A recent study examined the effects of oral contraceptives on strength gains, hypertrophy, and anabolic signaling. Do female lifters need to worry about hormonal contraceptives affecting their gains? Read on to find out.
Short answer: I think so. Longer answer: probably, but there’s less direct evidence supporting this idea than you’d likely expect.
The reverse Nordic curl is a great bodyweight exercise for building both strength and hypertrophy in the quads. Read the article to learn the benefits of this exercise, as well as how to progress to more difficult variations.
Higher volumes tend to lead to more muscle growth and larger strength gains, but not everyone responds to higher volumes in the same way. A recent study found that people who respond better to higher volumes may do so due to an increase in ribosomal content of their muscle fibers.
Some fitness professionals have questioned the importance of dietary carbohydrate, given that resistance training only depletes 24-40% of muscle glycogen. New data suggest that small reductions in muscle glycogen might have bigger performance impacts than once thought. Read on to learn about some very important carbohydrate research.
We published articles that questioned the popular belief that high body-fat levels impair p-ratios. Menno Henselmans published a rebuttal on his site shortly thereafter. We responded to his rebuttal, and shortly after our rebuttal was posted, Menno added to his article to respond to it. Unfortunately we feel the need to respond yet again, as his response lacked substance and was pretty misleading.
We recently published an article on how body-fat levels affect your p-ratio. After a rebuttal to that article was published, we want to respond to some of the claims and counter-evidence presented and to reiterate the general lack of evidence to substantiate the popular p-ratio hypothesis.
Many people believe that if you get lean before you start a bulk, you’ll gain muscle more efficiently. Their reasoning often relates to concerns about insulin sensitivity: if you have more body fat, your insulin sensitivity will be lower, so you’ll gain more fat and less muscle in a calorie surplus. However, the evidence for this concept is surprisingly thin and shaky. In this article, we delve into what the science really says on the topic.
It’s commonly believed that myonuclei – the “control centers” of muscle fibers – are added to muscle fibers when fibers grow, but aren’t lost by fibers when they shrink, facilitating muscle re-growth. This is a proposed mechanism for the phenomenon of “muscle memory.” However, a recent review suggests that the data is less conclusive than people may realize.
Betaine is a lesser-known ingredient that warrants further exploration. This article will review what betaine does in the body and discuss studies evaluating the effects of betaine supplementation on body composition and performance.
The idea of delayed hypertrophic supercompensation – the idea that your muscles can keep growing for several days after you complete a grueling block of training – is very contentious. A recent study provides us with the first evidence that it’s possible. However, there’s quite a bit more to the story.
Much of what we know about range of motion specificity comes from single-joint studies and squat studies. When we branch out to the bench press, things get more complicated.
