Training To Muscle Failure

Whether or not training a set to muscular failure is better (or even necessary) for muscle growth, is a age old debate in bodybuilding. Muscular failure means doing reps in a set, until you can no longer lift the weight with proper form through the full range of motion.

Why is this last rep so important to discuss?

It may only seem like just another rep that happens to be the last in a set, but bodybuilders and scientist have viewed the last rep to failure as distinctly different from the other reps. Bodybuilders see it as giving it “your all” and fatiguing the muscle completely. Some high intensity workout programs, believe that you must go to failure for maximum muscle and strength gains.

Training to failure research studies:

To see why scientist see this rep differently, let’s look at some research.

A study published (J Appl Physiol. 2006 May;100(5):1647-56. Epub 2006 Jan 12.) did a 11 week resistance training program of failure vs nonfailure groups. Immediately after the 11th week all groups did the same workout, to see the effects each previous training led. Both groups had similiar increases in one rep max. During the 2nd phase of the study, there was an increase in muscular endurance in the failure group and power in the nonfailure group. The failure group had lower IGF-1 levels (important anabolic hormone for muscle growth), while the nonfailure group had lower resting levels of cortisol and higher testosterone levels.

A study published in (J Strength Cond Res. 2005 May;19(2):382-8) compared failure to nonfailure in 26 basketball players. The failure group did 4 sets of 6 repetitions every 260 seconds, whereas the nonfailure 8 sets of 3 repetitions every 113. Results showed that the failure group had significant strength increases over the non-failure group. One problem I have with this study is, time under tension differences between the sets. The failure group is doing 6 reps in a set instead of 3 reps. Even though the weight is the same and the time is lessened to increase intensity, 3 reps per set is not going to be the same stimulus.

A few months ago JM Willardson, who has published some important studies in excercise science, wrote a research note recently in (J Strength Cond Res. 2007 May;21(2):628-31.) He acknowledged that there isn’t enough conclusive evidence yet, whether sets should be done to failure or not. However, willardson recommended advanced lifters use training failure to break past plateaus, due to increased activation of motor units and the hormonal response. He also didn’t recommend it long term due to overtraining and risk of injury.

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Author: Paul Johnson

The Ultimate /fit/ FAQ

Starting /fit/

1. Buy a Weight Set (160+ lbs), Jump Rope, and Pull-Up Bar
2. Use the Jump Rope to Warm up and Cool down (10 minutes)
3. Put the Pull-Up Bar on a door you pass through
4. Every time you pass through this door do a full set of pull-ups
5. Weights: SQUATZ, DEADLIFTZ, Overhead & Bench Press, Rows, Lunges
6. Light Weight, High Reps (8-12 reps) = Mass
7. Heavy Weight, Low Reps (2-6 reps) = Strength
8. Example workouts: 5x5 (5 sets, 5 reps each) and 3x10 (3 sets, 10 reps)
9. Rest 48-72 hours between these full-body workouts
10. Have 1 day dedicated to pure rest (no cardio or lifting)
11. Keep cardio under 1 hour. If you’re overweight consider cycling over jogging.
12. HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training. Best for burning fat (combined with good diet). Google it.
13. OATZ EGGZ WHEY; EAT 5-6 MEALS DAILY. DON’T STARVE YOURSELF, YOU’LL ONLY GET FATTER.
14. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER
15. GET PLENTY OF REST. 7-9 hours per night.
16. ????????????????????
17. PROFIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

/fit/ Spot Reducing and Toning

For those who don't know what I’m talking about, spot reducing is when you perform particular exercises to get rid of fat in that specific area. For example, many people do side-bends with weights in hopes of getting rid of their 'love handles’, or choose to use the step machine thinking that it will dissolve the cellulite around their lower body. You cannot do it. Spot reducing does not happen.

Another common practice is to do large amounts of sit-ups thinking that it will burn off the fat area and reveal their six-pack. Sorry, it won't happen.

No amount of weird exercises will reveal your abs until you lower your BF%.
So there is no "toning" per se. You want to gain muscle and lower BF% until you look like you want to (this will take a year of lifting 250lb+ weights).
Muscles don´t "tone", they grow and show.
So drink your milk and do your SQUATZ like everybody else.

tl;dr: NO SUCH THING AS SPOT REDUCTION OR TONING


/fit/ Grocery List

1. Meats: Skinless Chicken, Lean Beef (Round, Top round, Sirloin, Tenderloin), Lean Pork (Tenderloin,
Loin chops), Fresh Fish (salmon, tilapia, mahi-mahi, shrimp, etc), Canned Tuna (in water not oil),
Low-fat Turkey, Canadian Bacon, Hard tofu

2. Grains: OATZ, OATZ/bran/fiber/Flax cereal, Whole-wheat bread/bagels/pasta/pita/wrap/tortillas,
brown rice, Whole-grain waffles, Couscous, Quinoa

3. Fruits: Apples, bananas, grapes, oranges, grapefruit, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, cucumber, avocado, peaches, plums, mangoes, cherries, passionfruit, kiwi, etc

4. Vegetables: Sweet potato, corn, artichoke, asparagus, lettuce (green/red leaf, romaine, butter, iceberg), Cabbage, carrots, broccoli, bean/alfalfa sprouts, celery, spinach, kale, beets, red/green/yellow peppers, onion, garlic, tomato, mushroom, etc

5. Beans: Red Kidney Beans, Chick Peas, Black Eyed Peas, Lentils, Pinto Beans, Soybeans, Lima Beans

6. Nuts: Natural Peanut butter, Unsalted/Plain/Raw Almonds, Walnuts, Cashew, Seeds

7. Dairy: Milk (2%/skim/nonfat), EGGZ, cheese (2%/part-skim/reduced fat), Ricotta cheese,
Low-fat/Natural: yogurt, fat-free cream cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream

8. Oils: Olive Oil, Canola Oil, Peanut Oil, Sesame Oil

9. Other: Vinegar, Natural Honey, Coffee/Tea, Preserves (not jellies), Light Maple Syrup, Mustard, Cinnamon, Low-dose/Baby Aspirin

10. Supplements: Multivitamin (one at breakfast daily), Omega-3 Fish Oil (2000+ mg daily), Isolate Whey Protein (1 scoop daily, 1 scoop post-workout), Creatine (powder not liquid, 1 spoonful post-workout)

11. BROtips: Drink lots of water, Avoid high-fructose corn syrup, Avoid artificial flavors and colors, Limit caffeine intake to 1-2 cups of coffee/tea daily, Don't buy anything prepackaged (ex. fruit roll ups, rice crispy treats, potato chips, etc.), Watch portion sizes, "Prime" Beef has more fat than "Choice" or "Select" Beef, Try to buy 'Natural' products (no sugar/salt/fat added)

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Author: Anonymous lulz.

(If this post made no sense to you, don't worry, just learn what you can and move on)

Fat Loss & Weight Training Myths

Spot Reduction Myth

Contrary to what the infomercials suggest there is no such thing as spot reduction. Fat is lost throughout the body in a pattern dependent upon genetics, sex (hormones), and age. Overall body fat must be reduced to lose fat in any particular area. Although fat is lost or gained throughout the body it seems the first area to get fat, or the last area to become lean, is the midsection (in men and some women, especially after menopause) and hips and thighs (in women and few men). Sit-ups, crunches, leg-hip raises, leg raises, hip adduction, hip abduction, etc. will only exercise the muscles under the fat.

Lower Abdominal Myth

It is widely believed the lower abs are exercised during the leg raise or other hip flexor exercises. However, it can be misleading to judge the mechanics of an exercise based on localized muscular fatigue. The primary muscle used in hip flexion is actually the Iliopsoas one of many hip flexors. The Iliopsoas, particularly the Psoas portion, happens to lie deep below the lower portion of the Rectus Abdominous. During the leg raise, the entire abdominal musculature isometrically contracts (contracts with no significant movement) to:

Posture the spine and pelvis:

Supports the weight of the lower body so the lumbar spine does not hyperextend excessively. Maintains optimal biomechanics of the Iliopsoas. Hips are kept from prematurely flexing if the lumbar spine and pelvis does not hyperextend excessively. Iliopsoas can contract more forcefully in a relatively slight stretched position. Bent knee (and hip) sit-ups actually place Iliopsoas at a mechanical disadvantage

Counteracts Iliopsoas's pull on spine:

Many people with weak abdominal muscles are not able to perform hip flexor exercises without acute lower back pain or discomfort

The combination of the local muscular fatigue, or a burning sensation from the isometrically contracted abdominal muscles, and from the working hip flexors produces fatigue in the pelvis area which we mistakenly interpret as the lower portion of the Rectus Abdominous being exercised. In movements where the Rectus Abdominous does Isotonically contract (contracts with movement), it flexes the spine by contracting the entire muscle from origin to insertion. The spine is not significantly flexed during the leg raise. Incidentally, both the spine and hip flexes during the full range op motion Sit Up and Leg Hip Raise. See Spot Reduction Myth above.

High Repetitions Burn More Fat Myth

Performing lighter weight with more repetitions (15-20 reps, 20-30 reps, or 20-50 reps) does not burn more fat or tone (simultaneous decrease of fat and increase muscle) better than a heaver weight with moderate repetitions (8-12 reps). Weight training utilizes carbohydrates after the initial ATP and CP stores have been exhausted after the first few seconds of intense muscular contraction. Typically a set's duration is 20 to 30 seconds. For the average fit person, it requires 20 to 30 minutes of continuous aerobic activity with large muscle groups (e.g. Gluteus Maximus and Quadriceps) to burn even 50% fat; fat requires oxygen to burn. Performing a few extra repetitions on a weight training exercise is not significant enough to burn extra fat and may in effect burn less fat. If intensity is compromised, less fat may be burned when light weight is used with high repetitions. The burning sensation associated with high repetition training seems to be the primary deterrent for achieving higher intensities.

Higher volume weight training (i.e. 3 sets versus 1 set of each exercise) with short rest periods of approximately 1 minutes can stimulate a greater acute growth hormone release (Kraemer 1991, 1993; Mulligan 1996). Growth hormone is lipolytic in adults. It is hypothesized that maximal effort is necessary for optimizing exercise induced secretion of growth hormone. Growth hormone release is related to the magnitude of exertion (Pyka 1992) and is attenuated with greater lactic acidosis (Gordon 1994).

Intense weight training utilizing multiple large muscles with longer rest between sets may also accentuate body lipid deficit by increasing post training epinephrine. Intramuscular triacylgycerol is thought to be an important energy substrate following repeated 30 second maximal exercise with 4 minute recovery intervals (McCartney 1996, Tremblay 1994). Rest periods lasting approximately 4 minutes between maximal exercise exercise of very short duration is required for almost complete creatine phosphate recovery required for repeated maximal bouts (McCartney 1986). Insufficiant recovery may compromise the intensity of the exercise and in turn, possibly decrease intramuscualr triacylgycerol utilization following anaerobic exercise with significantly shorter rest periods.

For individuals attempting to achieve fat loss for aesthetics, the intensity of weight training can be a double edge sword. When beginning an exercise program, muscle mass increases may out pace fat losses, resulting in a small initial weight gain. Significant fat loss requires a certain intensity, duration, and frequency that novice exercisers may not be able to achieve until they develop greater tolerance to exercise. If an exercise and nutrition program is not adequate for significant fat loss, a lighter weight with higher repetitions may be recommended to minimize any bulking effects, although less fat may be utilized hours later. If an aerobic exercise and nutrition program is sufficient enough to lose fat, a moderate repetition range with a progressively heavier weight will accelerate fat loss with a toning effect. If a muscle group ever outpaces fat loss, the slight bulking effect is only temporary. For a toning effect, fat can be lost later when aerobic exercise can be significantly increased or the weight training exercise(s) for that particular muscle can be ceased altogether. The muscle will atrophy to a pre-exercise girth within months. Higher repetitions training may be later implemented and assessed.

It still may be recommended to perform high repetitions (e.g. 20-30) for abdominal and oblique training. It has been theorized muscular endurance may be more beneficial for lower back health than for muscular strength. Furthermore, moderate repetitions with a greater resistance can increase muscular girth under the subcutaneous fat, particularly in men, who have greater potential for muscular hypertrophy. Increasing the thickness around the waist with existing abdominal fat may further increase bulk, particularly in men who typically have greater intra-abdominal and subcutaneous fat in this area. The abdominal muscularture is composed of relatively small muscle mass as compared to the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, chest, and upper back. Performing high reps with a lighter resistance should not compromise metabolism or muscle increases, as would performing high reps with light resistance on other, larger muscle groups. See Spot Reduction Myth above.

It is plausible that the high repetition myth was originated and later propagated by bodybuilders that used calorie restrictive diets to shed fat before a contest. Because of their weakened state from dieting, they were unable to use their usual heavier weights. When asked about their use of lighter weights, they explained they were "cutting up" for a contest. This is merely a theory, but it is easy to see how it may have been misunderstood that the lighter weight was used to reduce fat instead of actually being a result of their dietary regime.

Typically with weight training alone, the fat loss is equal to the muscle gain, give or take a few pounds. Certain dietary modification can have much greater impact on fat loss than with weight training alone. The ideal program for fat loss would include the combination of proper diet, weight training, and cardio exercise.

5 Reasons for Failed Body Transformations

With the New Year comes that resolution.

So, how is it that if looking great is such a priority that less than 20% of those who start a body transformation achieve their goal?

Most of the time failure can be attributed to just a fistful of reasons.

1. You Suck at Math

It might sound odd, but I've seen people embark on a fat loss regimen only to get fatter in the process.

How the hell is that possible? I mean, training should help you lose fat, not gain it. The simple fact is that most people grossly overestimate how many calories they're burning during their workout, and they use that as a justification to overeat.

"I just lifted weights for 45 minutes and did 30 minutes of cardio, so I can eat that Big Mac without harm."

Well, I've got news for you: You might've burned 400 calories during your workout, but the Big Mac provides over 800. If the Clearasil king behind the counter convinces you to have fries with that, you're over a thousand.

Do that over the long run and don't be surprised if you're piling on fat despite training.

Also, I want to point out three things related to this topic:

1. It's true that preceding a bad meal with an intense workout will reduce its negative impact. Training increases insulin sensitivity, which will somewhat decrease the amount of nutrients stored as fat. But it won't prevent all of the damage.

2. The mentality of "having the right to eat bad foods because I worked out" is downright unhealthy. Even if your workouts were able to prevent fat gain, the negative health effects from eating crappy food still remain. Being healthy might not seem as important as getting big and ripped right now, but eventually bad health will catch up to you. Not to mention that an unhealthy body will always have a harder time gaining muscle and losing fat.

3. A cheat meal, or even a cheat day, can be beneficial psychologically and physiologically. However, even on a planned cheat, it's better to minimize the ingestion of crappy food. Eating junk like pastries, candy, cookies, or fast food once a week will make it harder to stay on the plan because you'll constantly be reminded of how good it tastes.


2. The Flat Tire Phenomenon

Your diet is going great. You've been solid for close to two weeks, and the results are starting to show. However, you're beginning to get cravings for donuts and cakes and cakes made out of donuts.

You do your best to maintain your composure, but you finally give in and eat two Krispy Kreams.

You choked. The ball was dropped.

So, how do you react? Do you go back on your diet as soon as possible? No! You continue to stuff your face with everything that doesn't fight back.

After all, since you've blown your diet, you might as well go hog wild and start again tomorrow on solid ground.

Big mistake. If you got a flat tire, would you go spike the three others with your trusty pocket knife? God, I hope you aren't that dumb!

Well, continuing to pile on the junk after one cheat is about as smart.

While I'm never proud of clients who give in to temptation, a small, isolated culinary incident won't completely ruin your efforts. At worst, it'll put you back a day or two.

But if you turn that one nutritional brain fart into an all-out feast, you're going to put a huge dent in your progress. After such a binge, it'll take you around two days just to get back into an optimal fat burning mode. And I'm not even talking about the fat gain from the binge itself. A big food fest can set you back one or even two weeks!

Unplanned cheats are like a flat tire: You don't want them, but they might happen (even to the strongest of wills). Just limit the damage by going right back to your regular plan.


3. Misapplying Dietary Digressions

I'll start off by explaining the differences between the three types of dietary digressions: cheating, loading, and refeeding.

Cheating means eating a meal (or several) consisting of foods that are outside the realm of what's acceptable on your diet, and the centerpiece is usually sugary junk.

You have planned and unplanned cheats. I touched on the later earlier (eating some crap on a day you're not supposed to); these should be avoided as much as possible.

Planned cheats refer to giving yourself a moment in the week where you can eat the bad food you've been craving. This moment is always on a given day and comes at the conclusion of a week of solid dieting.

Loading, like cheating, means eating a meal (or several) consisting of foods that aren't a part of your daily plan. Contrary to cheating, though, loading uses clean, high-carbohydrate foods like yams, potatoes, rice, whole-wheat pasta, fruits, etc. On a loading day, you want to refill muscle glycogen, so your daily intake of carbs will fall between 200 and 600 grams depending on your size and goals.

Refeeds still consist of increasing your food intake for a day, but you do so by respecting your regular diet. You simply eat more of the foods that you normally ingest. A small amount of clean carbs (15 to 20 grams per meal) is also acceptable.

Now that we understand the difference between these three, let's explore the logic behind dietary digression days.

Such days serve three main purposes:

1. To prevent the ill effects of dieting, mainly metabolic slowdown and rebound binging. Calorie and carb restrictions decrease the release of the hormone called leptin. Leptin is important because it sends a message to the body that it's well-fed, so your body can keep up its metabolic rate.

If less leptin is produced, your body will likely think it's starving, and it'll react to the situation by slowing down your metabolism and increasing hunger.

As leptin drops, the risk of dietary failure increases.

It's been shown that increasing food intake drastically, even for a short period of time, will prevent the drop in leptin that occurs when dieting. This is especially important in the later stages. Unless you use a stupidly high energy deficit when dieting, your leptin levels aren't likely to drop significantly during the first few weeks. It's only after you've lost a significant amount of fat, or have been of the diet for several weeks, that it'll become necessary to prevent the underproduction of leptin.

2. To reload glycogen stores. Glycogen (the carbs stored in the muscles and liver) is the primary fuel source for intense physical work. When your glycogen stores are low, you won't be able to train as hard as when you're fully loaded.

The main purpose of weight training when dieting is to preserve (or even gain) muscle mass. If you can't train hard, it'll be difficult to prevent muscle loss. For that reason, it's a good idea to periodically give the body a shot of carbohydrates to keep glycogen stores at least somewhat full.

Your body can actually produce glucose (and then glycogen) from amino acids via a process called gluconeogenesis. But this might lead to muscle loss if your calorie deficit is too great, so a weekly carbohydrate load can be a good way to prevent the eating away of your muscle to produce glucose.

3. To give yourself a psychological break. One of the toughest aspects of dieting isn't so much the deprivation, but the fact that you know that you won't be able to satisfy your cravings for weeks. A lot of people stop their diet in the first few weeks because they can't see themselves being deprived of the foods they love for such a long period. For these people, having a once-a-week mulligan can help them maintain the diet over the long run.

But it's a double-edged sword. While it can provide you with some much needed mental relief, it can also increase the frequency and intensity of your cravings. If you can get through the first few weeks without eating any forbidden foods, your desire for them will gradually fade.

But if you constantly remind yourself of how good these physique wreckers taste, you'll always have to fight craving attacks.

So, yes, it can help if you're able to shut the door for the whole week once the cheat is over. But if you can't, it'll ruin your efforts and make your life miserable.

If we look at the three benefits of getting off of your diet for a short period of time, we can decide whether a cheat, load, or refeed is beneficial or if it'll screw up your progress.

Cheats, loads, and refeeds all have a positive impact on maintaining leptin levels. They also have an impact on glycogen storage. Generally, the loading strategy has the greatest impact on glycogen stores. Cheats also have a positive effect on glycogen stores, but if the carbs are mainly from high-fructose corn syrup, you'll store much less than if they were from another form.

Additionally, the high glycemic load of the cheat food versus the cleaner carbs can increase the amount of carbs stored as fat.

Refeeds can also work for glycogen loading, but since you'll normally be consuming no more than 125 to 150 grams of carbs, you won't be able to get a supercompensation effect.

When it comes to the impact on leptin, at an equal caloric intake, all three strategies are fairly similar. I'd like to tell you that eating clean foods in excess is more beneficial in this regard than eating bad foods, but it isn't so. The total amount of calories and carbs is more important than the quality of the food when it comes to leptin manipulation.

This doesn't mean that you should eat crap, simply that for the purpose of leptin manipulation, crap will be as effective as other items.

As far as the psychological aspect is concerned, we have a pretty variable response to all three strategies. Some people love fast food, others crave sugar and pastries (like me), and then there's those who are attracted to things like pasta, breads, and fruits. So, the food that'll give a dieter some mental relief is really dependent on personal preferences.

In an ideal world, our cravings would be for yams, potatoes, pasta, and fruits. Eating those on your dietary digression day will be superior to pizza, burgers, and donuts. But some people need their crap. As I mentioned earlier, if cheating opens the door to falling off the dietary Radio Flyer, avoid it.

It should be fairly obvious now that you don't need to cheat. Loading and refeeding with quality foods will do the job just as well. The only time cheating with bad food is superior is when you absolutely need a fix to stay on your diet.

Remember, your body has absolutely no physical need to eat junk. It's only our psychological side that's a slave to this.

So, my rules of digressive eating are:

* As much as possible, opt for clean alternatives.

* You don't need to load or refeed every week. Unless you're excessive, leptin won't be a problem until after several weeks of dieting, and glycogen stores can be kept relatively loaded even when dieting. You should have a loading or refeed day when your metabolism is starting to slow down (your morning temperature drops by one or two degrees) or when your glycogen stores are low (you'll feel flat and have problems getting a pump).

* The leaner you are, the more often you'll need to load or refeed. When you're getting leaner, you're producing less leptin, thus continuing to drop fat will become harder. Furthermore, the leaner you are, the better your response to excessive eating. Because of better insulin sensitivity, you'll store more of the nutrients in your muscles and less as fat.

* Once your load, reefed, or cheat is over, go back to your regular diet ASAP.

* Don't go overboard. Go with the minimum amount needed to do the job. You don't need two pizzas, three burgers, and a dozen donuts to refill glycogen stores, boost leptin, and give yourself some mental relief. (Remember the flat tire analogy?)

4. Getting Screwed by Hidden Calories

This is the Achilles' heel of disciplined dieters. You may have all the will and dedication needed to succeed, but if some of the foods you're eating contain more than you bargained for, you're screwed.

Some examples of these hidden nutrients are "no sugar added" and "low-impact carb" products, drinks, and even protein bars.

The no-sugar added denomination can lead us to believe that these products are low in calories and carbs. Some dieters even see them as "free foods."

"No sugar added" simply means that they didn't add any sugar to the recipe. They can still be high in carbs, and they're generally much higher in fat than their regular counterparts to give them better palatability. Not a good mix.

These, like the "low-impact carb" club, can also be based on sugar alcohols like maltitol, glycerol, mannitol, and sorbitol. Because of a legal trick, companies can make you believe that products loaded with sugar alcohols are good for dieting because of their "low-impact carbs."

For example, a protein bar can have 35 grams of carbs, two grams of sugar, five grams of fiber, and 28 grams of sugar alcohols, and the company can claim that their product only has two grams of impact carbs. Slap on a "low carb" label and call you gullible.

While it's true that sugar alcohols have a reduced impact on insulin compared to regular carbs, it still has an effect, especially in individuals with poor insulin sensitivity (which is most people who start a body transformation). Moreover, sugar alcohols do provide energy and can lead to fat gain. For example, each gram of sugar alcohol normally provides three calories; sugar provides four. Yes, it's lower, but it's not a huge difference.

Plus, sugar alcohols are hard on the digestive system. In excess, they'll leave you bloated and gassy. They also reduce the efficiency of the digestive system.

It's clear why the "no sugar added" and "low-impact carb" products should be avoided if you're serious about changing your body. And I'm saying this from personal experience.

A few years ago, I decided to do a bodybuilding contest. As I mentioned earlier, I'm a sugar bug. The first six weeks of the diet went well. But as I got leaner, I started to have huge sugar cravings.

I would've been able to control myself, but I found a website that sold those "no sugar added, low-impact carb" products. Chocolate bars, candy, jujubes — everything I was craving. And it was all okay to eat them, or so I thought.

As soon as I began eating them, my fat loss stalled. Then I started to gainfat. It took me a while to realize what the cause was. When I finally figured out that it was these supposed "free foods," I was well into in my preparation and ended up losing a lot of muscle trying to make up for the lost ground.

My advice to you: Avoid those death traps!

Another place for calories to hide is in drinks. While technically not hidden, when you read the label, it's easy to see that most juices, soft drinks, energy drinks, and the like are loaded with sugar. A lot of people don't realize how many calories they pour into their head each day.

One of my former football coaches suddenly blew up to a hefty 400 pounds. And he wasn't even a big eater.

However, at a team supper, I saw him drink a gallon of soda. I asked him if that was something usual.

"I drink that with every meal."

That's over 5,000 calories per day from soft drinks! While I'm not a big fan of calorie counting, that's a pretty big load. Had he simply switched to diet soda he would've cut 35,000 calories per week, which represents roughly ten pounds of fat.

Few people are that extreme, but many guzzle enough calorie-containing drinks to screw up their dietary efforts.

When you're improving your body composition, limit yourself to water, coffee, tea, Crystal Light, diet soft drinks (in moderation), and calorie-free energy drinks like Spike.

Don't forget that the closer a food is to its natural state, the less likely it is to have hidden calories and nutrients.


5. Doing Too Much Too Soon

Body transformation is an emotional issue. We desperately want that killer body, and we want it yesterday. Our desire for fast results will often lead to bad decisions, including doing too much too soon.

Dan John, a guy for whom I have nothing but the deepest respect for, once said that fat loss is "an all out war," and that you go as hard as you can for a short period of time and get the hell out.

I have to disagree.

In most cases, those who have the greatest success are those who can stay on the program for the long run. Not only do they have a greater success rate, but they're more likely to maintain their progress than the quick hitters.

An initial fat loss blitz can be useful, though. I often start off a body transformation program with a one or two week blitz (the dropout rate exponentially increases by the third week). Some people can handle four weeks, but few go past the point where they're excessive in their efforts.

And even those who can sustain manic effort and deprivations for more than four weeks will see their returns greatly diminish.

You see, the body is built for survival, not to look like a fitness model. When you starve and overwork yourself, your body will adjust itself so that this amount of deprivation becomes normal. At that point, usually around week six, your fat loss will stop.

When progress stops, you need to increase the stimulus by expending more energy or diminishing your energy intake. The problem is that if you're already doing as much activity as you can handle, and barely eating enough food to stay in working order, there's nowhere to go. You can't train more without risking an injury or chronic fatigue, and you can't eat less without suffering severe muscle loss or going mental.

Basically, by trying to progress too much too soon, you kill your chances of long-term success.

The best approach is to do just enough for an optimal weekly fat loss. As progress slows down, gradually increase your activity level first. When you need a second shot of renewed progress, decrease your food intake or add a powerful fat loss aid like HOT-ROX Extreme to your regimen.

A lot of people ask how they can maintain their physique when their body transformation is finished. Really, you shouldn't have to do anything special.

Those who ask are likely those who deprived and overworked themselves and don't see themselves maintaining that regimen over the long run. Those who take the smart approach can actually maintain their body transformation lifestyle simply by keeping up their regimen while being a bit more flexible.

I know that I can maintain 90% of my peak condition without feeling deprived. From that point, I simply need to tighten things up a bit for a couple of weeks to get back in peak shake. But the point is that I look good year round without killing myself because I never had to resort to extreme measures.

Do It Right This Time

I may not know everything (just ask my wife), but one thing I know is body transformations.

Get on a solid training program, eat a quality diet, and avoid the five pitfalls presented above, and you'll be among the 20% who succeed.

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Author: Christian Thibaudeau

Out of Balance

I'm a people watcher. Always have been. I find human behavior and the root causes of that behavior fascinating. That's probably why I added a psychology degree to my other degrees back in college -- the subject was just too interesting to pass up.

Naturally, given my psych background and my career as a writer and editor in the fitness/muscle field, I'm always trying to get into peoples' heads when it comes to fat loss and muscle building issues. With close and extended observation, you can notice certain behavioral patterns and commonalities in people at the gym (and even in internet communities.)

Here's one thing I've noticed. Maybe you've noticed it too in others or even yourself:

Most people trying to get fit, lose fat, and build muscle are "out of balance" when it comes to the "Big Three" foundational elements: training, nutrition, and lifestyle.

In other words, all their attention is focused on one area while the other areas are neglected or outright ignored. (And by the way, we could probably add recovery and supplementation to this list and make it the Big Five, but let's assume that those areas are already part of the Big Three.)

Lose sight of one or two of the Big Three and you get:

1) Slow results

2) No results

Or even. . .

3) Regression

All Training, No Diet

Here's the most prevalent example: chubby guys who train their asses off.

I see this daily. These guys bust their butts in the gym. They train hard and I respect them for that. But why do they have love handles and big, nine-months-pregnant guts that never seem to get any smaller?

Answer: They ignore one of the other areas -- nutrition.

Yep, they train like pros and eat like schmoes. Do that for a long time and what you usually end up with is a fairly strong guy who looks like he's about to deliver twins. There's muscle under there, but you can't see a lick of it. And no, I'm not talking about competitive powerlifters, who have somewhat of an excuse. I'm talking about regular guys.

(By the way, there seems to be a sharp criticism out there of very lean guys who just don't look big in a T-shirt. They're often attacked for looking like they "don't even lift weights." I can understand that; the 140 pounder wanting to "get ripped" and be 130 needs a head check, but this goes in reverse too -- these "big" chubby guys don't look like they lift either; they just look like fatties with manual labor jobs, or as TC once put it: fat guys with great forearms.)

Sure, there are some young guys, genetically blessed guys, and steroid-using guys who can get away with training hard and neglecting diet (for a while at least), but most of us can't. As I always say, we just can't out-train a shitty diet.

And the opposite of this is true as well, just not as common: the hard-training skinny guy who can't gain much muscle because he eats like a 10 year old girl. Most men tend to go the other direction though: training hard but still eating too much crap. Their internal rationalization seems to be "I train hard so I can get away with eating junk. I need the calories anyway."

As a trainer friend of mine says, "How's that workin' for ya?" Judging by the central adiposity and the love handles, not too well. Remember, you're eating to build muscle, not hibernate for the winter, tubby. There is a difference.

All Diet, No Training

Then there's the nutrition snob who trains like a lil' ol' lady.

This person counts every gram of protein, takes a dozen different supplements, regulates his fiber intake, times his carb intake, has a poster of John Berardi in his kitchen. . . then he goes to the gym and wimps the fuck out, just going through the motions and choosing the easiest exercises.

This person knows everything about nutrition and supplements, but just doesn't "bring it" in the gym, so all that meticulous work in the kitchen doesn't do much for him.

Generally speaking, women do this more often than men. A typical woman will adopt the craziest of restrictive diets, but balk at the idea of weight training. The result: yo-yo dieting.

The Lifestyle Self-Saboteur

Finally we have the person who trains hard, eats in a manner supportive of his goals, and takes good supplements, but then pisses it all away by his poor lifestyle choices: no sleep, excessive drinking and drugging, zero stress management. He may not look all that bad, but he's greatly hampering his results. A lot of college guys fall into this trap.

But some lifestyle choices can really come back to bite you. Kinda hard to train and eat right when your Saturday night in the bar turns into a weekend in the bar, and that turns into a four day weekend, and that turns into you drinking alone at home, and that turns into full blown alcoholism.

And eating right and training hard don't have much of an effect if you're sleeping only three hours a night because you're up playing Warcraft.

The tricky part of the lifestyle element is that you can get away with it for a while, especially if you're young, but man, that backlash is vicious and unforgiving.

Look For Balance

I think we've all slipped when it comes to the Big Three. We've focused a little too much on one area while neglecting the others. Most of us love training, but slip when it comes to diet. It can be quite a learning experience.

Most people start off focusing on training, then gradually learn the importance of diet, then lifestyle. I remember being a newbie and skipping right over the nutrition articles in magazines. Gotta read the "Blasting Boulder Biceps!" article first, right? It's pretty natural to be out of balance in the beginning.

I can see this on T-Nation as well. The latest training article might get a ton of replies and views, while the latest Dr. Lowery nutrition article gets only modest attention. That's too bad, because as I mentioned above, diet is the missing element for most folks. But people don't pay much attention to nutrition until they get frustrated by their lack of progress.

The cool thing is, most of us eventually learn to achieve a good balance. We know when we're balanced and when we're not. We can feel it in the gym and see it in the mirror.

And nothing feels better.

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Author: Chris Shugart

Hacking Your Strength Training

When I started out in the fitness-training field, the average client tended to be an active person who used gym exercise to augment the other types of activity he got outside the gym. Few of us specialized in fat-loss training, simply because it wasn't the primary goal of the majority of our clients. It was a nice side-effect of solid workouts and a good diet, but it wasn't the main reason our clients came to work with us.

Today, it's the opposite. What we do with our clients in the gym may be the only exercise they get in a typical week. We regularly see clients who work 50 hours a week, not counting the two hours a day they spend commuting. Many of them can't train on weekends because of work-related travel, or because it's the only chance they get to spent time with their spouses and kids.

Since opening our facility in 2000, we've measured the body-fat percentages, abilities, range of motion, and posture of all our beginning members. I can say this unequivocally: The average beginner today arrives fatter and in worse shape than the average beginner just nine years ago.

That presents a huge problem for us. We have to address posture, strength, mobility, flexibility, elasticity, and cardio-respiratory endurance simultaneously. And we're lucky if we get three hours a week to do it.

A traditional program won't work for this population.

Now, before anyone counters with "dedicated people make time," let me assure you that I'm talking about people who are dedicated. Let me describe two of my former clients:

Client #1: a professional motocross rider

• Races 45 weekends a year

• Flies out to the race site on Friday, competes Saturday and Sunday, and flies home on Monday

• Practices Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

• Trains with me Tuesday and Thursday

• Starts all over again on Friday

This is a guy who's married, with two young sons. Is he not dedicated? Do you see any additional room in his schedule that would allow him to train more than he does?

Client #2: a doctor

• Works 60 to 70 hours a week, and is often on call longer than that

• Commutes an hour to work each way

• Married with three kids

• Attends his kids' soccer games, and tries to spend to spend as much time as possible with his family

• Trains with me three times a week

Is he not a dedicated person? Should he devote more hours to the gym, at the expense of saving lives or spending time with his family?

The solution: To give these dedicated but time-challenged clients the best possible results, we need to hack traditional training down to its most basic and fundamental elements.


Hacking 101

You may be familiar with the term "life hack." Basically, it's a time-management system in which you hack away the unessential stuff in your life to increase productivity.

If we define productivity as "maximizing results per unit of time invested," we can see the benefits of it. The goal is to spend less time doing things that bring us little if any benefit, and more time doing the things that improve our income, prospects, pleasure, and quality of life.

Another way to look at it: maximize productivity by minimizing redundancy.

As a fitness professional and owner of a training facility, I realized I had to hack our training programs if I had any hope of keeping pace with the rapidly changing needs of our clients.

For example, it's not uncommon to see programs that include three exercises or more for each body part. So for biceps, you might see the barbell curl, EZ-bar curl, and seated dumbbell curl — three exercises that are more similar than different.

Our first hack would be to switch to barbell curls and incline dumbbell curls. Now we've reduced the total number of exercises by a third, and we've also chosen a non-redundant exercise — the incline curl — to give us a different angle of pull and allow us to hit more muscle fibers.

A second hack would choose one of those exercises as our sole focus.

A third and final hack — the "max hack" — would eliminate the isolation work completely. Instead, we'd do close-grip chins, which would target the biceps effectively enough while also recruiting lots more muscle and building total-body strength.


Body by Pareto

The Pareto principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, is an important key to successful hacking of any type — whether we're talking about training, running a business, or the overall management of our lives.

It's named for Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist who in 1906 observed that 80 percent of the wealth in Italy (and every country he subsequently studied) was owned by 20 percent of the population. After Pareto published his findings, many others observed similar ratios in their own areas of expertise. In the early 1940s, an industrial-efficiency expert named Joseph Juran applied Pareto's ideas to project management, describing the principle of "the vital few and trivial many."

Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, popularized the idea for my generation of entrepreneurs when he observed that 80 percent of his income came from 20 percent of his clients. So he hacked off 80 percent of his clients, effectively reducing his workload by 80 percent, and focused on the clients who accounted for 80 percent of his income. Yes, at first he took a 20 percent pay cut, but his productivity and income soared on a per-hour basis.

You can apply the Pareto principle to workout hacking with the assumption that 80 percent of the consequences come from 20 percent of the causes. Or, put another way, 20 percent of the exercises you do produce 80 percent of your results.

Let's say you have a total-body workout with 10 exercises. If we hacked out eight of the 10 exercises, and just kept squats and chin-ups, would you expect to get just 20 percent of the results? Chances are it would be the opposite — you might get 80 percent of the results by focusing on just 20 percent of the exercises. So most of your results come from just two exercises, and relatively few results come from the other eight.

It's easy to see why. Compound exercises recruit more muscle, allow you to use bigger loads, and burn more calories than isolation exercises. That's why you want to build your program around them, and why your workouts should start with exercises like deadlifts or squats, the ones that produce the best results on a rep-by-rep basis.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you'll get 100 percent of the results you want with a hacked program. The goal of hacking out what's unessential from your training program is to free up more of your time without significantly diminishing your results. Don't hack for the sake of hacking; you want to eliminate redundant or trivially beneficial exercises so you can accomplish other goals, in or out of the gym.

In the next few sections I'll show you examples we've used successfully with clients in our facility. As you'll see, there's a sound basis in science for most of these hacks.

The Frequency and Volume Hack

Back in 2000, a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research compared equal-volume resistance training over one day or three days per week. [1] The participants in the study were experienced lifters. Group one performed the entire workout — three sets of each exercise — on one day. Group two performed the same volume of work, but spread it out over three days. So they did one set of each exercise in each workout.

The researchers found that the once-per-week group achieved just 62 percent of the strength improvements of the three-times-per-week group, and also gained less muscle. The men in the second group put on nine pounds of muscle, vs. four pounds for those in the first group.

This gives us an idea of how to start our training hack: It's better to reduce volume per workout than it is to reduce frequency. So if you work out three times a week, it's better to make those workouts shorter than to do longer workouts less often.

A review published in Sports Medicine in 2007 looked at several studies on strength training and hypertrophy across different populations.[2] It concluded that, for hypertrophy, it's better to train each muscle group three times a week.

Anecdotally, we know that a lot of bodybuilders use an increased frequency to bring up a lagging body part. If the problem is that every body part needs to be brought up, then three total-body workouts should work better than a series of split routines in which body parts are hit just once or twice per week.


The Sets and Reps Hack

Now that we've settled on three total-body workouts a week, we have to figure out how to hack unessential elements of those workouts to keep them at a reasonable length. But we still want results, so we have to figure out how best to employ sets and reps to increase size and strength.

A study published in JSCR in 2002 compared two different types of periodization.[3]

Traditional linear periodization works something like this: In weeks one to four, you'd do eight reps per set of all your exercises. In weeks five to eight, you'd do six reps, and in weeks nine to 12 you'd do four reps. So you'd progress from a hypertrophy protocol to one that emphasizes pure strength.

Undulating periodization aims to achieve those goals simultaneously, so on Monday you'd do four reps per set, on Wednesday you'd do six reps, and on Friday you'd do eight reps.

The researchers found that undulating periodization was better than linear periodization for strength gains.

Thus, we'll use three distinct ranges of sets and reps in our three total-body workouts each week. That brings us to the next big question: Which exercises should we use?


Exercise Hack

At the 2000 annual conference of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, researchers at Ball State presented a study that compared the effects of two different workouts on upper-arm circumference.[4]

One group did four compound upper-body exercises in each workout, while the other did those four exercises plus biceps curls and triceps extensions.

Both groups increased their strength and arm size. But in 10 weeks of training, the additional arm exercises provided no additional benefit.

So if you're going to hack your training program to make it as efficient as possible without sacrificing benefits, you can eliminate direct arm training with isolation exercises.

Workout Duration Hack

Sir Charles Scott Sherrington won the Nobel Prize in 1932 for his contributions in physiology and neuroscience. Sherrington's law of reciprocal innervation states that "for every neural activation of a muscle, there is a corresponding inhibition of the opposing muscle." This means that when you work your chest muscles, the opposite back muscles are forced to relax, thereby resting.

It's easy to apply this one: Instead of waiting two minutes between sets of bench presses, for example, you can perform one set of the bench press, rest for one minute, and then do a bent-over row. After you finish, you'll rest for one minute, then repeat the sequence until you complete all sets of both exercises. In an average workout, this technique saves at least eight to 10 minutes without sacrificing performance.

"If you could only do one exercise ... "

I hate questions like this. But I do have an answer: The snatch-grip deadlift probably works more muscle through a bigger range of motion than any other single exercise. (In other words, I'm not comparing the snatch-grip deadlift to a combination exercise like the clean and press.) So we'll start with that as our primary exercise. Our secondary exercise will be the front squat.

I also like to do single-leg exercises, so we'll create a second total-body workout in which we use dumbbell Bulgarian split squats to target our quads, with step-ups as a hip-dominant counterpart.

For upper-body exercises, we'll stick to the ones that use the most muscle and avoid single-joint exercises. The big four here will be chin-ups, dips (or dumbbell bench presses), dumbbell rows, and barbell push presses. We'll do two of them in each of our total-body workouts.

Program A

1) Snatch-grip deadlift
2) Dumbbell Bulgarian split squat
3a) Dip
3b) Dumbbell row

Program B

1) Front squat
2) Step-up
3a) Barbell push press
3b) Close-grip chin-up

Here's how we'll alternate programs A and B:

Week one:

Mon: Program A
Wed: Program B
Fri: Program A

Week two:

Mon: Program B
Wed: Program A
Fri: Program B

Sets and reps for A and B work like this:

Mon: 4 sets of 4 reps of each exercise. Rest 90 to 120 seconds between sets.
Wed: 3 sets of 8 reps of each exercise. Rest 75 to 90 seconds between sets.
Fri: 2 to 3 sets of 12 reps of each exercise. Rest 60 to 75 seconds between sets.

Select a load that's appropriate for each exercise, given the rep range. You want to stop one or two reps short of failure on each set. Try this system as written for up to six weeks. You'll do each program nine times, but only three times at each rep range.


Final Thoughts

Is this the perfect program? Absolutely not — the perfect program doesn't exist. It's just one way to hack out the unessential, trivial, and redundant exercises from your program, replacing them with the most effective exercises, and employing them in the most time-efficient way I know.

Does it work? Let me put it this way: I wouldn't still be in business if it didn't.

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References

1) McLester et al., "Comparison of 1 day and 3 days per week of equal-volume resistance training in experienced subjects." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2000; 14(3): 273 — 281.

2) Wernbom et al., "The influence of frequency, intensity, volume and mode of strength training on whole muscle cross-sectional area in humans." Sports Medicine 2007; 37(3): 225-64. Review.

3) Rhea et al., "A comparison of linear and daily undulating periodized programs with equated volume and intensity for local muscular endurance." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2002; 16(2): 250-5.

4) Rogers et al., "The effect of supplemental isolated weight-training exercises on upper-arm size and upper-body strength." Presented at the 2000 NSCA conference.

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Author: Alwyn Cosgrove
Source: T-nation.com

How to Use Good Form With Weight Training

Everyone wants those six-pack abs and rippling biceps. The reason some people seem to just grow muscle in their sleep, while others work and work and don't have success, doesn't have to remain a mystery any more. More than anything, proper form, not enormous weights, yields those body-builder results.

Instructions

1. Slow down to improve the effectiveness of your weight training exercises. When you quickly hurl your arms up to your chest in an attempt to get in one more set of bicep curls, you rely on momentum and your lower back, rather than the muscles you want to target. Instead, slowly bring your arms up to your chest, relying only on your biceps for every inch of movement and then, resisting gravity, slowly bring them back down to your sides. You can feel your muscles working, see faster results and reduce your risk of injury.

2. Control yourself. Make the muscles that you are targeting do all the work. Force one specific set of muscles to control each movement, and make the rest of your body remain neutral. If while working on your arms, you lift with your back or legs, or rely on momentum, your arm muscles can't strengthen and you won't see the results you want.

3. Check your ego. Don't pile extra weight on your barbell just so you won't look wimpy at the gym. Believe it or not, heaving 300 pounds isn't as effective as slowly lifting 150 pounds with controlled, perfect form. Let your muscles do the work properly with a weight that you can handle, and let your results satisfy your ego.

4. Breathe. Proper breathing while lifting is critical for your health and safety. Breathe in as you lift and exhale as you release. Holding your breath can cause unhealthy spikes in your blood pressure and lead to injuries.

5. Concentrate with all your might. Much of effective weight training comes down to focus and concentration. Focus entirely on the muscle at hand and on making it work as hard as possible during each movement. Intense concentration ensures good form and quicker results.

Tips & Warning

* Head to gym and demonstrate your lifting in front of a personal trainer or instructor if you're unsure about your form during any exercise. They can point out weak areas and help you safely yield maximum results.

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Source: ehow.com

Tricks of the Trade — Get Strong Fast!

Building strength is a war against the iron, and sadly it's a war that most end up losing! The stronger you get, the harder it is to push the envelope, and there comes a point when busting your ass on the basics isn't enough anymore.

When that time comes, resorting to some high-tech tactics is in order.

Here are a few used by great coaches to get people inhumanly strong. Obviously, don't be an idiot and use all of them at the same time!

Tactic #1: Doubles

This is a method brought to life by the great Canadian coach, Pierre Roy. It's also been used in several strength protocols from the Eastern bloc. It consists of performing the lift you want to peak your strength on twice during your workout: once at the very beginning and once again at the end.

This approach favors motor learning and neural efficiency, while maximizing motor unit recruitment.

"Why not simply do more sets at the beginning of the workout?"

That'd work to some extent, but the motor learning and technical efficiency aspects wouldn't improve much. If you perform all of the sets of one exercise in the same period, you eventually fall "in the zone," meaning that your nervous system is on automatic and there are fewer opportunities to "learn."

When you do half of your sets at the beginning and half at the end, you have to get yourself in the groove twice, making the nervous system work harder to maximize intra- and intermuscular coordination.

Not to mention that this method is a great way to boost the training volume on a lift without getting bored to death!


Tactic #2: Clusters

While cluster training was popularized by Charles Poliquin, it's pretty much how all Olympic lifters train (you'll see why in a few seconds).

A cluster is basically a set of several reps divided into single reps with a brief pause in between. For example, you might do one rep, rest ten seconds, do another rep, rest ten seconds, do another rep, rest ten seconds, and so on.

Olympic lifters train this way because when they do reps on the competitive lifts they drop the bar and reset after each repetition.

The working premise of clusters is that they allow you to perform more reps with a given percentage. A ten-second pause is enough to allow for partial ATP regeneration, the clearance of metabolites, and neural recovery.

So, when you do clusters, you should shoot for two or three more reps with a target weight. If you can bench 315 for three reps, shoot for cluster sets totaling five to six reps.

It's important to note that you should replace the bar on the hooks between each rep.

Clusters are very demanding on the nervous system, so there are a couple of rules to follow: no more than one cluster per structure (or muscle) should be used in a workout and only for three to five sets.


Tactic #3: Supports

This technique was used by a lot of powerlifters in the '80s. Dr. Fred Hatfield and his 1014-pound squat recommend supports with 110% of your maximum at the end of heavy workouts.

Supports simply refer to holding the weight at the beginning of a movement. For example, you'd put 110% of your maximum on the bar in the bench press, unrack the bar, and hold it in the locked position for five to ten seconds.

Contrary to supramaximal negatives, this method allows you to get used to handling heavier weights than you can lift without risking injury. Maximal lifting is as much psychological as it is physical. Getting used to big weights will make your regular lifting "feel" easier and your chances of success will go up significantly.


Tactic #4: Small Loading

The idea of small loading was brought to my attention by Dr. Mel Siff, and it's another fine psychological mind game. It consists of loading the bar with small plates, and the more confusing the loading is the better.

Normally, if you wanted to load the bar to 225 pounds, most people would put two 45-pounders on each side. With this method, you might put two 25-pound plates, two 10-pound plates, and three 5-pound plates per side, and not necessarily in that order (or even in the same order on both sides).

And it works even better if you have a training partner loading the bar for you since it's harder to mentally calculate the weight.

This method removes the psychological intimidation factor that some people have. With "wheel increments," there's a psychological block that comes from the multiple 45's per side. For some reason, loading the bar with smaller plates is less intimidating and will put you in a more confident mindset.


Tactic #5: Isometrics

Isometrics — the act of pushing or pulling against an immovable resistance — were first introduced to the strength community by Dr. John Ziegler with his work on Louie Riecke and Bill March. It was then widely publicized by Bob Hoffman.

One of the most important benefits of isometric training is that it's the contraction regimen which yields the greatest motor unit activation.

A recent study comparing the level of muscle activation during isometric, concentric, and eccentric muscle actions found that one can recruit over 5% more motor units during a maximal isometric action (95.2%) than during either a maximal eccentric (88.3%) or maximal concentric action (89.7%). (Babault et al. 2001)

These findings are in accordance with the body of literature which shows that one can recruit almost every motor unit during a maximal isometric action. (Allen et al. 1995, Allen et al. 1998, Belanger and McComas 1981, De Serres and Enoka 1998, Gandevia et al. 1998, Gandevia and McKenzie 1988, Merton 1954, Newham et al. 1991, Yue et al. 2000.)

What this tells us is that isometric training can improve our capacity to recruit motor units during a maximal contraction. So, including this type of training in our regimen can improve our capacity to activate motor units, even in dynamic actions. In the long run, this improved neural drive can greatly increase one's strength production potential.

It's long been known that isometric action training (IAT) can lead to significant strength gains. In a recent experiment, strength gains of 14 to 40% were found over a ten-week period using isometric action training. (Kanchisa et al. 2002)

However, it's important to understand that the strength gains from an isometric regimen occur chiefly at the joint angles being worked (Roman 1986, Kurz 2001), although there's a positive transfer of 20 to 50% of the strength gained in a 20-degree range (working angle plus or minus 20 degrees).

Some people might see this limitation as a negative aspect of IAT. However, you can view this as a benefit, as it allows you to exert a greater level of strength at a certain point in the motion, allowing you to stimulate more strength gains at a point where you need it the most (think: sticking points).

Running down these three benefits of isometric training:

1. Maximum intramuscular tension is attained for only a brief period in dynamic exercises (mostly due to the fact that the resistance has velocity and acceleration components). While in isometric exercises, you can sustain that maximal tension for a longer period of time.

Instead of maintaining maximum intramuscular tension for 0.25 to 0.5 seconds in the concentric portion of a dynamic movement, you may sustain it for around three to six seconds during an isometric exercise. Strength is greatly influenced by the total time under maximal tension. If you can add 10 to 20 seconds of maximal intramuscular tension per session, then you increase your potential for strength gains.

2. Isometric exercises can help you improve strength at a precise point in the range of motion of an exercise. This can prove to be very valuable to get past plateaus due to chronic sticking points.

3. Isometric exercises aren't "energy expensive," so you can get the benefits of IAT without interfering with the rest of your planned workout.


Tactic #6: Antagonist Stretching

I can't trace antagonist stretching to one specific coach, but it's been used for a long time and clearly works!

It's well documented that intense stretching prior to a muscle contraction greatly reduces the force production potential for that contraction. That's one of the reasons why it's best to stretch after a workout rather than before it.

We can use this little tidbit of information to our advantage. There's this thing called "antagonist co-contraction" which can actually reduce our capacity to lift big. If an antagonist muscle (a muscle opposite the function of the target muscle) has a lot of tension in it, it'll take more force for the agonist muscle to produce a certain movement.

Basically, if your triceps are contracting, it'll be harder to curl anything impressive. The triceps are elbow extensors, while the biceps are elbow flexors; the contraction of an extensor will make the flexion harder to do.

So, if we can reduce the contraction potential of the antagonist muscles, their level of co-contraction will be less. As a result, the inhibitory effect of the antagonist will be reduced, thus allowing you to lift more. If the antagonists are contracting, not only do you have to fight the barbell, you have to fight the antagonist muscles, too!

In the bench press, the prime movers and synergists (agonists) are the anterior deltoids, the triceps, and the pectorals/serratus. So, we can conclude that the antagonists are the posterior deltoids, the biceps, and the latissimus dorsi/rhomboids. Now, we know that stretching a muscle will reduce its capacity to contract, so stretching the antagonists right before attempting a bench press will facilitate the action of the prime movers and synergists!

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Source: t-nation.com

The Creation of a T-Man

Want to find out what it really takes to build a great physique? Then take a peek into the training journal of someone who's already done it. You'll realize you can't just walk into the gym day after day and train randomly and without direction. You gotta have a plan.

You may think of John as a nutrition guru, but the guy knows a thing or two about training, also, and his physique reflects it.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Then on the first day, He created light and darkness and separated the two. Very cool. Not bad for a day's work. In the next few days, the Big Guy created the oceans, the land, the moon, the sun, and a whole slew of plants and animals. And on the sixth and last day of creation, His Omnipotent Badness supposedly created T-Man and even provided him with his very own vixen. On the seventh day, God no doubt took a day of "active rest," maybe playing a little racquetball with Gabriel.

Ah, a fetching tale. If only it were so easy. The darkness and light thing I can believe. And when I'm feeling open minded, I can buy into the earth and moon stuff as well. But the idea that a T-man could be created in a single day; now that's preposterous! You see, I've been counting calories and struggling under the heavy iron for years in order to aspire to T-man status. So to think that the first T-man was made in just one day would pretty much send me reeling into the depths of frustration.

But God didn't necessarily create a T-man on the sixth day. He probably just created a regular ol' "garden variety" man and woman who had perilous cravings for fructose. That's more like it. That I can accept.

Considering it further, I'm pretty glad that I've traveled the long hard road in order to find residence in the Garden of T. Along the way I've learned some pretty neat nutrition, supplementation, and training tricks that I can share with other aspiring T-men. If you're a regular reader, you know that I spend most of my time dropping fruit from the Tree of the Nutritional Knowledge. However, due to the many questions I've received regarding my own personal training program, today we'll spend some time at the Tree of Training Knowledge.

I usually fluctuate between 185 and 205 pounds throughout the year, depending on my body-fat levels. I've also gotten quite a bit bigger in the past when I competed in bodybuilding contests (see the picture below). Sometimes I'll push the envelope and gain more weight, but the fattest I'll let myself get is between 8 to 10%. I usually feel best at about 195 to 200 pounds.

Before We Begin…

First, I want to lay the groundwork and clear up any misconceptions. Let's start out with what this article will not tell you. This article will not:

1) Give a complete analysis of my own training theories.
2) Try to reconcile what you think is the right way to train with how I personally train.
3) Make specific mention of the Weider, Poliquin, or King principles (or anyone else's for that matter).

Over the years I've drawn from a variety of sources in order to integrate a comprehensive training program that works well for me. I don't photocopy Flex articles or print off some strength coach's recommended workouts (although there's something to be learned from virtually every source). Therefore, I train, eat, and supplement using what I've mentally compiled from years of training, listening to strength coaches and bodybuilders, and reading research. Over time I apply the judgment of only one individual to this compilation. That individual is me!

Now before you think me too cocksure, understand that I'm willing to admit I've been wrong before. When I'm wrong, my progress slows down. And when the progress is slow, I search for a cure. At this point, scientific and real-world theories can dictate how I may arrange a workout plan or experiment with new things, but in the end, both the effectiveness I get from a program and the amount of enjoyment I feel in the gym determines a program's worth to me.

I've been training for about ten years without an unplanned break. I hope to train for 40 or 50 more years, so I pay close attention to my own preferences (which may be very different from yours). If I don't like a particular program, I quit doing it. Sure, I train for results, but I also train for an equally important reason: I love to train. I don't plan on letting tedious, un-enjoyable programs ruin this for me.

Since there are so many programs out there that will yield comparable results, I know that if I hate doing one particular "effective" program, then I need to drop it to find another that's just as effective but also fuels my training fire. This is how I train myself and how I plan to train for the rest of my life.

So, what will you get out of this article? Well, hopefully it will help shed some light on your own training program and give you some new ideas to try out. I'll give you a rundown of the past few months in my training log , including splits, reps, sets, and weights. Here we go!

Behind The Training Log

Typically, I train using a specific program "philosophy" for a total of nine weeks. Is there anything magical about nine weeks? Nope. So why choose that number? Well, I've found that anything shorter doesn't let me acclimate to the new workout. I believe that the first few weeks of a training program introduce a "learning" adaptation that's primarily neural.

Then, once the neural learning takes place, the neuromuscular physiological adaptations can kick in and lead to changes in muscle metabolism and structure. So, for me, the program has got to be sufficient in length. However, I've also found that I personally get really bored with programs that last for much longer than nine weeks. So my nine week phases take both physiological and psychological factors into account.

What do I mean exactly when I say nine week "philosophies"? Primarily I mean the specific goals of strength training and bodybuilding training. Now, while each philosophy lasts about nine weeks, I'll often use a "bridge" for four weeks between major programs. This is so I can successfully transition between my different training goals. For example, when changing from bodybuilding training to strength training, I use a four week bridge in between. This allows some of the initial neural changes to begin before I launch full-force into my strength training phase.

Halfway through the nine week period (week five), I usually take a complete week of rest or at least a week of active rest using low intensity lifting or just some light cardio and outdoor activities. Due to my high volume of training, this week is added to provide the rest and recuperation needed to prevent overtraining.

Furthermore, during my nine weeks of training for a specific goal, weeks one through four are similar to weeks six through nine in that set and rep ranges are the same. This maintains a consistent physiological stimulus. However, I often change things up for each series of four weeks in an attempt to balance the training stimulus that certain body parts receive. So while sets and reps are the same, I'll switch the order of exercises around and will often use new exercises. This way, muscle balance can be achieved while still maintaining the same training stimulus.

Here's an overview of all that to make it easy to see:

Weeks 1-4: Bodybuilding training

Week 5: Off or active rest week

Weeks 6-9: Bodybuilding training as before, but order and type of exercises are often changed.

Weeks 10-13: The bridge - Combined bodybuilding and strength training

Weeks 14-17: Strength training

Week 18: Off or active rest

Week 19-23: Strength training

In looking over the programs below, many of you will think that the training volume is way too high and that you'd never recover. I can sympathize. I used to believe the same thing. In fact, when I was in my early 20's I only trained 45 minutes, three days per week. I followed the Heavy Duty principles because I believed that I had the recovery ability of a midget. When I'd increase my volume or even my training frequency, I'd get overtrained within what seemed to be minutes.

This was before I figured out that nutrition was as important as training for recovery. As I've learned about proper meal combinations and nutritional supplements, I realized that I could recover much better and make better progress with higher volumes of training. I learned that I had to pay as close attention to what I stuffed into my mouth as I did to how much I loaded on the bar. Now, high volume is no problem.

The Training Log

Phase 1: High Volume Bodybuilding Training

Usually I'll begin my training year with a nine week period of high volume, bodybuilding type training. This phase of training really gets me feeling like I'm "in shape" as my exercise tolerance goes through the roof and my body fat level plummets (without dieting).

A good amount of muscle growth usually accompanies this program but since there's fat loss along with the growth, weight change is minimal. An added benefit is that at the end of the phase, my muscles are usually larger. Since a larger muscle (all else being equal) produces more force, it leads nicely into a strength phase.

Here's an excerpt from my training log detailing my last training phase using the bodybuilding philosophy:

Week 1-4 (28 total sets per workout day, 8-12 rep range)

Note: Since volume is high, sets should be done to failure or one rep short of failure.

Day 1: Monday: Chest, Back, Calves + 20 minutes of cardio
Day 2: Tuesday: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves + 20 minutes of cardio
Day 3: Thursday: Biceps, Triceps, Abs + 20 minutes of cardio
Day 4: Friday: Shoulders and "Metabolic Day" + 20 minutes of cardio (more later on Metabolic Day.)

Week 5: Rest

Week 6-9 (28 total sets per workout day; 8-12 rep range)

Day 1: Monday: Hamstrings, Quads, Calves + 20 minutes of cardio
Day 2: Tuesday: Shoulders, Biceps, Abs + 20 minutes of cardio
Day 3: Thursday: Triceps, Back, Calves + 20 minutes of cardio
Day 4: Friday: Chest and "Metabolic Day" + 20 minutes of cardio

As you can see, with this program, weeks one to four are different from weeks six to nine based on the body part combinations. I do this to prioritize my weaker body parts during different training phases and to develop overall physique balance. As noted, I try to use different exercises for each half of the phase. To break it down one step farther, here are some sample workouts:

Week 4, Day 1, Monday: Back and Chest

1) Bent Row

275lbs X 12
285lbs X 12
295lbs X 10
305lbs X 9

2) Pec Deck

240lbs X 10
240lbs X 10
240lbs X 10
240lbs X 10

3) Chins with 25lbs attached

12 reps
12 reps
10 reps
8 reps

4) Flat Bench Press

250lbs X 10
250lbs X 10
250lbs X 9
250lbs X 7

5) Seated Rows

240lbs X 12
240lbs X 12
240lbs X 10
240lbs X 9

6) Incline Flyes

70lbs X 10
70lbs X 10
70lbs X 9
70lbs X 9

7) Seated Calf Raise - 4 total sets

You'll notice that 28 total sets are performed and I alternate between body parts. I do four sets of back and then move to four sets of chest and so on. This theme continues through all nine weeks of this training phase because I find that it increases the overall load I can handle for a given body part.

By resting the back while doing pec deck, when I return to back work (chins) I can do more total work than if I'd have gone right to chins after the bent row. Because of this, during this phase I never do two exercises in a row for the same body part. Also, rest periods remain about two to three minutes between sets.

What about pyramiding? Well, I try not to mess around with the weights too much. I pick a weight that I'd fail at after about ten to twelve reps and bang out four sets of as many as I can do. If I can complete all the reps for four sets, I up the weight during the following session. If I can't complete all the sets with ten to twelve reps, I stay put until I can.

And what about time under tension (TUT) for this phase? Well, get ready for a shocker: I don't pay much attention to that. Surprised? Don't be. While I've always felt that one should pay attention to tempo and not fling the weights around like a spastic neuromuscular patient, I believe that focusing on tempo during a set only serves as a distraction, especially when nearing the end of a set. At this time, all of your resources should be directed toward getting the weight up and not toward counting seconds.

Now you may be wondering what the heck the "metabolic day" consists of. Here's an example:

Week 9, Day 4, Friday: Chest and Metabolic Day

1) Flat Bench Press

250lbs X 10
260lbs X 10
260lbs X 8
260lbs X 8

2) Seated Rows

255lbs X 12
255lbs X 12

3) Hack Squats

250lbs x 12
250lbs x 12

4) Incline Bench Press:

205lbs X 10
205lbs X 8
205lbs X 8
205lbs X 8

5) Side Lateral

40 X 12
40 X 12

6) Reverse Cable Curls

120lbs X 12
120lbs X 12

7) Flat Flyes

60lbs X 10
60lbs X 10
60lbs X 10
60lbs X 10

8) Rope Pushdowns

70lbs X 10
70lbs X 10

9) Abdominals: 4 sets rope crunches

I perform 24 total sets on this particular day. I call it a metabolic day because of the total body workout that's prescribed. In addition, I recommend short rest periods between the non-chest sets (one minute or so). These sets are not performed to failure, which makes this a relatively "easy day" once you become accustomed to it. But when you're not, look out!

The metabolic day was designed with recovery in mind. When designing this overall training scheme, I realized that on Friday only one body part was left to train (in the above example, it's chest). At this point, I was leaving the gym after a quick chest workout. A few weeks later, while muscle soreness persisted (as usual), I started to consider adding a day of training that was done strictly to increase skeletal muscle blood flow to the body parts that had previously been trained during the week. This way, I rationalized, I could get a bit more metabolic activity during my Friday workouts as well as promote recovery.

The next week I tried it out as an experiment and I've been using it ever since. It dramatically cuts down on muscle soreness and increased recovery times as long as I train well short of failure during these sets. Another benefit I noticed was that I really enjoyed going to the gym one day per week without having the pressure of performing better than the last workout. Don't get me wrong; I love pushing myself beyond my limits, but once in a while it's nice to train short of failure in order to simply get a good pump going.

The Bridge: Hybrid Low Rep and High Rep Training

After my nine week period of high volume bodybuilding-type training, I usually like to take another week of active rest and then use a four week transition period, or "bridge." This period is a combination of strength training and bodybuilding training.

These four weeks are usually my favorite since I make consistent strength gains while staying quite lean. In addition, they lay the adaptive framework for the hardcore strength training phase to come. I find that launching right into a strength phase is difficult and taxing on the system. Using this format, I can ease into my strength phase with two difficult strength workouts per week while still maintaining the training adaptations afforded during the last phase. Here's an excerpt from my training log:

Weeks 1-4:

Day 1: Monday: Low Rep Training + 20 minutes of cardio
Day 2: Tuesday: High Rep Training + 20 minutes of cardio
Day 3: Thursday: Low Rep Training + 20 minutes of cardio
Day 4: Friday: High Rep Training + 20 minutes of cardio

And here are examples of each of the four workouts:

Day 1: Monday: (28 total sets - rest between sets is about 3 minutes)
Bench Press (6 sets of 4), Cleans (6 sets of 4), Push Press (6 sets of 4), Bent Rows (6 sets of 4), 4 sets of abs, 20 minutes of cardio.

Day 2: Tuesday: (19 total sets - rest between sets is about 2 minutes)
Wide Chins (3 sets of 10-12), Incline Press Machine (3 sets of 10-12), Close Grip Chins (3 sets of 10-12), Pec Deck (3 sets of 10-12), Side Raises (3 sets of 10-12), and 4 sets of calves, 20 minutes of cardio.

Day 3: Thursday: (28 total sets - rest between sets is about 3 minutes)
Squats (6 sets of 4), Deadlifts (6 sets of 4), Close Grip Bench (6sets of 4), Barbell Curls (6 sets of 4), 4 sets of abs, 20 minutes of cardio.

Day 4: Friday: (19 total sets - rest between sets is about 2 minutes)
Leg Curls (3 sets of 10-12), Leg Press (3 sets of 10-12), Preacher (3 sets of 10-12), Dips (3 sets of 10-12), Shrugs (3 sets of 10-12), 4 sets of calves, 20 minutes of cardio.

And finally, some numbers:

Week 4, Day 1: Monday

1) Bench Press: 320lbs X 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3
2) Cleans: 225lbs X 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3
3) Push Press: 205lbs X 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3
4) Bent Over Row: 355 X 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
5) Abs - 4 sets

Week 4, Day 3: Thursday

1) Squats: 415lbs X 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
2) Deadlifts: 455lbs X 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2
3) Close Grip Bench: 285lbs X 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
4) Barbell Curls: 185 X 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
5) Abs - 4 sets

Again, I don't count time under tension but obviously do focus on controlled negatives and fast concentric contractions when using the "big" weights.

Also observe that I usually stick with a single weight for the full six sets. Choosing a weight that I can do four or five times and maintaining it for the full six sets provides a real challenge. I try to duplicate my performance from set one on all six sets. It usually doesn't happen (as you can see above), but when it does, that's a personal victory. It means that I was strong enough to push through the fatigue. But it also means that the following week, I need to take the weight up a couple of pounds.

Phase 2: Strength Training

At this point, I'm usually starting my fourteenth week or so of training. So now it's time for a nine week strength program (with my usual week off about four weeks into it). During this time, I decrease my training days to three rather than four.

In addition, since I don't plan to compete in powerlifting in the near future, I still incorporate some higher rep work. Even if I were a competitive powerlifter, I think I might continue this strategy (but wouldn't go to failure on the higher rep sets) in spite of the fact that some would debate me on this point.

Weeks 1-4 and 6-9:

Day 1: Monday: Bench Press (5,5,3,3,1,1), Deadlifts (5,5,3,3,1,1), Chins (4 sets 8-12), Incline Dumbbell Press (4 sets 8-12), 4 sets abs + 20 min low intensity cardio

Day 2: Wednesday: Squats (5,5,3,3,1,1), Stiff Legged Deadlifts (5,5,3,3,1,1), Leg Curls (4 sets 8-12), Leg Extensions (4 sets 8-12), 4 sets calves + 20 min low intensity cardio

Day 3: Friday: Cleans (5,5,3,3,1,1), Push Press (5,5,3,3,1,1), Close Grip Bench Press (4 sets 8-12), Dumbbell Curls (4 sets 8-12 reps), 4 sets abs + 20 min low intensity cardio

As for the numbers:

Week 9, Day 1: Monday

1) Bench Press

285lbs x 5
285lbs x 5
315lbs x 3
325lbs x 3
345lbs x 1
360lbs x 1

2) Deadlifts

405lbs x 5
425lbs x 5
455lbs x 3
475lbs x 3
515lbs x 1
515lbs x 1

3) Chins: 4 sets of 12

4) Incline Dumbbell Flyes

75 x 12, 10, 8, 8
75 x 10
75 x 8
75 x 8

5) Abs: 4 sets (any exercise)

Here's another example:

Week 9: Day 3: Friday

1) Cleans

185lbs x 5
185lbs x 5
205lbs x 3
205lbs x 3
225lbs x 1
245lbs x 1

2) Push Press

205lbs x 5
205lbs x 5
225lbs x 3
225lbs x 3
235lbs x 1
245lbs x 1

3) Close Grip

225lbs x 10
225lbs x 9
225lbs x 8
225lbs x 8

4) Dumbbell Curls

40 x 10
40 x 10
40 x 8
40 x 9

5) Abs - 4 sets (any exercise)

Rest between sets is three minutes for lower rep sets and two minutes for higher rep sets. I may also add a metabolic day on Saturday from time to time, but if maximal strength is the goal, I wouldn't recommend it. Personally, I'm usually content with just three days in the gym during this phase.

When through with this phase, I'm about 24 weeks into my training plan and usually want a break from all the pre-programmed routines. I like a little flexibility and freedom in the gym for a mental break. So I may just get through three weeks or so of the infamous "instinctive training" where I just go to the gym and fudge my way through things.

Now don't get me wrong; I still train hard. But I just do what I feel like doing on that particular day for a few weeks. While imprecise, it really offers me a psychological benefit in that I can go to the gym with a flexible program for a few weeks without having to worry about setting personal bests or pushing beyond the marks that I set during the last few weeks.

During this time I may adopt and implement a new program that I've never tried before. I might experiment with a new Poliquin principle or limp around a new King routine. Heck, I might even "get my Mentzer on" and go Heavy Duty for a few weeks, just for the variety.

Final Thoughts

I hope this peak into my training journal provided you with some new information to help in your quest to become bigger, stronger, and leaner. Remember, T-Man was not created in a single day. It takes years of patient dedication to training and nutrition to be molded into a physical specimen worthy of T-heaven. But despite what some may have you believe, there's great potential for flexibility and change in your workouts.

Don't become a slave to any particular strength coach's theories or to certain training dogma that's persisted for years. Learn what makes you happy and what changes your physique. This game is not only about looking good naked and straining under a big plate-loaded bar, it's also about experimentation, longevity, piece of mind, confidence, and enjoyment.

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Source: johnberardi.com