Myogenesis: The Key to Near Perpetual Muscle Gains

 All Natural Myogenesis Experiment: Mid-Point Update

I've had a few viewers reach out to ask for an update on my progress. And, frankly, I don't have anything else to share this week. So, I thought this would be a good time to give a peek into how the all natural myogenesis experiment is going.

To bring us up to speed, here is the gist of the experiment: I did roughly 12 days of keto to get "fat adapted" before beginning my dirty fast. If you don't do this and attempt to fast, the body continues to drain glycogen and even break down protein from the muscle in order to have energy. But, once solidly in ketosis, the body prefers fat for energy. And, the fasted state is a ketogenic state- deep ketosis. So, getting ready ahead of time is like taking the dive off the low diving board at the pool vs plunging from an olympic dive platform. It's just easier and less of a shock to your mental state.

Ketosis is key to prepping for myogenesis as it puts muscle satellite stem cells into what's called a "deep quiescent" state. In that state, the stem cells are resistant to growth, but also fortified to be stronger and more resilient than otherwise "normal" muscle stem cells. (reference study here) The longer we're in this state, and the "deeper" the level of ketosis, the more stem cells we recruit for later growth- one of the bodies' remarkable survival mechanisms.

I did some form of intermittent fasting for much of the 8-10 years I had "off" of any serious bodybuilding training or supplementation. I suspect this, combined with consistent maintenance training and lower volume powerlifting, prepped me to grow as well I did on my first blast cycle of slow release oxytocin. I had very likely built up a large cache of prepped cells and had no "extraordinary" anabolic stimulus/support to fully develop them, until I introduced oxytocin. At that point all those dormant, fortified cells seemed to expand like balloons and I gained 20 lbs in 21 days, 7-8 of it actual muscle.

I'll likely never replicate those results again. At nearly 50 years old, I'll never take another 10 years off of everything- let's be real. I've got maybe 8-10 years of any kind of actual cumulative improvements left. So, I've settled on 3-4 growth blasts per year, with just as many "prep" periods. This keeps me reasonably lean, AND insulin sensitive, another important factor when it comes to muscle growth. If your muscles are insensitive to insulin, then you can't uptake new nutrients. If you can't take up new nutrients, then the growth processes don't happen at the cellular level- In other words, myogenesis cannot take place. So we're metaphorically killing at least 2 birds with one stone here.

But, do you have to "fast"? Well, let me start off by admitting my "fasts" are as easy and dirty as possible. I've done over 25 extended fasts, usually 10-12 days. Like I say, I get into ketosis first, then I allow myself to drink and eat anything that is 50 calories or less- total for any given 2 hour period. For example: Black coffee with stevia sweetener? 7 calories. Add a teaspoon of pure cocoa powder +10 calories = 17 total. Have another one an hour later. 2 hour total? 34 calories. That's typically how I start a fasting day. It's sweet, helps me wakes up, and the caffeine suppresses my appetite for a few hours. I like to snack on dill pickles- 5 calories for a large pickle, plus I'm taking in very needed salt. I may even have a whole "sugar free" packet of jello- 20 calories total for 2 cups of a sweet snack. Get it? You need to make what you're doing something you can live with.

Because of how ghrelin, the hunger hormone, is pulsed in relation to when you "usually" consume your calories- and because the body doesn't notice tiny amounts of calories in any meaningful way- you end up not even being hungry after a few days. So, by day 5 I may not even care to have the jello or pickle. I may eat something like that (lettuce, broccoli) just to satisfy my brain. But, my gut is no longer telling me to eat. So, by the end of a day at the beginning of a fast my calorie totals may be 200 calories for the day. By the end, maybe 100-125.

To answer my own question, no, you don't NEED to fast. Fasting is just a quicker way to get those cells prepped. A lot of the prepping happens from the cell's interaction with ketone bodies, i.e. BHB. (reference study here) Fasting isn't practical for everyone. I wouldn't attempt it personally if I still worked construction, especially if I was climbing or carrying heavy stuff on ladders! I feel clear headed and focused, super focused, when I fast. But, my blood pressure is low. And, depending on how well I've kept up on salts and minerals, I can have extreme dips in energy- usually fixed by a half teaspoon of table salt and a glass of water.

I don't think eating a "normal" diet and taking BHB is enough. But, doing a keto diet for a month or 6 weeks, adding in BHB for energy, might be a great strategy to prep muscle stem cells for those who can't or won't fast. As long as you are ketogenic and stressing the body by taking in somewhat less calories than you expend, you are likely putting yourself in a good position for later growth.

Now for the weird part- extended "deep quiescence." (reference study here https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(22)00182-6 ) A couple years ago I began to notice that for a period of time after a fast, it was like I could NOT gain a pound no matter what I ate. I discovered this study here that explains that the "deep quiescent" state can be systemic after a fast and last "several days" after fasting is done. To give you some kind of real update on where I'm at, I recently completed a 12 day fast. It took over 2 weeks to begin to be able to put on weight after going back to "normal" eating.

I began my fast at 225 lbs. (with light gym clothes on gym scale) I had weighed that amount for months and it had become my default setting. i.e. it wasn't like I had binged and blown up to 225, I was 225 or 224.5 etc. every night at the gym for months. At the end of the fast (show pics) I was 205 in same clothes, same scale. 12 days folks. Obviously, a portion of what was lost was water and glycogen. Reintroducing food, I quickly rebounded to 213 lbs. Not a gain, just glycogen, water, and food in the digestive tract. That was in the first 2 days. After that, even after upping the calories to 1000 above maintenance, I couldn't gain. It took a 2 full weeks before the number started to budge again. That's extended "deep quiescence."

Now, that's all part of my normal routine and expectations at this point, 25+ fasts remember. The big question is: What's different so far between using slow-release oxytocin to grow and the natural combo of injected products: ecdy, genistein, dhea, lemon myrtle, epicatechin. I'm up a few lbs at 217. But, just like with oxytocin, things look "tighter." i.e. likely water is being pulled from under the skin into the muscle due to calcium retention. But, the weird thing is, I actually do seem to be staying surprisingly lean compared to normal. I'm guessing the "fullness" is due to the injected ecdy (which I've experienced before- it's doing what it does, kind of a "almost as powerful as" oxytocin kind of thing, but a bit less intense). But, the leanness, as near as I can figure, seems to be coming from the epicatechin- Something Vigorous Steve pointed out in his epicatechin experiment- he believes he clearly "re-comped"- lost fat, gained lean muscle. I guess I don't know why I'd expect a different result injecting it vs his oral use. But, as far as I can tell so far, this seems to be confirmed.

While I'm not as full as with oxytocin, I'm not as bloated either. I think of injected ecdy similar to how pro-hormones were to testosterone- work along same pathway, in same way. But, often not as powerful as there are other steps in between the stimulation from the drug and your ultimate results. Hence why injecting 100 milliGRams of ecdysterone seems to be about as potent as injecting 100 MICro grams of oxytocin.

And, in my experience, if you don't have those stem cells prepped and are not insulin sensitive, then forget it for either one- you'll just bloat up a bit, have a good pump and that's it. Oh, and get fatter. If you aren't getting fatter but still looking full? Good sign. Once the fat starts coming on, the growin is done for now. The calories are going elsewhere.

So, so far, so good! Except, my injectable ecdy is still more harsh than I'd like. It's better than last time. I've injected my love handles and my love handles hate it- got a goose egg from one of the shots there. To test if this was my ecdy or just a sensitive spot, I injected my trt (0.15 ml of test) in similar area. At 1/3 the volume of the ecdy shot, it did about 1/3 the amount of irritation. But, cleared up more quickly. So, it's still harsh. Glutes tolerate it fine, upper thighs are better than love handles for me. But, everyone is different. So, heads up, it's still experimental. And, of course, topical only.

So, all in all, up 4 lbs since getting out of deep quiescence and introducing latest ecdy (and all others, including the vitamin d3 and k2). About 5 days in, so not bad at all. I guarantee not much of that 4 lbs is actual lean muscle. But, if I walk away from say a 3 week stint with 2-3 lbs of lean gains? That's amazing at my age- especially after gaining 65 lbs of lean muscle tissue over my training life (lbm from 120-186 lbs). The nice thing about gains like these are that you can SEE the quality. More roundness in the biceps, chest is growing, quad sweep. Problem areas are growing- I actually have some calves for the first time in my life. Not huge, but good shape, obviously more muscular.

That's my experience so far. I'll have a proper wrap up in a few weeks along with comparison pics, video etc. If you like this sort of thing, subscribe and hit like! No patreon vid this week, but you can head over there to see how I make the various mad concoctions I experiment with. I'll see you back here next week!