Nutritional interventions designed to maximally stimulate MPS may be useful for those individuals concerned with enhancing skeletal muscle protein accretion, particularly when they are combined with a program of chronic resistance exercise. Factors including protein/EAA dose, protein source, timing of protein ingestion, and amino acid composition appear to impact the magnitude, and possibly duration, of postprandial MPS . Therefore, in terms of current recommendations it appears that consumption of ~ 20–25 g (corresponding to ~ 8–10 g EAA) [5] of a rapidly absorbed protein [6,8,53] may serve to maximally stimulate MPS after resistance exercise in young healthy individuals. Ideal candidates to fulfill such criteria appear to be whey [6,8] or bovine milk [7]. Whether these recommendations hold for individuals outside of ~80-90 kg is unknown and future research is warranted to address this question.
In an era of tight funding, school districts across the country are cutting their athletic budgets. Many schools are implementing athletic participation fees to cover the cost of school sports. But those fees have forced kids in lower-income families to the sidelines, according to a new poll that found nearly one in five lower-income parents report their children are participating less in school sports
Nearly 500 million adults worldwide are obese—close to 10 percent of men and 14 percent of women, an incidence twice as high as in 1980, according to the World Health Organization. Obesity, defined as a body mass index of 30 or greater, has been linked with higher rates of serious illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes. But an obesity drug hasn’t been approved in the United States since 1999.
How the heck can that knee change so fast for the good? Oh yeah! Now we’re talking. Hitting the gym, over lunch, and 8 out of the 10 cyclinders are starting to click.
What do I mean by that? I shoot some hoops as a warm up to lifting. I haven’t really been able to jump very well with the left knee and leg since the patella was broken. I’m right handed which means, in basketball, a jump shot is predominately lead by the left foot. Today was the best my jump shot has been in awhile. I even did some wind sprints. Almost full speed. Even decelerating was a whole lot easier. I was always really quick and agile on my feet and be able to do this again feels so good to be getting back an important part of me. I never really cared to much about going running, except cross training in the winter, but boy o boy do I ever now just because I can.
I even did weights with the legs, which I hit hard yesterday, because they were feeling so good. I upped the the leg press to 310 lbs isolating each leg. Even the leg extension, at 95 lbs, is getting fairly easy with the left leg.
Going on 3 years, with a lot of pain and discomfort in that left leg, and things are really turning around.
I’ve gone back to the gym starting this past week hitting it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I had quit going about 2 month ago. At Joe Martin Memorial Stage Race, last weekend, I noticed that my left leg just isn’t quite as strong as the right. Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed it’s just been an ongoing thing since I broke my kneecap in September of 2009. Below you’ll notice some information and links from ExRx.net . My go to site when I want to understand fitness movements and exercises.
What I’ve noticed, in the gym, is that my left hamstring is still a bit weaker than the right. I struggle to get 6 sets 6 reps with 95lbs with the left leg. The right leg no problem. I do these one leg at a time, instead of using two legs, so I isolated and not favor my right leg. ( scroll down for the rest of the article. Dang, I can’t figure out why there’s this white space )
Increased risk of knee injury (instability) occur during knee extension activities, specifically when knees are flexed more than 90°. When hip and knee are simultaneously extending during a compound movement, hamstrings counter the anteriorly directed forces of Quadriceps. Also see Knee Stability and Angle of Pull for force vector explanation. Hamstrings / Quadriceps strength ratios should be greater than 56% to 80% depending on the population tested.
I have an easier go, this time around, when using the leg press.
Knee Stability
Closed-chain exercises like leg presses and squats can improve knee stability. The stresses placed upon the joints and muscles during closed- chained movements are more functional and offer more natural stresses on the body as compared to open-chain exercises like leg extensions. Also see Hamstring Weakness.
The quadriceps also seem to have a lot of atrophy. I’ve been using the leg extension just like the hamstring curl that I described above. The left quad has gotten stronger. I’m able to do 95lbs fairly easier than a couple months ago. Easier but not fast. First I’ll work on getting it stronger. Than I’ll work on explosiveness.
Increased risk of knee injury (chondromalacia) occurs during knee extension activities. The patella becomes laterally displaced with the pull of the vastus lateralis. This patella tracking problem can produce wear on the inferior patellar surface. Greater pain is usually experienced during leg extension activities in which the knee is a greater than a 20 to 30 degree angle. Avoiding full range of motion (i.e. not locking out) during Quadricep exercise may not allow the Vastus Medialis to be fully strengthened since it is more fully activated at these final degrees of knee extension.
Also, I’m going to do the upper body workouts again. Mostly focusing on the core. From the arms, down the trunk, to the legs it all interconnects. So I better keep at the upper body to help the lower body. It’s a simple routine but effective and efficient. One push, one pull, ab crunches with resistance and lower back extensions with resistance.
I am still seeing improvement. The last go around, in the weight room, had me concerned that I wasn’t going to get any better. That weakness and hobbling would be the norm. That riding a bike would keep on being painful. There’s still a lot of room for improvement. It’s going to take a lot of time as going on 3 years has shown.
The lighter, funnier side of science. It’s an ever changing field of study and that’s good. If everyone was like me I would get a lot more done. Then again, if everyone was like me how could I be so questionable and contrary.
What he said What he meant:
It has long been known that… I haven’t bothered to look up the original reference but….
Of great theoretical and practical importance… Interesting to me.
While it has not been possible to provide definite answers to these questions… The experiment didn’t work out, but I figured I could at least get a publication out of it.
The operant conditioning technique was chosen to study the problem… The fellow in the next lab already had the equipment set up.
Three of the Ss were chosen for detailed study… The results on the others didn’t make sense.
Typical results are shown… The best results are shown…
Agreement with the predicted curve is:
Excellent…Fair
Good…Poor
Satisfactory…Doubtful
Fair…Imaginary
It is suggested that…I think
It is believed that…I think
It may be that…I think.
It is generally believed that… A couple of other guys think so too.
It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding… I don’t understand it.
Unfortunately, a quantitative theory to account for these results has not been formulated… I can’t think of one and neither has anyone else.
Correct within an order of magnitude… Wrong.
Thanks are due to Joe Glotz for assistance with the experiments and to John Doe for valuable discussion. Glotz did the work and Doe explained what it meant.
Is it wise to practice weight training and aerobic exercise on the same day?
That issue is surprisingly contentious in the sports world. Many competitive athletes, their coaches and athletic trainers have come to believe that aerobic exercise, if practiced in close proximity to strength training, reduces the ability of muscles to strengthen and grow. Conversely, many contend that weight training performed on the same day as aerobic exercise blunts the endurance training response.
To counter the study on cold application, next article, here is a study on heat application from the same researchers.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of increased local muscle temperature independent of core temperature on glycogenesis during recovery from exercise when adequate carbohydrate provisions were supplied. Nine recreationally active males (age, 23 ± 4 years; height, 178 ± 6 cm; weight 79 ± 9 kg) cycled for 92 min and recovered for 4 h. During recovery the subject’s legs were randomly assigned as the heated limb (heat pack application) and control limb (exposed to room air). Participants received 2 carbohydrate feedings (1.8 g·kg(-1) of body weight) at 0 and 2 h of recovery. Core temperature, intramuscular temperature, and leg circumference were monitored throughout recovery. Skeletal muscle biopsies samples of the vastus lateralis were obtained at the beginning and end of the 4-h recovery period on both legs and analyzed for glycogen and lactate. Core temperature did not change from throughout recovery. Muscle temperature in the heated limb was higher by 15 min and remained elevated throughout recovery compared with the control limb (p < 0.05). Leg circumference was not different between limbs. Lactate increased from postexercise to 4 h postexercise regardless of trial (p < 0.05). Muscle glycogen concentration increased with recovery and carbohydrate feeding in both limbs (p < 0.05) but was 22% higher in the heated limb compared with the control limb (p < 0.05). This study demonstrates increased glycogenesis when local muscle temperature is increased independent of core temperature.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of local cold application on muscle glycogen re-synthesis after exercise. Recreationally active male subjects n=11 completed a 90-minute glycogen depleting ride, followed by 4 h of recovery. During recovery, ice was applied intermittently to one leg IL while the subjects other leg CL acted as a control. Intramuscular and rectal temperature was recorded continuously. A carbohydrate 1.8 g∙kg-1 bodyweight beverage was supplied at 0 and 2 h post exercise. Muscle biopsies were taken immediately after exercise from the vastus lateralis and at 4 h post exercise for the analysis of muscle glycogen and muscle lactate. Leg circumference was measured 30, 60, 120, 180, and 240 minutes into recovery. The IL was colder than the CL from 15 minutes after initial ice application until the end recovery P<0.05. Immediate post-exercise glycogen was similar between legs 55.3±7.4 vs. 56.1±7 mmol∙kg-1 wet weight for the iced vs. control, respectively. However, muscle glycogen was lower in the IL compared to the CL at 4 h post exercise 72±8.4 vs. 95±8.4 mmol∙kg-1 wet weight, respectively; P<0.05. Muscle lactate was lower in the IL after 4 h of recovery compared to the CL 1.6±.2 vs. 2.6±.2 mmol∙L-1, respectively; P<0.05. There was no difference in circumference between IL and CL. These data demonstrate a reduction in muscle glycogen re-synthesis with local cold application.
I finally found out what they exactly did to my shattered kneecap. The pictures of the wires sure look all neat and tidy. I never did get to see the x rays of the fracture itself. I was told it was shattered into many pieces.
From pubmed ” Patella Fractures“: When accurate reduction and reconstruction of the retropatellar joint surface cannot be achieved in multi-fragmentary fractures, partial or total patellectomy should be considered. Since it always results in loss of quadriceps muscle power, the decision for this procedure should be made cautiously.
I can tell that the kneecap is larger than the other. Did they add bone? I think it’s just deformation. I definitely have loss of strength in the quad and can see the atrophy. The patella is very rough on the outer surface. There is still a lot of crunching going on when I do deep knee bends. This is going on 3 years. One thing, though, is I still see improvements. Small ones, over great lengths of time, but the leg is still getting stronger.
I see why gangsters of old took a bat to someones kneecap.
Examples of affected exercises:
