Question: Stop Rapa While Muscle Strain Heals?

#1

I strained a muscle in my biceps. I wonder if I should quit rapamycin until it heals? Any thoughts?

Also, does anyone have ideas on supplements that can enhance muscle growth/healing?

Thanks.

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#2

I tend to err on the side of caution and lay off the Rapa if I’m having a procedure or I’m injured. But not everyone agrees

You can try and find BPC 157 which is a peptide that is suppose to speed healing and increase angiogenesis. I think it’s been recently banned by the FDA at compounding pharmacies as an injectable but you may find it still as a supplement. I bought some from Amazon a while ago.

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#3

The only easy thing that comes to mind is growth hormone which you get in deep sleep. Peptides are a popular solution but be careful.

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#4

Wound healing and bacterial disease recovery go much slower on Rapamycin. I usually stop taking Rapamycin when I am wounded or have a bacterial infection. Every time I didn’t, I regretted it shortly thereafter.

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#5

Considering it is a strain, and not major, I would continue Rapamycin. I was off Rapamycin when I got a calf strain at the end of training for a sprint triathlon. I went back on Rapamycin and looked at my protein intake. I added a whey protein powder as I think I was possibly deficient in leucine. At 69, I think protein intake should be looked at closely. I also like to give myself at least 24 hours after strength training before taking Rapamycin to allow recovery. Again - important at my age but not so much for younger folks.

I tend to throw the kitchen sink at these sort of injuries. Static and super slow strength training to rehabilitate the tendon/ligament injury. I started hyaluronic acid (again), boswellia. Creatine probably helps also. I got off a statin as it gave me muscle pain.

Anyways - back to normal after about 2 months. Good luck!

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#6

Blood flow restriction is a real thing. I’ve not tried it but I will be looking into it soon. It’s a way to maintain and even build muscle mass with much less weight. Look into Kaatsu

I am not affiliated.

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#7

Thanks Paul. I’ll go to Amazon and look for it.

#8

Thanks Joseph. Paul mentioned peptides too. I’m not familiar with them. I’ll look them up.

#9

Thanks. That’s what I was thinking. The strain happened about six weeks ago. I continued with rapamycin, and it wasn’t getting any better. I won’t re-start rapa until it’s healed.

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#10

Thanks. I’m 68 - my profile pic is from 15 years ago; need to change it. I’ll check into those supplements

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#11

This is completely new to me. I see the arm band is over $2000.

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#12

Totally agree - bacteria goes into overdrive.

#13

Before you spend $2000 on KAATSU cuffs, check out this Amazon page. I see a few people using various blood flow restriction devices at the gym. I have not seen anyone using the KAATSU bands.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=blood+flow+restriction+cuffs&crid=O0V7K1JTMVL0&sprefix=blood+flow+restriction+cuffs%2Caps%2C642&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Also, there are many YouTube videos about this subject. One popular YouTube fitness “Guru”
has a good video on the subject,

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#14

Thanks. After seeing the $2000 price tag, I had already decided it was too much for something I know nothing about.

#15

I recall it was more like $1100 but that is still high. The technology is different from the more common BFR cuffs (or so they say). I understand this is what Attia uses. I don’t have any of these devices but my goal is to get one of these one day. I may start with something cheaper just to try it out before making a large investment. Good luck.

#16

See our Blood Flow restriction thread here: Blood Flow Restriction Muscle Training for the Intervention of Sarcopenia

#17

I got the B strong bands. Much cheaper than kaatsu. But I’d think if your muscle is strained you need to wait for it to heal before exercising it - even using BFR. B Strong Blood Flow Restriction Training | BFR Bands | B Strong

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#18

https://smarttoolsplus.com/smartcuffs/

Here’s another option. $500 with some advantages over b strong and kaatsu.

#19

*Arginine: supports blood flow and is a building block for proteins. It promotes wound healing by increasing collagen deposition and improving both nitric oxide production and nitrogen retention and immune function.

  • Glutamine: acts as a precursor for nucleotide synthesis, which is essential for rapidly proliferating cells during wound healing.
  • ß-hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate (HMB): a bioactive metabolite of leucine that has a role in building and repairing body tissues.

I Googled this but i knew that the amino acid L-Arginine is very beneficial to wound healing.

#20

Thanks. I’ve been taking Glutamine. I’ll guy some Arginine and maybe leucine