Dietary Supplementation & Resistance Training Programs Designed to Promote Increases in Muscle Mass

Lifestyle strategies that focus on building/preserving skeletal muscle mass will enhance the health of a wide sector of the population and possibly, diminish the severity of many ageing-related illnesses. The focus of this dissertation was to examine the effects of strategic intervention with dietary supplements and exercise designed specifically to promote an increase in muscle mass (hypertrophy). Three separate trials were completed using healthy adult males (aged 18-36 years). Each trial utilized a randomized, double-blinded design that involved 10-11 weeks of structured RE training and matched groups that supplemented their diets with whey protein (WP), creatine monohydrate (CrM) and/or carbohydrate (CHO) (separately and in various combinations as well as at strategic times of the day). Assessments included body composition (lean mass, fat mass and body fat %), maximum (absolute) strength in three weight lifting exercises, and vastus lateralis muscle biopsies for determination of muscle fibre types (I, IIa and IIx), cross-sectional area (CSA), energy metabolite and glycogen concentrations as well as contractile protein content