THE CUTTING EDGE

New studies that could have you swim, bike and running faster

1 EVENING GYM SESSION

Protein is vital for muscle repair and strengthening mitochondria, the cells’ furnaces that burn fat and carbs for energy production. Consuming protein prior to bed increases protein synthesis, resulting in more powerful muscles. Now, researcher Jeroen Trommelen has shown resistance training later in the day increases the overnight muscle-protein synthetic response to pre-sleep protein feeding. He discovered more of the ingested protein-derived amino acids were used for myofibrils in the muscle, resulting in greater performance gains.

2 CIRCADIAN PEAK AT 5PM

A team from France has shown that if you’re looking to perform to your optimum, pencil in a 5pm workout. After analysing world records from a range of sprint and endurance sports, they noted that the majority were broken later in the day. ‘That’s because that’s the time major events take place,’ you might say. It’s a fair point but they also showed that you need more electrical energy to contract the muscle earlier in the day with aspects like light, ambient temperature and food intake all having an impact on the efficiency of skeletal muscles.

3 STATIC AND DYNAMIC

Research undertaken by Dr David Behm of Newfoundland University suggests a joint stretching attack of static and dynamic will reap the greatest performance rewards. Behm analysed years of literature and concluded that, while all forms of stretching temporarily improved a muscle’s range of motion, this didn’t equate to performance improvements or reduction in injury rates. But he showed static stretching of the larger muscles followed by dynamic activities like lunges, may not make you quicker but it does lower the chances of a spell on the sidelines.

4 MUSCLE ANALYSIS

The number and ratio of slow- and fast-twitch fibres dictates your stamina (slow-twitch) and power output (fast-twitch). Knowing the number of each can influence the direction of your training but this involves taking a muscle biopsy. Yet USA researchers have done a test utilising mechanomyography (a machine that assesses vibration properties of contracting muscle) that, in addition to devising a predictive equation, produced results that were 80% accurate. This could be a key step to creating a portable muscle-fibre analysis to determine your tri potential.