The 3 Pillars for Lean and Performing muscles; and the 3 KEY Supplements that help you Achieve it
Muscle mass is key to longevity, that is, to living the years we live with good posture and healthy and efficient muscles.
Likewise, increasing muscle mass means that our fibers will be stimulated and the muscle will take the place that fat used to occupy. This is to clarify that it is not about your muscles getting bigger like a bodybuilder's, but rather, about your muscles becoming toned and functioning effectively.
Once you reach age 40, you can lose up to 1% of muscle mass per year, which would correspond to an average 2% loss of overall physical strength.
As you age, if you don't stay active, your physical abilities deteriorate and you lose confidence in your mobility. As the years go by, it loses its independence and no one would like to reach that situation.
The 3 pillars to develop toned and highly efficient muscles for many years
- Adequate daily intake of complete protein
The first thing is to consume enough protein to supply and maintain the balance of amino acids in your body. Expert opinions vary on daily protein intake ranges, but let's say that for a normal, moderately active person, 1-1.2 grams of complete protein per kilogram of body weight keeps you on the safe side.
Athletes and older people can benefit from up to 1.6 grams per kg of body weight as they require more for different reasons: the former because they expend a lot and the elderly because, with age, protein absorption sometimes becomes more difficult.
- The muscle stimulant
To gain and maintain muscle mass and strength, you must definitely include aerobic exercise or cardiovascular training and strength training. A sedentary lifestyle, as the lockdowns during the pandemic have shown us, is definitely the most harmful thing that can happen to the human body.
The decline in muscle mass leads to sarcopenia, a type of muscle loss (muscle atrophy) that occurs with aging and/or immobility. It is characterized by the degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass, quality, and strength, as I discuss in my article on the type and amount of protein you need based on your age and activity rate.
- The right rest and training cycles for muscle stimulation
In my article on types of rest, which I highly recommend, I mention some very important ones, but what is required in this case is passive rest to fully recover and repair the “damage” caused by weight training.
You should also take into account cycles when training, which you can learn more about in my article on “How to recover your strength and muscle mass” where you will find a program that I suggest for 4-8 weeks.
There you will find out how you should train each week in terms of volume and intensity, so go for it.
Learn about the most effective nutritional supplements to support muscle development and strength
Leucine
This is an amino acid with anabolic properties, meaning it helps stimulate the development of your muscle mass. Amino acids in your body play an important role in the repair, construction and development of muscle tissue.
Leucine is one of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins. Of these 20 amino acids, l-leucine is one of the three essential amino acids known as branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). They are called essential because the body cannot produce them on its own, so it must obtain them from the foods it eats or from supplements.
The three BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine and valine) are essential for protein synthesis or muscle hypertrophy and if you don't consume enough, it will make recovery from training difficult.
What makes Leucine special is that without it, there can be no muscle growth. It tells your muscle fibers to use the protein and other amino acids you consume to build muscle.
When leucine levels in the blood increase, a signaling chain called mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) is activated. That mTOR pathway is responsible for telling your body to switch to a growth or anabolic state.
Leucine may also help injured athletes avoid losing muscle mass during convalescence.
How much leucine is recommended to consume per day?
A person weighing 60 kilos can benefit from 2.0 grams of Leucine per day. However, more leucine does not mean more muscle, it seems that the body has an absorption limit as indicated by a study published in 2014 where a group of men took different combinations of whey protein and a leucine supplement after a strength training workout.
The results showed that ingesting 6.25 grams of whey protein supplemented with leucine was no more effective at promoting muscle growth than 25 grams of whey protein alone.
Who can benefit from Leucine supplements?
If you do not eat animal protein, you need to consume enough complete proteins to meet your daily leucine requirement through food alone. In general, 1-1.2 grams of complete protein per kilogram of body weight is required, and perhaps a little more if you are a fitness or elderly person. This is where supplementing with l-leucine, BCAAs, or a protein powder would be helpful.
But vegetarians aren't the only ones who may want to supplement with leucine. If you're doing intermittent fasting, or exercising in a fasted state, you may need to increase your intake to get the full benefits of leucine.
Creatine
Creatine is an acid that your body can produce through the kidneys and liver after eating protein. Animal proteins, particularly red meat and fish, contain creatine naturally, but you would need to eat huge amounts of each to reach the level that a creatine supplement can provide.
Creatine is used to store energy as a phosphate donor in the conversion of ADP (Adenosine di-phosphate) to ATP (Adenosine tri-phosphate) which is the type of energy that muscles require to perform their contractions .
Some people use creatine to improve their athletic performance because it allows them to produce energy quickly. If you are involved in athletics or weight lifting, your muscles are strengthened during the repair (rest) period efficiently with the help of this supplement.
Likewise, it seems that vegans and vegetarians may have a better reaction to creatine consumption because their daily diet does not contain much creatine. However, according to Dr. Eric Rawson , a professor at Messiah University in Pennsylvania, although creatine gives athletes a 2-4% boost in performance, no dietary supplement can compare to proper training, sleep and good nutrition habits.
Another interesting fact is that increased movement of blood sugar into cells may contribute to data showing that creatine reduced fatigue and increased energy when given to study participants to counteract sleep deprivation.
Likewise, new studies are suggesting that creatine supplementation may improve cognitive processing, especially in situations characterized by cerebral creatine deficits, which may be induced by acute stressors (e.g., exercise, sleep deprivation) or by chronic pathological conditions (e.g., creatine synthesis enzyme deficiencies, mild traumatic brain injury, aging, Alzheimer's disease, and depression).
The necessary concentration and supplementation protocol for creatine to have an effect on these conditions remains to be indicated.
Note: Creatine monohydrate powder is usually preferred for muscle development. As for the experiments for cognitive function, these were made with creatine phosphate
Possible side effects of creatine, although not confirmed.
Creatine has been researched extensively for quite a few years now and so far no studies suggest it is not a safe supplement.
However, every person is different and there are anecdotal reports of kidney damage, blood sugar problems, muscle cramps, heart problems, dehydration and even diarrhea, but none of these claims have been substantiated.
In any case, since creatine is excreted by the kidneys, people with kidney conditions may want to skip this supplement.
Omega-3
Research has suggested that omega-3 fatty acids may play a role in promoting weight loss and muscle growth.
It appears that for injured people in convalescence, Omega-3 fatty acids reduce possible muscle atrophy and can help them recover faster from the injury, as demonstrated in a two-week experiment in which women in the study were given high doses of Omega-3.
Another meta-analysis published by the National Library of Medicine notes that subgroup analyses regarding muscle mass and gait speed indicated that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation of more than 2 g/day may contribute to increased muscle mass (0.67 kg; 95% CI: 0.16, 1.18) and improved gait speed, especially for those who received more than 6 months of intervention (1.78 m/sec; 95% CI: 1.38, 2.17).
The studies are encouraging and it is worth considering both the pillars for building and maintaining your muscle mass, as well as the supplements that help you strengthen and achieve this goal.