Myostatin Inhibitors, Diversity of Knowledge, Feeling the Biceps & Triceps

by Author L. Rea

Publication Date: June 29, 2003

Nothing in this article is intended to take the place of advice from a licensed health professional. Consult a physician before taking any medication.

Q: I hear a lot a lot about a supplement that stops myostatin and it's advertised to make muscles grow. What is it and does it really work?

A: Myostatin is a substance produced by human tissues that acts as a muscle growth regulator or inhibitor. In short it has a job of limiting your muscular growth progress. Though no one is sure as to the extent, the amount of muscle you could add to your body would be rather amazing if myostatin was inhibited to a respectable degree.

Some supplement manufacturers have based their ads upon a few in vivo (in test tube) studies of a marine algae extract that has been cultured from Cystoseira canariensis. In one study it was found that this sea slime bound tightly to myostatin thus deactivating it. This was pretty exciting stuff of course but there are to date no in vivo (in the body) studies to validate the actual value. Personally I have little faith in the products due to a lack of probable effective delivery to muscle tissue.

You have to remember that anything ingested orally is treated to a series of powerful and chemical structure altering acids and enzymes before it is introduced to the circulatory system. Even if the liver were somehow by-passed the likelihood of any unprotected organic substance arriving at the target tissue unaffected are pretty much nil. Keeping an open mind, it would seem possible to produce a supplement that actually effectively inhibits myostatin one day.

A: Thank you for your kind words in my behalf. It is always good to realize that my work is of value to those I research and write for.

The next book in the Italian language is Building The Perfect Beast... Naturally and will be out in a couple of months. I believe that Chemical Muscle Enhancement in the Italian language will follow soon after (I assume you read the English version).

As a physiology teacher you are well aware of the intricacies of the human body. The connection is simple: It is all chemistry and Action/Reaction Factors. If you have read my article "The Chemical Concepts of Bodybuilding" you are also aware of the reality that everything we eat, drink, think, do and say has been affected by or is chemical in structure. I simply explain the connections between them as Action/Reaction Factors. To many assume erroneously that they are so-called natural athletes because they do not use AAS (anabolic androgenic steroids).

Tell me what is natural about placing a quarter ton of weight upon your shoulders for a bar squat or ingesting processed high tech engineered foods like protein powders and amino acids? Nothing! I know far to many Olympic athletes who live and train based upon QUAAST (quantitive urinary amino acid test) so as to maximize amino acid profiles for increased GH (growth hormone) and testosterone production. Natural? It becomes much easier to see the connections once you remove all but the science and experience one has at their disposal.

The idea of "feeling your muscles work" refers to innervation. When you pick up a weight the muscles tell the brain what is going on through neurological impulses. In short the "what do we do" signal is sent to the brain and the brain innervates an appropriate amount of specific fibers to do the job. Since the body's musculature grows by way of adaptation the need for innervation is a reality if you want to maximize your results for your effort.

I suggest that you try Low/High Sets to increase the number of fibers innervated as well as the intensity in which each muscle is trained. After a few warm-up sets hit your first work-set using a weight that you can perform only 5-7 strict reps before positive failure. Rest for 15 seconds and perform the same exercise again using only half the weight of the first part of the set. So if you did a bar curl for 6 good reps before achieving failure using 100lbs, you would perform the second part of the set using only 50lbs. This half too is performed to positive failure (and a very intense burn and pump). I find that bar curls using a preacher bench for biceps and cable push-downs using a V-bar for triceps works best for most. Two working sets of each before proceeding to the rest of your arm work-out will get you in contact with yourself and growing again quite nicely.

You should also consume either 20 grams of glutamine and 2 grams of arginine about 45 minutes before training to increase cellular hydration and glucose content. The increased pumps and "feel" is amazing.