By Will Brink,
author of:
Muscle
Building Nutrition
http://musclebuildingnutrition.com
Muscle Gaining Diet, Training Routines by Charles Poliquin &
Bodybuilding Supplement Review
Diet
Supplements Revealed
http://aboutsupplements.com
Real World Fat Loss Diet & Weight Loss Supplement Review
"Joint
Troubles"
One of the most common problems faced by strength training athletes
is joint pain. "Oh my shoulder is killing me" or "my
knee has been bothering me for months" or "I have been
living on pain killers to get rid of this ache in my elbow"
are common complaints that can be heard in any gym at any time.
Oddly enough however, this topic is not covered very often in
most bodybuilding/fitness magazines. Maybe the topic is just not
all that "sexy" or "cutting edge," but if
you're one of the thousands of people whose gains in muscle are
being side tracked by joint troubles, then you don't give a damn
about sexy or cutting edge-you just want relief!
In the past
few years I have noticed an increase in letters and e-mail from
people complaining about their joints. In all honesty, I would
estimate 80% or more of most bodybuilders joint pain is totally
avoidable. If you look at people who have chronic joint pain,
nine out of ten times you can see why they would have an aching
appendage that causes them pain. More often that not, they (1)
rarely warm up adequately, (2) they train too long and/or too
often, (3) they use overly heavy weights/low reps more often than
they should, (4) they don't take time off to allow their joints,
tendons, muscles, etc., to recuperate from heavy workouts, (5)
they use less than perfect form during heavy lifts, (6) they don't
take in adequate nutrients, or (7) all of the above!
Now of course
we have all had an ache or pain in a knee, elbow , or other joint
at times, but chronic long term pain is another story. This article
is going to assume that the reader has joint pain NOT because
he (or she) is doing any one of the above seven common mistakes,
but has joint pain due to some other factor out of their control.
If you warm up and stretch thoroughly, train for no longer than
an hour three-four days per week, cycle your weights and reps,
take time off when you need it, have good form, take in adequate
nutrients, and still have joint problems... than this might be
the article for you.
Types
of joint problems
There are
of course different types of problems that cause common joint
pain in athletes and "normal" people alike. Bursitis,
tendinitis, various types of arthritis, and other afflictions,
can be the cause of a person's aching joints. Briefly, here is
a description of the most common types and causes of joint pain
that afflict athletes:
Arthritis:
There are many different forms of arthritis. The two most common
are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Of the two, osteoarthritis
is by far the most common to bodybuilders and other athletes.
Caused by wear and tear on the joints, osteoarthritis is characterized
by a deterioration of the cartilage at the ends of the bones.
The once smooth cartilage becomes rough thus causing more and
more friction and pain. Left untreated and unchecked, this can
become very debilitating for the hard training athlete. Chronic
osteoarthritis has ended the career of numerous athletes.
Bursitis:
In our joints there are small fluid filled sacks called bursae.
The bursae's job is to assist in the muscle/joints movement by
cushioning the joints and bones against friction. If these sacks
become inflamed and/or injured due to various causes (see above
training mistakes), a chronic pain called "bursitis"
can result. It's most often found in the shoulder or elbow (A.K.A
tennis elbow) but can also be found in other joints of the body.
It hurts like hell and can ruin a workout quickly if left untreated.
Tendonitis:
Tendonitis is probably the most common cause of pain to bodybuilders
and other athletes and is (luckily) the easiest to treat. However,
if left untreated and the person just "works through the
pain," it can become a real problem that will put a quick
end to your gains in muscle. Basically, tendinitis just means
the tendon(s) around a joint have become severely inflamed from
overuse, micro injury, etc. Though it might sound simple enough,
for people who suffer from chronic tendinitis it's no joke and
a real pain in the...joint!
Treatment
options
Again, this
article is going to assume that the reader warms up properly before
working out, does not severely overtrain, yada, yada, yada, as
mentioned in the beginning of this article. If the reader (you?)
is in the gym all day, thinks one set on the bench press is a
warm up, and feels anything over 3 reps is high rep training,
than you need go no further to find the answers to what's bothering
your joints!
The treatment
options we are going to look at relate to natural compounds, or
mixtures of natural compounds, that could save a person with aching
joints years of pain and possibly even more. Unfortunately, the
treatments offered by traditional medicine at this time are generally
of little use to highly active people. Most of the treatments
for joint problems address the symptoms (pain, swelling, etc)
rather than the cause and can often make the problem worse in
the long run. Non-steroidal anti- inflammatories, cortical steroid
injections, joint replacement, and the always useful "stay
off it" advice does not tend to yield the results most athletes
want.
If you look
at the names of the aforementioned types of joint problems, you
will notice they all end with the term "itis," as in
tendin-itis, arthr-itis, and burs-itis. The suffix "-itis"
means "inflammation of " according to The American Medical
Association Encyclopedia of Medicine. Knowing this, you can see
that bursitis means inflammation of the bursea sack, tendinitis
means inflammation of the tendons, and arthritis means....well
you get the point. Medical terms for afflictions that end in "-itis"
tell us that though the causes and manifestations are different,
the final problems is one of inflammation. Inflammation is characterized
by pain, swelling, redness, and less obvious symptoms. This leads
us finally to our list of natural compounds/products that might
just save the joints of the person reading this article who thought
their workouts would never be the same because their joints are
giving them so much trouble. These products tend to address not
only the symptoms of the problem-that is the inflammation-but
the underlying causes as well.
Jello
Anyone?
As strange
as it might seem, the main ingredient (gelatin) in good old Jello
might be just what the doctor ordered for painful joints. Gelatin
has been market world wide for many years as a food and as a supplement.
Gelatin is made from animal collagen. In all animals-including
man- collagen is an essential structural protein that forms an
important part of bones, tendons, and connective tissues. It is
a tough insoluble protein that is essential for keeping the many
cells and tissues of the body together. Gelatin contains an exceptionally
high content of two amino acids which play an important part in
collagen formation, namely proline and glycine.
In fact, it
takes 43 grams of dried egg whites or 35 grams of dried non fat
milk or 89 grams of lean beef to equal the amount of proline in
just 10 grams of hydrolyzed gelatin. Though the body can form
these two amino acids on its own, it has been suggested that under
certain conditions the rate of synthesis may be insufficient to
provide essential body requirements and degradation can exceed
synthetic processes (i.e. there is a steady loss of body collagen).
The intake of hydrolyzed gelatin appears to be an alternative
route to getting chondrocytes (cartilage producing cells) and
osteoblasts (bone forming cells) of the body sufficient amounts
of these important amino acids for making structural proteins.
Although chondrocytes are critical for collagen formation, their
number is limited and their ability to form this much needed protein
is influenced by heredity, age, physical activity (too little
or too much), injury, and availability of nutrients.
Although bone
metabolism is quite complex and not fully understood, there is
a growing number of studies showing the intake of just ten grams
per day of hydrolyzed gelatin is effective in greatly reducing
pain, improving mobility and overall bone/cartilage health. Several
randomized, double-blinded, crossover trials have shown improvements
in symptoms related to joint pain (Adem et. al. Therapiewoche,
1991). The people at Knox (the Jello people) have made a product
specifically for bone health and joints called NutraJoint. It
contains hydrolyzed gelatin, calcium , and vitamin C. Calcium
is of obvious importance to bone health and vitamin C is an essential
and limiting nutrient for connective tissue formation. NutraJoint
is cheap, has no side effects, and tastes good. I recommend one
packet mixed with OJ with breakfast for people suffering from
joint pain.
Cetyl
Myrist..what?
A fatty acid
with the long and hard to pronounce name of Cetyl Myristoleate
has been receiving a good deal of attention by researchers concerned
with joint pain and health. Being it's difficult for the reader
to pronounce-or for me to write for that matter-I will just call
it CMT for the remainder of this article, OK?
Discovered
by a researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), CMT
looks very promising as a compound that greatly reduces joint
pain due to a variety of causes. In animals CMT was found to be
very protective of joints from different chemicals that would
normally cause arthritis in these animals. Though the human research
at this time is not as solid as we would like, CMT has already
developed a following with some alternative medical practitioners
and by those who suffer from joint pain. Several bodybuilders
I work with swear by the stuff though I cant vouch for it at this
time as I have had no personal experience with this product. Also,
its effects seem to work rather quickly and relatively small amounts
can be used. 12-15 grams spread out over an entire month appear
to be effective. Exactly how CMT works is unclear but it might
have something to do with a reduction in pro-inflammatory prostaglandins
(see below) or some other mechanism. EHP Products Inc. makes a
CMT product that is endorsed by the researcher who discovered
it. They can be reached at 888-EHP-0100. A company called G nS
Marketing also sells CMT (they call it CMO) and can be contacted
by calling 800-829-1514.
Flax
oil for everything!
Many bodybuilders
and other athletes are starting to see the many benefits of flax
oil for all sorts of uses. One obvious use of flax oil is a reduction
in pain due to any type of inflammatory condition, including joint
troubles. To understand why this is so, the reader must now endure
a crash course in the topic of essential fatty acids and the many
products made by these fatty acids found in the body. If you already
know all this stuff you can skip over this material, but if you
don't know it, you will need this information for the rest of
the article.
The definition
of an essential nutrient is anything the body cannot make itself
and therefore must be obtained from the diet. We need to eat an
assortment of vitamins and minerals, approximately nine to eleven
amino acids, and two fatty acids to stay alive and healthy. The
two essential fatty acids (EFAS) are called linoleic acid and
alpha-linolenic acid. The first being an Omega-6 fatty acid and
the latter being an Omega-3 fatty acid. If the term "Omega-3
fatty acid" rings a bell for you it should. Fish oils are
also well publicized and researched Omega-3 fatty acids (see below)
that have been shown to have many benefits. "So what does
all this have to do with my aching joints?" you are thinking.
Ok, here is the skinny on why you had to endure that previous
section. Flax oil is exceptionally high in Omega-3 fatty acids
(alpha-linolenic acid). Omega-3 fatty acids, from fish, flax,
etc., have been shown in the scientific/medical literature to
reduce inflammation of any kind.
Remember the
"-itis" part of the word relating to joint problems?
How do you think non- steroidal anti- inflammatories work? They
reduce inflammation, but they also come with potential side effects
and health problems. So how does flax oil do this wonderful thing?
From both of the essential fatty acids the body makes something
called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are very short lived hormone-like
substances that regulate cellular activity on a moment to moment
basis. Prostaglandins are directly involved with regulating blood
pressure,inflammatory responses, insulin sensitivity, immune responses,
anabolic/catabolic processes, and hundreds of other functions
known and yet unknown. The long and the short of all this, without
going into a long and boring biochemical explanation, is: Omega
3 fatty acids are responsible for forming the anti -inflammatory
prostaglandins and the Omega 6 prostaglandins are responsible
for making many of the pro-inflammatory prostaglandins, and other
products derived from EFAS. A high intake of Omega 3 oils reduces
inflammation (and pain) by this mechanism. Obviously, it's a lot
more complicated than that, but hey, I only have so much space
to write.
People who
add in 1-3 tablespoons a day of flax oil to a protein drink, or
over a salad, often notice a reduction in pain in their joints,
not to mention all the other great things EFAS can do for the
hard training bodybuilder. Flax oil can be found in any large
health food store under such brands as Flora, Omega, Barleans,
and several other names (Even better than flax perhaps, Udo's
Choice oil is a great blend of different oils. More info can be
found at Udo's site connected to the links section of this web
page).
High
quality kitchen sink formulas
I call these
products "kitchen sink formulas" because they add in
just about everything you could want in a formula for painful
joints. Two high quality product of this type that come to mind
are the Natural Pain Relief products by Inholtra and The Life
Extension Foundation. These products contain Glucosamine(s), Chondroitin
Sulphate, the fish oils EPA/DHA, Gamma-linoleic acid (GLA), vitamin
E, fat soluble vitamin C (ascorbyl palmitate), and Manganese aspartate.
"So what does all this stuff do?" you are asking yourself.
Briefly:
Glucosamine
is considered by many as one of the best natural products for
the treatment and prevention of cartilage degeneration. It is
in essential part of cartilage, synovial fluid, and other components
of joints. Chondroitin sulphate is related to glucosamine and
is part of a family of modified sugars that form structural molecules
in cartilage. As mentioned previously, the Omega 3 fish oils (EPA/DHA)
are renowned for improving pain and inflammation in joints and
other areas of the body. GLA is a fatty acid derived from the
Omega-6 class of fatty acids but has been shown to have many properties
similar to that of the fish oils/flax oil in its ability to reduce
inflammation through the production of the favorable anti-inflammatory/anti-auto
immune prostaglandins.
The anti -
oxidants vitamin E and C are added because it is well known that
free radical pathology is part of the damage that takes place
in the joints. Finally, the trace element manganese is needed
as a co- factor in many enzymatic processes related to cartilage
synthesis and cartilage integrity. Now you know why I call them
kitchen sink formulas! Taken singularly, the above ingredients
appear to have marginal effectiveness. Taken as a complex, they
appear to be very synergistic.
These are
very well rounded and complete-though slightly different-formulas
for people looking for some relief to their joint troubles, or
any chronic inflammatory condition for that matter. However, I
have found most people will need to take more than the manufacturer
recommends to see real results, though this is not true 100% of
the time. The Life Extension Foundation can be contacted by calling
800-826-2114 or http://www.lef.org
Conclusion
and Recommendations
If you are
one of the millions of people who suffer from chronic joint pain
when you hit the gym, first make sure you are not making any of
the most common mistakes outlined in the beginning of this article.
Secondly, get an opinion from a good sports medicine doctor as
to exactly what your problem is. You don't want to self diagnose
what could be a serious problem. Finally, start with one of the
above products and see if it improves your condition. Wait at
least a few months before you make your assessment. Add in a second
or third product if you don't think you are getting the results
you want, which would be of course less pain and greater mobility
through the joint in question. Hey, I never said it was going
to be cheap and easy, but if serious joint pain is taking all
the fun out of your workouts, it will be worth your time and money.
See you in the gym...
Diehl-HW and
May EL. "Cetyl myristoleate isolated from Swiss albino mice:
an apparent protective agent against adjuvant arthritis in rats."
J. Pharm-Sci, 83(3):296-9, 1994.
Cochran C.
and Dent R., "Cetyl Myristoleate - A unique natural compound
valuable in arthritis conditions." Townsend Letter for doctors,
#168:70-74, 1997.
About
the Author - William D. Brink
Will Brink is a columnist, contributing consultant, and writer
for various health/fitness, medical, and bodybuilding publications.
His articles relating to nutrition, supplements, weight loss,
exercise and medicine can be found in such publications as Lets
Live, Muscle Media 2000, MuscleMag International, The Life Extension
Magazine, Muscle n Fitness, Inside Karate, Exercise For Men Only,
Body International, Power, Oxygen, Penthouse, Women’s World
and The Townsend Letter For Doctors. He is the author of Priming
The Anabolic Environment and Weight Loss Nutrients Revealed. He
is the Consulting Sports Nutrition Editor and a monthly columnist
for Physical magazine and an Editor at Large for Power magazine.
Will graduated from Harvard University with a concentration in
the natural sciences, and is a consultant to major supplement,
dairy, and pharmaceutical companies.
He has been
co author of several studies relating to sports nutrition and
health found in peer reviewed academic journals, as well as having
commentary published in JAMA. He runs the highly popular web site
BrinkZone.com which is strategically positioned to fulfill the
needs and interests of people with diverse backgrounds and knowledge.
The BrinkZone site has a following with many sports nutrition
enthusiasts, athletes, fitness professionals, scientists, medical
doctors, nutritionists, and interested lay people. William has
been invited to lecture on the benefits of weight training and
nutrition at conventions and symposiums around the U.S. and Canada,
and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs.
William has
worked with athletes ranging from professional bodybuilders, golfers,
fitness contestants, to police and military personnel.
See
Will's ebooks online here:
Muscle
Building Nutrition
A complete guide bodybuilding supplements and eating to gain lean
muscle
Diet
Supplements Revealed
A review of diet supplements and guide to eating for maximum fat
loss
He can be contacted at: PO Box 812430
Wellesley MA. 02482.
BrinkZone.com
Email: will@brinkzone.com
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