Fish Oil & Muscle Building
I’ve written about fish oil here before. If you happened to have read that article, then you know I am a big fan of fish oil as a supplement. In my previous article, I wrote mainly about the general health benefits surrounding fish oil. However, in this article, we’ll discuss the fitness implications this supplement can have (although fitness and health are intertwined to a degree).
Related: Fish Oil Explained
First off, what is fish oil? What makes it special?
Basically, fish oil is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the oil from a fish.
There was one day I made the mistake of popping one of these pills open and allowing the oil to get on my hand. No matter how many times I washed my hands or how hard I scrubbed, the smell stuck with me for at least 24 hours.
That’s a mistake no cologne or febreeze in the world could fix. Definitely don’t recommend.
As with every other oil, it is essentially pure fat. Although, there is a special feature regarding the fat content of fish oil compared to other oils. It is comprised of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). In fact, the fatty fish in which fish oil is derived from are arguably the best source of omega-3 fatty acids available. These two fatty acids are known precursors to a number of anti-inflammatory pathways.
Fish Oil in a Calorie Deficit: is it anti-catabolic?
In this article, we’re going to discuss fish oil in two settings: the context of weight loss and the context of muscle gain. First, let’s discuss the context of weight loss.
Philpott et al. [2] Recruited 23 resistance trained individuals to their study. They split their subjects into two groups: one being given a fish oil supplement and the other being a macronutrient equated placebo. Both groups were in a caloric deficit, and over the course of 6 weeks the researchers measured muscle size, strength, and muscle endurance.
What they found is that there was no difference in muscle size or endurance. However, muscular strength was better retained and in some cases improved in the fish oil group. This indicates that fish oil seems to improve muscle function of the same size muscle.
Fish oil in the context of building strength and muscle
In the previous example, we looked at how fish oil affects the results of a calorie deficit. The fact that some of the individuals improved their strength is quite exciting, because normally your goal is simply to retain muscle strength and size while losing fat in a calorie deficit.
Now, let’s flip the script.
Alvez et al. [1] recruited 32 older women who were clinically diagnosed with sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss). Subjects were put through an exercise program and either given a fish-oil supplement or a macronutrient equated placebo (sunflower oil in this instance). Over the course of 14 weeks, the group taking the fish oil supplement experienced a much greater increase in strength and muscle size.
The fact that this was shown in sarcopenic women is particularly interesting to me here. We naturally lose muscle function and size as we age (sarcopenia). Thus, older individuals are still able to build muscle, it’s just a bit more of an uphill battle. Given this sentiment, I believe the increases seen here can be given even more pertinence give the increased difficulty to build muscle.
Another more recent study looked at this same concept in resistance trained individuals between the ages of 18 and 40 years old [4]. 12 of the subjects were male and 16 of the subjects were female. The subjects were randomly split into two groups and given either 3.85 grams of fish oil or a placebo. They found that the subjects taking the fish oil significantly improved their bench press and squat strength compared to the placebo.
Related: How Little Can You Train While Maintaining Strength & Endurance?
More evidence on fish oil being anti-catabolic
McGlory et al. [3] ran another study to look at how fish oil could perhaps preserve muscle. They recruited twenty women and immobilized one of their legs for two-weeks and then remobilized the leg for another two weeks. Half of the women were given fish oil and the other half were given a placebo. They found that the group taking the fish oil preserved muscle mass much better than the placebo group and recovered better after remobilization.
The research is unclear as to how fish oil is having this effect on muscle. It almost seems counter intuitive given the anti-inflammatory properties of fish oil. Other inflammation lowering interventions, such as anti-inflammatories or ice baths, seem to reduce muscle size and strength over the course of 12 weeks. Thus, there must be some mechanism other than its effect on inflammation taking place.
Practical Applications
Clearly, fish oil has some powerful effects on building and preserving muscle size and strength. The effects are likely less powerful than a high protein diet and sufficient calorie intake, however the effects are there nonetheless.
Related: What’s the Best Type of Protein Powder?
How much fish oil should you take? The studies presented here gave subjects 4g daily, normally taken twice per day. So, it seems advisable to take 2g twice a day. Now, if you’ve eaten a fatty fish in the day such as salmon, it’s also likely that you will have a lesser need to take fish oil. There’s probably no harm in still taking fish oil if you’ve eaten a salmon, as no adverse effects have been reported. It’s even possible that higher intakes could benefit you further. However, it seems you should take 4g daily at the very least.
I’d also suspect that if you transition your goals from building muscle to building your endurance that fish oil could have a sufficient benefit in preserving muscle and strength. To my knowledge, this has not been studied. However, given the data presented previously in this article, it seems more likely that the benefit would transfer over.
References
Randomised Controlled Trial of Fish Oil Supplementation on Responsiveness to Resistance Exercise Training in Sarcopenic Older Women
PubMed ID: 35889801
Influence of Fish Oil-Derived n-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on Changes in Body Composition and Muscle Strength During Short-Term Weight Loss in Resistance-Trained Men
PubMed ID: 31380384
Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation attenuates skeletal muscle disuse atrophy during two weeks of unilateral leg immobilization in healthy young women
PubMed ID: 30629458
The effect of fish oil supplementation on resistance training-induced adaptations
PubMed ID: 36822153
