--leucine. This means that the amino acid leucine has a carbon atom with the weight 13 . When you see such notes on paper, you know that tracers are being used.

Because you can monitor amino acid indicators throughout the body, it allows you to measure the various metabolic processes that occur with amino acids, including protein synthesis.

No. 3. Whole body protein metabolism

Using amino acid tracers, protein synthesis, degradation, oxidation and net balance can be measured. Protein synthesis refers to the synthesis of any protein in the body (whole body protein synthesis), and not just muscle. Therefore, this method is not an accurate measurement for athletes. However, whole body protein metabolism data provide more information than the nitrogen balance method.

Nitrogen balance only indicates a general anabolic or catabolic state. Method No. 3 shows the “charge” of the protein balance - positive or negative, and also due to what (increasing protein synthesis, reducing breakdown, or a combination of both) changes occur in the net balance.

No. 4. Synthesis of all muscle proteins/specific fractions of muscle proteins

When measuring muscle protein synthesis, the synthesis of mixed muscle proteins can be measured (all types of muscle protein combined). But you can additionally indicate what type of proteins is synthesized. You can measure myofibrillar protein synthesis, a contractile protein that is responsible for mass. This fraction is very important for muscle building.

You can also measure mitochondrial protein synthesis. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of muscles. They burn carbohydrates and fats for fuel. Thus, mitochondrial protein synthesis is more informative regarding the energy production capacity of muscles and is more relevant for endurance athletes.

Bottom Line: Total Muscle Protein Synthesis Method - Mixed Muscle Protein Synthesis: Myofibrillar protein synthesis measures only contractile proteins and is the most important measurement for increasing muscle mass. While mitochondrial protein synthesis is more important for endurance athletes.

No. 5. Fractional synthesis rate (FSR)

This method combines the amino acid indicator/tracer method with muscle biopsy. It consists of taking pre- and post-operative muscle biopsies and measuring the rate at which the amino acid tracer is incorporated into the muscle.

This method measures the fractional synthesis rate (FSR), expressed in %/h. This shows how quickly the muscle can fully recover. FSR= 0,04 %/h means that every hour is synthesized 0,04% general muscles. Calculations indicate that it takes about 3 - months for complete tissue regeneration. This is the most common and most accurate method for measuring muscle protein synthesis.

We're done with the methods. Now let's move on to...

Ways to Increase Muscle Protein Synthesis

The process of building muscle is a simultaneous solution 2 -x tasks:

1. increasing the duration of muscle protein synthesis;
2. reduction in duration (nullification) muscle protein breakdown.

In this part of the article we will analyze the nutritional aspects in detail and start with...

No. 1. Amount of protein per meal

Most studies agree that 20-25 grams of protein is the ceiling that it makes sense for an athlete to take after strength training and in general during exercise. These are the values (researchers - Moore, 2009 ; Witard, 2014 lead to maximum MPS (muscle protein synthesis). Increasing the dose to 40 g leads to an increase in the MPS value by approximately 10-20% .

Another recent study (Lindsay S. Macnaughton, 2016 ) showed that the amount of lean muscle mass does not affect the response to protein intake. That is, people of larger constitution do not need more protein compared to their lean counterparts.

No. 2. Protein source

Protein sources differ in their ability to stimulate MPS. The main properties that determine the anabolic effect of protein are the speed of its digestion and amino acid composition (especially the amino acid leucine).

Research (Pennings, 2011 , American journal of clinical nutrition) show that the highest muscle protein synthetic response occurs with whey protein supplementation.

Animal protein sources tend to be high in essential amino acids and are more effective than plant protein in stimulating MPS (Van Vliet, 2015 ) .

No. 3. Leucine

Leucine is the amino acid considered most effective in stimulating MPS. Peak blood leucine concentrations following protein ingestion generally correlate with the rate of muscle protein synthesis. This supports the notion that the rate of protein digestion and protein leucine content are important predictors for the anabolic effect of protein supplementation.

Although leucine is very important, other amino acids also play a role. This is best illustrated by research (Churchward-Venne, 2014 ) , which compares the synthetic muscle protein response to five different supplementation protocols:

1. 6.25 g serum;
2. 6.25 g whey with 2.25 g leucine, total 3 g leucine;
3. 6.25 g whey with 4.25 g leucine, total 5 g leucine;
4. 6.25 g serum with 6 g BCA (4,25 g leucine, 1,38 g isoleucine, and 1,35 g valine);
5. 25 g serum (3 g leucine).

All five supplementation protocols increased the rate of muscle protein synthesis. The fifth protocol increased MPS by more than 6,25 grams. Adding more leucine ( 4,25 grams) in addition to whey 6,25 gram, improved MPS. At the same time, the indicators were similar to the reception 25 grams of whey. This indicates that adding a relatively small amount of leucine to a small dose of protein may be just as effective as adding a much larger total amount of protein.

Regarding BCA amino acid intake, isoleucine and valine appear to compete for absorption with leucine, resulting in a less rapid peak for leucine, which is considered an important determinant of MPS rate.

Bottom line: An important anabolic component that affects MPS is the amino acid leucine in the diet. Suboptimal amounts of protein can be supplemented with leucine to improve muscle protein synthetic response.

No. 4. Protein intake time. Anabolic window

Immediately after training (before 1 hours) you need to take sports nutrition or homemade protein/gainer, otherwise it will close. This is what most reputable (and not so reputable) resources and trainers teach us. No, this is not a myth, but it is not entirely correct information either. This is the point. Exercise improves the synthetic response to protein ingestion. Because of this, it has been suggested that consuming protein immediately after exercise is more anabolic than consuming protein at other various time points. This is confirmed by some studies and refuted by others: there is no short-term period of opening the anabolic window and the anabolic effects of protein intake (increased MPS) can be obtained throughout 24 hours after classes.

Bottom line: while scientists are butting heads, you can experimentally “grope” for the option of closing the window that works best for you.

No. 5. Protein distribution during the day

A clear balance of protein intake—divided into at least three main meals per day—stimulates MPS more effectively than consuming more protein at dinner (Marerow, 2014 ) . Providing the body 20 g protein every 3 hour stimulates MPS more than providing the same amount of protein in less regular doses (40 g every 6 hours) or more regular doses (10 g every 1,5 hours) (Areta, 2013 ) .

No. 6. Protein before bed

Cottage cheese for the night and sleep! This has become the truth for any beginner (and not only) gymnast and fitness trainer who wondered how to gain muscle mass. Is it so? No. Studies typically state that “…protein before bed increased the rate of whole body protein synthesis and improved net protein balance.” We are not talking about cottage cheese, we are talking specifically about protein, casein. Cottage cheese is not equal to casein protein. And it doesn't have the same growing effect on MPS.

Result: 40 g of casein protein (not cottage cheese) before bed is the optimal dose to maximize MPS during night sleep (Res. 2012 ) .

According to nutritional precepts, this is all. Let's summarize what has been said and conclude 5 basic postulates responsible for protein synthesis and its increase. So here they are:

1. spend a day 4-5 meals: 3 hard and 1-2 liquid;
2. distribute protein meals throughout the day, eating one meal at a time 20-40 g protein, average 1,6-2,4 gr on 1 kg weight;
3. Consume whey protein after your evening workout (e.g. concentrate or isolate) in quantity 25 g, and before bedtime casein, serving up to 40 gr;
4. give preference to animal protein and foods with high content leucine;
5. Maintain a surplus calorie balance in your diet.

Follow these postulates, and the question of how to gain muscle mass will no longer bother you. Actually, as expected, 2400 words This means that our conversation on the topic is postponed until next Friday. Well, for now...

Afterword

PS: Friends, how to gain muscle mass? Do you have your own secrets? Let's share in the comments.

PPS: did the project help? Then leave a link to it as your status social network- plus 100 points towards karma guaranteed :)

With respect and gratitude, Protasov DMitriy.