Muscle Health

1. Creatine is a substance that our body naturally produces via amino acids from our diet. Most people will create 2-3 grams of Creatine per day on their own.  

Pharmaceutical Grade Creatine Monohydrate combined with strength training has been proven to increase muscle performance and strength, increase muscle mass, improve bone density, improve functionality and speed up our rate of recovery.

It is highly beneficial for individuals over the age of 50 to supplement with Creatine to help prevent Sarcopenia (age related muscle loss), osteoporosis and to create a systemic anti-inflammatory reaction in the body.

Optimum dosage: 2-5 grams/day combined with protein following a training session.

Note: Creatine does not impose adverse effects on the kidney and/or liver and does not need to be cycled.  Be sure to tell your physician you are taking Creatine so that your blood tests do not create any false positive results.

2. Omega 3 & Vitamin D are commonly used supplements; however, many people do not realize their importance when it comes to preserving our muscle mass and bone density.  

3. Epicatechin is an anti-oxidant that increases our Follistatin levels.  This is important because Follistatin is a powerful antagonist of Myostatin.

Myostatin is a myokine that inhibits our muscles and bones from rebuilding themselves.  Inhibiting Myostatin has been shown to prevent and/or reverse the loss of muscle mass and strength we experience with age.

Follistatin also improves insulin sensitivity, helps to reduce excess adiposity, attenuates systemic inflammation and accelerates bone regeneration.  We can boost our Follistatin levels with Strength Training, Cardiovascular Exercise and with Epicatechin.

Foods that are naturally high in Epicatechin include: Cocoa Powder, Matcha Green Tea, Raspberries, Blackberries and Grape Seed Extract.

Note: Epicatechin is bound by Casein, a protein found in dairy; please don't consume these foods alongside dairy.

For those of you who are concerned about your Bone Density, I would suggest asking your physician to refer you for a DEXA Scan.  It is typical for physicians to wait until a woman turns 65 before doing a DEXA Scan.  The problem is women then do not know what their baseline bone density is.

I suggest women get a DEXA Scan when they are 50 (before we lose too much estrogen), this will ensure we have a baseline to compare our future results with.

I would also suggest that women test their Estrogen Metabolites (specifically 16-OH), as this will provide an understanding of how our body is metabolizing estrogen and if our bone density is at risk.

Please contact us if you are interested in testing your Estrogen Metabolites.

Yes it does.

The more muscle mass we have, the higher our metabolic rate. As we lose muscle, our metabolism decreases. This is why crash diets (and Sarcopenia) are problematic. 

When we experience weight loss as a result of severely restricting our caloric intake without paying attention to our protein needs, we will lose muscle and negatively impact our metabolic rate.  This is why keeping the weight off (after a crash diet) becomes so difficult; the loss of muscle we experience during the diet, results in our caloric needs dropping and never coming back up unless we do something to gain that muscle back.

When we experience muscle loss as a result of aging (Sarcopenia), the same thing happens to our metabolism.

Training Foundation

Unit B, 101 Fisher Street, Okotoks, Alberta

The Training Foundation is a 2400 square foot Private Strength Training Facility in Okotoks, Alberta that specializes in athlete development programs, adult strength training, personal training and mentorship programs.