A Guide to Muscle Protein Synthesis for the Physique Athlete and Coach

by Adam Michael Gonzalez, PhD, CSCS, David Douglas Church, PhD, CSCS,*D, and Guillermo Escalante, DSC, MBA, ATC, CSCS
Personal Training Quarterly March 2023
Vol 9, Issue 4

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This article discusses the balance between muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and muscle protein breakdown (MPB) to help individuals better achieve their goals in muscle hypertrophy.

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This article originally appeared in Personal Training Quarterly (PTQ)—a quarterly publication for NSCA Members designed specifically for the personal trainer. Discover easy-to-read, research-based articles that take your training knowledge further with Nutrition, Programming, and Personal Business Development columns in each quarterly, electronic issue. Read more articles from PTQ »

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References

  1. Burd, NA, Beals, JW, Martinez, IG, Salvador, AF, and Skinner, SK. Food-first approach to enhance the regulation of post-exercise skeletal muscle protein synthesis and remodeling. Sports Medicine 49: 59-68, 2019.
  2. Church, DD, Hirsch, KR, Park, S, Kim, I-Y, Gwin, JA, Pasiakos, SM, et al. Essential amino acids and protein synthesis: Insights into maximizing the muscle and whole-body response to feeding. Nutrients 12: 3717, 2020.
  3. Damas, F, Libardi, CA, and Ugrinowitsch, C. The development of skeletal muscle hypertrophy through resistance training: The role of muscle damage and muscle protein synthesis. European Journal of Applied Physiology 118: 485-500, 2018.
  4. Damas, F, Phillips, SM, Libardi, CA, Vechin, FC, Lixandrão, ME, Jannig, PR, et al. Resistance training-induced changes in integrated myofibrillar protein synthesis are related to hypertrophy only after attenuation of muscle damage. The Journal of Physiology 594: 5209-5222, 2016.
  5. Damas, F, Phillips, SM, Lixandrão, ME, Vechin, FC, Libardi, CA, Roschel, H, et al. Early resistance training-induced increases in muscle cross-sectional area are concomitant with edemainduced muscle swelling. European Journal of Applied Physiology 116: 49-56, 2016.
  6. Drummond, MJ, Fry, CS, Glynn, EL, Dreyer, HC, Dhanani, S, Timmerman, KL, et al. Rapamycin administration in humans blocks the contraction-induced increase in skeletal muscle protein synthesis. The Journal of Physiology 587: 1535-1546, 2009.
  7. Gonzalez, AM, Hoffman, JR, Stout, JR, Fukuda, DH, and Willoughby, DS. Intramuscular anabolic signaling and endocrine response following resistance exercise: Implications for muscle hypertrophy. Sports Medicine 46: 671-685, 2016.
  8. Greenhaff, PL, Karagounis, L, Peirce, N, Simpson, EJ, Hazell, M, Layfield, R, et al. Disassociation between the effects of amino acids and insulin on signaling, ubiquitin ligases, and protein turnover in human muscle. American Journal of Physiology- Endocrinology and Metabolism 295: E595-E604, 2008.
  9. Haun, CT, Vann, CG, Roberts, BM, Vigotsky, AD, Schoenfeld, BJ, and Roberts, MD. A critical evaluation of the biological construct skeletal muscle hypertrophy: Size matters but so does the measurement. Frontiers in Physiology 247, 2019.
  10. Kim, PL, Staron, RS, and Phillips, SM. Fasted-state skeletal muscle protein synthesis after resistance exercise is altered with training. The Journal of Physiology 568: 283-290, 2005.
  11. Lim, C, Nunes, EA, Currier, BS, Mcleod, JC, Thomas, AC, and Phillips, SM. An evidence-based narrative review of mechanisms of resistance exercise-induced human skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 10: 1249, 2022.
  12. Mayhew, DL, Kim, J-S, Cross, JM, Ferrando, AA, and Bamman, MM. Translational signaling responses preceding resistance training-mediated myofiber hypertrophy in young and old humans. Journal of Applied Physiology 107: 1655-1662, 2009.
  13. Mitchell, CJ, Churchward-Venne, TA, Parise, G, Bellamy, L, Baker, SK, Smith, K, et al. Acute post-exercise myofibrillar protein synthesis is not correlated with resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy in young men. PloS One 9: e89431, 2014.
  14. Morton, RW, McGlory, C, and Phillips, SM. Nutritional interventions to augment resistance training-induced skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Frontiers in Physiology 245, 2015.
  15. Phillips, S. Protein consumption and resistance exercise: Maximizing anabolic potential. Sports Science Exchange 26: 1-5, 2013.
  16. Phillips, S, Parise, G, Roy, B, Tipton, K, Wolfe, R, and Tarnopolsky, M. Resistance-training-induced adaptations in skeletal muscle protein turnover in the fed state. Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 80: 1045-1053, 2002.
  17. Reitelseder, S, Bülow, J, and Holm, L. Divergent anabolic response to exercise in young and older adult men-dependency on time frame of measurement. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A 76: 996-999, 2021.
  18. Stokes, T, Hector, AJ, Morton, RW, McGlory, C, and Phillips, SM. Recent perspectives regarding the role of dietary protein for the promotion of muscle hypertrophy with resistance exercise training. Nutrients 10: 180, 2018.
  19. Tang, JE, Perco, JG, Moore, DR, Wilkinson, SB, and Phillips, SM. Resistance training alters the response of fed state mixed muscle protein synthesis in young men. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 294: R172-R178, 2008.
  20. West, DW, Burd, NA, Coffey, VG, Baker, SK, Burke, LM, Hawley, JA, et al. Rapid aminoacidemia enhances myofibrillar protein synthesis and anabolic intramuscular signaling responses after resistance exercise. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 94: 795-803, 2011.
  21. Wilkinson, DJ, Cegielski, J, Phillips, BE, Boereboom, C, Lund, JN, Atherton, PJ, and Smith, K. Internal comparison between deuterium oxide (D2O) and L-[ring-13C6] phenylalanine for acute measurement of muscle protein synthesis in humans. Physiological Reports 3: e12433, 2015.
  22. Witard, OC, Bannock, L, and Tipton, KD. Making sense of muscle protein synthesis: A focus on muscle growth during resistance training. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 1: 1-13, 2021.
  23. Witard, OC, Wardle, SL, Macnaughton, LS, Hodgson, AB, and Tipton, KD. Protein considerations for optimising skeletal muscle mass in healthy young and older adults. Nutrients 8: 181, 2016.
  24. Wolfe, RR, and Chinkes, DL. Isotope Tracers in Metabolic Research: Principles and Practice of Kinetic Analysis. John Wiley & Sons; 2004.
About the author

Adam Michael Gonzalez, PhD, CSCS,*D, NSCA-CPT

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Adam Gonzalez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Allied Health and Kinesiology at Hofstra University. He earned a PhD in Exercise Physiolo ...

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David Douglas Church, PhD, CSCS

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David Church is currently an Assistant Professor for the Collegeof Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.Churchs research is foc ...

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Guillermo Escalante, DSC, MBA, ATC, CSCS

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Guillermo Escalante is currently an Associate Professor of Kinesiology and Dean Fellow for the College of Natural Sciences at California State Univers ...

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