Ono's guide to building muscle - Biceps

[southpawed]

Isn't the point of doing high rep exercises and high intensity to improve your lactic acid threshold and improve the ability to remove lactic acid from your muscles? If you don't do any high repetition work your going to get sore very quickly. Like why many gym rats can hardly do 100 body weight squats in a row.

You don't need to improve your lactic acid threshold and you don't need to improve you're body's ability to remove it. It's not as detrimental as once thought. Infact endurance training will improve the capacity to use lactic acid as a fuel during exercise.

So Lactic Acid is actually used as fuel by your body. lactic acid (for ref)

Muscle cells convert glucose/glycogen to lactic acid and it is then used for energy (by the mitochondria).

Endurance training increases the mass of the muscle mitochrondria, which in turn lets you burn more lactic acid.
See:

Gina Kolata suggests more endurance training: “Running longer and longer distances, for example, increases the mass of [an athlete’s] muscle mitochondria, letting them burn more lactic acid and allowing the muscle to work harder and longer.” Almost as an afterthought she adds, “Just before a race, coaches often tell athletes to train very hard in brief spurts.”


That should explain why you don't see many gym rats who can do 100 body squats. Endurance athletes tend to have more slow twitch muscle fibers. Slow twitch muscle fibers have more mitochondria.

Sorry man I guess I was ill advised, just had a quick read through of one site and it suggested a pH buffer such as Bicarbonate soda for better endurance in muscles. Anyone tried this? Could be mighty benefitial if it works.

a soda that can eliminate the burn?

[Scrap]

They experimented maybe 20 years ago on this with alka seltsar. It was for a short time, it all came about with the runner Sidney Marie who having idegestion one day was given Alka Seltzer as a relief. They found his times were much faster than he had ever done and that it broke down lactic acid, the only drawback was it could give you a Heart attack. Lovely

[southpawed]

They experimented maybe 20 years ago on this with alka seltsar. It was for a short time, it all came about with the runner Sidney Marie who having idegestion one day was given Alka Seltzer as a relief. They found his times were much faster than he had ever done and that it broke down lactic acid, the only drawback was it could give you a Heart attack. Lovely

Honestly? So did they ever come around to actually making a fizzy drink that could help out your endurance in the sense of processing the lactic acid? LOL, im thinkin like some magic tonic that cornerman give their fighters in the 12th round, and all of a sudden the guy comes out like superman.

And also i never knew alka seltzer messes with your heart. How does that work?

[Salty]

Bicarbonate of soda isn't an actual soda , it can be used as a pH buffer however. As when consumed (I have read 0.3g per kg of bodyweight) an hour before the exercise it resists changes in the pH level of your muscles. This is one of the main limitations of your muscle called acidisosis of the muscles (don't quote me on that) which can drop your pH level a great deal. So basically they reach a point where they can't operate, hence the burning feeling when your doing those punch out drills, or hill sprints. Buffering will halt the on set of this, don't really want to get into the chemistry of it (just had an exam on this stuff today ). I might give it a try one day although don't really want to be eating 20grams of that stuff, would be horrible.

[southpawed]

Bicarbonate of soda isn't an actual soda , it can be used as a pH buffer however.

As when consumed (I have read 0.3g per kg of bodyweight) an hour before the exercise it resists changes in the pH level of your muscles. This is one of the main limitations of your muscle called acidisosis of the muscles (don't quote me on that) which can drop your pH level a great deal. So basically they reach a point where they can't operate, hence the burning feeling when your doing those punch out drills, or hill sprints. Buffering will halt the on set of this, don't really want to get into the chemistry of it (just had an exam on this stuff today ). I might give it a try one day although don't really want to be eating 20grams of that stuff, would be horrible.

HAHA.. -_- Excuse the ignorance..

So does what Scrap said about the alka seltzer hold any weight and does it act like a buffer in the same way the bicarbonate does? I dunno it just sounds interesting that alka seltzer can have those effects. But the whole heart attack deal just puts me off of it. lol.