TweetGreat news for older bodybuilders

Ateam from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, reveals a strategy for muscle building counter to the prevailing notion that you need to lift heavy weights. Nicholas Burd and colleagues assessed the effect of resistance exercise intensity—a percentage of one-repetition maximum, or 1RM—and volume on muscle protein synthesis, anabolic signaling and myogenic gene expression. Fifteen men—average age 21, body mass index 24 kilograms per square meter—were enlisted to lift light weights that represented a percentage of what they could maximally lift. At 30 percent subjects could lift that weight at least 24 times before they felt fatigue, and the researchers reported that “low-load high-volume resistance exercise is more effective in inducing acute muscle anabolism than high-load low-volume or work matched resistance exercise modes.”

Burd, N.A., et al. (2010). Low-load high-volume resistance exercise stimulates muscle protein synthesis more than high-load low-volume resistance exercise in young men.” PLoS ONE. 5(8):e12033.

Pomegranate Compound Protects Skin

Previously, studies have proposed a preventative role for ellagic acid, a polyphenol compound richly present in the pomegranate fruit as well as berries, for a variety of chronic diseases. Researchers from Hallym University in Korea and colleagues examined the photoprotective effects of ellagic acid on collagen breakdown and inflammatory responses in ultraviolet-B irradiated human skin cells, finding that ellagic acid lessened the UV-B-induced toxicity of those cells while also preventing the degradation of collagen that is associated with wrinkle formation. Additionally, in a lab animal study, the team revealed that ellagic acid reduced the production of the pro-inflammatory compounds interleukin-1beta, or IL-1b, and IL-6. The researchers commented that “ellagic acid prevented collagen destruction and inflammatory responses caused by UV-B.” They also stated, “Dietary and pharmacological interventions with [foods] rich in ellagic acid may be promising treatment strategies, interrupting skin wrinkle and inflammation associated with chronic UV exposure leading to photoageing.”

Ji-Young, B., et al. (2010). Dietary compound ellagic acid alleviates skin wrinkle and inflammation induced by UV-B irradiation. Experimental Dermatolog. 19(8):e182–e190.

—Dr. Bob Goldman

TweetWow what a misleading study. We know nothing of the history experience or lifestyle of how many men? Lol. Ill bet some people will actually think thats a valad study. It refutes hundreds of people for decades. Just proves how shallow the media and science can be around naive people