Research Review

Elliot TA et. al. Milk ingestion stimulates net muscle protein synthesis following resistance exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. (2006) 38(4):667-74.

PURPOSE: Previous studies have examined the response of muscle protein to resistance exercise and nutrient ingestion. Net muscle protein synthesis results from the combination of resistance exercise and amino acid intake. No study has examined the response of muscle protein to ingestion of protein in the context of a food. This study was designed to determine the response of net muscle protein balance following resistance exercise to ingestion of nutrients as components of milk. METHOD: Three groups of volunteers ingested one of three milk drinks each: 237 g of fat-free milk (FM), 237 g of whole milk (WM), and 393 g of fat-free milk isocaloric with the WM (IM). Milk was ingested 1 h following a leg resistance exercise routine. Net muscle protein balance was determined by measuring amino acid balance across the leg. RESULTS: Arterial concentrations of representative amino acids increased in response to milk ingestion. Threonine balance and phenylalanine balance were both > 0 following milk ingestion. Net amino acid uptake for threonine was 2.8-fold greater (P < 0.05) for WM than for FM. Mean uptake of phenylalanine was 80 and 85% greater for WM and IM, respectively, than for FM, but not statistically different. Threonine uptake relative to ingested was significantly (P < 0.05) higher for WM (21 +/- 6%) than FM (11 +/- 5%), but not IM (12 +/- 3%). Mean phenylalanine uptake/ingested also was greatest for WM, but not significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Ingestion of milk following resistance exercise results in phenylalanine and threonine uptake, representative of net muscle protein synthesis. These results suggest that whole milk may have increased utilization of available amino acids for protein synthesis.

My comments: If nothing else, this study should be interesting to any old timers/lifting historians who subscribe to the newsletter. For decades, bulking up was traditionally done by lifting heavy (especially the 20 rep squat routine) and drinking gallons of whole milk. And now, years later, we have a study supporting what lifters were doing the whole time (before fat phobia and the anti-milk nonsense infected bodybuilding).

A number of studies have examined the impact of nutrient intake both before and after resistance training but typically supplements have been used. This study set out to examine two different aspects of post-workout nutrition: the impact of nutrients found in whole food (in this case milk) on protein balance post-workout as well as comparing skim to whole milk.

Comparing skim milk, whole milk and skim milk containing the same number of calories as the whole milk; all the drinks were given one hour following resistance training. Following two different amino acid tracers, the researchers found that whole milk actually gave the greatest response in terms of muscular uptake of the aminos although the difference only reached statistical significance for one of the aminos examined. As well, the researchers noted a rather large variability in response between the different subjects and an explanation of the difference between the whole and skim milk trials was neither studied specifically nor given.

In any case, all three drinks successfully promoted protein gains following weight training and milk may provide a near ideal post-workout food in that it contains a combination of casein and whey (the ratio found in milk is 80% casein/20% whey) along with some simple sugars. This is in addition to a number of nutrients including dairy calcium (which some studies suggest impacts on fat loss and calorie partitioning). Two glasses of milk will contain 16 grams of protein along with 24 grams of carbs and can make an effective post-workout drink (fat content will depend on what type of milk is chosen, skim, 1 or 2% or whole milk); lactose intolerant individuals can use products like Lactaid (lactose removed milk).

Exercise of the Month

Lat Pulldowns

The lat pulldown is one of the standard back exercises, focusing primarily on the latissimus (some of the midback muscles are involved but not strongly). The biceps and brachialis are also hit although the contribution of those muscles depend heavily on the grip used. I'm going to cover a narrow undergrip, medium overgrip (both in front of and behind the neck) and parallel grip handle. I'm generally not a big fan of very wide grip pulldowns, I think that a medium overhand grip works just as well and wide grips tend to limit the range of motion.

Note: the form issues I'm going to address go for chins or pullups as well.

Many lifters have a tremendous amount of problem 'feeling' the back and at least part of this is due to issues with form. One of the key aspects to involving the lats is to get proper shoulder movement. The shoulders should elevate (move up) at the top of the movement and active shrug down at the end. If the shoulders aren't moving down during the pulldown, it's an arm movement. One good cue that has been around for years is to think about pushing the elbows down, as opposed to pulling with the arms. This tends to put more focus on the lats rather than the biceps. A third and important issue (illustrated below) is that the torso needs to remain upright or, ideally, with a slight arch in the low back. If you think about lifting your chest to the bar as you bring the bar down (or pull yourself up in a chin), you'll get it right. If you're hunched over at the bottom (see picture below), you're getting a wonderful workout for your abs but not effectively training your lats.

Proper Grip Width

Pulldown Start

Pulldown Finish

The above two pictures show a standard underhand narrow grip pulldown including proper grip width (top right). Note that the lifter is slightly behind the bar (top left picture) so that the bar can come straight down to the top of the chest (middle). The shoulders are down and back and the chest is up. Of the variants shown, this tends to put the biceps in the best line of pull; you will generally be able to use the most weight with this grip and this movement decreases the need for direct biceps work.

A few common errors with this type of pulldown appear below. In the left hand picture, the bar is being pulled too low, some people find a way to turn this movement into a triceps exercise. In the right hand picture, the lifter is leaning too far back and turning the movement into a midback exercise.

Bar too low

Leaning too far back

In the next picture (below left), the lifter is crunching over; for comparison, the proper finishing position of the pulldown is shown (below right).

Correct finish position

Incorrect finish position

The next pulldown variant is the medium overgrip pulldown. This works the lats differently (in terms of movement patterns) than the undergrip pulldown. In the undergrip pulldown, the shoulder action is shoulder extension; in the medium overgrip pulldown, the shoulder action is adduction. As well, the biceps have a poorer line of pull and you generally won't be able to use as much weight. The below left picture shows the proper grip width for this movement, generally the hands will go at the 'bends' of a typical lat pulldown bar. The below right picture shows the finish position. Note again that the bar is pulled to the top of the chest and the lifter's torso is upright with the chest up. The shoulders are down and the elbows are down and back.

Medium Pulldown Finish

Medium Pulldown Grip Width

The same basic form errors can occur on the medium grip pulldown as the undergrip, we just didn't see the need for picture of each.

Although I'm not a huge fan of behind the neck pulldowns (there has been some issue with it being harmful to the shoulder), I think the bigger issue is one of flexibility. Lifters with poor shoulder flexibility (i.e. most of them) tend to have problems. For completeness, pictures of a properly done behind the neck pulldown and a typical mistake are shown below. In the bottom left picture, the lifter is scooted further forwards (so that they don't have to lean forwards to get the bar behind their neck), the head is up and the elbows are in line with the torso. On the right, the lifter's lack of shoulder flexibility is forcing the elbows back and they are leaning over with their head forwards.

BTN pulldown incorrect finish

BTN pulldown correct finish

Finally, I want to show a parallel medium grip pulldown using a V-handle.

Parallel grip pulldown finish

Parallel grip pulldown start

This simply shows the proper starting and ending positions. Note again that at the bottom, the handle is at the top of the chest, the elbows are down and back, the shoulders are depressed and the chest is lifted up to the handles. Like the undergrip pulldown, this movement works shoulder extension but with a slightly poorer line of pull for the biceps; there will be more brachialis involvement, like doing a hammer curl.

Questions and Answers

Q: Thank for your article on steady state aerobics. It cleared some things up for me so I can make smarter choices on future dieting cycles.

I realize the article was aimed at Fat Loss. My question is: Do intervals have any place in a mass gaining cycle (to limit fat gains)? I've also read it can increase the body's GH output...

I was thinking about doing one day of intervals and one day of long duration cardio on my next lean bulk.

A: In general, I don't think that intervals are appropriate for a bulk although one of my forum members (he posts as Blade) has used short intervals (15 seconds) during his bulks.

The GH (growth hormone) thing is basically irrelevant and I'm concerned that intervals will cut into overall recovery (especially legs) while bulking. I'd rather see a lifter maintain a basic level of CV fitness on a bulk by doing 20-30' of moderate steady state cardio 2-3 times/week. Empirically, this seems to make shifting back into dieting easier.

Q: What are your top ten supplements?

In general, I'm no huge fan of supplements, as I find that either

a. they do nothing

b. they distract lifters from the important things like not training like a retard or eating properly. However, I do feel that there are a handful of supplements with sufficient human research to be warranted.

For general use:

Protein powder, if that counts as a supplement

Fish oils: these should be part of everyone's diet

Basic multivitamin/mineral: can't hurt, might help, get a cheap supermarket generic

Vitamin C: helps to control cortisol

Calcium: may help with fat loss and calorie partitioning, especially important for females who don't consume enough dairy

Maybe a basic anti-oxidant: I'm torn on this one of late, recent research is not finding that individual anti-oxidant supplements ar that helpful, as compared to diets high in anti-oxidants

Specifically for dieting:

Ephedrine/caffeine stack: still the best

Yohimbe: for stubborn bodyfat

Green tea: maybe, a lot of people really seem to like this, the research shows a sufficient enough metabolic effect that it's probably useful

Specifically for strength/size:

Creatine: no question, 10+ years of research and real-world results

For endurance athletes:

Glutamine: to support immune function

Citrulline malate: I think it needs more research but anecdotal reports are decent so far

Some type of lactate buffer: I miss the old Twinlab PhosFuel

Ok, so that's like 13.

Q: Is there any way to weight train 5-6 days per week without a huge risk of overuse-type injuries? If so, what intensity/volume recommendations would you make for such a routine?

A: It can be done but you have to be very careful with it. What I wouldn't do in most cases (Olympic lifting would be a possible exception) is train full body each time. Some type of split routine would almost be mandated to avoid connective tissue problems. An alternating upper and lower split would be one approach, you could also split the body three ways and hit each workout twice/each week. The problem I'd see with the 3 way split would be hitting the shoulder girdle too much. For most, the upper/lower split would be my preference.

Workouts should be short and volume would be limited to a handful of work sets (basically, you're distributing the volume across the week instead of concentrating them into longer workouts). Maybe 2-3 for larger bodyparts (per workouts) and 1-2 for smaller. So a typical upper body workout (not including warmups) might be

Flat bench: 2 sets of 6-8

Cable row: 2 sets of 6-8

Incline bench: 1X10-12

Pulldown: 1X10-12

Lateral raise: 2X10-12

Rear delt: 1X10-12

biceps/triceps: 1 set apiece

Lower body might be

Back squat: 2X6-8

Romanian deadlift: 2X6-8

Leg press: 1X10-12

Leg curl: 1X10-12

Calf raise: 2X6-8

Seated calf: 1X10-12

ab/low back stuff: 2X6-8 each

With warmups, that might take 40 minutes in and out the door. Of course, the workouts could vary to hit different movements at each.

On the Fri/Sat workouts, volume could be increased slightly since there is an extra day of recovery.

Intensity would need to be controlled as well. During the week, I'd stop a rep or two short of failure, on the Fri/Sat workouts, the weights could be pushed a little harder, again due to the extra day of recovery.

Basically, the Mon-Thu workouts would be fairly moderate in terms of intensity and the Fri/Sat workouts would be pushed heavier. Rinse and repeat.

Every 4th week, I'd probably drop out the Fri/Sat workouts entirely and give the lifter 4 days off.