Research Topic
Muscle
7 articles
You're Hitting Your Protein Targets and Still Under-Recovering. Omega-3s May Be Why.
Omega-3 fatty acids — specifically EPA and DHA — directly potentiate mTORC1-driven muscle protein synthesis independent of leucine intake. Most athlete nutrition protocols ignore this pathway entirely.
5 min read · 2026-10-06
How Much Muscle Can You Actually Build Each Year? The Rate-Based Model the Fitness Industry Obscures
Lyle McDonald's rate model shows year 1 allows up to 1.1kg/month of lean mass; year 3+ drops to 0.2kg/month. Understanding the diminishing returns curve changes everything about training expectations.
5 min read · 2026-09-29
HMB: The Most Misunderstood Muscle Supplement Has a Very Specific Use Case
HMB supplements are marketed as muscle builders for everyone. The evidence says something quite different — and far more specific. Here is what the research actually shows.
5 min read · 2026-09-08
There's a Respiratory Limiter in Competitive Cyclists and Runners That Interval Training Never Touches. Most Athletes Don't Know It Exists.
Dempsey 2006 identified the metaboreflex: inspiratory muscle fatigue diverts blood from working legs. McConnell Romer 2004 shows IMT gives 15% performance gain. Here's the protocol.
5 min read · 2026-09-08
Your Natural Muscle Ceiling Is Not Where You Think It Is — The Science of Genetic Potential
Every lifter eventually hits a progress plateau and wonders if they've reached their genetic ceiling. FFMI gives you an objective reference point — and most athletes are nowhere near it.
5 min read · 2026-08-25
Muscle Memory Is Not a Metaphor. Here's the Cellular Mechanism That Makes Retraining Faster Than Building From Scratch.
Muscle fibres that have previously hypertrophied retain extra myonuclei even after atrophy from detraining. These persistent nuclei — the cellular basis of muscle memory — allow trained athletes to regain lost mass significantly faster than untrained individuals building from zero.
5 min read · 2026-08-11
Elite Sprinters Almost Never Have Two Copies of the ACTN3 XX Genotype. Elite Endurance Athletes Almost Always Do. This Is Not Coincidence — It Is the Most Replicated Sports Genomics Finding in the Literature.
The ACTN3 R577X polymorphism is the most studied sports genomics variant — affecting Type IIx muscle fibre expression and influencing sprint vs endurance phenotype. Learn what the evidence shows about fibre type genetics, testing limitations, and training modifiability.
5 min read · 2026-06-16