Forums SuperPhysique

Hello All,
My Name is Marlon Birch I'm a fitness trainer in the Grand Cayman Islands. Upon becoming a member of this forum I soon discovered that there's alot of great people here! So here's my first post.

Cortisol is a stress hormone that eats away at your hard earned muscle tissue. Not only could cortisol put you in a catabolic state, an excess of this hormone can make you fat. Muscle cell contain receptors that bind to cortisol. When this happens, it activates a very strong proteolytic pathway called the ATP-dependant ubiquitin/protesome pathway, to make a long story short it causes the body to literally eat it’s own muscle fibers.
Guys the good thing is that resistance strength training which is done with DSR. Impairs some of this direct cortisol action. Once regular tension is applied on your muscles, muscle cortisol receptors will not work properly. Don’t get me wrong you won’t get complete inhibition, because training stimulates cortisol release. Confusing I know. Training the muscles both reduces cortisols direct catabolic sensitivity on the muscles and increases the body’s secretion of it. So the more you train, the less cortisol based muscle loss you will experience. Sounds weird ? It sure does, but that’s how our system works.

To make things abit clear, cortisol slows your anabolic drive. Cortisol prevents the release of various hormones, including growth hormone and testosterone. While training can inhibit some of this direct ana/catabolic effects. Even though training cannot overcome the effects of cortisol. Here’s a trick, carbs when converted to insulin(in the long run), tempers some of the effects of cortisol. Glutamine an (amino acid) the suppresses cortisol breakdown on the muscle fibers. The reason cortisol levels are high it’s because glutamine levels are low. Studies suggest that our muscles play catch up when cortisol returns to normal. That’s why if you take a day of rest it breaks up the ramped up cortisol production, making you produce more anabolic hormones. Meaning that you need to take regular rest days to ensure muscular growth. Now guys everything increases cortisol surges, for it’s a stress hormone. So any stress you’re under from relationships to exams triggers cortisol. Regarding the Golgi tendon, it’s a protective mechanism that prevents the muscles from ripping itself apart, against excessive stretch and excessive loads. In regards to how hard you push yourself, if to train to failure yes or no. I agree you should not train to failure every session. CNS, isn’t designed for that great overload the “High Intensity” Mike Mentzer training to failure philosophy. This leads to accumulated micro-trauma . Too much muscle fiber break-down, which over continuous practice the body will shut down (overtraining) Also, the muscle fibers heal faster than connective tissues. Not knocking Mike Mentzer, for him, Jones and Casey were on the ball. However, High Intensity training can be modified to make even greater gains. Hope I didn’t open a can of worms here. Take care. The Naturals II