Training

Nov 11, 2019

Tips of the week Achieve gains with active regeneration

Sometimes the simplest methods can produce the best results. The problem most people have with the concept of active recovery is not the theory, but rather the execution. If you consider yourself hardcore, then it's damn hard to flip those switches when every muscle fiber is telling you to do another high-intensity training session.

If your recovery training session started as a walk on the treadmill and turned into an interval sprint training session at a speed of 20 km/h and a 4% incline, then you know what I'm talking about here. More is always better, right? Well, not when it comes to tissue and nervous system regeneration.

Stimulate your regeneration: Go for a walk

You think walking is too low a level of exercise to have any physical or orthopedic benefits. Scientific research from Dr. Stu McGill's lab says otherwise. Walking is not only one of the most fundamental movement patterns known to man, but it can also stimulate recovery and be a protective mechanism against future injury to the spine, backbone, hip and other regions of the body.

Active muscle pump

An active muscle pump occurs when the muscles of the lower body contract again and again in an antagonistic and agonistic manner. This puts pressure on the vascular system and supports lymphatic drainage, which is an effective regeneration mechanism. Basically, walking removes systemic waste products and water retention.

A non-compensatory gait pattern can also improve joint and spinal positioning, as well as the tone and position of the muscles of the shoulders, core and hips. Walking is the perfect form of regeneration in every respect. There's nothing sexy about this type of exercise, but if you want to recover and perform optimally, you should start by walking.

Tip: Use this simple trick to boil eggs

An easy way to always have an excellent source of protein on hand. Check out this kitchen hack.

By Chris Shugart

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-use-this-simple-trick-to-cook-eggs

Hard-boiled eggs are a convenient source of easily portable protein and testosterone level-supporting saturated fat. (Yes, free testosterone levels are higher in those who include saturated fat in their diet). The problem is that most people can't even manage to cook an egg properly.

If your hard-boiled eggs have a gray-green skin around the yolk, then you've overcooked them. It's okay to eat these eggs, but iron sulfide doesn't taste or smell so great. Here's a simple solution.

Baked eggs

Preheat the oven to 165 degrees.
Place a dozen eggs on a muffin pan.
Bake the eggs for 30 minutes.
After baking, place the eggs in a bowl of ice water. This will stop the ongoing cooking process. No more green egg yolks or sulfur-flavored bloat.

Tip: Embrace the emptiness

Do you feel like the weight of the whole world is on your shoulders? Then push it away. Exercise is therapy

By Dave Tate

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-embrace-the-void

As a teenager, the gym was the place I could escape to when I felt worthless or like a failure. I was in control and could decide if I was successful. It was my place to develop and grow - both mentally and physically. Much like other teenagers who find themselves in similar situations, I built walls around myself and closed myself off. My walls were made of forged iron and steel.

It was always something I was good at. And as I grew and got bigger and stronger, the abuse ended very quickly. I went from being the kid you pushed around to the kid you better not mess with. And I still see training in the same way today. The reason for this - and the stronger among you readers will know this - is that something happens during these very intense sentences.

It doesn't matter if it's a set where you set a personal best, if it's a set with maximum effort or if it's a set with a high repetition count, as long as you know that this set is going to be challenging. You know you have to find a way to give it your all, focus and see what you're made of. Because once the bar is loaded and the execution of your set is approaching, you find that place that I can't really explain. From the moment you approach the pole to the moment the set is over, there is nothing there.

The argument you had with your girlfriend today? Gone.
Your exams? Gone.
Your problems at work? Gone.
Your bills? Gone.
That asshole on the other side of the training area? Gone.
The pain? Gone.

The mental pain is now replaced by physical pain, but this is the pain you crave, because the burden you've been carrying around your whole life is now resting on your back - and you have the power to destroy it.

I call this "nothingness" the emptiness, but it's not really nothing - it's everything. When I look back on the last 30 years of my training, training has always been my therapy. This is the reason I do what I do - both the positive stuff and the crazy stuff. This is the reason I am so passionate about sharing what I know.

The void is the only time I feel truly free - free from all the junk that other people and life throw at me. It's all gone. It's just me and the weight. And this is where I find my peace. Exercise is my therapy. It has changed my life.

Maybe it will change your life too.

Tip: Hang the additional weight backwards during pull-ups

The way most exercisers use additional weights leads to poor movement mechanics and even back pain. Here's a simple solution to this problem.

By Kyle Arsenault

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-for-pull-ups-hang-weight-in-the-back

Pull-ups are hard to beat when it comes to building a more muscular and stronger upper body. The only problem with this basic exercise performed vertically? Well, you'll get good at this exercise fast. You get stronger, neuromuscularly more efficient or you lose fat. And then you're only training for muscular endurance and no longer for strength.

What can you do about this? Use additional weights. The most common method is to attach a few weight plates to a weightlifting belt and let them hang down in front of your body. However, there is a problem here.

The problem: A weightlifting belt with the weight in front of the body

If you have a weightlifting belt loaded with additional weight that hangs in front of your body between your legs, the gravitational forces of the weight exert a forward and downward pulling force on the pelvis. This causes the pelvis to tilt, putting excessive force on the lumbar spine.

Apart from the potential for injury or pain, this excessive tilting throws the upper body mechanics out of balance due to the weight hanging in front of the body. To prevent this, you could make an intense effort to prevent the pelvis from tilting. Unfortunately, however, the extra energy required to do this and the extra focus on keeping the pelvis straight would compromise the strength you can use for the actual pulling movement. With the aim of pulling more weight, this would therefore be counterproductive.

The solution: a weightlifting belt with the weight behind the body

A better way to use an additional weight for pull-ups is to place this weight behind the body. Instead of letting the weight hang down in front of your body, simply turn the belt 180 degrees backwards so that the weight hangs down behind your body.

By shifting the weight backwards, your pelvis is passively pulled into a more neutral position. This not only provides better alignment of the muscle chain involved in this exercise, but also reduces the energy required to hold yourself in this position. Now you can focus on performing the pulling movement instead of holding yourself out of the unwanted position.

Tip: Build bigger triceps with push-ups

Regular tricep push-ups are good, but this variation will make push-ups much more effective.

By Chad Waterbury

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-build-bigger-triceps-with-push-ups

Push-ups with hands placed close together are an excellent triceps exercise, but the exercise has some drawbacks. Most exercisers can perform 20 or more repetitions, which means the weight is insufficient for maximum hypertrophy. The range of motion is also shorter than it could be. Lastly, the exercise is too stable, so the triceps don't have to work as hard as they would with a slightly more unstable exercise.

The solution

The solution to these three problems is to elevate the feet using a Swiss ball or other training ball.

This shifts more of your weight forward so that your triceps have to move a greater percentage of your body weight
By elevating your feet, you have to work through a greater range of motion.
The instability generated by the feet placed on the ball is great for overloading the triceps and core. Tricep push-ups performed correctly in this way are harder than they look.

Tricep push-up technique

Start in a regular push-up position and place your shins on a large exercise ball. Next, move your hands close together so that your thumbs and index fingers form a triangle.
Tighten your abdominal muscles and lower your body until your chest touches your thumbs. Then push your body back up and push your shoulder blades apart at the highest point of the movement to activate your serratus muscles.

Keep the speed relatively slow at the beginning. If you try to move too fast, the ball will probably roll sideways. Once you have developed a feel for the exercise, you can concentrate on pushing yourself away from the floor with maximum acceleration.

Tip: Perform the warm-up for lazy exercisers

Two minutes, two quick warm-up drills. The quick warm-up for lazy (or busy) exercisers

Chris Shugart

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-the-lazy-lifter-warm-up

Some days your workout just never feels 'right'. Something in your body is off track and no exercise seems to flow. You're stiff, pinching and everything feels wrong somehow.

The problem? It most likely has something to do with your warm-up - or lack of warm-up. You'll find countless advanced warm-up routines on this site and many others on the internet, but a lot of exercisers simply aren't willing to go through half an hour of warm-up drills - at least not when they're pressed for time. Here's the solution.

The warm-up for lazy (or busy) exercisers

This quick warm-up takes about two minutes and seems to take care of most of the stiffness issues that exercisers usually have. Yes, you may need more than this depending on your issues and your training session of the day, but if you're pressed for time or just want to get to the iron quickly, then you should at least do this short warm-up. You'll feel the difference almost immediately.

1 - Perform a deep squat with your own body weight

Get into the bottom squat position using only your own body weight and hold it for 30 seconds. As this movement is performed without any additional weight, you can relax at the lowest point of the movement and let your spine sink into the stretch. Towards the end of the 30 seconds, you will also start to feel a nice relaxation in your lower back.

The deep squat will help you maintain your hip flexion mobility - the ability to go all the way down in squats - throughout your life. If you use this ability, you will keep it - if you don't, you will lose it.

2 - Hang from a bar

Legendary bodybuilder Lee Labrada started every training session by hanging from a bar. He was onto something.

Simply hang from a pull-up bar and relax. Then lift your knees and hold them up for a while. After the initial stretch, swing back and forth slightly and rotate your lower body. Experiment with a wider and tighter grip. Then release the bar with one hand and use your toes to change your position. Find the right points for the latissimus and pecs. Aim for 60 seconds on the bar.

Dr. Ken Kinakin noted, "When you do squats, deadlifts or similar exercises, your spine is compressed and the facet joints in your lower back are also compressed. If too much load rests on these joints, this will neurologically deactivate the muscle system. The joint has receptors that turn off the muscles to prevent you from hurting yourself."

He added that lifting the knees while hanging from the bar leads to the best results.

3 - Repeat the squat with your own body weight

You'll notice that this time you come further down.

Perform this quick combo before every training session. A warm-up like this will feel great even on non-training days.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-make-gains-with-active-recovery

From Dr. John Rusin

Nov 06, 2019

How to build strength and mass with reverse pyramid training Part 1

It seems like every day a new training protocol or program sees the light of day. There are so many training styles out there that most of us end up spending more time and effort trying to figure out how to train than we actually spend on our training.

Everywhere you look, someone is trying to impose their "superior" way of training on you. And the bad news?

Most of these programs out there have major flaws or problems. They are often very complicated, very demanding and only usable in the short term. Not to mention the countless programs that are pure garbage. But I digress.

Today we're going to take a look at an old, simple and very effective style of training that has proven itself time and time again - reverse pyramid training.

What is reverse pyramid training and what is the logic behind this style of training?

For the sake of simplicity (and my desire to avoid boring you to death), I'll try to keep it simple. Reverse pyramid training is a training style where you start your training sessions with heavier and more challenging sets when you are still fresh and rested. As the training session progresses, you gradually reduce the weight in favor of performing more repetitions.

Here is an example of what it might look like if you perform the first exercise of the day in this way:

2 to 4 warm-up sets, working your way up to your working weight
Set 1: A weight with which you can perform 4 to 8 repetitions
Set 2: Reduce the weight by 10% and perform additional repetitions
Set 3: Reduce the weight by 10% again and perform additional repetitions

Example:

2 to 4 warm-up sets working your way up to 375 pounds on the deadlift
Set 1: 375 pounds for 5 repetitions
Set 2: 335 pounds for 6 to 7 repetitions
Set 3: 305 pounds for 8 to 9 reps

Perform your warm-up sets as usual. Perform a few progressively heavier sets of a few reps and don't put too much effort into this. The goal is to work your way up to your working weight and not exhaust yourself before performing your heaviest set.

Anecdotally, this style of training makes a lot of sense. You're fresh and refreshed at the start of your workouts, which means you can put a lot of effort into the first few sets of your workout, forcing a stronger response from your body and building more strength (1).

How to train in reverse pyramid training style

Part of the reason I like reverse pyramid training is that it's very simple to understand and easy to perform.

Perform a few warm-up sets and slowly work your way up to 75-85% of the weight of your heaviest set.
Load the bar with the weight for your heaviest set. For deadlifts, this is usually a weight with which you can perform 3 to 6 repetitions. For other multi-joint exercises (bench press, squats, rowing, shoulder press, pull-ups, etc.), slightly higher repetitions (6 to 8 repetitions) are recommended.
Reduce the weight by 10%, pause and perform a second set, aiming to perform 1 to 2 repetitions more.
Reduce the weight by 10% again, pause and perform a final set aiming to perform 1 to 2 more repetitions.
Continue with the next exercise.

You should put a lot of effort into each set and perform as many repetitions as possible without reaching the point of muscle failure. If you start to reduce the range of motion or your technique starts to deteriorate, you should end the set.

This is the essence of reverse pyramid training in action. Once you understand this, you can integrate reverse pyramid training into your training in many different ways.

You can do this for the sets of a given exercise as described above, but you can also do this on an exercise-by-exercise basis:

Exercise 1 (e.g. deadlift): 4 sets of 4 to 8 repetitions
Exercise 2 (e.g. barbell rows): 4 sets of 6 to 10 repetitions each
Exercise 3 (e.g. pull-ups): 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions
Exercise 4 (e.g. seated rowing): 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions

As you can see, we gradually reduce the weight and increase the number of repetitions during the training session as we fatigue. The only difference is that we do this on a larger scale.

You can also use this style of training with any exercise and work your way down from the top, but you should also be aware that this style of training is very demanding and the risk of overtraining or injury will be much higher (2).

Here is an example:

Exercise 1 (bench press): Set 1 - 6 to 8 repetitions ⇒ Set 2 (reduce the weight by 10%) - 8 to 10 repetitions ⇒ Set 3 (reduce the weight by another 10%) 10 to 12 repetitions
Exercise 2 (incline bench press): Set 1 - 6 to 8 repetitions ⇒ Set 2 (reduce the weight by 10%) - 8 to 10 repetitions ⇒ Set 3 (reduce the weight by a further 10%) 10 to 12 repetitions
Exercise 3 (chest press on the machine): Set 1 - 6 to 8 repetitions ⇒ Set 2 (reduce the weight by 10%) - 8 to 10 repetitions ⇒ Set 3 (reduce the weight by a further 10%) 10 to 12 repetitions

etc., etc.

As I said, I do not recommend this as it is very demanding. For the later sets, I recommend either switching to straight sets (e.g. 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps), or using reverse pyramid training in the context of the entire training session (i.e. you reduce the weight overall in favor of more reps).

How you ultimately use reverse pyramid training is entirely up to you. However, you should only use it for multi-joint exercises on a set-by-set basis, preferably at the beginning of the training session. This should be followed by supportive training with lighter weights and more repetitions (8+).

To avoid injury, it is important to have good form for heavy exercises such as deadlifts.

How to build strength with reverse pyramid training

How good a training program is can largely be determined by its progression style. Many programs out there use no progression at all on a weekly or monthly basis, and yet people wonder why they aren't getting useful results from their 2-set workouts.

Here's why:

If you want to see continuous improvements in terms of your body development and performance, then you need to do more over time (3). This is what training means. If you do the same thing over and over again, you're just maintaining the status quo. You will not get stronger or more muscular.

This is why progressive overload is a key requirement, and getting stronger as a natural trainee is the most reliable and efficient way to get more muscular.

Reverse pyramid training uses a double progression system. This means that your goal should be to increase the weight you move or the number of repetitions you perform, or both on a good day, on a weekly basis. This works as follows:

1. during the first week or two, you will need to guess your starting weight so that your sets performed to near muscle failure fall within the specified repetition ranges.

For example, if you start with 120 kilos for squats and do 8 reps on your heaviest set, then you should start with 125 kilos the following week. If, on the other hand, you are unable to perform at least 6 repetitions with 120 kilos, then you should start with 115 kilos the following week.

2 Once you have determined your starting weight, set yourself goals for each exercise. For example, for squats, set a goal of 8 reps on your heaviest set, 10 reps on your second set and 12 reps on your third set. Once you have reached your repetition goals with a given weight, increase the weight the following week.

Here is an example:

Week 1

Targets: 8, 10, 12
Set 1: 100 kg x 8
Set 2: 90 kg x 10
Set 3: 80 kg x 12

You have achieved all three goals and can increase the weight for all three sets.

Week 2

Goals: 8, 10, 12
Set 1: 102.5 kg x 6
Set 2: 92.5 kg x 9
Set 3: 82.5 kg x 12

This week you have only reached your 12 repetition goal, so the following week you will use 85 kg for the third set while maintaining the weight for sets 1 and 2. You will increase the weight on these sets once you have reached your repetition goals.

This is the most satisfying progression style in my opinion, as even if you don't progress on your top set, you still have the chance to earn the "right" to use heavier weights on sets 2 and 3 the following week (if you reach your goals, of course).

You can, of course, increase the weight once you have achieved all three goals, but you should be prepared to use the same weights for a few weeks in a row. With the independent style described above, you can increase the weight more frequently as you work your way up to achieve your three individual goals.

You can also use a linear progression style where you increase the weight by 2.5 kilos each week. The problem, however, is that once you get past the beginner stage, no one will achieve such consistent gains on a weekly basis and you will eventually reach a point where you can only do 2 to 3 reps on your heaviest set (or your training partner reaches their max weight on rowing upright). This is the perfect way to injure yourself.

In the second part of this article, we'll take a look at how reverse pyramid training can be used to build muscle mass and then look at the pros and cons of this training approach.

Source: https://pumpsomeiron.com/how-to-gain-strength-with-reverse-pyramid-training/

Nov 05, 2019

How often should you train with weights to build muscle?

Many people scour the internet looking for an answer to the question "How often should I train with weights to build muscle?" And if you do some research, you'll find that there are thousands of opinions on the subject.

Some people recommend training a muscle group only once a week, while others think that each muscle group should be trained two or three times a week. And then there are those who recommend up to five or six training days per week for certain muscle groups.

It's clear that there are a lot of different opinions on this topic. In this article, we will take a closer look at the scientific literature and provide a science-based answer.

The role of training volume in muscle growth

Before we can make recommendations regarding training frequency for optimal muscle growth, we first need to look at how training volume affects our results.

For those unfamiliar with this term, training volume refers to the total amount of work you perform during a given training session, week or training cycle. There are many ways to control volume, but for the sake of simplicity in this article we will talk about the total number of sets.

It is generally assumed that training volume is the primary factor responsible for muscle growth (1). If a certain amount is good, then more is better. Of course, only up to a certain point. You shouldn't start doing 40 sets for your pecs every week.

A recent meta-analysis looked at the effects of higher vs. lower training volume on muscle growth and found a direct correlation between doing more work and a better hypertrophy response (2).

The authors of the study recommended performing at least 10 sets of work per muscle group per week for muscle growth. They also recommended the following:

Consistent with an evidence-based approach, trainers should carefully monitor their clients' progress and adjust the dosage of training based on individual response.

Where the upper threshold for training volume lies is still unclear, but the authors recommended something between 10 and 20 work sets per week for each muscle group. This is pretty much in line with most recommendations found in the real training world.

Of course, individual factors such as age, stress levels outside of the gym and the work you do (physical vs. office job) are also important when it comes to judging how much stress you can handle in the gym.

A small caveat regarding training volume

Before we go any further, it's worth noting that not all sets are created equal. How demanding a given set is depends on two main factors:

How demanding the exercise is (you can't expect a set of deadlifts to be as easy as a set of bicep curls)
How much effort you put into the set.

The first thing you need to understand is that your training should be a combination of multi-joint exercises and isolation exercises. Performing 20 sets of bench presses will be significantly more difficult and stressful than performing the same number of sets spread across multiple exercises such as bench presses, push-ups and flying movements.

Secondly, the majority of the work sets you perform should be to near muscle failure, where you should only finish the set 2 to 4 repetitions before the point of muscle failure. Training to muscle failure is not more effective for muscle growth, but can dramatically increase the level of fatigue and lead to overtraining (3, 4, 5, 6, 7).

So how often should you train with weights to build muscle?

A lot of fitness experts out there recommend higher training frequencies when it comes to maximizing results in the gym, but many do so for the wrong reasons.

Many people believe that training a muscle two or three days a week is superior due to the rise and fall of protein synthesis after a workout (8).

And while this may be a factor, we have no research to support the idea that more frequent stimulation of protein synthesis leads to greater muscle growth. The meta-analysis (1) I cited above looked at the relationship between training frequency and volume. The scientists came to the following conclusion:

The results of the presented systematic review and meta-analysis suggest a significant effect of training frequency, as higher training frequencies are associated with greater gains in muscle strength. However, these effects appear to be primarily driven by training volume, as no significant effect of training volume on gains in muscle strength was observed when volume was equalized.

Another reason is the controversial Norwegian experimental study from 2012, in which elite powerlifters were divided into two groups: 3 or 6 training sessions per week with the same weekly training volume (9).

After 15 weeks, the group with the higher training frequency had built up almost twice as much bench press and squat strength as the group that trained three days a week. And these guys were already quite strong at the beginning of the study:

The maximum weight for squats was between 275 and 451 pounds.
The maximum weight for bench presses was between 187 and 364 pounds.
The maximum weight for deadlifts was between 342 and 540 pounds.

This led people to believe that more frequent training would result in better progress. However, it should be emphasized that this study was never published in a peer reviewed journal. I have always wondered why this was the case.

It seems that if your goal is to increase your strength, training the primary exercises more frequently will result in faster progress. You would be able to train the execution of each exercise more frequently in a recovered state.

And since training with weights is a skill like any other, training more often can help you increase your efficiency faster.

Layne Norton has described this as follows:

"Think of it this way. If a crazy psychopath kidnapped your family and told you that he would kill them if you didn't manage to increase your maximum squat weight by 100 pounds in three months, you wouldn't train squats only once a week, would you?"

This example of a training frequency of once a week and twice a week demonstrates that the total volume per week increases when training is increased to two workouts per muscle group per week:

Once a week training:

Set 1: 300 x 8 = 2,400 pounds of volume
Set 2: 275 x 10 = 2,750 pounds of volume
Set 3: 275 x 8 = 2,200 pounds of volume
Set 4: 250 x 8 = 2,000 pounds volume
Set 5: 225 x 10 = 2,250 pounds volume
Set 6: 225 x 8 = 1,800 pounds of volume

Total volume of weight moved during the week: 13,400 pounds

Twice weekly training:

Same number of sets split over two days:

First workout of the week

Set 1: 300 x 8 = 2,400 pounds of volume
Set 2: 275 x 10 = 2,750 pounds of volume
Set 3: 275 x 8 = 2,200 pounds of volume

Second workout of the week

Set 1: 300 x 8 = 2,400 pounds of volume
Set 2: 275 x 10 = 2,750 pounds of volume
Set 3: 275 x 8 = 2,200 pounds of volume

Total volume of weight moved during the week: 14,700 pounds

What is our position on training frequency and muscle growth?

Based on the available scientific literature, we can safely say that a higher training frequency (or how many times you train a given muscle per week) should primarily be used as a tool to increase weekly training volume and stimulate greater muscle growth.

As you may have guessed, this in itself is a good reason to train muscles more frequently. This allows for a better distribution of volume and each training session should be a little lighter.

You should look at it this way:

Sure, you can train your chest once a week and do all of your 15 to 20 sets during that training session, but as your training progresses, you will accumulate more and more fatigue. After a few sets, your chest will be severely fatigued and your performance will start to suffer.

On the other hand, if you split your 15 to 20 sets into two or three training sessions per week, then each training session will be less demanding and you will be able to perform most of your sets in a rested state. This will allow you to move heavier weights with more repetitions, which should lead to greater gains in muscle mass over time.

For example, let's say you're currently using the following common training split:

Monday: chest & triceps
Tuesday: Back and biceps
Wednesday: No training
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: legs
Weekend: No training

After 12 to 15 sets of chest on Monday, you will have to do another 6 to 12 sets for your triceps. At this point you will already be exhausted and your triceps will therefore no longer be able to move much weight. Basically, they would come second and not grow optimally.

# On the other hand, if you were to move to a training split that allowed you to train each muscle group twice a week, you would still hit your weekly volume target, but you wouldn't exhaust each muscle during a training session as much as the first training split.

A training split could look like this:

Monday: Upper body
Tuesday: Lower body
Wednesday: No training
Thursday: Upper body
Friday: Lower body
Weekend: No training

My recommendations on the topic of training frequency

Let's summarize the above to answer your question "How often should I train with weights per week to build muscle?":

Training volume is the primary driving force for muscle growth. You can train your biceps six times a week, but if you only do one set a day, you can't expect much muscle growth. You can, on the other hand, only train your biceps once a week, and they will have no choice but to grow if you bombard them with 10+ sets in a row.
Your work sets should be a combination of multi-joint exercises and isolation exercises.
For maximum muscle growth, the majority of your sets should be performed with a weight in the range of 60 to 85% of your 1RM weight (typically 6 to 20 reps per set) (10).
Most of your sets should be performed to near muscle failure (with 2 to 4 reps in reserve), as training to muscle failure will not produce greater muscle growth, but can greatly increase fatigue and reduce performance on subsequent sets and even workouts.
You should train each muscle two to three times per week to achieve a better distribution of volume. If your schedule allows you to train five to six times per week, then you could distribute your volume more evenly and not generate too much fatigue in any training session.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29470825
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27433992
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435910/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25809472
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4731492/
https://www.pagepressjournals.org/index.php/bam/article/view/6339
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28965198
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8563679
https://github.com/linkel/Ligand/blob/master/content/Norwegian_High_Frequency_Programs.md
https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2010/10000/The_Mechanisms_of_Muscle_Hypertrophy_and_Their.40.aspx

Source: https://pumpsomeiron.com/how-often-should-i-lift-weights-to-gain-muscle/

Nov 04, 2019

9 Broscience myths - destroyed by real science

You want the truth? Maybe the truth is too much for you? Either way, it's time to learn what science has to say and then decide for yourself what you believe and what you don't believe. Okay, so hear me out, because I'm going to crush some hopes and dreams here.

If you're not familiar with the term "broscience" in fitness terminology, here's a good definition:

"Broscience is the predominant type of reasoning in bodybuilding circles in which anecdotal reports from muscular guys are considered more reliable and credible than scientific research."

Basically, it's advice that has been passed down from decade to decade by bench press-crazed meatheads to their eager padawans who have only ever done half squats since the beginning of their training careers.

Luckily for you, this article will bust some of the biggest myths in the fitness industry to help you save time, ease your fears and uncertainty, and simplify the process of building muscle.

1. cardio training in a fasted state

For as long as the internet has existed, exercisers have been running on the treadmill on an empty stomach with the hope that this could somehow help them achieve the low body fat percentage of elite athletes while remaining in an anabolic state.

Here's a quick news overview in case you're not up to date on the scientific research regarding physiology and the human body -Omega-3 fatty acids are vital for early childhood growth and development. Cardio training in a fasted state has no additional body composition benefits beyond what you can achieve with cardio training performed in a non-fasting state and a sufficient calorie deficit (1).

Here is a quote from a recent study on this topic:

"There is evidence that greater use of fat as an energy source during a given period is compensated for by greater use of carbohydrate later in the day. Fat burning therefore needs to be considered over the course of the day, rather than on an hour-by-hour basis, to assess the true impact on body composition."

Yes, you read that right - the so-called "fat burning zone" indicated on most treadmills and ergometers is nothing more than a misinterpretation of science and human physiology.

And what does this mean for you? No growling stomach or bad mood in the morning while you're trying to make gains in cardiovascular fitness.

2. the anabolic time window

If there's no anabolic window in your house, you're missing out. These things are guaranteed to ward off even the worst catabolism in the worst of all possible situations.

If you look into the past, exercisers have been trying to jump through the anabolic window ever since the first set of curls was completed in the squat rack.

We know from scientific research on the subject that the muscle protein synthesis response to a meal consisting of mixed macronutrients lasts for a period of 3 to 4 hours and cannot be re-stimulated within this phase due to the refractory nature of circulating amino acids (2).

However, it should be noted that carbohydrate utilization is generally higher after exercise, taking into account the upregulation of GLUT-4, which acts as a glucose modulator for transport across cell membranes.

From a physiological point of view, if you have eaten a meal 60 to 90 minutes before training, it is not absolutely necessary to consume protein immediately after your training session, as amino acid availability is still high enough due to the previous meal (2).

However, if you choose to train on an empty stomach, or if your last meal was consumed long before training (5+ hours), it may be wise to ensure you consume a fast-digesting protein source such as whey protein.

3. training with your own body weight is not effective

"Push-ups are only good for one thing - getting a good pump before you hit the pool or a party. Other than that, they're relatively useless."

First of all, your "party pump" will be more like a balloon animal from my two-year-old nephew's birthday party that's running out of air.

And if you simply refuse to exercise with your own body weight because it's "uncool", then you should seriously reconsider your attitude. A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that push-ups performed with resistance bands produced similar EMG scores and strength gains to traditional bench presses (3).

Simply put, if you're ignoring bodyweight exercises like pull-ups, dips, push-ups, planks and numerous other elements of gymnastics, you're missing the big picture.

4. meal frequency

We already know that meal frequency doesn't have a significant impact on the thermic effect of food, so there's no point cramming 8 meals into a day if you don't want to (4).

But that's not all - nutrient timing is probably only responsible for roughly 20% of the changes that can be observed in body composition. However, 20% for taking care of all the important details is a small price to pay if you have body composition related goals.

However, we need to keep in mind that muscle building and muscle loss is not a pulsating process, but happens in a continuous manner. If there are no amino acids in the digestive tract, then they will be drawn from the largest store of amino acids - muscle tissue.

With the last piece of information in mind, it should be clear that meal frequency still plays a role. Carbohydrates right before a training session can help delay central nervous system fatigue, they can replenish glycogen stores and they can raise blood sugar.

So if you've jumped on the intermittent fasting or carbohydrate backloading bandwagon, make sure you've consumed adequate amounts of protein and carbohydrates before your training session, otherwise you could be hindering your body's development.

5. muscles are synonymous with brains

There is an alarming trend in the fitness industry. For some reason, the aesthetic appearance of a person's body seems to serve as an indication of that person's knowledge to the onlooker.

It is true that personal experience and anecdotal experimentation are required for the muscle building process, but the degree of a person's muscle development does not determine their understanding of physiology, biomechanics or periodization.

All too often we assume that the most muscular and strongest guy in the gym knows the most and can help anyone become more muscular, leaner, stronger and faster. Sadly, this is not the case.

There are many people in the gym and on the internet who have simply "thrown junk at a wall and watched what stuck." In other words, these people don't have a clue what actually worked in their training and diet, but surprisingly, they got lucky.

Others are blessed with very good genetic predispositions or choose the "chemical support" route. However, you can't look at these people's results as typical results unless you choose the same path.

I have seen many people in the gym move very usable weights on the 3 big basic exercises despite flawed mechanics and a lack of a structured training program. If you ask these people how they got this far, most will simply respond with "Hmmm...hard work?".

I've seen a lot of broscience touted as fact by popular fitness icons and most simply believe them simply because of the large social media following.

I don't want to discredit hard work at this point, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

6. you don't need to do cardio training

"Explain this to me: if my only goal is to achieve the form of Arnold in his prime and build biceps the size of a softball, what would be the point of cardio training?"

Before you panic about losing your gains, relax first. If you can manage 1 to 2 sessions of low intensity cardio per week, then you have bigger problems than your lack of gains.

Aside from the overall health benefits of consistent intensity cardio training with a heart rate in the 120-140 bpm range (e.g. better insulin sensitivity, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, increased overall work capacity, etc.), you need to remember that your anaerobic energy system determines your recovery from day to day, set to set and repetition to repetition.

Also consider this for a moment - if an athlete increases the cross-sectional area of their muscles (i.e. the diameter of their muscle fibers), then this will also increase the absolute amount of metabolic byproducts generated during training.

Cardio training at a constant intensity can increase peripheral capillary density, which in turn can improve the filtration and removal of metabolic by-products generated during muscular exertion.

In addition to this, cardio training can also help to influence the dominance of the nervous system, increasing brain plasticity and creating a better balance of neurotransmitters.

Can you get strong without cardio? Yes, but you could improve your training performance even further if you stopped ignoring the physiological benefits you can achieve through all energy systems.

7. "Your core is weak, just do some sit-ups."

It would be better if you tried to pull your navel towards your spine and hollow out your core.

Your abs may be weak, but learning how to breathe properly and stabilize your core effectively will guarantee you much higher dividends when it comes to core stability and maximum strength release (6).

Sit-ups have their raison d'être when it comes to hypertrophy, but the majority of exercisers already get too much movement in their spine beforehand, which is why they would benefit from learning how to maintain a stabilized position while breathing under load.

A study was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research comparing isometric and dynamic training for the core. This study came to the following conclusion:

"...an isometric training approach was superior in terms of improving core stiffness. This is important because increased core stiffness increases weight-bearing capacity, stops painful vertebral micromovements, and improves ballistic distal limb movement." (5).

In other words, movements of an isometric nature (i.e. variations of planks, rollouts, loaded carries, etc.) will have the greatest carryover when it comes to increasing force production, reducing spinal movement and improving your ability to move heavier weights.

Learn to control the range of motion isometrically before attempting to move through it dynamically.

8 GOMAD is extremely effective for most exercisers

Leaving the lactose discussion aside, I don't think GOMAD is the best strategy for most exercisers who have trouble building muscle (GOMAD stands for Gallon of Milk a Day, meaning the consumption of about 3.7 liters of milk per day). I'm sure there are a few "internet experts out there" who will disagree with me and post their opinions on YouTube, but that misses the point.

I've written about undulating progression schemes before and believe that they certainly have their raison d'être, but the dietary advice that accompanies them is often myopic in nature and sometimes downright stupid. I would like to see a GOMAD "transformation" where the end result was a large increase in muscle mass without excessive fat gain.

Just one!

There's a reason the vast majority of beginners are put on this type of diet and exercise program: It's easy and someone doesn't want to take the time to explain the basics to these beginners.

Don't let someone else's laziness be your excuse for excessive body fat gain and lactose intolerance.

9. everyone MUST train squats and deadlifts

It's not a myth, it's actually true: you should actively maintain the motor movement pattern of squats and a "hinge movement".

However, you should also keep in mind that not everyone will be able to perform conventional squats and deadlifts from day one. In fact, in my opinion, there are some exercisers who should never use the classic bar position for squats due to their anthropometry, injury history or other reasons.

If any movement causes pain, then you should find an adequate substitute until your central nervous system has established control over the entire range of motion.

For deadlifts, you could use one of the following variations:

Rack Pulls
Rack pulls with a wide grip
Sumo deadlift
Sumo deadlift with two kettlebells
Trap bar deadlift
Romanian deadlift
Landmine Romanian Deadlift
Suitcase deadlift with two kettlebells
Block pulls
Deadlift with wide grip
American deadlift

For squats you could use one of the following variations:

Dumbbell Goblet Squats
Front squats
Landmine goblet squats
Zercher squat
Kettlebell goblet squats
Safety bar squats
Front squats with two kettlebells
Sandbag front squats

Keep squats and deadlifts in your program, but if you're smart, you'll adapt your training and work around injury and pain.

Conclusion

I know this article is way too long, which is why you just skimmed through it while doing fasted cardio or eating your seventh meal of the day. Well, whenever you're ready to make your life a little easier and still get your best gains, you should read this article carefully and learn what the science has to say.

References:

1Body composition changes associated with fasted versus non-fasted aerobic exercise
Nutrient timing revisited: is there a post-exercise anabolic window?
Bench Press and Push-up at Comparable Levels of Muscle Activity Results in Similar Strength Gains
Effects of meal frequency on weight loss and body composition: a meta-analysis
Effect of Long-term Isometric Training on Core/Torso Stiffness
Quantification of lumbar stability by using 2 different abdominal activation strategies

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/broscience-myths-destroyed-by-science

Oct 24, 2019

The definitive guide to strength training How to get strong fast

After we looked at the basics of strength training in the first part of this article and looked at Starting Strength, one of the most popular and effective strength training programs for beginners, in this second part of this article series we will take a look at other popular and proven strength training programs such as 5 x 5 and the Texas Method.

5 x 5

In 1976, a book was published that changed the world of strength training forever. It was called The Strongest Shall Survive: Strength Training for Football and its philosophy was very simple. The author of the book - legendary Olympic and strength coach Bill Starr - described it as follows:

"The football player [and you can insert martial artist, MMA fighter or whatever here instead] needs to work on total body strength and should not rely solely on sport-specific exercises to increase strength.

In other words, the athlete should increase the overall strength of their legs rather than simply building stronger leg flexors. They should strive for an increase in overall strength in their shoulder girdle, not just stronger shoulder muscles."

The 5 x 5 program presented by Starr in this book focused on three exercises: Bench Press, Squats and Power Conversion (Power Clean).

Here is the original program:

Monday (heavy)
Exercise	Sets
Power Clean (Power Squat)	5	5
Bench press	5	5
Bench press	1	10
Squats	5	5
Squats	1	10

Wednesday (easy)
Exercise	Sets
Power Clean (Power Conversion)	5	5
Incline bench press	5	5
Incline bench press	1	10
Squats	5	5

Friday (medium difficulty)
Exercise	Sets
Power clean (power move)	5	5
Shoulder press	5	5
Shoulder press	1	10
Squats	5	5

Increasing the weights

For each exercise in a training session, start light and increase the weight progressively. The amount of weight you use varies from day to day.

A heavy training day looks like this:

- Set 1: 35% of your 5RM weight (the amount of weight you can perform 5 clean reps with, but no more).
- Set 2: 70% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 3: 80% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 4: 90% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 5: 100% of your 5RM weight.
- 10 repetitions set: 80% of your 5RM weight.

An easy training day looks like this:

- Set 1: 25% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 2: 50% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 3: 55% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 4: 65% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 5: 70% of your 5RM weight.
- 10 repetitions set: 55% of your 5RM weight.

A medium-heavy training day looks like this:

- Set 1: 30% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 2: 55% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 3: 65% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 4: 70% of your 5RM weight.
- Set 5: 80% of your 5RM weight.
- 10 repetitions set: 65% of your 5RM weight.

When and how to increase the weight

Starr recommends that you increase your 5RM weights by 2.5% per week for each exercise. If your 5RM weight on the bench press is 225 pounds at the beginning of the program, here's what it would look like: