Aspirin & other Pain Killers’ Effects on Muscle Growth
November 1st, 2007 by Paul JohnsonA few years ago, research started coming out about the effects of common OTC painkillers effects on muscle growth. If you are new to bodybuilding in recent years, you may have missed the big news when it first came out. Many bodybuilders take them to relieve DOMS (muscle soreness) from weight training or some other ailment and don’t know about this side effect. This is also important to know because many fat burning supplements, such as hydroxycut hardcore, put willow bark ( natural form of aspirin ) in it. Acetaminophen ( Tylenol ) and the class of drugs called NSAIDS
, which includes the OTC painkillers, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen ( Alleve ), all have an effect on protein synthesis.
Studies on painkiller effects on protein synthesis:
One of the first studies to come out was published in
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Oct;86(10):5067-70. It was done on 24 males to either receive ibuprofen, acetaminophen or a control after resistance excercise workout (10 – 14 sets). It showed that acetaminophen and ibuprofen had an impact on prostoglandins (in equal degree). Researchers concluded this impact on prostoglandins could have a big impact on muscle growth.
One year later, these same researchers published (Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2002 Mar;282(3):E551-6.) measuring protein synthesis after resistance workout. The study was done on 24 males who either took acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or control. Results showed that the placebo group had 75% higher protein synthesis at the skeletal muscle than the ibuprofen or acetaminophen group. These painkillers didn’t effect overall body breakdown, but did effect protein synthesis at the muscle.
Aspirin also has a effect on decreasing protein synthesis. (source: J Biol Chem. 2007 Apr;282(14):10164-71. Epub 2007 Feb 6.)
Most of the older studies discuss protein synthesis, but a more
recent study published in (Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 May;38(5):840-6.) compared overloading a rat muscle with or without ibuprofen on actual muscle growth. Results showed reduced muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth) by 50% in rats from ibuprofen with overload vs. overload only.
As you can see these were not minor changes in protein synthesis. Even occasional use will have a significant impact on muscle growth.
What about those gels? They will reach the blood stream somewhat but I guess their effect is more local, will they affect the whole body or only the muscles you put them on?
Thanks for your question. I’m not sure which gel you are talking about, but the stopping of protein synthesis is only for pain killers such as tylenol and aspirin. The pain killers seem to stop the inflammatory response of prostoglandins locally, so therefore these pain reliever through a localized gel would probably only affect the muscle you apply it to. There is always going to be some systemic leakage into the bodies circulation with any kind of topical solution, but probably not a lot.
i just started going to the gym a few days ago and have the serious joint pains. cant even raise my arms to my face let alone put food in my mouth.
was wondering if there were any drugi can take to relief my pain..
Tyus you probably don’t have an injury, if your new to the gym and you have a big workout you can get pretty sore and stiff. As you go to the gym regularly in the future, you won’t experience that muscle soreness and stiffness in the joints. If you want to take asprin or something else over the counter to alleviate the pain that is up to you.
what about opiate painkillers? I am prescribed for an old injury but if they are negatively affecting my ability to build i think i’d prefer the pain.
Opiates actually might be beneficial for muscle building for other reason. I’m not advocating their use though, but here is one reason why I think that may be the case, read this:
http://www.bodybuildingweb.net/blog/imodium-loperamide-a-cortisol-blocker/
Imodium (loperamide) is an opiate, so thats why im referring you to reading that.
I am currently taking many painkillers for a problem with my lower back. i am able to train to a certain level, however my muscles are waisting. Is this because of my medication. dyclophenic, dihydrocodiene, amytriptaline, diazapam… I have no energy and burn out really quickly. iu have searched the web for answers but have not been able to find any answers
The drugs you mentioned are opiates. There is no research yet that I can find on whether opiates effect on protein synthesis (muscle growth). The only thing I know is that one type of opiate (as mentioned in the previous comment) has a positive impact on cortisol levels. But I don’t know if opiates actually decrease protein synthesis or if any other opiates decrease cortisol levels too.
Hi Admin,
Only one of the medicines John mentioned are opiates (dihydrocodiene) the others are an asprin like NSAID (Diclofenac) and muscle relaxants/mood stabilisers.
HTH
S
You are right Simon. Thanks for the correction. I meant to say some of them are opiates.
Hi Admin,
You state in your response on Dec 10th 2007 that “…the stopping of protein synthesis is only for pain killers such as tylenol and aspirin”. These are the NSAIDs that have been researched in the articles quoted but as the authors put it, the mechanisms HOW they do it is unclear. Therefore, we cant’ really say that it’s pain killers ONLY that stop the protein synthesis, we can only say that AT LEAST pain killers stop it. There can be others that stop the process aswell. I’m thinking of several natural remedies such as Rosehip (Rosa canina) that are used to treat inflammatory processes. What if it is exactly this inflammatory process that is required for protein synthesis? Isn’t it the cellular level damage on muscles caused by exercise that causes protein synthesis? Isn’t it possibly that it is an inflammatory process, on a cellular level?
My problem is that I have rotator cuff problems which is, if I’ve understood correctly, an inflammatory process. Rather than treat it with medicines, I’ve resorted to physiotherapy only. Problem is that I don’t seem to be able to get rid of it (it has gotten better but not good) and I may have to take medicines before it turns chronic. I’ve been considering natural remedies but this issue is bothering me. Well, it’s really a no-brainer: would I rather have somewhat larger muscles with chronic rotator cuff problems or somewhat smaller muscles with healthy shoulders?
I’ve recently come across some new studies that seem to now contradict these earlier studies on pain medication and effecting protein synthesis. At this point I’m not sure which group of studies are right, so I’m holding off updating this article until more research comes out.
hi admin
I have question about opiates is it true that they raise growth hormone but deminish testosterone levels to low for the growth hormone to com pensate for it.
and what about diazapam and xanax that is something ive heard nothing about
i have another question ive recently been sick of a bronchial infection and have been taking tussionex pennketik syrup and i understand it has hydrocodone a very potent opiate and ever since i started weight training i do not even take asprin so i took it only once but i took an ounce but was only supposed to take a teaspoon because it felt so good and about two years ago i used to drink it instead of alcohol to feel good with marijuana but i understand that opiates bring down testosterone levels bad and when i took that ounce i slept 30 hours straight my question is how long will it take for my testosterone levels to come up becuase i feel sleepy still and what can i do to bring them up naturaly i recently started watching adult movies because some websites say that will help is that true or is the stess i get from my girlfriend for watching them raising my cortisol to high for that to help?
i am looking for a supplement called muscle builder 3 used to have a link up top do you know where it went
Biff do you have studies that show opiates lower testosterone? it seems likely but I haven’t researched on that aspect of them yet. I just know that they do lower cortisol which is beneficial to building muscle. To answer your question, no adult movies won’t raise your cortisol high. Instead they do temporarily raise testosterone according to studies, but I don’t think it would have much of an impact on muscle building since its temporary.