HMB: The Newest Muscle Builder?
What is HMB? Beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) is a metabolite of the amino acid Leucine. Your body produces HMB from dietary leucine and some studies have shown that HMB production is correlated with leucine intake (1). While you can get increased HMB through leucine supplementation, this is an inefficient process as only 5% of leucine is converted [...] The post HMB: The Newest Muscle Builder? appeared first on Macros Inc.
Fasted Training: Is it Better for Fat Loss?
Ancient fitness lore tells us that skipping pre-workout carbs/ training fasted increases your fat loss because your body will be using more fat for fuel during the workout. For decades poor souls have been enduring training sessions on an empty stomach in hopes of getting shredded. Well, the ancient lore can go to the burial [...] The post Fasted Training: Is it Better for Fat Loss? appeared first on Macros Inc.
High Protein Diets And Body Composition
Antonio and his crew conducted the first study to directly assess whether consuming extra protein effects body weight and body composition. Essentially, if you eat more protein on top of your daily food calories will you gain weight? The Subjects The authors recruited 40 subjects who had been regularly resistance training roughly 8.5 hours per [...] The post High Protein Diets And Body Composition appeared first on Macros Inc.
Whey Protein Saves Muscle During a Cut
Losing weight requires a negative energy balance (you must consume less energy than you expend). Often times during caloric restriction people lose lean mass along with fat mass. Now I don’t know about you but if I want to lose fat I also don’t want to lose a lot of hard-earned muscle tissue. One way [...] The post Whey Protein Saves Muscle During a Cut appeared first on Macros Inc.
Whey Protein Alone or with Phosphatidic Acid: More is Not Always Better
There is a mentality that more is better when it comes to muscle growth. More training, more food, more supplementation. Specifically, people will often take multiple supplements that are “designed” to elicit muscle growth, assuming they will have additive effects. Two supplements that are regarded to have anabolic effects on muscle tissue are whey protein [...] The post Whey Protein Alone or with Phosphatidic Acid: More is Not Always Better appeared first on Macros Inc.
Energy Drinks Don’t Help Performance
The energy drink market has exploded in the past decade with products such as Redbull, Rockstar, Monsters, etc. Interestingly, these beverages are often consumed under the pretense that they will help your performance in the gym. Energy drinks are the highest reported “supplement” taken by college athletes. These beverages often contain carbohydrates, B vitamins, caffeine, [...] The post Energy Drinks Don’t Help Performance appeared first on Macros Inc.
Extra Protein Yields Greater Fat Loss
We covered a paper showing that consuming extra protein on top of your normal calorie intake and training has beneficial effects on body composition over the short-term. The authors of that studied followed it up with a larger sample size, controlled the training variables more tightly, and looked at basic metabolic markers. A high protein [...] The post Extra Protein Yields Greater Fat Loss appeared first on Macros Inc.
Meal Frequency: Fewer Big Meals or More Small Meals? Which is Better?
Should you eat 3 big meals or a lot of smaller meals? The idea of meal frequency has been around for a long time. There have been a panoply of diets espousing the benefits of eating 1 meal a day due to lower insulin levels, greater satiety through fasting, etc. There have also been several [...] The post Meal Frequency: Fewer Big Meals or More Small Meals? Which is Better? appeared first on Macros Inc.
Is your Post Workout Protein Shake Worthless?
If there is one thing that we all know it is that you have to slam your protein shake immediately following your training to maximize muscle gain. I mean there are a ton of studies showing that protein supplementation improves muscle protein synthesis, activated mTOR and does a lot of other awesome, muscle-buildy things. What [...] The post Is your Post Workout Protein Shake Worthless? appeared first on Macros Inc.
Do High Protein Diets Hurt Your Kidneys?
“Go easy on the protein shakes bro, you are going to wreck your kidneys” If I had a dollar for every time I heard or read that protein was going to hurt my kidneys…. well… I would probably be retired and blogging full time. For decades, the myth has circulated that high protein intake is bad for [...] The post Do High Protein Diets Hurt Your Kidneys? appeared first on Macros Inc.
Flexible Dieting , Nutrient Timing
Caloric Restriction and Your Muscles
The idea of calorie restriction for health benefits has been around for decades. In a previous post we talked about caloric restriction and longevity… summarizing that it may be beneficial for increasing life span, but we aren’t 100% sure on how effective it is. There is also some evidence that caloric restriction has benefits for [...] The post Caloric Restriction and Your Muscles appeared first on Macros Inc.
Science and Evidence Based Practice in the Fitness Industry
Over the past several years there has been a push toward using scientific evidence as the foundation for nutrition and health decisions. While this is something the industry desperately needs, there are pitfalls that come along with some people claiming to use science. The appearance of using science when in fact one is not following [...] The post Science and Evidence Based Practice in the Fitness Industry appeared first on Macros Inc.