The Synergytraining Blog

In hopes of presenting the  most up to date scientific happenings around the world, I have summarized some of the recent studies presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting (ACSM). In Part I of this article, I summarized the post-workout nutrition sessions. In this installment, I’ll cover a variety of topics presented at this years conference.

Anyone for Starbucks?

The Effect of Caffeine on Military Tasks During a Night of Sleep Loss
MSSE Abstract #0140

Soldiers and many others out there aren’t punching the clock at a 9-5 job. Therefore, fatigue is common, which applied to the general population means the workouts may be negatively affected. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of caffeine on a 2-hour forced march and sandbag piling task the morning after a night of sleep deprivation (I know, I know, it’s a little outside of the “normal” exercises performed in the gym). Subjects were given either 400 mg of caffeine or a placebo and then asked to complete the previously mentioned tasks to determine the physiological and perceptual strain with and without caffeine. It was concluded that the caffeine was effective in improving performance during the early phase of a self-paced sandbag piling task. Extrapolating those results to what most of us can relate to, caffeine taken prior to a workout may help performance in the gym.

Influence of Caffeine Ingestion on Fluid-Electrolyte, Psychological and Physiological Responses During an Exercise Heat-Tolerance Test
MSSE Abstract #0142

Speaking of caffeine, it is often recommended that athletes refrain from caffeine consumption because it may have a diuretic effect, thereby causing a fluid-electrolyte imbalance and exaggerating physiological strain. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to measure just that; does the consumption of a controlled dose of caffeine, in chronic caffeine users, effect fluid balance and hydration status? Well, the researchers gave subjects either 0, 3, or 6 g/kg/day of caffeine and asked subjects to perform a specific prescribed exercise routine. It was determined that acute caffeine ingestion, in chronically consuming subjects, did not alter heat-tolerance or hydration status. Moral of the story: if you regularly drink caffeine, it won’t have a negative effect on hydration status (i.e., won’t dehydrate you). This is important because no matter how perfect you think your nutrition program is, if you aren’t well-hydrated, you won’t be able to perform your best.

Dietary Whey Protein Modulates the Liver Glycogen Level and Glycoregulatory Enzymes Activity in Exercise Rats
MSSE # 0159

Again, glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrate and is a necessary fuel for working out. In fact, once glycogen is depleted, you’ll have a heck of a time continuing at the intensity as when you first started working out. Therefore, maintaining optimal glycogen is crucial. This study compared whey protein to casein and soy to determine the effects on glycogen restoration. Rats were divided into 3 groups in which they were provided diets that provided either 20% whey protein, 20% soy protein, or 20% casein protein. After testing the rat muscles, it turned out that the rats fed whey protein had a significant increase in glycogen over the soy and casein protein. Just more evidence that protein (ideally whey protein) is an essential part of a post-workout meal.

Strength and Power Training

Strength and Body Composition: Single versus Triple Set Resistance Training Programs
MSSE Abstract #0394

If you have followed or any strength related materials for any length of time, you should be well aware that there are an infinite number of training programs available that work. There is also a controversy as to how many sets to perform. The late Mike Mentzer was a proponent of one set to failure, while others promote many more sets. It is most commonly recommended to perform three sets of whatever specific exercise; therefore the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of increasing the volume of weight-training from one to three sets on muscular strength performances and body composition characteristics in male weight lifters. Strength performance and body fat were measured in subjects performing either one set or three sets of 6 repetitions over an eight-week period. Both training groups improved significantly in terms of muscular strength and the one-set group produced significantly greater decreases in body fat. I would infer that a combination of both training regimens is useful and what’s most important is that your program never remains consistent for a long-period of time; it’s always best to keep the body guessing and switch up your exercises, sets, and/or both fairly regularly.

So let’s recap what we learned from this year’s ACSM meeting.

1. Caffeine may boost performance when taken before a workout.

2. If you are a chronic caffeine consumer, consuming caffeine will not negatively effect hydration status (but of course it’s still recommended to drink adequate fluids)

3. Whey protein helps restore glycogen better than casein or soy.

4. Three sets of resistance training is equal to one set in terms of strength increases; however, only one-set of training increased body fat losses during an eight-week period.