How Exercise Injures Muscle...

[BrotherIron]

Muscle power is generated by conversion of the chemical energy of a compound in your muscle cells called ATP, the mechanical force of the muscle contraction. But your store of ATP is very limited. During exercise it must be regenerated continuously. The principle way your body does this is by converting stores of fat and sugar(glycogen).

We need to dip into a bit of biochemistry to understand how this happens, but stick with me. Once you get a handle on it you’ll know why some nutrients work and a lot of others are just hype.

The conversions of fat and sugar to energy occur by oxidation. Pairs of hydrogen atoms fire off from the fat and sugar like guided missiles, and hit the oxygen from your blood to form water. For 95% of your oxygen consumption, the conversion is pretty clean, and does not produce free radicals.

This process is the tetravalent reduction of oxygen with cytochrome C oxidase. That is the energy production process explained in all the college biochemistry text books. BUT many of the books leave out the second pathway by which muscles use oxygen.

Though it involves 5% of your oxygen use, this recently discovered univalent reduction pathway is very dirty. That is, every time you exercise, it produces millions of superoxide free radicals. These act like shrapnel, damaging every muscle cell they contact. The damage they cause is a major source of the continued muscle soreness and weakness you feel for days after heavy exercise.

There are now more than 100 studies supporting this discovery. If you need a complete A to Z research to convince you that damages the body in this manner, than read, Oxy Radicals in Molecular Biology and Pathology.

Whenever you push your training, the scenario gets worse. Athletes in top gear use 12 to 20 times the oxygen of sedentary folk. That’s a ton of free radical.

We don’t know yet how much their extra use of oxygen increases free radicals in the athletes, but new work on animals gives us a pretty good idea. Dr. Alexandre Quintanilha ran rats on a treadmill for progressively longer periods. In a few weeks the rats could run for 2 hour nonstop everyday. Once trained the rats did not appear too distressed by the exercise. But the exercise showed a 3 Fold increase in muscle free radicals during exercise and autopsies showed extensive muscle damage.

The sheer volume of oxygen you use is not the only reason that exercise overwhelms your muscles with free radicals. The chemical cytochrome C also gets used up. Cytochrome C is the last catalyst in the chain that regenerates ATP, so your muscles can continue working. With any intensity of exercise beyond a wimp, Cytochrome C levels can drop by fifty percent or even more

This well established reaction is why some manufacturers put Cytochrome C in sports supplements. But the notion that this chemical can increase your Cytochrome C levels is pure crap. Not a shred of scientific evidence has been produced to show otherwise.

When cytochrome C activity levels drop, another nutrient you’ve heard about, CoenzymeQ, comes to the rescue. CoenzymeQ10 is the chemical transformation used by human bodies. CoQ10 is a powerful antioxidant, and neutralizes some free radicals as well as increasing the efficiency of the energy cycle. Researchers have found that the overall effect of elevated levels of CoQ10 in muscles is a net reduction of free radicals. Daily CoQ10 amounts of 30-60mg are recommended.

[BrotherIron]

Part II

The free radical attack caused by exercise doesn’t stop when you stop. The radicals (especially made from busting up your water), continue to injure you long afterwards. It works mainly like this. Hoydroxy radicals react with fats inside your muscle cell membranes to make them go rancid, a process called lipid peroxidation. This creates havoc for the cell process, leading to much pain and inflammation.

The rancid fats themselves then become free radicals which in turn do more damage and spawn even more free radicals. With every bout of intense exercise, you literally get an inflammatory chain reaction that lasts up to 20 hours.

The combined muscle damage caused by free radicals produced during exercise, plus the hydroxyl chain reaction after exercise, is the not the end of the story. The damage itself initiates another free radical sequence that goes on for days.

It happens this way. As with any bodily injury, as soon as free radical damage occurs, your immune system becomes active to combat it. The ground troops of the immune system move in to mop up the dead and dying cells. But in doing so, they release some free radicals themselves which causes further damage.

The net result of this free radical circus, is that any bout of intense exercise, leaves you stiff2 and unable to exercise properly for up to 5 days. If you do force yourself and continue to push it then you risk more serious injury.

The body fights back against oxidation with 3 main endogenous antioxidants, CATALASE with neutralizes hydrogen peroxides, SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE which destroys superoxide radicals, and GLTATHIONE PEROXIASE which detoxifies peroxides.

But trying to boost your muscles supplies of these chemicals is tricky business. You can’t increase the first 2 with oral supplementation b/c they are slaughtered by your digestive system. Even if the supplements could survive digestions, the molecule is too big to fit through cell membranes.

One major endogenous antioxidant you can manipulate nutritionally is GLUTATHIONE. It is a great defender of muscle. You can’t prevent muscle damage without an adequate store. Glutathione is produced in the body from CYSTEINE and other Amino Acids. And there is evidence that increased intake of CYSTEINE can increase your body glutathione production. In addition you can take glutathione and some of it will get through digestion in tact.

Taking supplemental N-Acetyl Cysteine for the body to make more glutathione and taking glutathione are a great way to help combat this war waging on in your body.

In addition you can increase your body’s protective store with antioxidants, Vitamin C, vitamin E, Selenium, and CO Q10. I have already noted that CoQ10 earlier so I will discuss the others now.

Vitamin E helps to break the free radical chain reaction by absorbing the free radicals it self. Breaking the chain reaction quickly uses up your store of Vitamin E, leaving it as so much clogging the membranes, Vitamin C than enters the picture. Vitamin C neutralizes the free radicals left behind allowing Vitamin E to get back into the fight. This cycle uses up Vitamin C rapidly so you better have an ample supply.

The mineral Selenium also assists. In fact Selenium helps both glutathione and Vitamin E. It forms what is called an active site where glutathione kills the lipid peroxide free radicals. It also works synergistically with Vitamin E to improve its killing efficiency.

SO TO DO AN EFFECTIVE ANTIOXIDANT JOB YOU NEED AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF ALL THESE NUTRIENTS; Co Q10, GLUTATHIONE, VIT E, VIT C, AND SELENIUM.

[foosion]

To make sure I understand, when we exercise hard, our muscles burn fats and sugars, most of which is done cleanly but a small percentage of which produces free radicals, which is not good for them and causes pain? To counteract this, we should increase our intake of the specified nutrients?

Is the process you describe the major source of pain and inflammation from exercise, or are there other processes we should worry about?

Please say more about your recommendations for counteracting the problem - quantities, foods v. supplements, etc.

thanks

[BrotherIron]

This is the cause of DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).

The supplements mentioned in this article will help counteract this. Also be sure to take in plenty of carbohydrates PWO to also combat this problem.

One more thing which should be noted, your CNS requires CARBS to function properly and also to recover from the brutal workouts you put yourself through so those keto diets which are all the fad right now are NOT good for you if you actually want to continue to progress in terms of lifting heavier weights and also in becoming a faster athlete.

[dcurrin]

SO TO DO AN EFFECTIVE ANTIOXIDANT JOB YOU NEED AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF ALL THESE NUTRIENTS; Co Q10, GLUTATHIONE, VIT E, VIT C, AND SELENIUM.

So in other words, drink your milk, eat your meat and fruits and vegetables. Duh.

[BrotherIron]

I would also suggest supplementing those to and not just rely on diet to cover the bases exp if you're getting sore. The only time I get sore nowadays is when I take time off.

[foosion]

Is there any harm other than soreness?

If you're recommending supplementing, please say something about the recommended quantities of the supplements.

Please link to research on the subject.

[August West]

Taking supplemental N-Acetyl Cysteine for the body to make more glutathione and taking glutathione are a great way to help combat this war waging on in your body.

I've been doing this for months now, on the advice of my dad, and I really like it. The most noticeable difference I felt - within a few days of starting - was that my sleep felt more restful, I got back to sleep more easily after waking (this was a huge benefit in the days when my daughter used to wake up every night), and I rarely got sleepy or felt in need of a nap during the day. Increased vitality is what I've noticed from it, and its stands to reason that could be helping recovery from lifting. It's good stuff.

[ColoWayno]

The supplements are probably good, but I will say when I was squatting 3 days a week and drinking a lot of milk, I didn't get sore either.

If these allowed you to drink slightly less milk with the same results it would let you make the same strength gains without so much baby fat.

I try different supps from time to time so I may very well give these a shot.