Updates. As was to be expected i've let the log slide a bit and can't seem to finish the second post of the blog I nearly finished over a month ago. As usual life gets in the way, a new software program at work has me just about ready to kill someone, but i'm also very glad to say that at least partially the reason for my prolonged absence has been that I'm just too fatigued after getting back from the gym. Also, while i haven't been able to put coherent sentences to paper, the incredible fatigue and the need to escape the horrid times at work have led me to read a ton more research than I've been able to read in the preceding months. I print studies at work, read them over lunch, on the way home, the way to the gym and afterwards when my legs give out.
It's been nearly three months now since I dedicated myself to training myself seriously after my last diet left me at 93.5 Kg (206 lbs) but not nearly as cut as i would have liked to have been, early July. I'm fairly proud to announce that since then my weight has increased a full 10 kg (22 lbs) to 103.5 (228 lbs) sober on the scale this morning, with minimal fat gain. Keep in mind I'm doing this all natural and am still dealing with low test since coming off in January. I feel I still haven't reached my peak potential as i'm still tweaking my diet and training an almost daily basis.
My understanding of muscle physiology has widened immensely this last month. Some of the latest research has turned stuff we thought to be true for years upside down. Stuff like the fact that slow twitch fibers who barely grow at all have a higher protein synthetic rate, protein turnover rate and higher myonuclear density that large Type II fibers. Stuff like the fact that more damage equals more muscle (turns out more damage is done with endurance exercise, and that more damage equals more calcium signaling, which in turn increases turnover and fast-to-slow fiber type switching). Stuff like the fact that you need sattelite cells to grow more muscle (several models of maximal hypertrophy, including myostatin deletion and synergist ablation, show no increase in myonuclear number) and even the fact that more calories are a prerequisite for growth under the right circumstances (again, those same models were only paired with a modest increase in food intake). Turns out that however difficult it is to manipulate muscle growth and attain it in real life, the factors governing hypêrtrophy are relatively simple. It would seem to be as easy as taking the brakes off to attain the ideal physique (despite increased adipogenic signalling, models of maximal hypertrophy have less fat because the muscle eats up all the nutrients).
In terms of what can be applied in the real world it again goes back to reducing AMPK signaling in the hours around training time, optimal zinc and Vitamin D status etc, and then a few things that are still in theoretical stages (meaning i see possible links, but no actual direct evidence to support it yet)
I'm looking into a few commercial things, and wondering if any of you have had experience with them ? The first is Fat Gripz. I don't buy the sales pitch, but changing small things about form in various exercises from time to time does work miralces for continuous growth and I do believe these things can provide that to some extent. The other is Hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate (HDP), currently mostly talked about is Waxy Maize HDP or WM-HDP, but I believe Tapioca and potato HDP's will yield similar benefits (I believe its currently marketed only under a few brands, one being thermicarb ?). It's commercially not available in Europe but its also used as a food additive (E1442) and i may be able to get my hands on some via work at a very cheap price (10 bucks per kg). The idea behind it is that its largely indigestible by your own body but will be digested in the lower intestines by intestinal flora and then enter the blood stream as short chain fatty acids. This keeps insulin and incretins low, allows the SCFA's to replenish glucose in liver and muscle via gluconeogenisis while bypassing adipose tissue stimulation and increasing resting energy expenditure. Was wondering if anyone had any experiences. Even on paper i'm still wrestling with the best way to use it because of possible ramifications on slower uptake of other nutrients.
? Sounds like you have a good idea of where I want to go with this, and I honestly have no clue about this stuff, like making the graphs like in the studies and how to incorporate that crap into blogs. 