Brian (1s):
Hello and welcome to the Get Lean and Eat Clean podcast. My name is Brian Gryn. I'm a certified health coach, trainer and author,
Brian (8s):
And this
Brian (9s):
Podcast is for middle aged men and women looking to optimize their health and get their bodies back to what it once was 10 to 15 years ago. I will give you simple, actionable items to get long term sustainable results. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show.
Brian (25s):
Alright, Welcome to the Get Lean Eat Clean podcast. My name is Brian Gryn. I hope you had a great weekend and hope you had a Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah and looking forward to a happy, healthy new year with friends and family. Hope you had a chance to listen to my interview with Ron Beck Feld. He is an 80-year-old health and fitness authority, the CEO of Superior Source, and we touched on, you know, what he's done to stay fit and his routines getting into his eighties. Also got into his innovative health brand, superior Source. Also touched on how Ron spent many years and continues to spend yet many years at the original Gold's Gym in Venice, working out with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Co. So pretty cool there. We got into the importance of reading labels and much, much more.
Brian (1m 7s):
So if you haven't already, definitely check out my interview with Ron Feld. That's episode four 17. Now on today's micro podcast, we are gonna get dive a little bit deeper into these two key pathways of mTOR and A MPK. If you haven't heard about 'em or know about 'em, you will after this podcast. It's something that just to keep in mind as you go on your health journey, and I thought it would be beneficial to share with you them today because achieving optimal health isn't always about just exercise and diet. Beneath the surface, our bodies rely on interconnected molecular pathways that regulate energy, muscle growth, and overall cellular health. Two key pathways are mTOR and A MPK, also known as activated protein kinase.
Brian (1m 50s):
Today we're gonna touch on what they are, how they work, and how they can play a role in achieving health and fitness. Whether you're a middle-aged man or woman or a health conscious individual, I think it's important to unpack these pathways and understand how they can work in your favor. So what are mTOR and A MPK? Well, there are molecular signaling pathways that influence how our cells function, adapt and thrive. They might sound like obscure scientific jargon, but their actions matter for anyone looking to build muscle, boost energy or just maintain normal health. Now, mTOR is also known as the muscle growth regulator. mTOR is like the body's growth engine. It drives processes linked to cell growth and protein synthesis.
Brian (2m 34s):
It's especially vital for muscle building repair, making it a key focus for fitness enthusiasts, it's activated by nutrient availability, so protein intake, particularly leucine and other growth cues like insulin stimulate mTOR, which regulates skeletal muscle hypertrophy growth, and maintaining lean mass. Now as we age, if we are not stimulating mTOR enough, we could go into what's called sarcopenia, which is muscle loss, and we'll get into more of that later. But for instance, if you eat a protein rich diet or perform a heavy resistance workout, mTOR is gonna be activated to promote muscle protein synthesis, helping you build strength and power as we age.
Brian (3m 16s):
Understanding how to stimulate mTOR is super important because this is the way we're gonna achieve peak performance and muscle growth. Now on the other hand, A MPK is also known as the cellular energy manager. When energy levels dip, such as during either fasting or even vigorous exercises, A MPK kicks in to optimize energy usage. A MPK encourages pathways like fat breakdown and glucose uptake, while simultaneously inhibiting pathways that consume energy unnecessarily like cell growth. This makes a MPK particularly relevant for those aiming to lose weight or improve metabolic health. Essentially, A MPK helps maintain cellular energy homeostasis.
Brian (3m 59s):
You could almost think of mTOR as growth in like an anabolic state and A MPK when you're in more of a catabolic state. So it supports metabolic functions such as enhanced fat burning, better insulin sensitivity, and reduced inflammation. Now, how can mTOR and A MPK work together and why is this balance so critical? Well, mTOR and A MPK serve different purposes and essential roles. They have an intricate and often opposing relationship. Think of them as two sides of the same coin working in tandem to balance growth and conservation processes in the body. So it's a tightly regulated relationship between the two. mTOR, as I said before, promotes growth such as muscle building, requiring energy and nutrients to fuel these anabolic processes while mTOR conserves energy, ensuring that the cellular processes are optimized when energy is scarce.
Brian (4m 53s):
Now any too much of either of these can cause some issues. When one PA pathway is highly active, the other is typically suppressed. So for example, after eating a rich meal in nutrients, maybe a high protein meal with some quality carbohydrates and essential fats, mTOR is activated focusing on growth and repair during maybe a fasting time or overnight sleep or calorie restriction. A MPK is activated prioritizing, prioritizing energy conservation and metabolic efficiency. So for overall health and fitness, neither pathway should be continuously suppressed or activated. For example, individuals who might over fast and under nourish or or restrict too many calories for a long period of time, essentially could be in too much of a catabolic state stimulating A MPK for too long.
Brian (5m 44s):
You wanna make sure that you have a balance between the two. Especially as we get old, we wanna make sure that we're not in sort of too much of a catabolic state because building muscle, you need to stimulate mTOR and muscle protein synthesis. So you wanna strike the right balance between mTOR and A MPK and avoid issues like chronic inflammation, excessive fat storage, or muscle loss. The good news is, is you have a lot of control over specifying what and when you should be stimulating mTOR or A MPK. Obviously during times of growth, when you're, when you're weight training and looking to build, you wanna modulate mTOR and make sure that you consume adequate protein. So including high quality protein sources like eggs, pasture raised chicken, grass fed meat, or wild fish targeting around 20 to 30, even up to 40 grams of protein per meal.
Brian (6m 34s):
To stimulate mTOR r effectively, obviously strength training should be a priority. Re resistance training, things like weight training are one of the best ways and most effective ways to boost mTOR R activity and encourage hypertrophy. You know, the timing of your, of your nutrients is something that is not, doesn't necessarily have to be perfect, but making sure that you have that you, that you have these nutrients within about four to five hours, either before or after the workout to help optimize mTOR activation and help encourage recovery and growth from your workout. Now, ways that you could stimulate A MPK for this energy balance, one is actually engaging in some aerobic activities, some high intensity interval training, running or cycling this, this can naturally stimulate a MPK activity.
Brian (7m 19s):
Also doing some form of intermittent fasting from time to time. Obviously this is something you don't wanna overdo, but GI giving your digestive system a little bit of a rest from time to time, maybe about a 12 or 16 hour break, is something that can also activate A MPK. Eating. Eating clean fats can help. You know, cooking in like avocado, coconut butter, gee or tallow is a great way to activate and stimulate supporting A MPK activation. Lastly, just keep in mind excessive A MPK activation could lead to adverse effects like I talked about before, like muscle wasting or sarcopenia. So here are some lifestyle habits to create a ba to create a balanced approach between mTOR and A MPK. For one, you wanna make sure that you focus on managing stress, incorporating stress reduction practices like yoga or meditation, some type of mindfulness to sort of maintain equilibrium, prioritizing quality sleep, restful sleep, promotes recovery, and ensures that these pathways are functioning optimally and moderate alcohol and refined sugars or processed foods.
Brian (8m 19s):
Both of these can impede a P activation and contribute to metabolic dysfunction. So there's definitely emerging, more emerging research regarding mTOR and A MPK that we're gonna find out in the in the future to sort of help revolutionize our health, fitness and strategies. So understanding that both mTOR and A MPK are essential pathways in your body that can empower you to sort of to design more effective fitness and health routines is really important. Whether your goal is building muscle, losing weight, or improving metabolic health, both of these pathways are integral to sustainable success. If you're looking for ways to use science like this to help reach your health and wellness goals for 2025, feel free to click on the link below for a 15 minute consult and thanks a lot for listening.
Brian (9m 3s):
Enjoy the rest of your day and I will talk to you later.
Brian (9m 9s):
Thanks for listening to the Get Lean Eat Clean Podcast. I understand there are millions of other podcasts out there and you've chosen to listen to mine and I appreciate that. Check out the show notes@briangrin.com for everything that was mentioned in this episode. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend or family member that's looking to get their body back to what it once was. Thanks again and have a great day.
