Muscle Building Supplementation

                                                                                                                                                                Recap 

    The athletes that this blog is focused on is male high school wrestlers. Muscle building and overall performance outcomes can be impacted through appropriate dietary supplementation. Three of those supplements are provided below. 

Supplements

    Creatine monohydrate:

1. How does this supplement work?

        Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid compound. It can be acquired through the daily diet via red meat and seafood. Creatine binds to phosphate within the body to produce PCr (phosphocreatine). PCr can then be broken down to aid in ATP (energy) production for our athletes. The larger the pool of creatine available within the body, the more opportunity for bonds to be made and broken promoting the creation of ATP (Kreider, 2019).  

1. Why do you recommend this supplement for your athlete of focus?

        I recommend this supplement to my athletes to have increased ATP production for our high intensity exercise. Wrestling is almost holistically independent short bouts of intense exercise/training. Anaerobic glycolysis and ATP-PCr systems are utilized the most within our sport. How does all of this play into muscle building? The more time our athletes can spend exercising at higher intensities, the greater their adaptations will be. As they create micro damage to their muscles it open the door for rebuilding and an increased rate of hypertrophy. 

1. how much/often should the supplement be taken?

        The average individual needs to replenish roughly 3-5g/day of creatine for maintenance depending on muscle mass. It is also suggested that athletes involved in intense training may need 5-10g/day depending on training output (Kreider, 2019). 

1. are there any concerns or any other points worth mentioning?

        It was once speculated that creatine played a role in dehydration of athletes. This claim has been debunked over the years due to the fact that creatine has no diuretic properties associated with it. Creatine has been investigated heavily for its efficacy and safety in numerous populations. All population can safely take this product due to no adverse side effects. 

    Protein:

1. How does this supplement work?

        Protein supplementation can come in a few different forms. The two that are most prevalent are casein protein and whey isolate protein. Both types impact muscle protein synthesis (MPS) at different rates when ingested. Casein protein has a slower MPS than whey isolate. Due to this the timing of their use and ingestion becomes a factor. Preventing the body from being in a catabolic state is the primary goal when ingesting protein. Additionally, protein intake has been shown to improve fat free mass in various populations (Kreider, 2019). 

1. Why do you recommend this supplement for your athlete of focus?

        I recommend this supplementation to my athlete to improve recovery and increase muscle mass. Keeping my athletes in a positive protein balance is important for hypertrophy. additionally I recommend both types of protein that I suggested above. Whey isolate I suggest to be taken following our intense training and practices. Casein I suggest being taken before bed due to its slower release and MPS. Most of their recovery and rebuilding is being done during their sleep. Having casein maintaining their positive protein balance throughout their sleep is highly beneficial. 

1. how much/often should the supplement be taken?

        Protein intake should be at 1.4-2.0g/kg/day for these athletes (Kreider, 2019). They are involved in high intensity training and can ingest more proteins than the average and or sedentary population. 

1. are there any concerns or any other points worth mentioning?

        It is important to note that more does not mean better. Increasing protein intakes to extreme levels does not continue to increase fat free mass production. There is a physiological cut off for how much protein can be synthesized (excluding steroidal use). Increasing protein intake above safe levels can begin to tax internal organs and increase body fat (Kreider, 2019). 

    BCAA's:

1. How does this supplement work?

        BCAA supplementation effects muscle building and mitigation of muscle damage. It is speculated that ingesting BCAA's promotes and anti-catabolic hormonal profile. Additionally the Leucine within BCAA's has been speculated to increase the initiation of protein translation (Kreider, 2019). 

1. Why do you recommend this supplement for your athlete of focus?

        I recommend this supplementation to my athletes to reduce the opportunity for them to be in a catabolic state. Improving damage mitigation is important especially at the intensities they are pushed in wrestling. The quicker they can recover and bounce back to optimally performance, the better. This pairs well with the use of creatine monohydrate to create more opportunity of muscle damage and physiological adaptations. 

1. how much/often should the supplement be taken?

        There is a lot of speculation on the amounts of BCAA's that should be ingested. This is largely due to the investigations of degree of efficacy that is being observed within the literature. It seems that certain populations and training intensities warrant various dosages of BCAA's. The outcomes from studies still produce inconclusive results. One study that saw significant changes in muscle mass and grip strength used 14g/day of BCAA's for 30-days (Kreider, 2019). Inversely a study that utilized 9g/day did not see an impact on performance or body composition (Kreider, 2019). 

1. are there any concerns or any other points worth mentioning?

        There have been no reported side effects of ingesting BCAA's. Multiple populations have been investigated with inconclusive results on increased performance of body composition. BCAA's may be beneficial for the sole purpose of buffering athletes from reaching a catabolic state following intense training bouts that deplete them. 

    Wrap-up:

    All three of the supplements that have been talked about have there place in an athletes repertoire. Not all athletes will need supplementation if they are conscious of keeping an appropriate diet. Those that have deficiencies or are struggling attaining certain dietary needs should look into supplementation. Additionally, the use of some supplements in conjunction can see beneficial outcomes through independent physiological outcomes. the human body is an interconnected network. Ensuring that there are no deficient or missing dietary links can impact performance and muscular growth at an enhanced level. 

References     

       Kreider, R. B. (2019). Essentials of exercise and sport nutrition: Science to practice. Raleigh, NC: Lulu.