Muscles Too

Submitted by RedBeard on Fri, 2009-07-24 19:34
Community topics: 
oxytocin

With my health experimenting, I've felt like I've gotten a pretty good handle on the oxytocin/prolactin side of things, so I moved on to focusing on what I thought was a separate topic, studying the mechanics of muscle-building, physique.

But, looking through the different anabolic hormones, the things that were said to slow their production, a familiar pattern's starting to come out:
~ Insulin ... 'release stimulated by the parasympathetic system, inhibited by the sympathetic system.'
~ Growth Hormone ... 'inhibitor: ... glucocortisoids', (cortisol).
~ DHEA ... "When the adrenals are chronically overworked and straining to maintain high cortisol levels, they lose the capacity to produce DHEA in sufficient amounts".
~ Luteinizing Hormone ... 'deficient activity resulting from: ... hyperprolactinemia', (high prolactin).

(The connections being that oxytocin is parasympathetic and counters cortisol, while prolactin is released at orgasm.)

On a test of rabbits:

Massaged Muscles Showed Improved Recovery wrote:

The difference in strength recovery between massaged muscles was significant - 60% strength compared to 15% for the non-massaged muscles. The researchers also saw that the massaged muscles had fewer damaged muscle fibers and no sign of white blood cells present to repair muscle damage. The massaged muscles showed less sign of swelling, weighing 8% less than the non-massaged muscles.

Oxytocin is released during a massage. Also interesting was that weightlifters eat constantly, every 2 hours at least. I read oxytocin was released from eating, makes me wonder.

Also, getting further off topic, another thing I read about monkeys was that Alpha-status monkeys suppressed the mating of their inferiors by stressing them, and in doing so, disrupting their endocrine systems. With the whole kiss-up/kick-down phenomenon, the statused monkeys were rarely stressed, and so were the healthiest and strongest of the group. When the prime monkeys inevitably did become stressed, losing a challenge, they'd lose the Alpha markers. For example, a bright red pigment would become a dull pink overnight.

Makes me wonder.

Comments

Submitted by daventryHero on Sat, 2009-07-25 08:42.

is always fascinating to learn about, it reminds me of the status games we used to play in primary school... I can relate all too well to the poor monkeys with stressed out endocrine systems ;)

Marnia's picture

Submitted by Marnia on Sat, 2009-07-25 09:18.

that the way the beta males frequently cope with stress is by grooming their (often) female buddies? Also, alpha males who bother to form grooming attachments are often allowed to stay in the troop once they are toppled. The real jerks, who have beat up on everyone on their way up are driven off to die alone.

Clearly, our genes have lots of different strategies.

Submitted by Poet on Sat, 2009-07-25 09:46.

Just looking for a way to cope with the stress in my life. :-)