Tips of the week for antioxidant intake
The theory offered in 1972 was this: free radicals impair the function of cells' mitochondria, setting in motion a cascade of enzymes that break down and kill the cell, ultimately leading to organ failure and possibly systemic failure. Thus, it is important to fuel your body with antioxidants so that you are immune to the negative effects of chemicals, a poor diet, too much sunlight, radiation, pollution, internet trolls and even time. This is the reason that almost everyone in the civilized world blindly trusts that as many antioxidants as possible are a good thing.
However, it is quite likely that all these people are wrong.
The truth
Yes, reducing free radical production is a good thing...at least up to a point. The problem is probably one of dosing, incorrect timing, the wrong antioxidants or too many antioxidants.
If you completely shut down free radical production with antioxidants, the membrane potential of the energy-producing organelles known as mitochondria collapses and cell-dissolving proteins enter the cell. If several mitochondria do this, the cell dies. When a large number of cells die, organ health and overall health can suffer.
Free radicals are indeed important for health. In addition to telling the cell when or when not to commit "suicide", they are also responsible for fine-tuning cellular respiration, also known as ATP production. ATP, which is also known as the energy currency of the cell, is essential for our existence. Play around with these mechanisms too much by using antioxidants and you will throw them out of balance. You may not feel any difference, but you could be destroying yourself bit by bit on a cellular level.
So what should you do?
You should continue to invest in antioxidants, but probably not in single, isolated antioxidants in pill form. Nutritional science, in its hubris, has cherry-picked certain single key antioxidants and megadosed them under the assumption that they act alone and not in concert with hundreds or thousands of other antioxidants. This is the reason why there are increasing reports that too much vitamin E or C can cause serious health problems.
Let's look at a modest offshoot thyme. This alone contains 30 different antioxidants. Isn't it perhaps, and only perhaps, possible that the benefits of these antioxidants are only realized when you consume all of them together, rather than cherry-picking one or two of these antioxidants?
For this reason, it's wise to take your antioxidants in the form of fruits and vegetables, or at least in the form of a freeze-dried fruit and vegetable antioxidant formula, which contain thousands of antioxidants combined with myriad phytochemicals.
In this way, you will likely achieve proper free radical control - enough to prevent premature aging or deterioration, but not so much as to promote cell suicide.
Tip: Perform squat-lunge supersets for quadriceps and gluteus
This vicious lower-body combo builds muscle, challenges your conditioning, and burns fat.
By Clay Hyght, DC
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-squat-lunge-supersets-for-quads-glutes
The barbell squat/walking lunge combo is extremely effective when it comes to giving your quadriceps and glutes all they can handle. And if fat loss is your primary goal, then you'll find that a lighter version of this superset will be amazingly beneficial due to the metabolic demands that come from stimulating such a large amount of muscle mass. In other words, you will be out of breath, but it will be worth it!
The reasoning
This squat/lunge superset works by combining two effective multi-joint exercises for the lower body. By combining these two exercises, your quadriceps will be maximally stimulated to the point of momentary muscle failure, which will lead to adaptive benefits. Even though these exercises are quadriceps dominant, they will still stimulate the gluteus quite well.
The execution
This is a superset, which means you go from squats to lunges without rest. Use a weight in the 8 to 12 RM range for the squats. For walking lunges, use a weight in the 8 to 12 RM range, meaning 8 to 12 steps with each leg. If you are looking for more of a conditioning/endurance effect, you can go up to your 20 RM weight.
Note: I think walking lunges with a barbell are best, but you can also use dumbbells if you are more comfortable.
Form Tip: To make sure you're working your gluteus hard, use full range of motion with each of these exercises. For squats, full range of motion means going down as far as your hip joint is in line with your knee joint - or a touch lower.
With walking lunges, a full range of motion means
- Taking a long enough step so that your knee does not move far forward over your toes in the lowest position.
- Walking down to the point where the kneecap of the back leg almost touches the floor, which should bring the thigh of your front leg into a position roughly parallel to the floor.
Tip: Adopt the "average is not good enough" attitude Stop saying that you are in a maintenance phase. This will only lead to slow regression. Here's why and what you can do about it.
By Chris Shugart
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/powerful-words/tip-adopt-the-average-sucks-mindset
According to various surveys, the average adult male can perform a pull-up. He can bench press 75 kilos once. He weighs 80 kilos and is more on the flabby side. His tensed biceps measure 32 centimeters. From the age of 30, his body weight increases continuously, while his lean body mass decreases. His athletic ability begins to decline from the age of 31.
In short, average is kind of sh.... The average of today is indeed below average.
Being average is not a goal
Many start their fitness and weight training journey below average. For various reasons, they are weaker than the average person, fatter than the average person, or smaller than the average person. Ask any fat person and they will tell you that not being fat is a primary goal. That's understandable.
But being average is not a particularly lofty goal - especially when you consider the current version of average. Average shouldn't be the finish line, it should be the starting line. Your goal is probably not to reach a state of averageness. But sometimes averageness sneaks up on us.
A maintenance phase is bullshit
"I'm going to do a maintenance phase for a while" is a phrase we hear a lot. But much like being "almost pregnant", a maintenance phase is a nonsensical term that describes a state that doesn't exist. There is no such thing as a maintenance phase, there is only progress and regression. You are either moving forward or backward. "Maintenance" is a cute way to describe a slow, almost imperceptible regression.
"That's not true," the average exerciser will say, "I was in a phase where my weight stayed the same, my strength stayed about the same and my appearance didn't change!"
But is this really true? Maybe you kept training but let your diet slide. Or maybe you let your training slide and kept your diet under control. Both can lead to a state of perceived stagnation. Your body swings back and forth between progress and regression. But the decisive turning point is always the same: a slow movement, moving backwards in slow motion.
The body is perfectly content to be average and will quickly return to its set point - even if you only pay moderate attention to diet and training. Look around your gym. Do you see people making massive progress or is everyone just maintaining what they've achieved? Who wants to spend several hours in the gym every week just to look mediocre and perform "okay"?
What if this is correct? Maybe there really is a point of stagnation. What if you can stay exactly where you are without progressing or regressing? There "there is no maintenance phase" is still a good attitude because it keeps you on track and eventually this will work.
A state of half-heartedness
Assuming that you can just "maintain" will subconsciously lead to half-heartedness. Half-hearted training and a half-hearted diet will only slow down degeneration. A half-hearted diet doesn't cut fat gain in half as you age, it just slows the rate of fat accumulation.
Sure, sometimes we will all find ourselves in a "maintenance phase" when life throws us unpleasant surprises. However, keep these as short as possible and never go through such a phase on purpose. Spend too much time in a maintenance phase and you will become average. Spend too much time in a maintenance phase and you will become the average citizen of the western world - formerly known as fat and weak.
Screw being average. Strive for more.
Tip: Perform curls with constant tension
Stretch your sleeves by adding this unique exercise variation to your arm workout program
From T Nation
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-the-constant-tension-curl
Want to use muscle tension, isometric potentiation, unilateral increased neural drive and other big words and phrases to your advantage? Then check out this new way to perform curls.
Arm curls with constant tension
- Start with both arms in the fully contracted position - the top position of the curl movement
- Lower the working arm while keeping the non-working arm contracted near the highest position
- Perform a curl movement with the working arm until both arms are contracted again. Then switch arms and do the same with the other arm. Alternate curls in this way until the set is complete.
The benefits of arm curls with constant tension
- The biceps are under constant tension. While the non-working arm waits for its passage, it continues to contract isometrically.
- You are performing a unilateral dynamic movement.
- The dynamic effort is preceded by an isometric effort.
The disadvantage is that you can't use as much weight, so you won't cause as much muscle damage. For this reason, it is important to use this exercise as a secondary biceps exercise after the primary, heavier exercise. This technique can also be used with dumbbell Scott curls.
Tip: Perform triple presses
Push your pecs to the limit with this unique variation of the dumbbell press
By T Nation | 01/13/16
https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-the-blitzkrieg-triple-press
Here's a new way to perform dumbbell bench presses. This exercise is actually a combination of three exercises:
- Incline bench press with steep incline
- Incline bench press with shallow incline
- Flat bench press
All three are performed in one set using the same weight.
- First perform dumbbell incline bench presses with a steep incline until you reach the point of muscle failure.
- Then change the angle of the bench to a flat incline as quickly as possible and perform further repetitions until you reach muscle failure again. (A training partner can help to speed up the transition)
- Finally, bring the bench to a flat position and perform a few more repetitions.
How does this exercise work?
Most people are stronger on the flat bench than on the incline bench. In the triple press variation, you start in the weakest position (strong incline) and train until muscle failure. Each time you lower the bench further (to a flat incline and then to a horizontal position), you put yourself in a stronger position that allows you to perform more repetitions with the same weight
You can perform this technique with a range of weights and repetition ranges.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-moderate-your-antioxidant-intake
From TC Luoma