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 Getting
It Together
By Mauro G. Di Pasquale, B.Sc., M.D., M.R.O., M.F.S.
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Tammy
Rosiak |
The first thing I tell most people who are asking me
for specific advice on nutritional supplements is
that in order for them to work you have to have your
other ducks in a row.
Unlike the use of drugs, where you can make gains in
spite of your lifestyle, training and nutrition, if
you don’t have an integrated approach to everything
else the supplements by themselves won’t do much.
While again covering all the other factors is beyond
the scope of this article, we’ll touch on some of
the factors -- including genetics, lifestyle,
training and diet -- if just to put the nutritional
supplements in context.
Genetics
It’s obvious that in order to excel in any sport or
to develop extensive muscularity you have to be born
with the potential to do so. And this potential is
the mental as well as the physical side. Enthusiasm,
dedication, fortitude and drive are just as
important to ultimate success as the physical
attributes.
While those who are on top, such as elite athletes,
have a genetic head start, what they accomplish
depends on the other factors. It’s the environment
that shapes the flow of genotype to phenotype. In
other words, even the truly gifted have to have
their potential molded and developed by the right
factors.
All four environmental factors -- lifestyle,
training, diet and nutritional supplements -- must
be in synch before you can reach, and sometimes even
exceed, the upper limits of your natural genetic
potential.
The Usual Suspects – Lifestyle, Training, Diet
and Nutritional Supplements
The Performance and Body Composition Enhancement
Pipeline
Effort is a combination of enthusiasm, motivation,
genetic ability, etc. It makes up the physiological
and psychological foundation for success in sports
and in life. But it’s not enough to give us the
strength, body composition and performance results
we want. For that we have to optimize our lifestyle,
training, diet and nutritional supplement use.
Thus reaching your performance and body composition
goals takes a structured approach that looks at
lifestyle, exercise, diet and nutritional
supplements.
Factors that maximize the Pipeline
Lifestyle
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John
Barlett |
In order to achieve maximum progress and make full
use of any supplement, the bodybuilder first must
bring his lifestyle under control. Reducing stress
and dealing positively with any emotional
difficulties in your life is a big factor here.
Stress can result in decreased levels of
testosterone and increased cortisol levels in the
body1. Testosterone, the hormone that stimulates
sexual development and growth in males, helps to
build muscle mass. Cortisol, secreted by the adrenal
glands, breaks it down. It makes sense that, to go
for optimum growth, you’ve got to have your life in
order.
You need adequate sleep to grow. When training hard
you should allow for 8-10 hours a day. This can be
done either straight through at night or with 7-8
hours at night supplemented by a 1-2 hour nap in the
afternoon. Sleep deprivation adversely affects
testicular function and this leads to lower levels
of serum testosterone in the body2. This isn’t good
for building muscle mass since decreasing
testosterone decreases the anabolic effect of
exercise.
Recreational drug use must also be curtailed for
maximum muscle gains and performance. Marijuana3,4
and cocaine5,6 have been shown to decrease serum
testosterone and so does alcohol7,8,9. And though a
social beer or two isn’t going to do too much
damage, any spree or chronic usage will.
Nicotine is also used by some athletes in the belief
that it will increase performance, but there has of
yet been little in the research to support such a
claim. Smoking is especially harmful and, along with
its many general health risks, it’s been shown to
have a negative effect on athletic performance10.
As for smokeless tobacco products, though sometimes
touted as not as bad as cigarettes, you’d still be
better to avoid them. While nicotine can aid in
weight loss, it is highly addictive and dramatically
increases the chances of oral cancer and other
disease11. It’s hardly worth the risk for any small
possible benefit it could provide.
Training
In life, sometimes your greatest strength can also
be the source of your biggest weakness. Exercise is
like this. On the one hand, it’s the most powerful
and potent anabolic, muscle producing agent
available to the bodybuilder. On the other, it can
be the most catabolic or muscle limiting.
It is important to train to the fullest extent of
your abilities. Research has shown that testosterone
and growth hormone increase as exercise intensity
and duration escalate. However, exercising to the
point of overtraining decreases the levels of
testosterone and growth hormone while at the same
time stimulating the release of cortisol, leading to
the cellular breakdown of protein and, ultimately,
muscle.
To maximize anabolic effects in muscle and the
positive effects of performance supplements, a
short, intense approach to workouts is usually best
for the bodybuilder. As discussed above, a workout
session geared toward high intensity and limited to
no more than 35-50 minutes seems wisest, although
allowances can be made for personal preference and
training strategy.
And while all resistance programs result in some
increase in testosterone and growth hormone, it’s
been found that maximum natural production is
achieved when training with moderately heavy weights
for 6-8 rep sets with only limited rest allowed
between sets. As mentioned above, if you’re still
doing those high volume, 2-hour marathon sessions in
the gym, WAKE UP. Along with being inefficient, they
may even be sabotaging your growth.
Again, it’s important to stress that supplements
don’t work independently of other training factors.
Lifestyle and the two components in “full capacity
training” not directly affected by supplements (diet
and training strategy) must also be at full capacity
to optimize performance and growth.
Likewise, supplements must be targeted effectively
to the needs of the bodybuilder and must also be
taken at the right time and in the right dosages.
Often in my experience it’s been not the quality of
the supplement but the way it was used that limited
its effectiveness.
The Metabolic Diet
The third component of the training solution is to
determine the best diet that will give us the
results we want in the shortest period of time and
that will fit into the various training phases. In
another article I’ll be introducing my phase shift
diets, including the Metabolic Diet, the Anabolic
Solutions and the Radical Diet, detailing new
paradigms in dieting for those interested in
enhancing body composition, increasing strength and
athletic performance.
Nutritional Supplements
Nutritional supplements are the fourth part of the
training solution. Once you’ve got your lifestyle,
training and diet in order, the next step is
choosing and using the right nutritional supplements
for the job at hand, depending on what phase of
training you’re in and your goals. Nutritional
supplements can be the icing on the cake and can
help you train more effectively, gain muscle mass
and strength, and lose body fat.
The bottom line in your ability to get and maintain
the body you want, and/or to increase performance,
requires a coordinated holistic approach to
lifestyle, training and nutrition. This approach
affects not only the body, but also the mind, with
important positive psychological and emotional
stabilizing effects.
Nutritional Supplements – My Perspective
I’ve been involved in writing about and using
nutritional supplements for over four decades. I
first started reading about and using them when I
was 14 years old. Throughout the 1960s I used mostly
protein powder and tabs, desiccated liver and
Brewer’s yeast powder and tabs, wheat germ oil, and
vitamins and minerals.
These supplements, while effective for my purposes
at the time, are fairly primitive when compared to
what’s available today. Since that time not only
have the supplements become more sophisticated as
far as what’s in them but also as to how they’re
used, including dosages and timing, and integrating
them with various dieting and training phases.
While the use of nutritional supplements has
increased exponentially over the years, the
controversy surrounding their use, misuse and abuse,
by both the manufacturers and consumers, has also
continued to grow.
Because of this confusion that exists in the minds
of the consumers, in the next issue I’m going to
cover some aspects of the nutritional supplement
scene that I feel may bring some light to what’s
going on. After that we’ll go into some detail in
future issues on how to target and use nutritional
supplements to maximize body composition.
Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale was a world-class athlete
for over 15 years and is a former world champion
powerlifter. He has written several books dealing
with diet, nutritional supplements and the use of
ergogenic aids by athletes. He has been on several
Editorial Boards for various fitness and strength
magazines. He can be contacted through he website,
www.MetabolicDiet.com, which contains a wealth
of information about dieting, nutrition and
supplementation.
References
(Endnotes)
1 Henry JP. Biological basis of
the stress response. Integr Physiol Behav Sci 1992;
27(1):66-83.
2 Baumgartner A, Graf KJ, Kurten I, et al.
Neuroendocrinological investigations during sleep
deprivation in depression. I. Early morning levels
of thyrotropin, TH, cortisol, prolactin, LH, FSH,
estradiol, and testosterone. Biological Psychiatry
1990; 28(7):556-68.
3 Diamond F Jr, Ringenberg L, MacDonald D, et al.
Effects of drug and alcohol abuse upon
pituitary-testicular function in adolescent males.
Adolesc Health Care 1986; 7(1):28-33.
4 Barnett G, Chiang CW, Licko VJ. Effects of
marijuana on testosterone in male subjects. Theor
Biol 1983; 104(4):685-92.
5 Mendelson JH, Mello NK, Teoh SK, et al. Cocaine
effects on pulsatile secretion of anterior
pituitary, gonadal, and adrenal hormones. J Clin
Endocrinol Metab 1989; 69(6):1256-1260.
6 Berul CI, Harclerode JE. Effects of cocaine
hydrochloride on the male reproductive system. Life
Sci 1989; 45(1):91-5.
7 Noth RH, Walter RM Jr. The effects of alcohol on
the endocrine system. Med Clin North Am 1984;
68(1):133-146.
8 Babichev VN, Peryshkova TA, Aivazashvili NI,
Shishkina IV. [Effect of alcohol on the content of
sex steroid receptors in the hypothalamus and
hypophysis of male rats]. Biull Eksp Biol Med 1989;
107(2):204-7.
9 Chung KW. Effect of ethanol on androgen receptors
in the anterior pituitary, hypothalamus and brain
cortex in rats. Life Sci 1989; 44(4):273-80.
10 McMurray RG, Hicks LL, Thompson DL. The effects
of passive inhalation of cigarette smoke on exercise
performance. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 1985;
54(2):196-200.
11 Christen AG. The Case Against Smokeless Tobacco:
Five Facts for the Health Professional To Consider.
J Amer Dental Assoc 1980; 101(3):464-469.
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