Archive for January 18th, 2013

by Kelly Baggett

Contrary to popular belief, training is not the only way to stimulate muscle growth. In fact the biggest growth spurts for the average person occur in the absence of any intention to increase muscle mass (adolescent development and puberty).

A good example to illustrate the various ways of stimulating hypertrophy is with arm training. Everyone says you need to perform whole body compound movements and gain 10-15 lbs. overall scale weight to gain an inch on your arms right? However, you’ll routinely see guys at the gym who increase their arms by an inch or more without gaining a pound. You’ll see plenty of guys with big upper bodies who probably don’t even know what a deadlift is. You know they didn’t start out big because their lower bodies are skinny. Same thing for guys with big arms, but rather normal sized upper bodies and pencil necks. Is this just genetics or what’s going on here?
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Humulus lupulus -Hop – scientific name Humulus lupulus – contains the oestrogenic flavonoid 8-prenylnaringenin, a substance with an unexpectedly strong anticatabolic effect. The animal study, published by researchers at the University of Tokushima in Japan in PloS One, suggests that 8-prenylnaringenin is a natural anabolic that works for women.

The active substances in Humulus lupulus are already available on the market. They are found in supplements intended to increase women’s breast size. The products may actually be effective, as 8-prenylnaringenin is capable of interacting with both the estradiol receptor alpha and the estradiol receptor beta, Dutch researchers discovered in 2004. [J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2004 Jul;91(3):99-109.] Most plant-based phytoestrogens only interact with the estradiol receptor beta. Substances that activate the estradiol receptor beta strengthen bones and protect blood vessels. Substances that activate the estradiol receptor alpha stimulate breast growth.
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Are you too fat or not? You’re better off answering this question with a tape measure than a weighing scale. According to obesity researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, your waist measurement says more than your BMI. They published their findings in the International Journal of Obesity.

You measure your waist at the narrowest part of your middle, placing the tape measure just above your pelvic bone. If adult women have a waist measurement of 89 cm or more they have too much fat and therefore an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. For men the cut-off point is 102 cm.
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