SUPPLEMENTperformance
62 MD musculardevelopment.com July 2019
cellular swelling. This ultimately leads to better
muscle growth and performance.
ErgogEnic Aids
A second means by which you can enhance
cellular swelling and metabolites is through
supplementation with ergogenic aids that
improve the body’s performance during
anaerobic exercise. Essentially, supplements
that help you train harder, sustain more
powerful muscle contractions, and improve
resistance to fatigue during workouts can
enhance hypertrophy as the more times
your muscle can contract under load before
succumbing to fatigue, the greater amount
of metabolites that will be generated, which
should lead to more muscle growth. Two of the
best ergogenic aids on the market, as proven
by scientific research, are beta-alanine and
creatine.
BEtA-AlAninE
Known far and wide for its “tingling”
sensations, beta-alanine is a non-
proteinogenic amino acid that binds with
histidine to form carnosine.
“What is carnosine?” you ask
Carnosine is a powerful intracellular
buffer that buffers H+ ions (another
metabolite generated from repeated muscle
contractions).^13 The more efficiently your body
can clear H+, the longer you can train before
succumbing to fatigue. As H+ continues to
accumulate in skeletal muscle, the lower
muscle pH drops, and once the pH drops
too low, your muscles lose their ability to
completely contract. With elevated levels
of carnosine in the muscle (thanks to beta-
alanine), energy output capacity is increased,
allowing for greater amounts of muscle
metabolites to be generated, which would lead
to a larger increase in the cellular swelling
effect.
Additionally, since intracellular acidification
(lowering of pH) is known to reduce cell
volume^15 by buffering intracellular H+ and
slowing the decline in muscle pH, beta-alanine
may offer a secondary mechanism by which to
enhance cellular swelling.
It should be noted that beta-alanine really
shines when doing high-intensity exercise
lasting one to four minutes. Since the typical
set in a hypertrophy workout lasts 40-50
seconds, beta-alanine is best suited to
individuals performing repeated bouts of effort
interspersed with minimal rest periods, such
as triple drop sets or repeated bouts of sprints.
For this reason, beta-alanine is often combined
with the king of ergogenic aids— creatine
monohydrate.crEAtinE MonohydrAtE
Simply put, if there’s one, and only one,
supplement you should use if you’re looking
to build muscle and strength as quickly as
possible, it should be creatine monohydrate.
Creatine is an incredibly powerful ergogenic
aid, providing a wide range of benefits of
athletes of all sports.First and foremost, creatine enhances
adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production
in the body by increasing stores of creatine
phosphate in skeletal muscle. Your muscles
only have enough ATP to sustain five to 10
seconds of high-level effort; after those are
exhausted, the phosphagen system kicks into
gear as creatine donates its phosphate group
to produce more ATP.16,17 This rapid regeneration
of energy allows you to continue to train harder
before taking a rest, or seeing a substantial
drop in work performed. A beneficial “side
effect” of this process is a reduction in the need
for glycolytic metabolism whereby glycogen is
broken down to generate ATP.
Greater reserves of creatine phosphate also
have the potential to buffer H+ ions generated
during ATP hydrolysis and anaerobic glycolysis
in working muscles, further prolonging your
ability to bang out more reps, generating more
muscle metabolites and cellular swelling
before succumbing to fatigue.^18
We’re not quite done with the ways in which
creatine enhances muscle growth via cellular
swelling. It may also support vasodilation,
as some research indicates supplementation
with creatine monohydrate decreases
arterial stiffness and systolic blood pressure
following resistance training.^19 Furthermore,
creatine supplementation has also led to
improvements in systemic endothelial-
dependent microvascular reactivity and skin
capillary density and recruitment, suggesting
its vasodilatory properties occur independent
of muscle metabolite.^20
Creatine also directly enhances cellular
hydration due its osmolytic qualities. With
increased intramuscular creatine stores comes
an increase in the amount of water stored
within the cell. This leads to cell volume
expansion, improved hydration and greater
muscle fullness. And, as we’ve noted above,
cell swelling can trigger protein synthesis in
the body.
Finally, supplementation with creatine
upregulates mRNA coding for IGF-1 and mRNA
expression of myogenic regulatory factor 4
(MRF4), providing two more mechanisms by
which creatine enhances muscle growth.21,22
Taken together, creatine enhances muscle
growth via multiple mechanisms including
osmotic effects (cellular swelling), upregulation
of protein synthesis, increased work output
and improvements in strength and power, and
possibly even vasodilation. This culminates in
performing more reps for more sets, leading to
greater accumulation of muscle metabolites,
cellular swelling and mechanical tension.
When combined with beta-alanine, you get
the best of both worlds as creatine enhances
performance during high-intensity, short-burst
activity, while beta-alanine sustains you
through prolonged efforts.
The final ergogenic highlighted in the recent
study denoting the hypertrophic possibilitiesIf there’s one, and only one, supplement you should use if
you’re looking to build muscle and strength as quickly as
possible, it should be creatine monohydrate.