Training

Push-ups with hand claps is a unique exercise that challenges your muscle fibers by requiring rapid, explosive contractions as fatigue builds during sets of longer repetitions. This test will push you through plateaus, build strength and build muscle in the chest, shoulders and triceps.

The execution

Get into a push-up position, lower yourself towards the floor and then push yourself up explosively with maximum force, clapping your hands before landing with your hands on the floor again. Act as if your hands are touching hot coals. Perform the repetitions quickly, starting your next repetition as soon as you reach the lowest position. If you can do 25 reps in a row with good form, you're a tough guy.

How to get better

Not quite there yet? Start with 3 sets of 6 to 10 repetitions before upper body exercises. Then do one set at the end of the training session where you give it your all. If you're struggling with execution, use a less demanding angle by positioning your hands on a flat bench and working on your endurance. Once you can do 10 reps in a row in this position, return to the floor position.

Tip: Know your food intake

Are you not making any gains? This probably has more to do with your diet than your training. Here's a reality check.

By Andrew Heming

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-know-your-food-intake/

In gyms around the world, you may hear the following conversation:

• Scrawny guy: "I can't manage to gain weight."
• Trainer: "You need to eat more."
• Scrawny guy: "But I'm already eating a ton of food!"

At this point, the skinny guy usually ditches the trainer and finds someone else to tell him what he wants to hear: "You just need to find a special, really complicated, super scientific exercise program." Too bad the trainer didn't just ask to see the skinny guy's food diary.

Keep a food diary

In the same way that obese people typically underestimate how much they eat, many so-called hardgainers overestimate how much they actually eat. They may feel like they're eating tons of food, but then when asked for numbers, they realize their food intake is pathetic.

Use a website, an app or an old-fashioned notebook and keep a record of your food intake and keep increasing it until your weight starts to rise. As long as you don't have a tapeworm, you will gain weight.

Food quality comes first

Simply eating more calories is not everything. Even though a calorie is a calorie in the lab, it's not quite so simple when it comes to food and the human body.

What you eat is just as important. Many hardgainers start by stuffing themselves with junk food to increase their calorie intake. Most will be able to build quality weight with a much lower calorie intake. If you only need to eat 4,000 kcal per day to achieve a calorie surplus, then you can get most of those calories in the form of high quality foods.

Whole foods should form the basis of your diet. This base can also include naturally calorie-dense foods such as nuts, nut butters and dried fruit. And then you should also live a little and enjoy a few treats. By getting most of your nutrition in the form of high-quality foods, you'll build up less unwanted fat, have more exercise energy, recover faster after exercise, reduce inflammation and enjoy better health.

Tip: Train better. Think better. Take this amino acid.

This amino acid improves your focus, mood, energy and learning ability. Here's the science behind it.

From TC Luoma

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/supplements/tip-lift-better-think-better-take-this-amino-acid/

The nootropic for gains

Serious exercisers have figured out how to use nutrition, supplements and drugs to run faster, jump higher and move more weight. But all of this had to do with physical rather than mental aspects. The best we could do to address the mental aspect was to pop a caffeine pill or drink a strong coffee before training or competing.

But now we are able to do better - thanks to the burgeoning field of nootropics, also known as smart drugs. This allows you to customize your brain function to serve your current needs - be it increased concentration, better memory, improved reaction time or even better social interactions.

One of the most impressive of these nootropics is acetyl-L-carnitine, or ALCAR, which is sometimes referred to as a learning neurotransmitter.

A multifunctional amino acid

ALCAR is a naturally occurring amino acid that can easily cross the blood-brain barrier and reaches its maximum plasma concentration in the brain after 3 hours. The compound is said to have a variety of beneficial effects and there is a lot of research to support this.

Some of the benefits include:

• Increased energy production in the mitochondria, which can increase physical and mental energy for hours.
• Increased "processing speed", improved focus, improved mood and improved memory performance (including long-term memory).
• Improved verbal fluency.
• Increased glucose and creatine levels in the brain (both of which decrease with age).
• Protection of brain cells from damage caused by alcohol.
• Stimulating brain cells and promoting their growth to form connections with other neurons.
• Improved rate of learning.
• Can counteract some forms of depression.
• Can alleviate dysthymia - a depressive disorder.
• May improve learning ability, attention span and face recognition in Alzheimer's patients.

Shine brighter

How ALCAR does all this is still being researched, but it definitely increases levels of norepinephrine and serotonin - neurotransmitters that play an important role in mood and brain function. ALCAR may also work indirectly by improving neuronal signaling through stimulation of synapses or blocking postsynaptic inhibition. In short, ALCAR seems to increase our electrical "power" so that you can "shine" brighter and longer. ALCAR also combines well with other supplements. When you combine it with other nootropics, it has a boosting effect that makes all the compounds in the combination work better.

Tip: Prepare ice cream with just one ingredient

It's easy, it's healthy and yes, there's only one ingredient.

By Chris Shugart

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-make-ice-cream-with-one-ingredient/

It sounds like a brain teaser: how can you make ice cream with just one ingredient? Maybe freeze milk? No, that won't work. Hmmm, how about...give up? The only ingredient is a banana. And once you've tried it, you'll kick yourself for not thinking of this sooner.

Instructions

1. Get some bananas that are ready to be stained. Do not use green bananas.
2. Put them in the freezer with the peel on until they are completely or almost completely frozen. The. The skin will darken or even turn almost black, but the banana inside is still perfectly fine.
3. Allow the bananas to thaw slightly and either slice them lengthwise to remove the peel or cut them into bite-sized slices and enjoy.

How to take the deliciousness further

You can stop at this point or you can add a few more ingredients. Here is my favorite:

Take two frozen bananas and chop them up with a food processor or blender. Add a tablespoon of defatted peanut butter like PB2 or natural nut butter like almond butter. Add a scoop of chocolate or vanilla flavored protein powder and mix well. If necessary, you can add a dash of almond milk.

Tip: drink more green tea

Have you already heard about the fat-burning benefits? Here's how you can increase them further.

From TC Luoma

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-drink-more-green-tea/

Green tea might be the one drink that lives up to its hype - or at least a lot of it. Made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, it is said to have benefits for almost every organ system in the body. It may have heart-protective, liver-protective, artery-cleansing, cancer-fighting, anti-diabetic and even fat-burning properties. Green tea contains a small amount of caffeine, but it also contains the chemical theobromine, which lowers blood pressure, and theophylline, which relaxes the airways and stimulates the heart a little. The end result is a mild stimulant effect that is different and less pronounced than the equivalent effect of caffeine. Even though green tea is stimulating, it also has mild anxiolytic effects, which seems like the perfect combination of effects.

What about burning fat?

Green tea may have carbohydrate-blocking effects, which, combined with its fat-burning, metabolic rate-boosting effects, is why it has long been touted as a moderately effective fat burner. Unfortunately, some of the fat-burning effects may be diminished if you already consume a lot of caffeine. The fat-burning component is epigallocatechin-3-gallate, or EGCG. A cup of green tea contains about 50 mg of this, but you need 400 to 500 mg to feel fat-burning effects. Don't want to drink that much green tea? Then use a green tea product that is packed with EGCG.

And to boost the fat-burning response, combine some fish oil with your green tea.

Tip: Want a bigger latissimus? Then train with single-arm barbell rowing

We're not talking about dumbbell rowing here, but barbell rowing with one arm. Read on for the execution of this exercise.

From John Meadows

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-want-lats-do-one-arm-barbell-rows/

Who says barbell means you have to use both hands? Narrow-minded thinking will only translate into a narrow latissimus. This one-arm barbell exercise is brutally effective for latissimus development.

One-arm barbell row

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpBmaLGeJyc

Simply stand next to a loaded barbell, reach down and grab the bar and start rowing. If you expect this to feel like normal barbell rowing, be prepared for a surprise. This type of execution feels unique to say the least. If you perform this exercise correctly, you will feel it from the top of your latissimus to the bottom.

How to perform

• Emphasize the stretch on the way down.
• Use 10 kilo pulleys to increase the range of motion and allow for the greatest possible stretch.
• Raise the hip on the side you are moving the weight higher than the other side of the hip.

Most people perform dumbbell rows with equally high shoulders, which means they miss out on a great pre-stretch and extra range of motion they might otherwise have. Try the exercise as described and you'll understand.

Tip: Muscle burning for more growth

Good news: This hypertrophy training technique works fast. The bad news: It will feel like your muscles are on fire. Give it a try if you dare.

By Christian Thibaudeau

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-burn-until-youre-big/

The technique: a regressive range of motion

This training method can be used by those looking for hypertrophy gains and also by those whose goal is to build both mass and strength. Here's how it works:

1. Start an exercise by performing it through the full range of motion. Perform as many repetitions as you can until you are close to the point of muscle failure. Then...
2. Reduce the range of motion by half and perform partial repetitions. If you feel that you are about to reach muscle failure in this partial range...
3. Reduce the range of motion by half again (quarter repetitions) and continue training until you reach the point of muscle failure. Depending on the exercise selected, the partial repetitions are performed either in the upper or lower part of the range of motion.

For mass gains

Use a weight with which you can perform 8 to 10 complete repetitions before moving on to half and quarter repetitions.

For gains in strength and muscle mass

Use a weight that allows you to complete 4 to 6 full repetitions before progressing to half and quarter repetitions. This method allows you to use a decent amount of weight.

Examples:

• Squats: Full reps, then half reps in the upper half of the range of motion that quarter reps.
• Bench press: Full reps, then half reps in the upper half of the range of motion if you want to focus on triceps and shoulders. Use quarter reps in the lower half of the range of motion if you want to focus more on the chest muscles.
• Leg curls: Full repetitions, then half repetitions in the lower half of the range of motion, then quarter repetitions.
• Bicep cable curls: Complete repetitions, then half repetitions in the lower half of the range of motion, then quarter repetitions.
• Tricep cable press: Complete repetitions, then half repetitions in the lower half of the range of motion, then quarter repetitions.
• Leg presses: Complete repetitions, then half repetitions in the upper half of the range of motion, then quarter repetitions.
• Side raises: Complete repetitions, then half repetitions in the lower half of the range of motion, then quarter repetitions.

This method is particularly effective with multi-joint exercises - especially exercises with a longer range of motion. However, it can also be used successfully with exercises such as Culs (especially cable curls), cable tricep presses, leg curls, leg extensions, Hackenschmidt squats and leg presses. It does not work well with overhead exercises and pulling exercises.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-25-consecutive-clap-push-ups/

By Eric Bach

A brief overview

1. Studies with a wide range of different populations have shown that muscles grow at a wide variety of different repetition ranges.
2. When training programs are matched by their number of sets, they generally result in very similar levels of muscle growth, even when they involve very different training volumes.
3. However, gains in strength and muscle endurance are very closely related to the repetition range used.
4. At least when we are talking about hypertrophy-based training, it is more useful to define training volume as "number of hard sets per muscle group" rather than "sets x reps x weight".

The way in which exercisers usually calculate their training volume (sets x reps x weight) has some significant disadvantages

1. Inherently heavier exercises seem to be better than lighter exercises (e.g. you can accumulate more volume with leg presses than you can with squats, and with squats this accumulated volume is higher than with front squats).
2. Training with a lower percentage of your 1 RM weight almost always seems to be superior to training with a higher percentage (3 x 10 with a demanding weight means more volume than 3 x 3 with a demanding weight).

Simply counting the hard sets is a much simpler way to accomplish the same purpose without giving certain exercises or load patterns an advantage over others.

For strength and muscle mass it's a simple question of how many heavy sets (80-85%+- of 1RM weight) you perform, for muscle mass and muscle endurance it's a question of how many relatively light sets (65% of 1RM weight and below) you perform and for a mix of both it's a question of how many hard sets you perform in the medium intensity range.

Introduction

For as long as I've been training, I keep hearing the recommendation that 1 to 5 reps should be used to build strength, 8 to 12 reps to build muscle mass, and 15 to 20 reps to build muscle endurance.

The concept of myofibrillar hypertrophy and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which is commonly used to explain the differences between strength athletes and bodybuilders, states that heavier weights build contractile proteins in the muscles (myofibrillar hypertrophy) and that higher repetition numbers (8 to 12) focus more on increasing the sarcoplasm (fluid) in the muscles.

However, the concept of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is not supported by the scientific literature and strength differences are more easily explained by other concepts that are actually scientifically supported.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that novice hypertrophy exercisers perform 1 to 3 sets per muscle group with 8 to 12 repetitions each and 1 to 2 minutes rest between sets, two to three times per week. For experienced exercisers, the recommendation for hypertrophy is to use 70%-100% of their 1 RM weight for 3 to 6 sets with varying lengths of rest between sets depending on the goals, at a 4 to 7 day frequency (1). Recommendations for building strength are similar.

However, research in recent years (and decades of successful use of training methods by athletes and bodybuilders) has shown that these recommendations - while likely to work - are only a small part of the overall picture.

More recently, Fisher et al wrote a position paper recommending a maximal intensity of effort on each set (training to instantaneous muscle failure), using a load and frequency appropriate to the exerciser's goals and performing only a single set per exercise (2).

Finally, Brad Schoenfeld published a meta-analysis (a paper that summarizes the results of several studies to find a scheme in the scientific literature) on the different effects of different repetition ranges on strength and hypertrophy.

This meta-analysis compared low weights (<60% of 1 RM weight) with high weights (>65% of 1 RM weight) and found that there was a greater effect on hypertrophy at the higher weights than at the lower weights and that strength gains were much greater in the higher weight group (3).

However, a closer look at the studies analyzed shows that 6 of the 8 studies that examined hypertrophy had the high load groups perform more sets than the lower load groups. If you've studied strength theory, you probably know that more sets stimulate more gains in strength and muscle mass, so this is an obvious confounding variable.

The size principle

Before we can get into the really interesting aspects of the topic, it's important to understand the basic physiology of muscle recruitment.

During any set you perform to muscle failure, your nervous system will recruit the smaller, slower contracting muscle fibers first and only then resort to the larger, faster contracting fibers when the force requirements are met (4).

For example, let's say (using arbitrary numbers to facilitate general understanding of the concept) that I can perform 10 curls with a 25 kilo dumbbell. During my first 3 repetitions, I may only use small/slowly contracting motor units and muscle fibers.

By the beginning of the sixth repetition, the small fibers are already somewhat exhausted and can no longer produce enough force to move the weight and I begin to recruit larger muscle fibers.

After the tenth repetition, all the muscle fibers of my biceps have been recruited and have experienced so much fatigue that they can no longer produce enough force to move the weight, which is why I can no longer perform an eleventh repetition.

In reality, of course, the size principle is a little more complex than this example, but it's enough to explain the basic concept.

But what happens if I use a 12.5 kilo dumbbell instead of the 25 kilo dumbbell and perform 25 repetitions with it until muscle failure? The exact same pattern is repeated.

The same basic pattern also applies when I use a 37.5 kilo dumbbell to perform 3 repetitions to muscle failure.

From a muscle perspective, the same thing happens in all three cases: all the muscle fibers were recruited and eventually something happened that made them less able to produce force.

However, there is some recent EMG research that casts doubt on the fact that the largest/fastest contracting motor units in trained strength athletes are recruited during high repetition sets to muscle failure (5), with several possible explanations for the lower EMG readings at low weights - and furthermore, the size principle has been proven in practice.

It could be that the largest muscle fibers are actually recruited during training with lower weights until muscle failure, but fewer fibers are recruited at the same time, which would result in a lower EMG deflection.

It could also be that trained strength athletes who have trained with certain repetition ranges over a long period of time are able to put more effort into that repetition range (typically over a higher weight) and that if they had trained with lighter weights for a few weeks, they would have learned to put in the appropriate effort here as well.

What causes muscle fatigue?

Fatigue during resistance training is still a shaky concept. However, we know that when a muscle contracts, metabolic waste products are produced. In addition to this, blood flow to and from the muscle is impeded during a contraction or time under tension, resulting in slower removal of these metabolites.

When the production of metabolites is faster than their removal, the concentration of these metabolites in the muscle increases and the metabolites begin to interfere with muscle contraction.

It is also likely that they stimulate the sensation of pain and your brain may interpret this pain as a signal and decide to invest less effort in recruiting motor units.

Whatever is happening is almost certainly a combination of different effects at the muscular and central nervous system level.

This concept is probably best explained by a technique called Blood Flow Restriction Training. Here, a bandage is placed around an arm or leg to reduce blood flow during a set.

When using this technique, the exerciser can only move significantly less weight or perform significantly fewer repetitions with the same weight, but the same gains are achieved as when using heavier weights without reducing blood flow (6).

But why is this concept important? Because, at least at this point, it appears as though the muscle fibers are being recruited and need to experience at least some fatigue in order to grow. Something about this exhaustion process signals to the body that hypertrophy should begin.

I like to imagine that each instance of exhaustion stimulates a small amount of hypertrophy, so that multiple instances of exhaustion - multiple sets to muscle failure - build up a large amount of hypertrophy stimulation.

The. Effects of different repetition ranges on hypertrophy

Now that we have a better understanding of some general background information, we can examine the effects of different repetition ranges on muscle growth.

First, we need to find studies that control for effort per set so that we don't have a group that doesn't perform their sets to muscle failure (and thus doesn't recruit and exhaust all fibers) while another group performs their sets to muscle failure.

Next, we need studies that control for training volume (weight x repetitions) or number of sets. If a study has one group perform only one set to muscle failure and another group perform 10 sets to muscle failure, then we won't be able to tell if differences in strength and hypertrophy are related to the repetition ranges used or the different number of sets.

Fortunately, we have a reasonable number of studies that have done what we need. I have summarized these studies in the table below. All sets in all these studies were performed to muscle failure.

If you take a closer look at these studies, several patterns become clear. In the Campos study, the light weights did not produce as much hypertrophy as the heavier weights. However, the light weight group also performed fewer sets than the heavier weight group to achieve a similar volume.

Assuming that load makes no difference (which may be a dangerous assumption, but one that becomes safer when considering all the literature), this seems to indicate that the number of sets may be what determines hypertrophy. However, in the Schoenefeld study from 2014, one group performed exercises with 3 sets of 10 repetitions, while the other group performed exercises with 7 sets of 3 repetitions (again, the volume load was the same for both groups). If the number of sets is what matters, then the 7x3 group should have achieved greater hypertrophy, which was not the case.

If you dig a little deeper, you'll find that the lighter weight group performed a total of 9 sets per week per muscle group to muscle failure, while the heavier weight group performed 21 sets.

If the total number of sets stimulating each muscle is taken into consideration, then it seems possible that 9 sets to muscle failure per week (or less) may have already stimulated the maximum amount of hypertrophy in this training population and that the additional 18 sets performed per week by the heavier weights group contributed little to nothing to additional hypertrophy. The Van Roie study also used volume load instead of number of sets, but saw no difference in hypertrophy.

In the rest of the studies, the number of sets was equalized between the groups and this helped to reveal the pattern: different repetition ranges seem to have the same effects on hypertrophy.

But not only that - these studies looked at untrained, well-trained and even older people, meaning that the similarities in observed hypertrophy hold from all angles.

The next striking pattern is that heavier weights made the study participants better at moving heavy weights, while lighter weights made the subjects better at moving lighter weights, although muscle growth was the same for both groups.

This could be related to a number of factors that have not yet been studied in the scientific literature: neuronal adaptation to specific weights, muscle fiber type specific hypertrophy, aerobic/anaerobic adaptations in muscle fibers, etc. I personally tend to think of this effect as primarily neural in nature, with the actual differences in muscle adaptations probably being rather minimal - but this is just speculation on my part and it remains to be seen what the actual answer is. I believe that lighter weights preferentially stimulate hypertrophy of type 1 fibers when I look at single fiber measurements like the Campos study.

There are a number of studies that have looked at the muscle fiber types of steroid-free weightlifters at the competitive level (15) and steroid-free powerlifters (16) and the ratios of muscle fibers to each other were very similar.

Some other studies have looked at the muscle fiber types of bodybuilders (17, 18), but they were conducted with untested competitive bodybuilding athletes at a very high level and the number of subjects was very small, so steroid use and other factors such as different muscle groups in the different studies make it difficult to draw conclusions.

In addition, none of the studies that examined muscle fiber types were training studies, so the actual effects of specific repetition ranges on muscle fiber types cannot be assessed.

The third striking pattern (based mainly on studies not included in the table above) is that a higher number of sets increases the effects on strength and hypertrophy (19). For example, in the Campos study, the heavier weight group performed more sets than the lighter weight group because the authors wanted to keep the volume equal between the groups and no hypertrophy was observed in the lighter weight group.

However, in several other studies we can observe that even lighter weights stimulate hypertrophy when more sets are performed.

Primary conclusions

What does all this mean? I believe that several basic principles can be derived from these observed patterns.

1. Based on size principle, we know that the effort of each set must be high enough to recruit and stimulate all fibers. We do not know the exact stimulus threshold for stimulating hypertrophy and there are plenty of people who achieve significant muscle growth without ever training to muscle failure, but in general it is probably necessary to perform the sets at least close to muscle failure.
2. The repetition range does not matter for hypertrophy (at least for up to 30 repetitions per set for trained people and for up to 100 repetitions per set for untrained people) as long as the effort per set is the same. Muscles appear to grow equally regardless of whether 3 or 100 repetitions are performed to muscle failure. It remains to be seen if muscle growth would remain the same with something like 70% effort in both groups instead of training to muscle failure, but I believe it would.
3. Strength gains are specific to the repetition ranges used. If you want to get better at maximal strength attempts, then you need to train with weights that get close to that range. If you want to get better at high reps, then you need to train with lighter weights. You can probably get better at both if you use both repetition ranges.
4. More sets or volume (it's still a little unclear which of these will give you better results, although I tend to favor more sets) will give you better results.

With this information, it's easy to answer the question of why there are differences in strength and muscle mass between strength athletes and bodybuilders. The answer to the question of strength differences lies in the repetition ranges used. Strength athletes generally train more with heavier repetition ranges and many bodybuilders prefer to stay in less injury-prone repetition ranges. However, many bodybuilders also compete successfully in powerlifting competitions by including heavier training in their training program.

The differences in muscle mass are a little more complicated. Personally, I don't think there is much difference between bodybuilders and powerlifters at a similar level. The difference is more of an illusion caused by differences in body fat percentage and a focus on muscles that primarily improve aesthetic appearance vs. muscles that increase strength.

Muscles that both groups train hard, such as legs, back and chest, should be similar in size.

To put it more simply, strength training is bodybuilding and bodybuilding is strength training - whatever rep range you use.

Gaps in the analysis

There are still some concepts that science has yet to investigate to a satisfactory degree. The first is what causes the strength adaptations in specific repetition ranges. Are Type I fibers stimulated at higher repetition ranges? Is the difference based solely on neural adaptations and motor learning? We simply don't know yet.

The second is the level of effort required to maximally stimulate hypertrophy. Do we really have to go to muscle failure or can even low effort sets stimulate some hypertrophy?

In the real world, it looks like even very low efforts can produce some muscle growth, but the question is not yet settled. In addition to this, additional low effort sets could reduce any differences.

Last but not least, and probably the biggest and most important question, is what exactly stimulates hypertrophy. There are several hypotheses, some of which are also supported by science, but in my opinion there is no conclusive answer yet (20). Tension on the muscles themselves could already be enough to stimulate hypertrophy, but when you create tension, you automatically get ischemia and an accumulation of metabolic products.

The pump that occurs during training could also contribute to hypertrophy, but heavy sets with low repetitions do not generate a pump and the hypertrophy during these sets is just as strong as during sets with higher repetitions. An accumulation of metabolic waste products could be the primary stimulator, but there are not many studies that have investigated this yet.

For now, we can only look at muscle growth in a larger context and say that picking things up and putting them down frequently makes muscles grow.

Conclusion

If you look at the history of weight training and bodybuilding, countless strategies have proven successful. However, the most successful of these strategies seem to follow a few basic rules that are similar to what we summarized above: Keep the efforts high, keep the number of sets high and adjust the repetition ranges to your goals or whatever keeps you motivated and progress should not be a problem.

References

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19204579/
2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259390281_Evidence-Based_Resistance_Training_Recommendations_for_Muscular_Hypertrophy
3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269934371_Muscular_adaptations_in_low-_versus_high-load_resistance_training_A_meta-analysis
4. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241485398_The_size_principle_and_a_critical_analysis_of_the_unsubstantiated_heavier-is-better_recommendation_for_resistance_training
5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264745846_Muscle_activation_during_low-_versus_high-load_resistance_training_in_well-trained_men
6. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51646963_Low_intensity_blood_flow_restriction_training_A_meta-analysis
7. https://www.jospt.org/doi/pdf/10.2519/jospt.2000.30.3.143
8. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/1999/08000/Differential_Functional_Adaptations_to_Short_Term.10.aspx
9. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7873571_Muscular_adaptations_in_response_to_three_different_resistance-training_regimens_Specificity_of_repetition_maximum_training_zones
10. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2011/09000/Similarity_in_Adaptations_to_High_Resistance.22.aspx
11. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224770795_Resistance_exercise_load_does_not_determine_training-mediated_hypertrophic_gains_in_young_men
12. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261516420_Effects_of_Different_Volume-Equated_Resistance_Training_Loading_Strategies_on_Muscular_Adaptations_in_Well-Trained_Men
13. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556513002738
14. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274726675_Effects_of_Low-_Versus_High-Load_Resistance_Training_on_Muscle_Strength_and_Hypertrophy_in_Well-Trained_Men
15. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8966942_Muscle_Fiber_Characteristics_and_Performance_Correlates_of_Male_Olympic-Style_Weightlifters
16. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10764228_Muscle_Fiber_Characteristics_of_Competitive_Power_Lifters
17. https://www.meta.org/papers/muscle-ultrastructural-characteristics-of-elite/7199447
18. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/16309468_Muscle_hypertophy_in_bodybuilders
19. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26723843_Single_Versus_Multiple_Sets_of_Resistance_Exercise_A_Meta-Regression
20. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46288878_The_Mechanisms_of_Muscle_Hypertrophy_and_Their_Application_to_Resistance_Training

Source: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/the-new-approach-to-training-volume/

From Nathen Jones

14 pounds in 14 days

Using primarily negative (eccentric) exercises, Jordan Rapport, age 17, was able to gain an average of one pound of muscle per day for 14 consecutive days. Jordan was a participant in my supervised six-week intensive training program.

A typical bodybuilder would be lucky to build 14 pounds of muscle in 6 months. 14 pounds in two weeks seems almost impossible in this context - and yet it was happening right before my eyes.

And here's the best part: Jordan only trained once a week, performing just one set of 8 exercises. Each training session lasted just 30 minutes. In total, he trained exactly six times in six weeks and built up 21.25 pounds of muscle mass. However, almost two thirds of his gains came during the first two weeks. I would call that a growth explosion.

Jordan was 17 years old, what 187 cm tall, and weighed 83 kilos. Within six weeks, he built 21.25 pounds of muscle. His before-and-after measurements showed that he had gained over 6 centimeters in upper arm circumference, 7.5 centimeters in chest circumference and 11 centimeters in thigh circumference. Most of his results were stimulated during the first two weeks, during which he put on 14 pounds.

A look back at negative repetitions

Over the past 47 years, I've maltreated myself and my exercisers with different ways to emphasize the negative or lowering phase of exercise. Why? Because Arthur Jones, Casey Viator, Mike and Ray Mentzer, Boyer Coe, Lee Haney, Dorian Yates and dozens of other old-school bodybuilders had experienced that training with negative reps is a productive way to build muscle.

Okay, I know what you're thinking. You've tried negative repetition training in different ways:

• At the end of a regular set, by bailing on the positive movement to perform a few extra slow negative reps.
• With a training partner who has taken over the lifting of the weight during the last repetitions, while you have only taken over the lowering of the weight.
• By performing the positive part of the movement on machines with both arms or legs and the negative part with only one arm or leg.

Conclusion: Negative repetitions didn't seem to work apart from a few exercises and you quickly lost interest. Ordinary negative repetitions can be a real burden and sometimes even dangerous.

No ordinary training with negative repetitions

I firmly believe that the right type of negative training has a much greater impact on a trainee's starting strength levels. Such a strong influence stimulates a release of growth hormones by the pituitary gland, which is an important aspect of building muscle mass.

What I want to share with you today is nothing ordinary. It's something I've been working on for more than five years. In my quest to test different ways to emphasize negative repetitions, I have made the following discovery:

Training with negative repetitions works best when you can control what happens without relying on a training partner or a specific machine to do so.

After plenty of trial and error, here's what I've found works extremely well. It worked for Jordan and it worked for several other teenagers I trained during the summer of 2018. My son Tylor Darden gained 15 pounds of muscle and another boy gained 14 pounds. Looking back, however, none of my exercisers made better progress than Jordan.

Note: My trainees were not training for bodybuilding competitions. Rather, they were athletes who practiced sports like rowing, football and lacrosse and wanted to build more muscle mass and strength for their sport.

This technique is called 30-10-30, which is a 30-second slow negative repetition immediately followed by 10 fast positive and negative repetitions (1 second for the upward movement and 2 seconds for the negative repetition) with controlled movement transitions, followed by a final 30-second negative repetition. The entire movement takes about 90 seconds, of which about 70 seconds are spent on what I would call "negative ultra-contractions".

This is important: the name 30-10-30 encompasses more than these meaningful numbers. In practice, the 30 seconds of negative repetitions can vary from 15 to 30 seconds. Often a trainee will complete the first negative repetition at 30 seconds, but can barely reach 15 seconds on the second. In this training session, his notation would therefore be "30-10-15". Sometimes both negative repetitions are a little too short.

And then with high-intensity training, the faster reps in the middle are not always 10. Sometimes you can only do 7, 8 or 9, so the notation could be "30-8-30". On an energetic day, you could easily do 10 and 2 extra reps, which would be "30-12-30".

The idea is to always train to momentary muscle failure on the middle repetitions between the first and last long negative repetition. If you manage 30-12-30 on any exercise, this is the signal to use 3 to 5% more weight in your next training session.

The recommended 8 exercises

Below is the 30-10-30 program and the order of the exercises. You perform all 8 exercises in each training session - one set per exercise. Each training session, performed once a week, should be about 30 minutes long.

1. Leg curls
2. Classic squats
3. Calf raises on the machine
4. Lat pulldowns
5. Barbell bench press
6. Barbell curls
7. Barbell shoulder presses
8. Reverse barbell curls

For each of the exercises, choose a weight that is about 80% of the weight with which you could normally perform 10 repetitions in good form. You will also need a watch that is clearly visible during the exercise or a training partner to help you with the timing of the slow negative repetitions. Rest for about 60 seconds between exercises. At the end of the article, I will detail how you should perform each of these exercises using the 30-10-30 technique.

Notes and tips on the training program

First of all, for best results, don't assume that more is better. Performing the described training program two or three times a week is not better than once a week.

All of my teenage exercisers were students who were in school all day and had additional extracurricular activities every day. Please note that abstaining from strenuous activities on your non-training days, especially during the first two weeks, is an important aspect of explosive growth.

Secondly, a training program with only one training day per week forces you to focus hard, execute each phase of each repetition with calculated precision and train at maximum intensity. Your undivided attention is required during each 90 second phase.

Thirdly, even if the food is not as important as the training, it is still important. Each of my exercisers was instructed to multiply their body weight by 44 kcal. All three participants mentioned above weighed about 80 kilos at the beginning and consumed 3,600 to 4,000 kcal per day for 6 weeks.

Meals consisted of at least 50% carbohydrates. The participants were encouraged to consume protein shakes and creatine. In addition, each participant drank one gallon (almost four liters) of cold water per day.

Since teenagers regularly suffer from too much stress, participants were encouraged to perform stress relief in the form of stretching and self-massage with balls and foam rollers. Furthermore, rest and sleep are a must. Teenagers and their growing muscles need between 9 1/2 and 10 hours of sleep per night. A 20-minute nap in the afternoon is also beneficial.

Give 30-10-30 a chance

Give 30-10-30 a chance - perhaps with just 1 or 2 exercises at first. Do these several times until you fully understand the technique. Then run the program with 8 exercises for 2 weeks and two more weeks and a final 2 weeks.

Yes, teens who seriously follow the 30-10-30 program can stimulate a significant amount of muscle growth.

Proper use of 30-10-30 stimulates a release of hormones that almost immediately stimulate an increase in the size of the stimulated muscle fibers. And this program is not just for teenagers. Adults of all ages can achieve visible results within a few weeks with 30-10-30.

Focus, push yourself and rest. You'll love the results.

Exercise details

Here is a description of how to perform each phase of the exercises used:

Leg curls

Curl the moving arm of the machine into the contracted position. Pause, watch the clock and prepare for your first negative repetition.

Slowly lower the pad centimeter by centimeter. You should have reached half of the movement after 15 to 20 seconds and three quarters of the movement after 25 seconds. You should reach the lowest point after 30 seconds, without pausing at the lowest point of the movement.

Curl the pad to the contracted position in one second and lower it again in two seconds. Try to achieve 10 repetitions with good form. Hold the tenth repetition in the contracted position and stabilize your body for the final negative repetition. Lower the weight slowly. You should reach half of the range of motion after 15 to 20 seconds and try to reach the lowest point after 30 seconds. Write your numbers for the set in your training log.

Classic squats

Place a barbell in a power rack. Make sure you have two horizontal safety racks in the lowest position of the range of motion.

Position the barbell behind your head on your trapezius. Lift the bar from the rack and take a step backwards. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing slightly outwards, keeping your upper body muscles tensed and your torso upright.

Slowly bend your hips and knees and move down to a half squat position within 15 to 20 seconds. You should reach the lowest point of the movement, where your hamstrings touch your calves, after 30 seconds.

Then perform 10 squats at a speed of one second for the upward movement and 2 seconds for the downward movement. Try to perform 10 repetitions, but remember that the number of repetitions can vary from 8 to 12.

After your last repetition, prepare for the final negative repetition. Bend your hips and knees slowly and evenly so that you have completed half of the downward movement after 15 to 20 seconds and three quarters after 25 seconds. After 30 seconds, place the bar on the lower safety rest of the rack and pause.

Calf raises on the multi press

There are different machines for calf raises. The version described here is the standing version on the multi press. Use a stable block or another type of step to stand on.

Stand with the balls of your feet on the block and place the bar on your shoulders, keeping your knees bent. Stand on your toes and pause briefly before starting the first negative repetition.

Slowly lower your heels centimeter by centimeter. Try to complete half of the movement after 15 to 20 seconds and reach the lowest point of the movement after 30 seconds. Hold the maximum stretch briefly and prepare for the regular repetitions. Raise your heels in one second and lower them in two seconds. Perform 10 repetitions. Pause briefly in the highest position on the tenth repetition and start the final negative repetition. Lower the heels very slowly, reaching halfway down after 15 to 20 seconds and maximum stretch after 30 seconds. Keep your knees locked the whole time.

Lat pulldown

Grip the lat pulldown bar with a shoulder-wide underhand grip and stabilize your upper body. Pull the bar towards your chest and pause briefly with the bar touching your upper chest. Your. Elbows should point down and back. Prepare for your first negative repetition.

Start by straightening your arms and slowly move the bar upwards. You should have completed half of the upward movement after 15 to 20 seconds and three quarters of the movement after 25 seconds before you reach the extended arm position after 30 seconds.

Change the direction of movement and pull the bar down to your chest in one second before moving it back up again within 2 seconds. Perform 10 repetitions in this way and then start the final negative repetition. Reach the halfway point of the movement after 15 to 20 seconds. Keep the weight under control. Reach the top position with your upper back fully extended and arms straight after 30 seconds.

Barbell bench press

Move the bar to a position above your sternum with your arms straight. Slowly lower the bar to your chest in 30 seconds. Reverse the direction of movement and perform 10 normal repetitions. Then perform a final negative repetition lasting 30 seconds. Ask a training partner to help you move the bar back onto the rack afterwards.

Barbell curls

Use an underhand grip and move the bar up to your shoulders while standing. Anchor your elbows firmly to your upper body before slowly lowering the weight again within 30 seconds. Perform 10 normal repetitions without resting between repetitions. Then perform a final 30-second negative repetition.

Barbell shoulder press

Move a loaded barbell with an overhand grip up to your shoulders. Bend your knees slightly and press the barbell up over your head with a slight swing from your legs. The bar should be directly above your shoulders. Slowly lower the bar to your shoulders in 30 seconds. Then try to perform 10 repetitions with good form. Then perform a final 30-second negative repetition.

Reverse barbell curls

Load a barbell with about half the weight you use for barbell curls. Grip the bar with an overhand grip. Anchor your elbows at the side of your body and move the barbell up to your shoulders with a reverse curl movement. Keep your wrists stable and lower the bar back down to the lowest position over a period of 30 seconds. Perform 10 normal repetitions without rest before finishing the set with a 30-second negative repetition.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/growth-explosion-the-30-10-30-technique/

By Ellington Darden, PhD