Lecture 20
Muscles are made up of bundles of individual fibers. Each fiber is a single elongated cell with a nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, etc.
Muscle Anatomy
Muscle cells are subdivided into myofibils composed of actin and myosin filaments linked in series in units called sarcomeres.
Stimulus by motor neuron causes actin and myosin to interact; sarcomeres shorten and produce force
Muscle Anatomy
3 main types of muscle fibers
(continued)
Fat droplet
Type I: slow contraction, small, low glycogen and CP, many fat droplets and mitochondria, fatigue-resistant.
Type I Fibers
Mitochondria
Type IIa: fast, intermediate size, high glycogen and CP, pretty rich in mitochondria, less fatigue-resistant
Type IIb: fast, large, high in glycogen and CP, few mitochondria, not fatigue-resistant.
Type IIb Fibers
All muscles contain a mix of fiber types. Muscles that show large gains in size with training usually have a fairly high % of Type-II fibers (e.g. gastrocnemius vs. soleus).
This explains why muscle hypertrophy occurs in response to stress of high force (resistance training). These fibers are only used when rate of force production is high.
There is huge individual variation in hypertrophy response to training.
Muscle Hypertrophy
Hypertrophy: increasing muscle size. Hypertrophy refers to increase in both the cross-sectional area of the muscle (more myofibrils) and increase in length of the muscle (more sarcomeres per myofibril).
Hyperplasia?
HYPERTROPHY VS. HYPERPLASIA
Muscle Hypertrophy
Hypertrophy: increasing muscle size. Hypertrophy refers to increase in both the cross-sectional area of the muscle (more myofibrils) and increase in length of the muscle (more sarcomeres per myofibril). Does the number of muscle fibers increase (hyperplasia)? Yes in some animals (e.g. cats) but this does not seem to be a mechanism of hypertrophy (ADULT) humans.
Muscle Hypertrophy
Fibers do split as they get larger to maintain a minimal surface area to volume ratio. This splitting is beneficial because if volume increases more than surface area diffusion distance will increase and access to oxygen and other compounds might be limited. Splitting is not considered hyperplasia because the fiber shares nuclei.
The combined effects of nutrients, hormonal environment and mechanical load (training) are manifested by changes in both gene transcription and mRNA translation to increase myofibrillar protein content in the muscle cell
X
cross-sectional area
This, in reverse, is a major problem in the elderly. They lose muscle mass and small decline in muscle size = big decline in strength.
1. Maintain energy balance in state sufficient to gain muscle while minimizing fat gain
2. Hard resistance training 3. Incorporation of cardiovascular training into routine 4. Manipulation of the hormonal environment (nutritionally and pharmacologically)
ANABOLIC STEROIDS
Steroid Hormones
Steroids are a group of chemical messengers that are synthesized from cholesterol. Since steroids are fat soluble, they are membrane permeable and often act directly on the nucleus of the cell. As you can see by the structures to the right, many of the sex hormones have similar structures.
Ganong, 1995
Testosterone contributes to male Testosterone sex characteristics including muscle growth. Most testosterone is produced in the testes (~95%); remainder is produced by the adrenal glands. Testosterone has both anabolic (muscle building) effects as well as androgenic (masculinizing) effects. Anabolic steroids mimic the actions of testosterone. Anabolic steroids are used medically to treat male patients with low levels of testosterone as well as muscle-wasting diseases. First used during WWII to help malnourished POWs regain weight and strength.
Testosterone
(5-alpha reductase) DHT Responsible for male secondary sex characteristics 3 times as androgenic as testosterone, yet only 50% as anabolic (aromatase) Estradiol Responsible for female secondary sex characteristics
Ganong, 1995
Muscle Quality?
Orals vs Injectables
There are two types of anabolic steroids orals and injectables. Besides the obvious differences in delivery method, orals have much shorter half-lives than injectables. The half-life of most orals is 3-5 hours. The main consequences of the short half-life is that (a) they must be taken much more frequently than injectables (b) they are designed to withstand the digestive system as well as a trip through the liver and thus must be taken in larger doses than injectables.
Often oral steroids are methylated to decrease degradation as they pass through the liver. As a consequence, such drugs alter liver enzyme levels and can cause hepatoxicity. Methylation may also increase aromatization to estrogen.
Injectables tend to have longer half-lives (increased serum testosterone levels may last up to 14 days). For this reason athletes tend not to take injectable steroids before competition because they are easy to detect.
WELL, IF WE PUT MORE BUILDING BLOCKS IN, MAYBE WE WILL MAKE MORE NATURAL TESTOSTERONE...
Prohormones
Prohormones are marketed to provide a raw material that the bodies own metabolic machinery can convert to testosterone. Are prohormones safer? If so, are they effective?
OH
Testosterone
OH
Testosterone
ANABOLIC AGENTS
DHT; ANDRO; DHEA; TESTOSTERONE ETC TESTOSTERONE/EPITESTOSTERONE > 6:1
Studies from Doug Kings lab at Iowa State show that: 1. DHEA does not increase testosterone or strength compared with placebo (but no increase in estrogen) 2. Androstenedione does increase testosterone but also increases estradiol. No impact on strength compared with placebo. BUT: this study was criticized b/c subjects were not weight trained. Other studies done after this one suggest that androstenedione supplementation DOES raise testosterone levels and increase gain of muscle mass relative to placebo
From bodybuildingforyou.com:
Serving Size: 1 packet Whole Pituitary: 100mg Hypothalmus: 100mg L-Glutamine: 150mg L-Lysine: 100mg L-Ornithine: 100mg 4-Androstenediol: 25mg Nor-4-AndroDione: 25mg
Servings Per Box: 30 Lyophilized Pineal: 250mcg Orchic Powder: 100mg L-Tyrosine: 100mg L-Arginine: 100mg Glycine: 600mg 5-Androstenediol: 25mg Nor-4-AndroDiol: 25mg
estrogen