A question of strength Part 18

Box squats for athletes and bodybuilders?

Q: What do you think about box squats for athletes? And what about bodybuilders?

A: I never use them. With athletes, you want the most bang for the buck for the effort invested, as they only have about 11 weeks on average to train with squats during their off-season. That's why the right exercise selection is very important.

The problem I have with box squats is that their scope is limited to powerlifting. The reason for this is that the goal in powerlifting is to move the greatest amount of weight over the shortest distance that is just within the rules. In box squats, your shins don't move forward. I don't know of any sport where the shins don't move forward during a propulsion movement. This means that the mechanics of box squats are not found in any sport.

Do you now think I'm on the hit list of all the Westside supporters? But this is once again the Bruce Lee principle: use what is useful and do without what is not. Box squats are the only element of Westside training that I disagree with. In my opinion, box squats only have a raison d'être in powerlifting.

In addition to this, any type of restricted movement scheme tends to alter the integrity of the soft tissue. One change you'll find in people who do a lot of box squats is that they often have tightness in the piriformis muscle, for example. In sports where you have to change the direction of movement often, box squats will reduce your speed strength as you will not be able to use the corresponding muscles efficiently.

Last but not least, I mainly work with highly paid athletes. When performing box squats, there is always a risk that the athlete will hit the box hard due to a lack of concentration. The trauma that can occur to the sacral vertebrae can be enormous. There are simply better alternatives. If you are a powerlifter, then box squats are a great exercise. However, if you are an athlete of any other discipline, then you should avoid this exercise.

As far as bodybuilding is concerned, you can incorporate box squats sparingly into your training process. They will induce hypertrophy in the thigh and gluteus area.

Doublé training

Q: I've heard you mention the concept of doublé training for rapid improvements in certain exercises or certain muscle groups. What exactly does doublé training mean?

A: Doublé is a French term that means doing something twice. I learned this concept from Pierre Roy, who is perhaps the best weightlifting coach in all of Canada. Basically, this method involves performing the same exercise twice during a training session.

Roy first used this method in Olympic weightlifting, but you can use this method in other sports as well. You simply perform the exercise you want to improve on twice. For example, if you are weak in squats, then do squats at the beginning of a training session as your first exercise and then do squats again at the end of your training session. This technique is excellent for overcoming plateaus and can be used to increase both strength and hypertrophy.

Let's say you have modest calf development. You could then perform 10 sets of calf training at the start of your training session, then train chest and back and finish your training session with another 10 sets of calf training.

Are you made for a low-carb diet?

Q: You wrote that you use low-carb diets for 75% of your athletes, but you also said that these diets are not for every genotype. How can the average person know if a low-carb diet is right for them?

A: We use skinfold thickness below the shoulder blades as a genetic indicator. If you naturally have very thin skin folds in the upper back, then you are more likely to be able to tolerate a lot of carbohydrates in your diet

However, if you are more of a slim person and your skinfold in this area is 15 mm or more, then carbohydrates are less good for you and you should avoid them. If you are getting very slim and your skin fold thickness in this area is only slightly reduced, then carbohydrates are not for you.

Your skinfold around the hips is the measurement that tells you if you are eating too many carbohydrates. In other words, the more you eat, the thicker this skin fold becomes. Even if you are doing well with carbohydrates, this skin fold will increase if you eat too much.

However, the easiest test for your carbohydrate tolerance is to eat carbohydrates for breakfast. You wake up, rate your energy on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 means you have a lot of energy and 1 means you feel low. You then eat a carbohydrate-rich breakfast, such as pancakes with syrup. If you feel sleepy an hour later and would like to take a nap, then carbohydrates are not for you. If you feel more energized, then carbs are for you, you lucky bastard.

Something to differentiate are neo-carbs vs. paleo carbs. With paleo carbohydrates, the following simple rule applies: were they available during the Stone Age? Would a caveman have had access to grapes and raspberries? Yes. Bagels and pasta? No.

When I talk about people who have adapted to carbohydrates, I'm talking about neo-carbohydrates. If you've adapted to pasta, then you can eat it and you'll feel great. These people can use any carbohydrate source. I trained with Milos Sarcev. This guy can eat white flour products for breakfast and feel great. If I ate like him, I could apply for unemployment benefits right now and sleep all day long.

Usually, people who have a predisposition to building muscle quickly also do well with carbohydrates. You can eat a truckload of carbs and feel good. If you come from a region where agriculture has been practiced for a very long time, then you will probably do better with carbohydrates. If, on the other hand, you come from a meat-eating and hunting background, then neo-carbs are not for you.

I can maintain a body fat percentage of 5 to 6% all year round if I only eat Paleo carbohydrates. Other guys can eat two kilos of pasta for breakfast and still stay slim. You'll find that nutrition experts tend to recommend what works best for themselves, not what works for everyone. This is the reason I prefer individualized nutrition programs.

Keith Klein and others recommend rice cakes as a source of carbohydrates. If I ate rice cakes, I would fall asleep at the wheel! It just doesn't work for me. I've even heard people recommend Pop Tarts - a classic example of neo-carbs.

Basically, our genes have only evolved by 0.2% over the last 40,000 years. So we are mainly designed for paleo carbohydrates. But 25% of the world's population has actually adapted to the type of carbohydrates that come from agriculture. But I still don't recommend that these people choose Pop Tarts, cereal and all the other junk over Paleo carbs. You need to pay attention to nutrient density. It's not just about the glycemic index or insulin load, it's about the PI - the Phytonutrient Index. How rich are these foods in nutrients?

Let's look at blueberries as an example. Blueberries have a very thin skin and any fruit with a very thin skin is going to be richer in antioxidants because it has to protect itself from the sun. This is the reason why berries contain a lot more antioxidants than bananas. This is why berries are the first thing I add back into my diet when I add carbohydrates back into my diet.

As a rule of thumb, the darker and richer the color of food, the healthier it is. Compare blueberries with rice. But I would still rather see someone eat their carbs in the form of rice instead of Pop Tarts.

The Natural Academy of Science medical board has determined that the safe and acceptable amount of trans fats for humans is zero - so why would you recommend pastries packed with trans fats as a carbohydrate source? It will cause blockages in your veins, age your brain faster and double your risk of cancer! Why would anyone recommend Pop Tarts?

The repetition numbers are crucial

Q: You wrote in an article that the first step in designing a weight training program is to determine the number of repetitions to perform. Is this even more important than the exercise selection?

A: Yes, the number of repetitions is the mother of all load parameters. All load parameters are a function of the number of repetitions you choose. It dictates the rest intervals and the number of sets you will use. If you have decided on a number of repetitions, this will also limit the range of exercises you can perform. Power snatches (power cleans), for example, should never be performed with a high number of repetitions as it is an exercise that requires a high degree of coordination.

The best supplement by far

Q: What is the one supplement that every professional athlete, recreational athlete and basically every active person should use?

A: Fish oil. I was introduced to fish oil 12 years ago by my friend Mauro DiPasquale. I was at his house and he had fish oil in the kitchen. I wondered what he used it for and he said "Charles, this is the most important supplement ever."

He told me to go to the Medline site and type in any disease known to mankind along with the word fish oil. He challenged me to find any study that didn't show that fish oil could be useful in treating every disease imaginable. I gave up after 86 studies.

Why is it so useful? It's in our genes. Humans used to consume 300 to 400 grams of omega 3 fatty acids per week. And today, if we consume more than two grams a day, it's considered a lot.

There was a study published four years earlier which showed that if the American government recommended three grams of fish oil a day to the American population, the rate of cancer and heart disease would fall by 50% within a year. Most readers won't care about cancer and heart disease, but those readers might be interested in this: the biggest limiting factor in reducing body fat and building muscle in naturally exercising people is the consumption (or lack of consumption) of omega-3 fatty acids.

If you look at the body structure of cavemen, you will notice that they had a lot of muscle mass compared to modern humans. They got their omega-3 fatty acids from the meat they ate. They often ate what the predators had left over. For example, a lion will eat an antelope starting from the belly and leave the skull and long bones. Primitive man broke open the skull and ate the brain. The brain consists of 60% fat and 60% of this fat is DHA - an omega-3 fatty acid. Scientists have found that the more brain these people ate, the faster their IQ rose.

Primitive man also broke open the bones and sucked the bone marrow from the bones, which is also very rich in omega-3 fatty acids - especially DHA. DHA is the omega-3 fatty acid that is particularly important for brain development, while EPA is most commonly associated with reducing inflammation.

My athletes often recognize each other when they sit at the table and eat together because the ones I train eat fish oil with their meals. This has given me the nickname "the fish oil guy" among athletes. It's also how I get my athletes so lean so quickly.

Anyone who wants to build muscle and lose fat should take 30 to 45 grams of fish oil a day. That's just three tablespoons of fish oil. With capsules this would be quite cumbersome, as this would be about 45 capsules per day, but with fish oil in liquid form it is easy.

Incidentally, I also think a combination of fish oil and CLA is good, as most people are deficient in CLA.

For those of us interested in changing our body composition for the better and maximizing our training efforts, fish oil has 13 possible benefits to offer:

1. Cell Membrane Health: DHA and EPA ensure that cell membranes remain healthy. This means that the membranes are flexible and have a greater number of insulin receptors that are more sensitive to circulating insulin. This results in reduced fat storage in the fat cells.
2. Fish oil activates lipolytic genes (fat-burning genes)
3. Fish oil deactivates lipogenic genes (fat-storing genes)
4. Fish oil reduces the amount of C-reactive protein - a newly identified risk factor associated with various inflammatory diseases including atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, heart failure and diabetes. The DHA fraction of fish oil appears to be most responsible for this effect. DHA also has the best ability to lower blood pressure.
5. Increased use of fat stored in fat cells.
6. Preferential use of stored fat for the purpose of energy production.
7. Reduced inflammation through physical exercise.
8. Pain management by reducing inflammation.
9. EPA regulates the blood supply to the brain, which is important for maintaining focus during your training sessions. DHA is an important component of the brain membrane and is also important for memory and cognitive function.
10. Fish oil increases serotonin levels (the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of happiness). For this reason, fish oil can reduce depression, anxiety, panic attacks and carbohydrate cravings.
11. Fish oil will improve your cardiovascular risk profile by lowering levels of VLDL triglycerides, homocysteine levels and fibrinogen levels, as well as increasing HDL levels. A combination of fish oil with plant sterols will improve blood lipid levels even better than fish oil or plant sterols alone.
12. Fish oil can lower blood pressure through several mechanisms. These include improving blood flow, increasing nitric oxide levels, reducing inflammation of blood vessels, blocking vasoconstrictor elements in the walls of blood vessels such as calcium channels that reduce blood viscosity, and inhibiting blood vessel constriction (thromboxane). Lipoprotein (a) is another predictor of cardiovascular disease that can be reduced by fish oil (a reduction of 19% has been observed with the use of natural, stable fish oils, while a reduction of only 4% has been observed with highly purified fish oil).
13. Fish oils are excellent stress fighters. Supplementation with n-3 fatty acids inhibits the adrenal activation of steroids, aldosterone, epinehprine and norepinephrine (catecholamines), which is caused by mental stress via effects on the central nervous system. For this reason, you will produce less stress hormones for the same amount of stress if you regularly consume fish oil.

In short, fish oil is my number one supplement recommendation.

Intensity methods

Q: A lot of trainers today say that you shouldn't use forced repetitions, descending sets, or other intensity-enhancing methods unless you're using performance-enhancing substances and/or have excellent genetics. But do these techniques have a place in the training program of a normal natural exerciser?

A: Well, these methods don't actually increase intensity, but rather time under tension. Don't confuse pain with intensity. These methods are more painful, but they are not more intense. When we talk about strength training, intensity is simply a percentage of your maximum weight.

Now, these methods work when it comes to hypertrophy. I think there are two ways in which a natural trainee can use these methods: once every third training session or for three weeks out of twelve. During these three weeks, you can expect to lose six to eight pounds of lean body tissue. After that, you should use a recovery cycle during which you perform only a few sets per muscle group for two weeks. You'll gain back the weight you lost - plus another 4 pounds of interest.

One problem I often see is that a lot of exercisers are very motivated - so motivated that they abuse these methods. And that's the reason they're skinny. They think that pain equals growth. That's sometimes true, but not always. Look at weightlifters who have legs like tree trunks - and they never train to muscle failure.

However, I still disagree that you should never use descending sets, forced reps, etc. Think of training as a recipe. An omelette tastes better with sour cream or crème fraîche. But if you put 250 grams of crème fraiche on your omelette, then it's no longer an omelette - it's something else. The point is that you should use the right ingredients in the right quantities in your training.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/question-of-strength-35

From Charles Poliquin