Balancing catabolic/anabolic states
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Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/8/2007 10:31:10 AM
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danmirage
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To keep this short and sweet, the body has many complex responses that can either enhance or inhibit our muscle gains or fat losses. I am going to mention some of the errors and these should help to point to the improvements on can make.
If you want to talk about it...post!!
One powerful tool that we can manipulate is the balance between catabolic and anabolic states.
Catabolic referring here to a state where muscle is not added and may be broken down.
Anabolic referring here to a state where muscle is added.
Commonly Made Mistakes
- Incorrect time of going to sleep
- Incorrect workout time
- Use of stimulants
- Poor food choices
- Dysbiosis (food allergy, putrification of consumed food, and malabsorption)
Some basic concepts:
- Resistance training performed at bodybuilding intensities or higher (=/< 12 RM) performed for short periods of less than 40 minutes tends to elevate anabolic hormone levels, therefore facilitating an increase in lean muscle mass.
- Resistance training programs extending beyond 40 minutes, endurance training with weights (>12 RM sets), using extensive interval methods (< 50% Max loading for high rep sets), or steady state cardiovascular training tend to elevate glucocorticoid (a group of hormones that include cortisol and are referred to as both stress hormones and activating hormones) levels, facilitating a reduction in lean muscle mass if performed frequently.
- Interval training, as used by cyclists, runners, rowers and others can, and often does produce an anabolic response in the body. This can be seen quite well in the legs of many sprinters, tennis players, cyclists, the legs and backs of some rowers and others who are not using resistance training, yet their interval training is of sufficient intensity to trigger an anabolic response. If interval training is performed too frequently, or, if the interval sessions are separated by long sessions of low intensity, the catabolic response tends to dominate and muscle mass is not added.
- Anyone training too late in the day to metabolize the cortisol their workouts are producing is likely to find that they can’t get to sleep by the suggested 10-10:30 PM; they may feel tired and wired. If this continues, usually within a few days to a few weeks (depending on the person stature and reserves), the person stressed by excess cortisol will have a hard time rising with the sun in the morning at the ideal 6:00 AM. In addition, if your life stressors (finances, diet, relationships) are producing more cortisol than you can clear from your system, your growth and repair cycle is disrupted. The body naturally focuses it’s immune and anabolic energies on the physical body between 10 PM and 2 AM, at which time the focus shifts to psychogenic and immune system repair, continuing until the sun comes up at about 6:00 AM.
The greater the stress you are under, the less capacity you have to adapt in general. Regardless if the stressor is exercise, relationship, drugs or drinking caffeinated beverages, if the stressor causes a fight/flight response, the SNS triggers elevated cortisol levels, delaying the onset of melatonin and its growth and repair counterparts. Eventually, the adrenal glands become fatigued and can’t produce adequate cortisol to meet the demands of repeated stressors, regardless if they are so-called “good stressors” like exercise or if they are “bad stressors”. This situation produces the “tired-all-the time” syndrome.
~My notes from a presentation by Paul Check
< Message edited by danmirage -- 3/1/2007 10:36:20 PM >
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/8/2007 8:02:53 PM
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odw777
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I read that the time of day didn't matter as long as you get 8 hours of sleep. I mean how would your body know?
I go to sleep pretty late.
That is a good point about stimulants, they increase stress levels so it's logical they impair performance in the long run. Pre workout caffeine loaded stuff seems really popular now.
(in reply to Marc David)
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/8/2007 10:40:15 PM
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danmirage
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quote:
I read that the time of day didn't matter as long as you get 8 hours of sleep. I mean how would your body know?
You asked for it...
In your body, the system that controls your sleep/wake cycles is called the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPAaxis.) The HPA axis controls cortisol synthesis, and therefore has a major influence on your sleep/wake cycles.
The region of your brain called the hypothalamus contains the specialized timekeeper cells that act as our internal clock. The pituitary gland, also located in the brain, is called the master gland by physiologists because it controls the release of a huge number of hormones in the body, including adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH is the hormone that gives the message to the adrenal glands to release glucocorticoids. Glucocorticoids, a group of hormones that include cortisol, are referred to as both stress hormones and activating hormones.
When sunlight touches your eyelids, or skin anywhere on your body, special cryptochrome proteins in your skin cells send light messages to your timekeeper cells in your hypothalamus. In a complex series of hormonal actions, the HPA axis responds to light stimulation that for millions of years could only have meant that morning had arrived. Inducing the release of cortisol would normally have been preparation for a day of activity.
~From my notes from a presentation by Paul Check
Now to top it off, your body very subtly keeps track of what time it is.
quote:
That is a good point about stimulants, they increase stress levels so it's logical they impair performance in the long run. Pre workout caffeine loaded stuff seems really popular now.
Yea..its a cheap trick...They tell you that L-Arganine or Creatine, or worse some bogus supplement combination, is going to make you superman for your workout, then they put 3 cups worth of caffeine in a serving...
A few weeks later you tell your friends, its not working anymore and someone says they just double the dose...
You are addicted to it (caffeine is addictive) and it screws with your system!
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(in reply to odw777)
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/10/2007 10:42:06 AM
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danmirage
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More on sleep..
Electrical activity measured in the brain during sleep indicates that healthful physiological changes occur in 90-minute periods throughout the night, which means that the active biological clock in a person is set to operate in a circadian rhythm of 90-minute cycles that repeats every 25 to 28 hours. This clock is set and reset according to the amount of natural daylight available each day, thus evening sleep begins later in summer than in winter.
Honma, K. et al., Sensational variation in the human circadian rhythm: dissociation between sleep and temperature rhythm, Am J.Physiol., 265(5), 885-891, 1992.
Other clock-like rhythms occur between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., when our body temperature dips a degree or two and drowsiness results.
We have all experienced this mid- or late-afternoon slump. In contrast, when body temperature peaks between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00p.m., we may become aware of a heightened sense of alertness.
Then, as we tend to wind down from our daily activities sometime after 9:00 p.m., our body temperature falls again, and we are lulled into a state of drowsiness during which the brain converts low-voltage "beta" waves into higher voltage "alpha" waves. As these alpha waves are, in turn, converted to slower "theta" waves during what are known as sleep stages 1 and 2, the skeletal muscles relax, causing the "hypnic jerk" or "nodding" experience.
When nodding off is not resisted or interrupted, the theta waves soon turn into even slower "delta" waves of the third and fourth stages of deeper sleep. During these stages, rapid-eye-movement {REM} sleep, dreams, and actual muscle paralysis take place.
If, for some reason, muscle paralysis does not occur, the vividness of the dream state will physically draw the dreamer into an active state of sleepwalking or, worse yet, intense physical activity that will further break down exhausted muscle tissues already in need of repair. Animal studies have shown that inhibiting the brain's ability to paralyze muscle during sleep results in the animals jumping around, growling, howling, and generally exhausting themselves while actively dreaming.
During undisturbed sleep or slow-wave sleep, the plasma growth hormone (HGH) in humans is found to be at its highest levels.
Prinz, P.N. et al., Plasma growth during sleep in young and aged men, J. Gerontl., 38(5), 519-524, 1983.
Noise pollution has been shown to have a dramatic effect on a person's optimal sleep.
Significant noise such as aircraft noise in the home has been observed to raise the adrenaline and noradrenaline levels of all those sampled during sleep, an effect which is detrimental to achieving normal, healthy, recuperative sleep.
Maschke, C. et al., The influence of nocturnal aircraft on sleep and catecholamine secretion, Schriftenr.
Exposure to high levels of noise during the day can also interfere with getting a sound night's sleep. Daytime noise pollution of 80 decibels or more tends to elevate both heart and respiration rates, which may further disrupt full-stage, recuperative sleep.
Fruhstorfer, L. et al., Daytime noise and subsequent sleep in man, Eur J. Appl. Physiol., 53(2), 159-163, 1984.
Another enemy of a good night's sleep was found in a study in which the subjects received sleep in fragments. As discussed earlier, uninterrupted deep-sleep periods of at least 90 minutes are necessary for complete muscle recovery. When subjects were periodically aroused from sleep so as to prevent them from completing a full 90-minute period of sleep, muscle recovery was significantly hindered.
Levine, B., et al., Fragmenting sleep diminishes its recuperative value, Sleep, 10(6), 590-599, 1987.
Achieving that perfect night's sleep for optimal muscle recovery and growth, would seem to depend upon enjoying a low-key day in a stress-free environment followed by seeking sleep at a routine time in a quiet, totally dark room.
Another component of ensuring a good night's sleep is to maintain a balanced ratio of macro- and micronutrients. What we eat and drink has a remarkable influence upon our sleep.
Relatively small amounts of alcohol---as little as 0.8 grams per kilogram body weight---will suppress plasma growth hormone values as much as 75% when consumed just prior to sleep.
Prinz, P.N. et al., The effect of alcohol on sleep and nighttime plasma growth hormone and cortisol concentrations, J. Clin. Endocrinal. Metabol., 50(4), 759-764, 1980.
(Sorry Mark!!!)
Improper mineral absorption may also be a problem that contributes to poor sleep. Most mineral supplements do not contain chelated minerals, but only 10% of non-chelated mineral supplements are absorbed in the small intestines, compared to 60 to 68% absorption of chelated minerals. A symptom typical of a calcium/magnesium deficiency is "blunt" arousal after only a few hours of sleep, or the inability to fall back to sleep when awakened.
A vitamin deficiency may also cause loss of sleep. Dietary deficiencies of vitamin B-complex micronutrients---specifically, B-5 and B-6---have been shown to disrupt sound sleep patterns.
Other foes of sound sleep are prescription medications, caffeine, obesity, thyroid gland disorders, or poor food choices.
Certain foods may not only reverse the replenishing effects of a good night's sleep, but they may create an undesired loss of muscle mass gains. Any food high in the amino acid, tyrosine, or its derivative, tyramine, (as found in many sports supplements!!) will trigger the release of norepinephrine by the adrenal glands, which induces an alert waking state. Tyrosine- and tyramine-rich foods to be avoided at the evening meal include cheeses, beer, wine, broad bean pods, chicken liver, sauerkraut, chocolate, bacon, ham, sausage, eggplant, potatoes, spinach and tomatoes.
While certain foods should be avoided for the sake of a good night's sleep, all-out fasting can also interfere with sleep. Low glycogen stores in muscles resulting from excessive or prolonged fasting and high-protein/low-fat/low-carbohydrate diets may have a negative effect on the optimal sleep pattern.
Nutritive, sleep-inducing foods eaten at the evening meal will assist in achieving sound sleep patterns. These foods contain high amounts of another amino acid, tryptophan, a precursor to serotonin, which in turn is a precursor to melatonin, the active neurotransmitter that makes us sleep. Foods found to be high in tryptophan include bananas, figs, dates, yogurt, oatmeal, turkey, tuna, and grapefruit. Complex carbohydrates, too, tend to enhance pre-slumber drowsiness if eaten in several small meals throughout the day.
Special thanks to William Misner, Ph.D. for the inspiration.
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(in reply to danmirage)
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/10/2007 1:55:13 PM
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jheft
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I have some very persistent sleep-related issues, which my parents claim date back to early childhood or even infancy.
Primarily, my sleep clock seems to be shifted several hours later than what would be considered normal. In other words, my body is happy to sleep 8 hours a night, but it wants them between 3-4 am and 11-noon. When I was in college, some semesters I was able to schedule my classes to more closely fit that schedule, and I was able to get pretty good, regular sleep. Of course, I can't do that in the real world, and I have been utterly unable to shift my sleep schedule to more normal times. I've sought treatment for it, but without much success, and have pretty much adapted to getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night or less. However, I sleep very deeply and rarely if ever wake during the night unless disrupted somehow, and even then, I fall back to sleep quickly. I believe attempts at treatment have failed because they were targeting regular insomnia, and I think I actually have some sort of delayed sleep-phase syndrome.
I also have bouts of sleep paralysis, but that comes and goes, and I've had it much less frequently the past 6 months or so.
When I started working out, that helped a bit, because it got me nice and tired, but my body seemed to adapt, and I was back to my usual times a week later. I've had a bit more success lately using a full-spectrum light which I have timed to turn on an hour or so before I wake up, but it's only been a mild improvement. Good "sleep foods" like warm milk, yogurt, etc. help a little with falling asleep faster, but only if I'm already drowsy. Same with pharmacological sleep aids. My experience with valerian root leads me to believe that it is pure and utter snake oil.
I guess that's a lot to write, when my only question is - do you have an opinion of melatonin supplements? I've heard they can cause night terrors, so I'm concerned it might make my sleep paralysis worse, and I don't know if there's clinical data there showing that they're at all effective...
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"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
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(in reply to danmirage)
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/10/2007 4:40:46 PM
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odw777
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Jheft, try taking magnesium before bed. I think it's sometimes prescribed for insomnia and it helps you sleep.
Damn I'm going to need to start getting to bed earlier...
I agree about the workout time. I tried going to the gym in the early afternoon instead of evening and my workouts have been awesome. More energy, the intensity was really high.
This is because your testosterone is supposed to peak in the morning and then in the afternoon?
(in reply to danmirage)
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/10/2007 5:53:38 PM
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jheft
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No, I've always lived in the same time zone. My sleep cycle just seems like it's offset from "normal". It's like I'm always operating under several hours of west-to-east jet-lag. This wikipedia article describes me to a T, and it seems to be a real, recognized disorder. If melatonin works for shift workers, it'll probably do the trick for me too...
I tend to avoid naps, because they contribute to my sleep paralysis. If I take a nap after work for instance, I'll be 70-80% assured to have a sleep paralysis episode later that night. I should probably nap anyway, because the sleep disruptions aren't too bad most of the time, and I can fall right back into deep sleep unless the episode was particularly bad (e.g. replete with hallucinations). Small disruptions are probably better than trying to make up for sleep on weekends.
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Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to danmirage)
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/10/2007 6:53:03 PM
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jheft
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Well, I'll give napping a try then. If I have to choose between napping combined with some sleep disruption during my main sleep period, and uninterrupted sleep with no naps, which way do you think I should go?
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to danmirage)
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/10/2007 9:24:48 PM
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danmirage
Posts: 6292
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quote:
Damn I'm going to need to start getting to bed earlier...
I agree about the workout time. I tried going to the gym in the early afternoon instead of evening and my workouts have been awesome. More energy, the intensity was really high.
This is because your testosterone is supposed to peak in the morning and then in the afternoon?
Well Paul Check puts it this way:
In preparation for a day of activity, in a complex series of hormonal actions, the HPA axis responds to light stimulation, inducing the release of cortisol (the awakening hormone.) As the sun reaches mid-day, cortisol levels begin their natural decline, ushering in the release of melatonin (the sleepy time hormone.) With melatonin, there would be a progressive increase in blood levels of both immune and anabolic hormones to repair and rebuild damaged or dying body cells.
Working out stimulates the release of large amounts of cortisol, and if you work out late, your body is knocked out of this age old pattern and has to cope with the elevated cortisol again. IF you work out too close to bedtime, then your body may not have time to take up all the cortisol and return to an anabolic state.
Going to bed catabolic can't be good...
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(in reply to odw777)
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/10/2007 10:15:28 PM
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jheft
Posts: 2996
Joined: 1/3/2007
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Well, muscle comes first right now... That seems to be going pretty well at the moment, and I'm pretty skeptical that I'll ever fix the sleep thing, I've been trying to fix it for years without success.
Thanks again for your expert advice!
_____________________________
Journal: Jheft's Heftorium, Progress Photos (new as of 2008-03-08), My Stack
Current stats: 5'11", 196.0 lbs - starting cut
2008 Results: +22.8 lbs, 2nd Place Discussbodybuilding.com Transformation Contest
"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world."
-- Kaiser Wilhelm II
(in reply to danmirage)
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/23/2007 6:05:01 PM
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connelly
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thanks i liked the post about stress i new it but nothing about it now i know a little more. i learn something new everyday lol
(in reply to danmirage)
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RE: Balancing catabolic/anabolic states - 2/25/2007 1:19:05 PM
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danmirage
Posts: 6292
Joined: 11/20/2005
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quote:
Working out stimulates the release of large amounts of cortisol, and if you work out late, your body is knocked out of this age old pattern and has to cope with the elevated cortisol again. IF you work out too close to bedtime, then your body may not have time to take up all the cortisol and return to an anabolic state.
Just a word about my own experience with this!
All of 2006 I trained in the eventing. I am a night person and my energies peak at night.
Unfortunately, this had a deleterious effect on my sleep.
After 3 months of intense training I found I was unable to sleep when I went to bed. In fact I often had to struggle to get 8 hours of sleep!
I did whatever it took to get 8 hours every night. However, I ended up having to constantly take extra days off to get enough recovery.
In my workout log I was able to track periods of slowed gains that related to this sleep disturbance.
My best sleep happened during the week off every 8-12 weeks!
_____________________________
My journal:
http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/m_158705/mpage_2/tm.htm
Primers:
Gaining Mass
http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/m_111173/mpage_1/tm.htm
Losing Fat
http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/m_111175/mpage_1/tm.htm
(in reply to connelly)
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