Scientists in the UK and Denmark have shown that elderly men are capable of dramatically increasing their muscle mass.
All it takes is some growth hormone and some deep knee bends (elderly man speak for squats).
Growth hormone???
Isn’t that the same stuff Barry Bonds was (allegedly) self-medicating with?
Well, yeah, but it’s okay because….because the doctor says so.
In fact, study researcher Dr. Geoff Goldspink says that this reseach “raises the question: Can age-related loss of muscle strength and increased fragility be ameliorated by the therapeutic application of mechano growth factor (MGF)?”
Question 1:
Is it morally acceptable to demonize athletes for taking GH or MGF or all manner of anabolic steroids and then turn around and put Grandpa on the juice?
According to the Dr. Goldspink, MGF is a local muscle growth/repair factor (MGF).
This means that MGF is produced locally in response to mechanical stress and acts on those muscle fibers that produce it. And once released, that local MGF pulse lasts for a few days.
It is derived from the insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) gene by alternative splicing, but, owing to a reading frame shift, MGF has a unique C-terminal peptide. After resistance exercise, the IGF-I gene is spliced towards MGF which ‘‘kick starts’’ hypertrophy and repair of local muscle damage by activating the muscle stem cells as well as anabolic processes.
When you stretch your muscles during exercise, they start pumping out your own supply of MGF. That activates the stem cells that are already present in your muscles. And once “activated, these progenitor cells begin to divide, creating additional muscle fibres and increasing the size and strength of the muscle”.
Interestingly, loss of muscle mass in old age and in certain diseases is associated with an impaired ability to express MGF. In these conditions it seems that the muscle stem (satellite) cell pool is not adequately replenished.
Question 3: I’m young and loaded with growth hormone. Where do I get some of this MGF to kick start my anabolic process?
Answer:
Option 1 – You can buy a synthetic version of MGF on the internet. (link is strictly for illustration purposes. I am not advocating buying MGF on the web) Currently it’s expensive, but the price is expected to drop in the coming months.
And yes, this stuff is already popular amongst bodybuilders, strength athletes, professional ball players, old men aching to strut their stuff on the beach… In fact, the combination of IGF and MGF is preferred by many performance enhancement gurus over the use of straight GH as an anabolic agent.
Option 2 – Research has shown that MGF is a stretch sensitive growth factor. And not just any old 30 second static stretch. Both MGF and IGF respond much more strongly to clclic/dynamic stretching than to static stretching. This research jibes well with the research that shows eccentric resistance exercises to have a very powerful effect on MGF production. This makes sense as it combines muscle lengthening with increased mechanical stress (load).
So, what does this mean to you?
If you want to naturally increase your production of MGF and IGF and get bigger and stronger and more powerful, you need to stretch your muscles under load.
I would like to suggest 2 different methods to achieving this goal.
Eccentric weight training.
Resistence Stretching ala Dara Torres
But remember, this is bleeding edge science kind of stuff. Listen to your body and don’t do anything stupid. Also, go see your doctor for a check-up…turn and cough
