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In This Issue
Intro
Article Retakes:
1. Supplement: Flax Seed Oil
2. Muscle Fibers - Slow Twitch, Fast Twitch, What's The Deal?
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Wow, it has been over two months since I put out a newsletter. I apologize to all of you for that. I also realize that many people have subscribed in the last two months and may not even remember doing so by now. So, I hope to give you some good information today. This newsletter has a real strong subscriber base now (considering I do this just as my hobby, not as a source of income) and I am very proud of what it has become with the help of many. Therefore, I keep this newsletter as a very important job to be completed on a regular basis.
But wait, I have a good excuse! No, really I do. I just got married at the end of October. So it has been quite a busy couple of months. My girlfriend of seven years finally gave in to me! Oh, the poor girl. What has she gotten herself into?
So, with this newsletter, I decided to give you some "Article Retakes" since I haven't had much time to write up any new articles. I looked back at my first four newsletters and picked out two articles that I think are very important. Since very few of you had subscribed at that time, I decided to republish them for you. I hope you find them informative and interesting.
What is in store for the future? Who knows? Articles for this newsletter are made as ideas fly by me. And there are always questions to be answered in the bodybuilding world. So, if you have any ideas for articles, drop me an e-mail. Then either you or I can write it up and share the information throughout the world.
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1. Supplement: Flax Seed Oil
Flax Seed Oil has definitely become more recognized as an important supplement lately. However, many people still don't understand the benefits of this supplement. I mean, how can gulping down "liquid fat" actually be healthy? After all, we all grew up learning that health goes hand in hand with low fat diets. Those of you into bodybuilding probably know that there are good fats and bad fats.
What are good fats and why should I take them?
-Good fats are known by a couple different names: Omega Fatty Acids or Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's). The body cannot make fatty acids, therefore, they must be consumed through diet or nutritional supplements. Essential fatty acids decrease serum (bad) cholesterol and increase HDL (good) cholesterol. Lean bodybuilders working on getting cut usually experience greater definition when taking Flax Seed Oil.
How can I consume good fats?
-The main food source for Omega Fatty Acids is fish. However, most people will not eat fish on a daily basis. Many do not like fish at all. In this case, you want to look into nutritional supplements. In my opinion, the best supplement is Flax Seed Oil. One tablespoon will provide you with: Alpha-Linolenic Acid (omega-3) 7700mg, Linoleic Acid (omega-6) 2170mg and Oleic Acid (omega-9) 2240mg. I do not recommend you supplement with Flax Seed Oil capsules because the capsules contain extremely small amounts of each fatty acid which makes it far from cost effective.
Where can I buy it and how much should I take?
-My recommendation is to take two tablespoons daily. Take one tablespoon with breakfast. Take the second tablespoon with your post-workout protein drink or with dinner. You can mix the oil with your protein drink, but I find it much easier to gulp it down followed immediately by a glass of water. It does not taste good by any means, but it is bearable.
-You can purchase Flax Seed Oil at any health food store. I found a great deal through
DPS Nutrition. They sell Health From The Sun brand 16oz. bottles (31 servings) for a very reasonable price.
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2. Muscle Fibers - Slow Twitch, Fast Twitch, What's The Deal?
One evening, while looking for new bodybuilding magazines, I ran across the September 2000 issue of
Scientific American. What caught my eye was the cover which said "Muscles & Genes - Are Star Athletes Born, Not Made?" Inside I found an article (by Jesper L. Andersen, Peter Schjerling and Bengt Saltin) discussing the different types of muscle fibers. This is definitely vital information to understanding your body. Unfortunately, most people do not even begin to try understanding why this stuff matters. I'm not a scientist, so I will just give a brief synopsis of the article. Below you will find links to find more information on this subject.
The first step to understanding your muscles is to know how they are made up. Muscle is simply a bundle of cells being held together by a connective tissue called collagen tissue. Each muscle cell (also known as a muscle fiber) has an outer membrane. Scattered around under the membrane are some nuclei which contain the genes. Also in each muscle cell are thousands of strands known as myofibrils. The myofibrils are what cause the muscle cells to contract.
Now down to the real nitty gritty, keeping in mind we are down to the inner strands of a single muscle cell. The myofibrils are made up of filaments, linked end to end, called sarcomeres. The sarcomeres are made of two filamentary proteins known as myosin and actin. These two proteins interact to cause the muscle contraction. One of the components of the myosin molecule (the heavy chain) makes up the characteristics of that muscle fiber. This heavy chain can exist in 3 different "isoforms". These are I (slow fibers), IIa and IIx (fast fibers). The contraction speed of the type IIx fiber is approximately ten times that of the type I fiber. The type IIa fibers' contraction speed is somewhere between the other two. Slow fibers rely on efficient aerobic metabolism such as cardiovascular exercise. Fast fibers rely on anaerobic metabolism such as weight training. In reaction to rigorous exercise, nuclei are recruited to make additional myofibril in each muscle fiber. Therefore, each muscle fiber becomes larger.
<>Note: There are also hybrid fibers that contain two different isoforms. However, hybrid fibers are dominated by one of the two isoforms and take on that particular characteristic.
So what does this all mean? Well, the article points out that "The 'average' healty adult has roughly equal numbers of slow and fast fibers..." However, the extraordinary athletes are found to have a domination of one fiber type over the other. For example, sprinters may have up to 95% fast fibers in their legs, whereas marathon runners may have up to 95% slow fibers in their legs. As a bodybuilder you obviously want to train to make all of your muscle fibers larger, thus gaining the maximum amount of muscle size possible. So you need to train so that ALL of your muscle fibers will react with this growth.
Since that is a whole other discussion in itself, please check out the Testosterone website. They have a great article
"Train Right for Your
Type" by Ian King.
(Be sure to check out the "Lessons Learned" section at the bottom.)
If you would like more in depth information on this subject, you can purchase the September 2000 issue from Scientific American.
View it at: http://www.sciam.com/2000/0900issue/0900currentissue.html
Order it at: http://www.sciam.com/marketplace/mrktbackissue.html
They have also published a special issue called "Building The Elite Athlete" which you may also find interesting. You can see and order this special issue at
http://www.sciam.com/marketplace/mrktsingle.html#link1 .
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Now, remember what Hulk Hogan used to say. "Take your vitamins and say your prayers."
Jon Miller
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DISCLAIMER:
The suggestions and opinions in this newsletter are based on my personal experiences. Obviously, not all diets, supplements or training routines work the same for everyone. The objective of this newsletter is to provide you with the knowledge that will help you find what works best for you. You should always check with your personal physician before starting any exercise programs. All of the companies, products and websites I suggested are also from my own findings only.