Training

Mar 01, 2019

Tips of the week supersets

Do an exercise that relieves pressure on your spine immediately after an exercise that puts a lot of strain on it - you will become stronger and keep your spine healthy.

The spine can be easily compressed during heavy exercise. Heavy basic exercises such as squats, standing shoulder presses and deadlifts generate a lot of pressure on the spine. This can lead to limited blood flow through the spine, reduced electrical stimulus to the muscles and even set the stage for injuries such as herniated discs.

When choosing a superset, simply combining a pulling exercise with a pressing exercise is only half the battle, as both exercises - pulling and pressing - can both compress the spine. It is important to consciously relieve the spine with the second exercise of the superset without compromising the performance of either exercise.

From a health perspective, anything from the first list can be performed very effectively with anything from the second list as a superset to address spinal compression issues. This doesn't mean that the superset will be easy in any way, but your spine will thank you for it.

Compressing exercises

Squats (all variations)
Deadlift
Rowing bent over
Sit-Up
Loaded Carrie
Jumps

Decompressing exercises

Pull-ups
Dips on parallel bars
Hanging leg raises
Cable pullovers/pulldowns with outstretched arms
Reverse hypers
Leg curls

Avoid soy protein

For bodybuilders and strength athletes, soy protein is no better than water. Here's why

From TC Luoma

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-avoid-soy-protein

About 15 years ago, I broke the news to the body development world that some studies had shown that soy resulted in testicular shrinkage and lower testosterone levels. Despite this, some people still cling to the idea that soy is a good muscle-building protein.

They at least had a leg to stand on - even if it was a short and crippled one. Their reasoning was that soy protein is different from soy in that the isoflavones associated with reducing hormone levels and testicular shrinkage are removed during processing, so finished soy protein is free of these ingredients. This may or may not be true, as some reports suggest that some brands of soy protein do indeed contain isoflavones. But regardless of which camp you support, recent studies give us another reason to avoid soy.

Soy protein is no better than water

A study conducted at McMaster University came to the conclusion that when it comes to muscle protein synthesis - i.e. building muscle - soy is no better than water, at least when we're talking about older men. The scientists gave 30 older men 0 grams of protein, 20 grams of soy and 40 grams of soy at rest and after resistance training. They then compared the results with men who had been given 20 or 40 grams of whey protein instead.

While 40 grams of soy slightly increased protein synthesis, 20 grams of soy had the same effect as 0 grams of soy, while both 20 grams and 40 grams of whey protein significantly increased muscle protein synthesis. The scientists theorized that the whey worked so well (and the soy did not) because whey had a higher content of leucine, which is the amino acid primarily responsible for muscle building. At the same time, a higher percentage of the amino acids contained in soy, including leucine, were oxidized and were therefore no longer available for protein synthesis.

So if you want to build muscle, it's best to avoid soy protein.

Change your repetition ranges for mass and strength

There are better set and repetition schemes than 3x10, especially if your gains have stalled. Give the following a chance

By Christian Thibaudeau

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-change-your-rep-ranges-for-size-strength

Sure, three sets of 8 to 10 reps will work. And if you have good genetics, this can give you useful results. But don't you want more than "useful" results? There are other repetition ranges that will help you. And more importantly, changing the rep ranges you use every 4 to 6 weeks will lead to better progress in both mass and strength gains than sticking with the same type of stimulation month after month.

4 New repetition ranges you can try

4 to 6 reps at 80 to 87% of your max weight. This will stimulate a lot of body-wide growth and also help you achieve the strength to match. And as if that wasn't enough, you'll also look more solid and harder - even at rest.
1 to 3 with 90 to 100% of your maximum weight. This may not help you bulk up on its own, but it will make everything you do that day (after the heavy workout) more effective by increasing the recruitment of high threshold muscle fibers that are more receptive to growth. This zone will also help you get stronger faster than anything else. Don't do this for too long - 3 weeks is just about right. Your joints could become quite stressed if you are not used to heavy training.
Rest/pause sets. These will require you to work extra hard and learn to deal with pain, but these sets will help you gain more mass than any other method you can use. Choose a weight that allows you to perform 6 reps with solid form. Do your 6 reps, pause for 5 to 10 seconds and then continue the set with the same weight and try to do 2 to 4 more reps. Then if you suddenly find that you've grown some balls, add another 5 to 10 seconds of rest and try to do another 2 to 4 reps.
Clusters. No other method will increase your strength as quickly. Each cluster set consists of 4 to 6 total repetitions. Choose a weight with which you could normally perform 3 repetitions with good form. Perform one repetition at a time on this set. Perform one repetition, put the weight down, and pause for 10 to 12 seconds. Do another repetition, pause for 10 to 12 seconds and continue in this way until you reach the point where you can't do another repetition. If you can do more than 6 repetitions, increase the weight. Perform 3 of these clusters and you're well on your way to stimulating tons of strength gains. And because of the volume, you'll also build muscle mass.

Make Bulgarian split squats even harder

Use these exercises and you'll be able to move more weight for more reps on squats

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-make-the-bulgarian-split-squat-even-tougher

By Bret Contreras

Single-leg exercises allow you to achieve a level of joint torque and muscle activation similar to what you can achieve with double-leg exercises, but with less stress on the spine. And if you're weak in single-leg exercises, any strength gains will transfer to bilateral training.

Here's one of the best single-leg exercises that will help you with squats. It will also improve your single-leg stability and mobility through a greater range of motion.

Bulgarian split squats performed with dumbbells with the front foot elevated(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg30Nmammv4)

- Place the front foot on a 5 to 10 centimeter high elevation, which can consist of planks, mats or an aerobic step.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Place the other foot on a weight bench behind you. Most of the weight (about 80%) should be on the front foot, while the rest of your weight (20%) should be on the back foot.
- While keeping your torso as upright as possible, lower your body in a controlled manner until your knee lightly touches the floor.
- Then use your front leg to push yourself back up to the starting position. Keep your head, pelvis and spine in a neutral position throughout the movement.
- Do not allow the knee to move too far forward in front of the body or your toes to move from side to side. If you are prone to knee pain, move further back and keep your shin in a vertical position throughout the movement.

Avoid these mistakes:

Using too high a step for the front leg, which would alter the technique.
Losing control during part of the movement.
Not touching the floor with the knee and thereby reducing the range of motion.
Using a bench that is too high, which can cause pain in the hip or groin.
Standing on your toes.

Perform HIIT followed by cardio training at a consistent intensity

Intervals mobilize body fat. Follow with cardio at a consistent intensity to ensure the fat is burned.

By Clay Hyght, DC

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-hiit-followed-by-steady-state-cardio

HIIT, High-Intensity Interval Training, mobilizes and burns a lot of fat from your fat stores. It's super effective in that regard, but just because fat is mobilized and enters the bloodstream doesn't mean it's burned. That's right, you can mobilize a lot of fat through intervals and a lot of it can go back to where it came from.

Consistent intensity cardio isn't nearly as effective as HIIT when it comes to mobilizing fat from fat stores, but it's really effective when it comes to burning the triglycerides that are still in your bloodstream after high-intensity intervals. Cardio training at a consistent intensity performed after HIIT provides insurance that the fat that has been mobilized will be burned.

How you can put this strategy into practice

Perform at least 20 minutes of cardio training at a constant intensity after your intervals. The intervals can last between 10 and 20 minutes.

Here are a few examples: If you have 30 minutes available for your cardio workout, try 10 minutes of HIIT followed by 20 minutes of cardio at a steady intensity. If you have an hour available, try 20 minutes of HIIT followed by 40 minutes of cardio training at a constant intensity.

As for the type of cardio training, you can let your imagination run wild. Try 20 minutes of intervals on the stepper, immediately followed by 40 minutes of walking on the treadmill with a slight incline. If you're doing your cardio outside, you could try sprints immediately followed by walking or jogging.

Perform this 2 minute drill before each training session

Wake up your nervous system before exercise to recruit more muscle fibers

By Chad Waterbury

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-this-2-minute-drill-before-every-workout

Your nervous system controls your muscles. The problem, however, is that many of us stagger into the gym either straight after work or in a semi-coma right after getting up in the morning. When you are half asleep, so is your nervous system. This significantly impairs your ability to generate maximum power with each exercise. A lazy nervous system keeps you from recruiting more muscle fibers.

Here is a simple way to solve this problem. Before you start your actual training session, get your nervous system going using the following exercises:

1 minute of jumping rope

15 seconds rest

Run at maximum speed for 10 seconds or perform squats using only your own body weight for 10 seconds.

15 seconds rest

Hang from a pull-up bar for 15 seconds

This series of exercises should only take you 2 minutes. The first two exercises will wake up your nervous system and hanging will open up the intervertebral space of your spine to improve nerve conduction to your muscles. Do this before every training session and you will see results.

Take on the Texas push-up challenge

Think you're good at push-ups? Here's your chance to find out if that's true

By Chris Shugart

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-take-the-texas-push-up-challenge

Here's how the whole thing works:

Start in a standing position.
Get into the push-up position and perform one repetition of push-ups.
Stand up again quickly.
Return to the push-up position and perform two push-ups.
Stand up again quickly.
Return to the push-up position and perform three push-ups.

Repeat this pattern until you have performed 10 push-ups in the last set. So you will end up doing a total of 55 push-ups, standing up between sets and trying not to pause.

The challenge

Goal 1: Just try to complete all sets. If you can do this, then congratulations, your performance is adequate.
Goal 2: Finish all sets in less than two minutes. Achieve this and you can brag - at least a little.
Goal 3: Now it gets personal. From this point on, try to beat your previous time. Or get some friends together and see who finishes first.

Tips and guidelines

Do all push-ups through the full range of motion - none of that partial repetition stuff. Most people run into a wall around set 7 or 8, so don't get cocky if the sixth set still feels easy. Pride comes before a fall. If you have to pause for more than a few seconds between sets, then you haven't made it. Try again at another time.

Take the Texas push-up challenge on non-training days or do them first thing on the day you train your chest muscles. In the latter case, you should shorten your chest workout slightly, as you will perform 55 intense push-ups at the beginning of your normal training session.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-superset-for-spinal-health-increased-strength

from Lee Boyce

Feb 28, 2019

Fasting cardio eats muscles

Here is a brief summary:

Most people trying to lose fat will use diet and exercise strategies that make it impossible to maintain existing muscle mass.
Fasting cardio works - but only if you use performance-enhancing supplements to protect your muscles. For the natural exerciser, however, it is counterproductive.
If you decide to include cardio in your program, use low-intensity cardio for 45 to 60 minutes or high-intensity cardio for 15 minutes or less.
Forgoing training nutrition is counterproductive when it comes to energy expenditure and maintaining muscle mass.

More muscle = higher metabolic rate

Whenever people decide to lose body fat, they make the same stupid mistake: they adopt strategies that make it impossible to maintain their existing muscle mass.

Of course they lose weight, but often they lose just as much lean muscle mass as body fat. They simply become thinner versions of their unattractive selves. Sure, they'll take up less space and the scale will tell them they weigh less and their doctor may even congratulate them on being closer to their healthy weight, but in reality they don't look any better than before, which defeats the purpose of weight loss.

The top priority when trying to lose fat should be to maintain existing muscle mass. Losing muscle mass should be completely unacceptable. If you lose muscle mass, it will be harder to continue to lose fat consistently, as muscle tissue is metabolically active tissue, which from a metabolic perspective is responsible for most of the fat you lose.

5 kilos of muscle burn 50 kcal every day at rest. So if you lose 5 kilos of muscle, you will burn 50 kcal less every day, which adds up to 350 kcal per week. Although this may not look like it at first glance, it will make a significant difference in the long run.

And then there's the issue of insulin sensitivity. If you have more muscle tissue, then your insulin sensitivity will lean more towards building more muscle mass. A larger muscle has more insulin receptors, which makes the muscle more insulin sensitive.

This means that you will tend to store more of what you eat in muscle instead of fat tissue. Lastly, if you have more muscle mass, you will be able to move more weight and train harder, which will increase the amount of calories you burn during a training session.

As you can see, it's not just important to maintain existing muscle mass while dieting - it's crucial. Here are the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight:

1. cardio training while fasting

Fasting cardio, usually done first thing in the morning, has been a popular approach in the bodybuilding world for many years...and it works - if you're using performance enhancing substances to protect your muscle mass. For a natural trainee, however, cardio training in a fasted state is a very good way to lose your hard-earned muscle mass.

First of all, cortisol levels are highest in the morning (this is due to the cortisol surge that allows you to have energy after waking up). If you don't eat, your cortisol levels will remain elevated and even continue to rise.

And if you combine this with cardio training, which also tends to increase cortisol levels, then you'll end up with extremely high cortisol levels, which is the best way to lose muscle.

But not only that - if cortisol levels rise high enough, you'll have a hard time bringing them back down during the day. In other words, you'll spend the entire day in a muscle-depleting state!

I am neither pro- nor anti-cardio training. Some people need it to get super lean, while others don't. However, I think people use it too early in a fat loss phase. And if you do decide to use cardio to get leaner, it's a bad idea to do it in a fasting state.

The absolute best way to achieve the greatest calorie burn from cardio training throughout the day is to do it in a post-absorptive state. This means neither in a fasted state, nor in a state where you are still digesting food.

The post-absorptive state is the period of time during which nutrients are still present in the bloodstream while fat oxidation and calorie expenditure are at their highest.

When you perform cardio training in a fasted state, total fat oxidation is significantly lower over a 24-hour period, which is probably related to the fact that the metabolic rate does not increase or remain elevated, but probably also has something to do with the fact that this form of training causes more fatigue.

You therefore instinctively end up reducing your activity levels during the rest of the day. And then, of course, there's the problem that cardio training in a fasted state is potentially catabolic for your existing muscle mass.

However, doing cardio after eating is no better. It will lead to less fat oxidation and more glucose oxidation - not to mention that most people will find it harder to exercise intensely while they are still busy digesting a meal.

The best option is to perform a cardio workout when your body has fully absorbed nutrients before the activity. Unfortunately, it's really hard to achieve this with solid foods. It's almost impossible to know how quickly solid food is digested. This will vary from person to person and for the same person even depending on the time of day.

I therefore use a whey protein shake or an EAA drink, which is absorbed quickly so that I can do a cardio workout quite soon afterwards and reap all the benefits of the post-absorptive phase. This increases the metabolic rate and helps me get lean faster.

To summarize, if you are trying to lose fat and are not using anabolic steroids, you should avoid cardio training while fasting. Do your cardio training during the post-absorptive phase and it will have the biggest impact on your fat loss over 24 hours.

2. lighter weights and higher repetitions

Maintaining strength or even building strength is the absolute best way to ensure you don't lose muscle mass. If you continue to move heavy weights while dieting, this will force your body to maintain its muscles as it will see that it desperately needs them to survive.

If you reduce the amount of weight you move, your body will assume that you don't need as much strength as before and that it's okay to lose some muscle mass. Why? Because muscles consume tons of calories every day and your body will therefore see them as expendable.

And then there's the second part of the mistake: increasing the number of repetitions. This is often done to define the muscle - too bad it's not possible. You can't make a muscle more defined - you can only make it bigger or smaller. To get more defined, you need to get rid of the fat covering the muscle while keeping the muscle big and full.

Some people aren't stupid enough to believe that moving lighter weights with more reps works, but they still do more reps simply because they think it will help them burn more calories and speed up fat loss.

That's fine as long as you've already done your heavy training. However, if you overdo it with the repetitions, this can indirectly reduce your muscle mass by impairing your recovery.

If you reduce your calorie intake, then inevitably your ability to recover after training will also decrease, so an additional load by increasing volume can lead to a regression in both performance and muscle mass.

And the moral of the story? Do everything in your power to at least maintain your strength while dieting - and this won't happen if you stop training heavy to focus more on pump training.

3. cardio training with consistent moderate intensity

If you choose to add cardio to your fat loss program, you have two options and they are at opposite ends of the spectrum: low intensity like walking or high intensity like sprints and HIIT

It's a hormonal thing. Moderate, steady intensity cardio - the type of cardio most people use to lose fat - will increase cortisol levels the most. This type of activity is just intense enough to increase the release of cortisol and also lasts long enough to increase it significantly.

Low-intensity cardio exercise, such as a one-hour walk in the park or something similar, will not be intense enough to stimulate significant cortisol release. It might even lower cortisol levels as it has a relaxing effect.

High-intensity exercise, on the other hand, can cause a strong cortisol release, but the duration of the activity is usually not long enough to lead to a truly significant cortisol release.

Use longer duration low intensity cardio (at a relaxed pace that allows you to maintain a conversation) for 45 to 60 minutes or high intensity exercise that lasts 15 minutes or less.

This is the reason I like Loaded Carries like walking with two heavy dumbbells in my hands. Three to five minutes is all you need to get an amazing fat-burning effect, while at the same time this workout has no negative effects on your muscle mass - it might even help you build some muscle!

4. reducing your food intake too quickly too soon

Losing fat and changing your body is an emotional issue - we want that dream body and we want it now - now - now! This attitude leads to the fourth mistake on our list: starting fat loss efforts too abruptly.

I've seen people start their diet with less than 50 grams of carbs and fat and only 1200 kcal per day. Add that to 90 minutes of cardio a day (sometimes 120 minutes a day split between two workouts), some circuit training and the use of a powerful fat burner formula.

Great - but how long can you keep this up? More importantly, how quickly will the body adapt to something like this...?

The body will get used to this level of deprivation and activity within 4 to 6 weeks and fat loss will slow or stop...and that's if you last the 4 to 6 weeks at all. You will feel depressed, suffer from unbearable hunger, have no energy and basically stop enjoying your life. And then there's the massive muscle loss that such an excessive approach will cause.

What happens when fat loss comes to a halt with such an approach? What can you do to get it going again? You have nothing left to remove from your diet and as long as you can't devote all your time to training, you won't be able to ramp up your activity levels (not to mention you won't have the energy).

You will be doomed. You will continue to lose fat, but your progress will be so slow that it will be very unlikely, if not impossible, that you will last long enough to reach your goals.

Avoid being excessive right from the start. Use the diet and cardio strategies that allow you to lose fat at an acceptable rate and train to maintain or increase your strength.

The more conservative you are while still achieving good fat loss results, the more options you will have when your fat loss eventually slows down.

5. increase the training volume

When someone wants to become more defined, they usually tend to add extra training to their program. He does this because he believes that this will help him shape the muscle by working it from every angle. Well, unfortunately, it is not possible to specifically shape or define a muscle. You can only make a muscle bigger or smaller.

Excessive amounts of training will not help you with this.

Can you make a muscle bigger by training more? Sure, if you are in a state of caloric surplus, but if you are in a caloric deficit, as is the case during a diet, your body will have a hard enough time maintaining the muscle mass it has.

Building a significant amount of muscle will be very difficult if you are a natural exerciser. Since you're not in a physical state conducive to building new muscle mass, performing additional exercises will only make you expend more energy - which in turn can make it harder for you to recover after a workout - and that's not exactly what we want when we're trying to maintain our existing muscle mass.

Some people will swear that doing extra exercises makes their muscles bigger. However, this is probably more due to inflammation of the muscle tissue (which naturally tends to increase during a diet as the body finds it harder to regenerate), which can cause the muscle to swell.

However, this won't last long and it won't be long before you lose the capacity to get a pump - and this is the first sign that you are starting to lose muscle. The idea is to focus on the heavy basic exercises to maintain strength. You should correct muscle imbalances and lagging muscle development when you are in a calorie surplus, not when you are dieting to lose fat.

6. eliminating carbohydrates from your training diet

This is probably the most common problem. I plead guilty to having done this too. For a long time, carbohydrates were seen as the enemy of fat loss. This was especially the case during the low-carb hype a few years ago.

No one was as carbophobic as I was, so I can well understand the impulse to give up carbs before, during and after exercise in one fell swoop while dieting.

However, the absolute best insurance policy when it comes to maintaining (or even building) muscle mass while dieting is to use supplements during the training window that contain fast-acting carbohydrates.

During a diet, it makes more sense to increase nutrient intake around training and then reduce carbohydrates and calories during the rest of the day. This will allow you to maximize fat burning.

Don't be afraid of carbohydrates during the training window. These will not be stored as fat and can actually increase the rate of fat loss by allowing you to train harder and thereby increase your metabolic rate more.

7. cardio training before bedtime

This was popular in bodybuilding circles after it became known that Ronnie Coleman did this during his preparation for the Mr. Olympia.

Performance enhancing substances change your physiology. Steroids/androgens and cortisol, for example, share the same cellular messenger. Without giving you a lesson in physiology, this means that the more androgens you have in your body, the lower the effects of cortisol will be.

Performing cardio exercise - especially cardio exercise at a consistent moderate intensity - will increase cortisol levels and in the natural human hormonal cycle, cortisol levels need to be at their lowest before bedtime. If you have high cortisol levels before going to sleep, you will find it harder to fall asleep and get a restful and regenerative sleep.

In addition, high cortisol levels before bedtime will turn your sleep phase into a 7 to 10 hour catabolic phase, which is not a good mix if you value muscle mass. To maintain your muscles and recover quickly from training and optimize your hormone levels and cycles, you should avoid cardio training in the evening.

It's simple

Keep doing the basic exercises with heavy weights.
Don't add additional workouts.
Don't try to burn more calories by training with weights.
If you choose to do cardio, choose low intensity cardio, high intensity cardio of short duration or loaded carries and make sure you are in a post-absorptive state. Also avoid cardio training in the evening.
Try not to correct lagging muscle groups when you are in a calorie deficit. The best you can do is maintain or slightly increase your muscle mass - you can't make drastic changes during this phase.
Don't sacrifice your carbohydrates around your training - increase the amounts instead.
Start conservatively. Do just enough to maintain a good rate of progress - e.g. a weight loss of one kilo per week - so that you still have other weapons in your arsenal if your fat loss slows down.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/fasted-cardio-eats-muscle

By Christian Thibaudeau

Feb 27, 2019

The bodybuilding guide for teenagers part 3

After dealing with the basics of bodybuilding for teenagers in the first part of this series of articles and the topic of training in the second part, in this third part we will take a closer look at the far too often neglected topic of nutrition and the most common mistakes that are responsible for the lack of training success among teenagers.

Nutrition plans for teenagers

Here are a few tips that can help you to eat correctly so that you can maximize your training progress.

It's important to realize that you don't have to eat perfectly to reach your goals. Focus on listening to your body, eating when you are hungry, cutting out junk food and soft drinks and eating plenty of healthier foods.

Your body needs the raw materials to build muscle. If you deprive your body of these materials or restrict your calorie intake, you will slow down your gains.

Tip #1: Develop an understanding of bad, good, better, best

There are no perfect foods. There are bad foods like Doritos, nachos with cheese and sugary soft drinks. There are good foods like pasta, beef jerky and orange juice.

There are better foods like white rice, canned tuna and low-fat milk. There are best foods like fresh vegetables and fruits, quinoa, oatmeal, whole milk and meat. Eat the best foods when you can - and plenty of them. If these are not available, then eat until you are full, going down the ladder from better to good to bad.

If you're hungry and only have junk food available, you're better off eating it than going to bed hungry.

Your eating plan doesn't have to be 100% healthy. You just need to learn to make better food choices when you can.

Tip #2: Listen to your body

Working out with weights will increase your appetite. If you're hungry between meals, eat something. Some cheese and a banana or whole milk with whey protein and a few almonds.

Eat until you are full if you feel hungry. In this context, full means that you eat until your hunger disappears.

Tip #3: Develop an understanding of the concept of calorie density

Many teenagers fear fat gain. You should understand that most teens don't gain weight because they eat a lot of good foods - they gain weight because they eat too many bad foods. In many cases, they don't even overeat those bad foods, but they gain weight anyway.

Why? The magic word is calorie density.

Processed foods and junk foods can be very calorie dense. A bag of tortilla chips and a jar of salsa can provide over 2000 kcal. It's easy for most teenagers to eat the whole bag in one sitting when they're hungry. On the other hand, you would have to eat more than 12 baked potatoes to consume the same amount of calories.

With the healthy foods that are high in calorie density, it's usually not so easy to eat large quantities. You would have to eat a large amount of cheese and avocados to get the same amount of calories as a bag of Doritos.

Tip #4: How often should you eat?

Stick to your normal eating habits and meal frequency as long as they are reasonable. You should eat several times a day. Eat healthy snacks between meals when you're hungry.

You don't have to change your eating habits, but you should think about the foods you eat at these times. We'll come back to this in a moment. Many teenagers don't have time for a big breakfast. That's fine, but I still recommend that you eat something that's healthy and high in protein. A banana, oatmeal and a protein shake require minimal preparation time and are a much better choice than sweet breakfast cereals or the like.

The only thing I would advise against is eating only once or twice a day. Your body needs energy and nutrients and if you are young, chances are you have a fast metabolism. In addition, if you are trying to build muscle, you need to consume a minimal amount of protein and calories. This can be difficult if you only eat once or twice a day.

Tip #5: Aim for at least 150 grams of protein per day

If you're trying to build muscle, then your minimum protein intake should be 150 grams of protein per day. You'll probably be better off eating 180 to 220 grams of protein per day. Not only are you trying to build muscle and maximize your recovery and repair after training, but you're also growing.

For these reasons, you should try not to stay too close to the minimum of 150 grams of protein per day. When it comes to building muscle, it's better to eat a little more protein than too little.

Female teenagers should aim for at least 80 to 100 grams of protein per day. Good sources of protein include eggs, poultry, beef, whole milk, cheese, pork, seafood, fish, turkey, protein shakes, cottage cheese, beans and nuts & seeds.

You should try to eat protein with every meal. This will help you reach your daily goal. Make it a habit to read food labels. This will help you develop a better understanding of how much protein each food provides.

It can be hard to get enough protein just from your meals at school and dinner. Snacks like cheese, almonds, cottage cheese and whole milk can really help here. You can also consider drinking a few protein shakes a day. Whey protein shakes are an excellent way to get extra protein without being too filling.

Tip #6: Fat intake is also important

Your body needs adequate fat intake to support development and growth. Healthy fats also support energy levels, regulate hormones, support brain development and function, and help maintain healthy skin.

You also need to understand that eating fat will not make you fat. Teenagers put on fat because they eat too many processed foods, too much junk food and don't exercise enough. However, if you follow the advice in this guide, you will reduce your junk food intake and increase your exercise.

However, you should avoid trans fats. Trans fats are processed fats that have been shown to increase levels of bad cholesterol while lowering levels of good cholesterol. Foods that contain trans fats include:

Fried foods such as French fries and doughnuts
Baked foods such as cookies, crackers and other pastries
Margarine

Check the labels of the foods you eat and do your best to avoid trans fats.

Now let's talk about the healthy fats you should be eating. Here are some examples of high-fat foods that are good for you:

Milk and cheese
Cream and sour cream
avocados
Peanut butter
Nuts and seeds
Butter and olive oil
Fatty meats
eggs
Coconut oil

If you find it hard to eat a healthy amount of healthy fats, then you can sprinkle some grated cheese on your meals or vegetables, add some sour cream and butter to your potatoes, drink a large glass of whole milk daily, eat more eggs, nuts and seeds or add some cream to your milk or protein shakes.

Tip #7: Choose your carbohydrates wisely

Carbohydrates are a primary source of energy for teenagers. Unfortunately, there are plenty of foods that contain a lot of low-quality carbohydrates - and it can be hard to avoid them.

It's a good idea to eat plenty of good carbohydrates:

The "bad" carbs you should reduce your consumption of include:

Cookies
potato chips
crackers
Ice cream
Energy drinks & other sugary soft drinks
Foods that contain a lot of sugar
Foods that contain a lot of white flour

Good carbohydrates include:

Oatmeal
Fruit and vegetables
Beans and other legumes
Potatoes and yams
Wholemeal bread

Tip #8: If you're not gaining weight, you're not a hardgainer

If you're not gaining weight, then you need to focus on eating more. It's not uncommon for teenagers to fall into the trap created by bodybuilding magazines and articles and think that they should only eat chicken, broccoli and rice. This is not a balanced diet and makes it almost impossible to reach your daily calorie allowance.

If this doesn't apply to you and you feel like you're eating plenty of food and still not gaining weight, then it's time to get scientific. Spend a week writing down everything you eat and drink. Do your best to calculate your daily calorie intake.

Once you've developed an understanding of what you're eating and drinking, come up with creative ways to increase your calorie intake. Here are some of my favorite ways:

Whole Milk: Drink a cup of whole milk with one meal of the day. This is an extra 150 kcal.
Grated cheese: Add 30 grams of grated cheese to a meal of the day. This is an extra 110 kcal.
Sour cream: Add 30 grams of sour cream to one meal a day. This is an extra 60 kcal.
Banana: Eat a banana as an extra snack. This is an extra 100 kcal.
Butter: Add some butter to a portion of vegetables. This is an extra 35 kcal.
Almonds: Eat 30 grams of almonds as a snack. This is an extra 165 kcal.
Cream: Add 30 grams of cream to a whey protein shake. This is an extra 100 kcal.

These simple 7 tips don't require you to eat more, yet they will help you increase your calorie intake by 720 kcal per day.

If everything goes wrong, don't hesitate to eat an extra bowl of ice cream or a bag of Boritos. Eating some junk food won't hurt you if you primarily eat healthy, high-quality foods.

Supplements for teenagers

Nutritional supplements are designed to complement a good quality diet plan - not to compensate for a poor diet. The following supplements are worth considering. Discuss nutritional supplements and their correct dosage with your parents before incorporating them into your diet.

Whey protein powder - Whey protein is a fast-digesting protein made from milk. It's a great source of protein for between meals, after a workout or whenever you're hungry and want a quick protein boost.
Casein Protein Powder - Casein is the primary source of protein found in milk. Casein is a good choice before bedtime as it is slow to digest.
Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements - A high quality multivitamin/multimineral product can help you fill nutritional gaps in your diet caused by inconsistent dietary patterns or poor food choices. If you don't have access to a lot of high quality and unprocessed foods, then a multivitamin product is worth considering.
Fish oil - Many teenagers don't eat enough healthy, high-fat foods. In this case, supplementing with fish oil can supplement your diet with omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for heart health, brain function, growth and development.
Vitamin D - Vitamin is produced by the body when you are exposed to the sun. If you get very little sun, then a vitamin D supplement is a good choice. Vitamin D helps with hormone regulation and the absorption of minerals such as calcium and phosphorus.
BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) - If you need a healthy and refreshing alternative to sugary soft drinks and energy drinks, these are a good choice. BCAA drinks are a good choice during and after training or can also be consumed during the day if you want a drink with flavor but without empty calories. BCAAs can help with recovery and muscle repair.

Why teenagers fail at bodybuilding

Many teenagers fail to build muscle. These are potential reasons for this:

You set unrealistic goals. You expect to achieve amazing results in 2 weeks instead of 2 years.
Lack of consistency. You should only miss a very small handful of workouts per year - not numerous workouts per month.
You're not getting stronger. Many teenagers think that strength is not important. But even though maximum strength is not the goal when building muscle, you still need to dramatically increase your strength to build muscle.
You don't have a plan. Training without a plan is an easy way to burn calories using dumbbells and barbells. You need a plan and you need to stick to that plan to build muscle.
You jump back and forth between programs. There are no magic programs. Resist the temptation to jump from training program to training program. Trust the process, focus on your training program and get everything you can out of it.
You follow the advice of your friends. Your friends may be nice guys and they may bench press more than you, but that doesn't mean they really understand how to help you reach your goals. Over the years, I've found that 98% of bro advice is bullshit or unnecessary. Beware of that.
You are trying to train like the pros. How an IFBB pro trains today is not important. It took years of trial and error to perfect a training system that works for them and their weak points. This system isn't the best for you - it's the best for them.
Your exercise selection is poor. If you avoid the most strenuous and challenging exercises, you'll end up with a body that looks like it's not being challenged either.
You are using a sloppy form of exercise execution. Constantly bouncing the weight off your chest on bench presses, only going halfway down on squats or faking it on curls is not the way to go. Focus on getting stronger while paying attention to proper exercise form. Although an occasional faked repetition won't hurt, it will hinder your gains if you fudge on every repetition.
You're not eating enough protein. Your body needs protein to repair and rebuild. If you don't give it the materials it needs, you won't build much muscle, if any. There is no simpler and more direct way to say this.
You're not eating enough. If you don't gain weight, then you won't build much muscle - if you build muscle at all. Again, this can't be said more simply and directly.
You are not listening to your body. Eat when you are hungry. You won't get fat if you eat mostly healthy foods. On the other hand, you won't build muscle if you restrict your calories too much.
You're trying to gain mass too quickly. If you gain more than 1.5 to 2 pounds per month on average during your first year of training, you're likely to gain unwanted fat. A mass-building phase should not be too aggressive, as building muscle takes time and you can't speed it up at will.
You are not getting enough sleep. Sleep as long as you can. Extra rest is always a good thing. Rest helps with recovery and muscle building.

Teenager Bodybuilding FAQ

Will training with weights hinder my growth?

No, of course not. This is one of the oldest myths of all. A teenager's body can handle a lot of stress. A few sets of barbell training will not hinder your physical development. The human body is not that fragile.

I'm skinny and flabby or overweight - should I diet?

No, focus on building muscle and eating healthier. You didn't get fat because you ate chicken breast and vegetables. If you start eating right and building muscle, it will change your body for the better.

Is creatine a steroid or is it dangerous?

No. Creatine is the most scientifically studied muscle building supplement on the planet. It is both natural and proven safe.

How can I get rid of man boobs?

There are two things that can help. First, you should optimize your diet and start eating healthy foods most of the time. An increase in muscle mass also means an increase in body surface area and an improvement in body composition. Your chest area will look better from month to month.

References

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/350/350-850/350-850.html

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/expert-guides/teenage-bodybuilding

Feb 26, 2019

The complete guide to the Smolov squat and Smolov Jr. bench press program

Smolov and Smolov Jr. are amazingly intense, but also amazingly effective approaches to increasing strength in squats and bench presses. This guide will help you use these programs to your advantage.

This guide will cover the following:

What can you expect from a 13 week Smolov cycle?
Are you ready for Smolov and Smolov Jr.
What is the layout of the program and how will you train during each week?
How do you prepare for a Smolov training session and how do you recover after it?
What is needed in terms of nutrition and training to maximize Smolov?
How is the Smolov Jr. bench press cycle structured?
What are the pros and cons of Smolov?

Introduction

If you're lacking progress on squats and are looking for the "magic silver bullet" to change that, you won't find it here. However, if you're ready, willing and able to go through 13 weeks of pure hell, then here's something that could increase your current maximum squat weight by 25 to 50 kilos.

You may have heard of the Smolov Squat Program - and if so, then the following comprehensive guide will enable you to learn more about this program and the mental and physical preparation required for it - and believe me, you'll desperately need the latter!

This program was developed by Sergey Smolov (hence the name), but it was popularized by Pavel 'The Mad Russian' Tsatsouline. According to Pavel, each of the two four-week blocks includes more heavy knee flexor training than the typical Western exerciser's workout. The entire program is 13 weeks long and is divided into 5 distinct phases:

Week 1-2 - Introductory "light" microcycle
Week 3-6 - Basic mesocycle
Week 7-8 - The conversion phase
Week 9-12 - Intensive mesocycle
Week 13 - Phase-out week

The first two weeks will help you acclimatize to the brutal 4 weeks of the basic mesocycle, during which you will train squats four times a week. For most exercisers, this is the phase during which they'll see the most gains, but persevere through the transition phase and the next four weeks of pain and you'll reap even greater rewards - not to mention the oak logs that will be where your legs once were and the newfound ability to attack heavy workouts.

A warning about Smolov training

If you are a beginner or only somewhat advanced, then the Smolov squat program is not for you for several reasons:

Technique

To survive the Smolov squat program in one piece, your squat technique must be excellent even before you start the program. A technique that is "Usable" or "Alright" is tantamount to a guarantee of injury, as you will be performing squats with weights that you are simply not used to.

Most days you will be training at near maximum effort and those with poor or average technique will be hit hard. For those with good technique, Smolov will serve to make that technique even more solid.

Frequency

If you are a relative beginner, then you have not yet learned how to train at your full capacity and are still in the learning zone. To successfully complete Smolov you need to be used to heavy training to some degree and be able to perform heavy squats at least twice a week. The jump from one heavy squat training session to four heavy squat training sessions per week is simply too big for many people.

Mentality

When you get to the basic elements of Smolov, your mental strength will be tested to its limits. If you've spent your training life so far on standard off-the-shelf training programs, then the intensity of Smolov will simply blow you away and reduce you to a whimpering wreck after a week of the first mesocycle. You'll regularly find yourself in a situation where you feel like you're going to fail every single repetition. Beginners and only slightly advanced exercisers will lack the ability to push themselves hard enough to overcome these barriers.

In addition to this, your sore muscles will put your desire to train to the test.

The Smolov Program Layout

Before you start the program, you need to determine your 1RM weight, as everything in this program is based on this percentage. It is advisable to choose about 90% of your existing 1RM weight for reasons explained later.

The purpose of the introductory micro-cycle is to prepare your body for the push that lies ahead. You will work your way up to 90% of the 1RM weight you have chosen for this program before embarking on the 4-week base mesocycle, which will increase your existing 1RM weight by 15 to 30 kilos.

The two weeks of transition will change things up and include squat training with dynamic effort. The intense mesocycle will test your will again and could give you another 10 to 20 kilo boost.

You then complete the program with a week of tapering and a final max test to find out how many kilos Smolov has added to your max squat weight.

(In the following cycles, the number of sets and reps before the @ sign and the percentage of your chosen 1RM weight after the @ sign. So 3 x 8 @ 65% means 3 sets of 8 reps with 65% of your 1RM weight used for this program, while 10 x 3 @ 85% means 10 sets of 3 reps with 85% of your 1RM weight, and so on. If you use 200 kilos as your 1RM weight, then 65% corresponds to 130 kilos, which means that you will perform 3 sets of squats of 8 reps with 130 kilos. It is best to round the values down instead of rounding them up).

Introductory microcycle - week 1-2

Get ready for pain! This microcycle is used as preparation and should not feel too heavy. You will train squats on 3 days during both weeks and the program looks like this:

Week 1

Day 1 - 3 x 8 @ 65%, 1 x 5 @ 70%, 2 x 2 @ 75%, 1 x 1 @80%
Day 2 - exactly as on day 1
Day 3 - 4 x 5 @ 70%, 1 x 3 @ 75%, 2 x 2 @ 80%, 1 x 1 @90%

Week 2

Day 1 - 1 x 5 @ 80%
Day 2 - 1 x 5 @ 82.5%
Day 3 - 1 x 5 @ 85%

It is important to note that during week 1 you will be doing squats three days in a row. The next three days should be dedicated to stretching your legs to speed up recovery, with lunges being a good exercise choice.

During week 2, you can schedule a rest day between workouts if you wish and Smolov also recommends using explosive exercises such as jumps, which should be performed after the squat training session.

Basic mesocycle

I hope that you have adjusted your calorie intake accordingly during the previous two weeks and are sufficiently energized. After successfully completing the first week of the basic mesocycle, you will have increased your weight by 10 kilos for the following week. If you make it through this, you will have added another 5 kilos for the third week of the mesocycle and it will look something like this:

Week 3

Monday - 4 x 9@ 70%
Wednesday - 5 x 7@ 75%
Friday - 7 x 5@80%
Saturday - 10 x 3@ 85%

Week 4

Monday - 4 x 9@70 + 10 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
Wednesday - 5 x 7@ 75% + 10 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
Friday - 7 x 5@80% + 10 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
Saturday - 10 x 3@ 85% + 10 kilo weight increase compared to week 3

Week 5

Monday - 4 x 9@70 + 15 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
Wednesday - 5 x 7@ 75% + 15 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
Friday - 7 x 5@80% + 30 15 kilo weight increase compared to week 3
Saturday - 10 x 3@ 85% + 15 kilo weight increase compared to week 3

Week 6

Monday & Wednesday - Rest day
Friday - Work your way up to a maximum single repetition
Saturday - Work your way up to a maximum single repetition

I hope you'll understand why it's best to use a conservative 1RM weight. During week 5 of Smolov you will set several personal bests that you are ready for. For example, if you use a 1RM weight of 200 kilos, you will perform squats with 10 x 3 @ 170 kilos during week 3 and 10 x 3 @ 185 kilos in week 5!

If you start to fail on individual sets during weeks 4 and 5, then you are well on your way to failing this program. However, provided you follow the tips we outline in this article, you will have an excellent chance of completing this program successfully.

Week 7 & 8 - Transition

You'll be grateful for the opportunity to give your exhausted legs some rest, as this is a two-week phase without a regimented set and repetition scheme. Smolov recommends knee flexion training with dynamic effort, it's best not to go over 60% of your new 1RM weight.

In fact, you may prefer to stay closer to 50% and not go over 3 reps on dynamic effort days. Some exercisers follow the Westside Barbell principles and perform 12 sets of box squats with 2 reps, but ultimately it's up to you.

Smolov also advocates negative squats, which involve using a higher weight than your 1RM weight, where you only focus on the lowering part of the movement. In other words, you take the weight off the rack and perform the lowering part of a squat movement until the weight comes to rest on a previously set safety rack and leave it there.

Other explosive exercises that can be performed include box jumps and deep squat jumps. This phase should not involve much more than active recovery, so listen to your body and don't overdo it.

Week 9-12 - Intensive mesocycle

As if the basic mesocycle wasn't intense enough! These are four weeks of brutal effort that Smolov copied from I. M. Feduleyev, a Russian weightlifting coach who used these four weeks as a training block for himself. The intensive mesocycle trains you to the ground and many trainers therefore decide to focus exclusively on the basic mesocycle. However, if you are ready for this intense phase, an extra 10+ kilos could be the reward.

44% of all reps you'll perform over the next 4 weeks will be in the 81-90% range, with some 95% work sprinkled in for good measure. To compensate for this, you will only train squats 3 days per week instead of 4. Due to the exceptionally hard nature of this section, you should again subtract 10% from your new 1RM, otherwise you will almost certainly fail these 4 weeks.

Simply put, 5 sets of 5 reps at 90% of your true max weight will not be on the plan. If you get stuck, reduce the weight by 5% or more while keeping the same set and repetition pattern. As Pavel once said, there will be days when you'll wish you'd taken up stamp collecting as a hobby.

Week 9

Monday - 1 x 3@ 65%, 1 x 4@ 75%, 3 x 4@ 85%, 1 x 5@ 90%
Wednesday - 1 x 3@ 60%, 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 4@ 80%, 1 x 3@ 90%, 2 x 5@ 85%
Saturday - 1 x 4@ 65%, 1 x 4@ 70%, 5 x 4@ 80%

Week 10

Monday - 1 x 4@ 60%, 1 x 4@70%, 1 x 4@ 80%, 1 x 3@90%, 2 x 4@ 90%
Wednesday - 1 x 3@ 65%, 1 x 3@ 75%, 1 x 3@ 85%, 3 x 3@ 90%, 1 x 3@ 95%
Saturday - 1 x 3@ 65%, 1 x 3@ 75%, 1 x 4@ 85%, 4 x 5@ 90%

Week 11

Monday - 1 x 3@ 60%, 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 3@ 80%, 5 x 5@ 90%
Wednesday - 1 x 3@ 60%, 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 3@ 80%, 2 x 3@ 95%
Saturday - 1 x 3@ 65%, 1 x 3@ 75%, 1 x 3@ 85%, 4 x 3@ 95%

Week 12

Monday - 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 4@ 80%, 5 x 5@ 90%
Wednesday - 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 3@ 80%, 4 x 3@ 95%
Saturday - 1 x 3@ 75%, 1 x 4@ 90%, 3 x 4@ 80%

Week 13 - Tapering off

By this point you'll be absolutely sick of squats, but if you've done all the reps up to this point then it's pretty certain that you'll set a new personal best very soon. You'll spend Monday through Saturday resting and just sprinkle in a light training session before trying a new max weight on Sunday. If you are an experienced trainee with excellent recovery skills and a penchant for masochism, then you can also follow the Smolov plan for the final week:

Monday - 1 x 3@ 70%, 1 x 3@ 80%, 2 x 5@ 90%, 3 x 4@ 95%
Wednesday - 1 x 4@ 75%, 4 x 4@ 85%
Sunday - maximum attempt

However, it is best to rest as you have pushed your body to its limits over the previous 4 weeks. This means that week 13 should look like this:

Wednesday - 1 x 4@ 75%, 1 x 5@ 85%
Sunday - maximum attempt

In the second part, we will discuss tips and advice that will make it easier for you to successfully survive the Smolov squat program and also show you how you can use Smolov Jr. to improve your bench press performance.

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/expert-guides/smolov

Feb 25, 2019

Why high-intensity interval training is best for fat loss

If you want to lose fat (not muscle) fast without having to do hours of cardio every week, then high-intensity interval training could be just the thing for you.

Most of us learned at a young age that promises of "more for less" are usually empty promises. This is especially true when we talk about fat loss. If we believed dubious supplement companies, we would simply have to take their pills and powders to get hard and defined in no time.

Unfortunately, that's not how it works. No supplement can give you the body you want. In truth, most supplements can't even help you develop the body you want - they're completely worthless.

And half-baked exercise gurus tell us that all we need to do to get the look of a Greek statue is to spend a few hours a week doing their workouts.

Well, that's not true either. Achieving great shape may not be as complicated as many people think, but it does require you to do a lot of little things right, which include your calorie intake, proper macronutrient balance, progressive overload, proper training frequency and more.

"7 minute workouts" and fancy fad diets won't get you there.

If you've heard anything about high-intensity interval training - HIIT for short - then you've probably heard a similar story: that it has almost magical fat-burning powers - that you only need to do a few minutes of HIIT a day and you'll see your fat just melt away.

Well, that's not true either. HIIT is not the alpha and omega of fat loss...but it can be a powerful fat loss tool if you know how to use it properly. And that's exactly what we're going to talk about in this article:

What is HIIT - and what isn't it?
Why is it great for fat loss?
Why is it superior to cardio training with moderate, consistent intensity for optimizing body composition?
How to do it properly?

By the end of the article, you'll know how to get the most out of your fat loss efforts.

What is HIIT - and what is it not?

High-intensity interval training - also known as HIIT - is a style of training in which you alternate between periods of maximum effort and periods of low effort.

The high-intensity intervals - where you try to give it your all - push your body to its metabolic limits and the low-intensity phases allow you to recover.

You probably already knew this, but here are some more specific questions to answer:

How intense do the high-intensity intervals need to be?
How hard should you push yourself and for how long?
How exactly do the rest intervals work?
How long should your HIIT training sessions be?
How often should you do them?

Basically, the question is how to get the most out of your HIIT workouts and your training program as a whole. Well, let's find out...

How intense should your high-intensity intervals be?

If you look at scientific research on high-intensity interval training, you'll find a lot of talk about something called VO2max. Your body's VO2max is a measure of the maximum volume of oxygen it can use and this volume is a primary determinant of your endurance.

This is relevant to HIIT for the following reasons:

Studies show that you need to reach 80 to 100% of your VO2max during high-intensity intervals to reap most of the benefits of HIIT training (1).

That's nice to know, but not particularly practical because it's hard to estimate your VO2max during training. There are simply no reliable indicators that you can use to accurately estimate your VO2max.

Fortunately, you can also work with a useful measure: the Vmax. Simply put, you have reached a Vmax level of exertion when you feel that you cannot inhale as much air as your body wants (if you can carry on a conversation while exercising, then you have not yet reached this point.

For most people, this is 90% of maximum effort.

1. your goal during high-intensity phases is to reach and maintain your Vmax.

To do this, you need to move fast and long enough to get out of breath and you need to maintain this speed for a while. As you can imagine, this means hard work - think sprinting instead of jogging.

2. your goal during HIIT workouts is to repeatedly reach and maintain this Vmax level of effort

This may seem obvious, but it's important to keep in mind that the total amount of time you spend at a Vmax level of effort determines the overall effectiveness of the HIIT training session (2).

In other words, a HIIT session that totals one minute of exercise at a Vmax level will be far less effective than a session that adds up to several minutes at that level.

Fortunately, this is simply a question of planning your training sessions correctly and not something you need to worry about during training. We will go into this in more detail shortly.

So that's the 'basics' of HIIT.

Next, let's take a look at why you should choose this type of training over lighter, less stressful forms of cardio.

High-intensity interval training and fat burning

Most cardio machines have pretty good graphic guides that recommend you keep your heart rate in the mid "fat burning zone". If you do this, they claim, you should maximize the amount of fat (compared to the amount of carbohydrates) you burn.

Well, there is a grain of truth in this statement. You burn both fat and carbohydrates while you exercise, and the ratios vary with the intensity of the workout. Scientific research shows that as the intensity of exercise increases, the body relies more and more on carbohydrates and less and less on fat as an energy source.

This is the reason why low-intensity activities such as walking rely mainly on fat stores, while high-intensity sprints draw more heavily on carbohydrate (glycogen) stores. These are also the main reasons why many people think that cardio training at a constant, low intensity is best for fat loss.

However, numerous studies show otherwise (3 - 6). Specifically, these studies show that high-intensity cardio workouts result in greater fat loss over time than longer, lower-intensity cardio workouts.

Why is this?

Well, let's start with the obvious: the total amount of calories burned during exercise.

High-intensity exercise can burn a lot more calories than low-intensity exercise, and since fat loss is dictated by energy balance, the benefit of this should be obvious. Let's say you jog several times a week and burn 200 kcal per session, of which 100 kcal comes from fat stores. If you combine this with a suitable calorie deficit, these workouts will help you get leaner faster.

However, high-intensity workouts of the same duration would be better, burning say 400 kcal per workout, of which 150 kcal comes from fat stores. Regardless of diet, the workouts that burn the most energy will result in the greatest fat loss.

However, energy expenditure during exercise alone does not fully explain why high-intensity interval training is better for fat loss. A study conducted at the University of Western Ontario gives us an indication of how much more effective this type of training really is (7).

The authors of the study had 10 men and 10 women train three times a week, with one group doing 4 to 6 30-second sprints on the treadmill (with 4 to 6 minutes rest between sprints) and the other group doing 30 to 60 minutes of cardio training at a moderate, consistent intensity (running on the treadmill in the "magic fat loss zone" at 65% of VO2max).

The result? After 6 weeks of training, the subjects who completed the intervals had lost more fat.

Yes, 4 to 6 30-second sprints burn more fat than 60 minutes of walking on an incline treadmill.

The exact mechanisms underlying the superiority of HIIT are not yet fully understood, but scientists have already isolated a few factors (8):

An increased metabolic rate at rest for up to 24 hours after exercise
Improved insulin sensitivity of the muscles
Higher levels of fat oxidation in the muscles
Significant spikes in growth hormone levels (which aid fat loss) and catecholamines (chemicals your body produces to mobilize stored fat for burning)
A suppression of appetite after exercise
And much more...

The science is clear: if your goal is to burn as much fat in as little time as possible, HIIT is the workout of choice.

High-intensity interval training and your muscles

In the minds of most strength athletes, cardio training and muscle building are two opposing things. You can either have one or the other. There is some truth to this, but it is an oversimplification.

For example, scientific research has shown that a combination of strength and endurance training can hinder your strength and muscle gains compared to strength training alone (9). Studies have also shown that the longer your cardio training sessions are, the more your strength and muscle gains are hindered by cardio training (10).

However, this does not mean that cardio training directly impairs muscle growth - which is not the case. Too much cardio training can do this.

The right amount of cardio training can even accelerate muscle growth. But what is the right amount? Well, there are two factors you need to consider:

The duration of each workout
The total amount of cardio you do per week

And if your goal is to optimize your body composition (which requires progress in the weight room), then you need to keep your individual cardio workouts short and your total weekly cardio time relatively low.

Only HIIT allows you to meet these criteria while burning significant amounts of fat.

How to create an effective HIIT training program

So there's a good chance you could use some HIIT in your life. Well, there are 5 things you should consider when creating a HIIT program:

The type of cardio workout.
The length of the workouts.
The frequency of the workouts
The duration and intensity of the high-intensity intervals.
The duration and intensity of the low-intensity intervals.

Let's look at these points separately.

The best types of HIIT cardio

HIIT principles can be applied to any type of cardio workout, but some forms are more practical (and effective) than others. In general, the three best types are as follows:

Cycling
Rowing
Sprinting

Cycling and rowing are my favorites because sprinting is hard on the legs and can interfere with deadlift and squat workouts.

The reason I prefer these three forms over other forms of cardio training is because scientific studies show that the type of cardio training you do has a significant impact on your ability to build strength and muscle through weight training (10).

In short, the following applies: The more a cardio exercise mimics the exercise used to build muscle - such as squats or barbell rowing - the less it will hinder strength and muscle gains.

This makes sense, because the important part of building strength is simply practicing a movement pattern repeatedly (the more times you perform a movement, the better you get at performing that movement).

However, if you can't cycle, row or sprint, then don't shy away from other forms of cardio training such as swimming, jumping rope, boxing or whatever. These won't make your muscles shrink either.

To reiterate - the biggest mistake with cardio training is doing too much of it.

How intense should your intervals be?

The goal with HIIT is to train fast and hard - not slow and hard. This means that if you're using a machine like an ergometer or rowing machine, you need enough resistance to work against, but that resistance shouldn't be so high that the exercise becomes resistance training.

This is because the primary difference between high and low intensity intervals should be the speed and not the resistance used. This means that you should increase and decrease the resistance, but not nearly as much as you increase and decrease your speed.

As you already know, the key factor that determines the effectiveness of a HIIT training session is the total amount of time you spend at a Vmax level of effort. If you spend too little time at this level, it is not a true HIIT training session and if you spend too much time at this intensity level, you will burn out.

You will spend maximum time at Vmax level if you reach this level as quickly as possible during your sprints. This means that you should not increase the intensity slowly, but give it your all immediately during each sprint.

As for the duration of the high-intensity intervals, 50 to 60% of Tmax is sufficient if your goal is to burn fat and improve your metabolic health. Tmax is simply the amount of time you can maintain your Vmax speed before you have to stop.

So, for example, if you can sprint for 3 minutes at your Vmax on the bike before your heart feels like it's going to explode, then your Tmax is 3 minutes. So your high-intensity intervals should be between 90 and 120 seconds long (and yes, that's hard).

For your intervals, you can either test your Tmax (all you need is a stopwatch) or if you're new to HIIT, start with 30-second high-intensity intervals.

Your HIIT workouts should get progressively harder

The more HIIT workouts you do, the more your Tmax will increase. This means that you will also need to increase the duration of your high-intensity intervals if you want to keep your training maximally effective. As you can imagine, these workouts can get pretty intense for experienced athletes.

In three HIIT studies conducted with highly trained cyclists, the high-intensity intervals were 5 minutes long (and increased the athletes' performance) (11-13). However, other studies conducted with endurance athletes found that 2 and 1 minute intervals were not sufficient to improve performance (14, 15).

How "restful" should the recovery periods be?

There are 2 ways to make your HIIT training harder:

Increase the length of your high-intensity intervals.
Reduce the length of your rest intervals.

I generally recommend working on increasing the length of your high-intensity intervals first until they are in the 50-60% of your Tmax range. This will ensure that you are performing true HIIT workouts.

Once you have achieved this, it is up to you how you proceed.

I think it's reasonable to work your rest intervals down to a 1:1 ratio with the high intensity phases (e.g. 90 seconds of high intensity work followed by 90 seconds of rest) and then slowly increase the duration of the high intensity intervals and the low intensity intervals while maintaining the 1:1 ratio.

For example, let's say you start your HIIT workout with 30 seconds of high-intensity intervals followed by 60 seconds of rest intervals (1:2 ratio). As you progress, you get an idea of your Tmax and work up to the 50 to 60% range for your high-intensity intervals, which could be 60 seconds. You train at this level and maintain the 1:2 ratio of high to low intensity (120 second rest intervals).

Over time, you get the feeling that you can push yourself harder and keep the 60 second high intensity intervals while you start to shorten your rest intervals, starting with 90 seconds (1:1.5 ratio).

Eventually your body will adapt to this and you will be able to reduce the rest intervals to 60 seconds (1:1 ratio) and when this is no longer challenging enough, you will start to extend both the high-intensity intervals and the low-intensity intervals to 90 seconds. (And then continue in this way).

You should always be aware that your rest intervals serve as active recovery, which means that you keep moving and don't come to a standstill. Studies have shown that active recovery - as opposed to passive recovery - is beneficial when it comes to reaching your Vmax during the high-intensity phases and forcing the adaptive response we're after (16).

How long should your HIIT workouts be?

The great thing about HIIT is that you get a lot out of what feels like very little. There's no more efficient way to use cardio to drive fat loss and improve fitness.

The big downside, however, is that HIIT can be quite stressful for your body, which means you shouldn't overdo it. Do the following and you will be in the green zone:

Start your training sessions with 2 to 3 minutes of low intensity warm-up
Perform 20 to 30 minutes of HIIT training
Perform 2 to 3 minutes of cool-down training.

There is simply no need to do longer HIIT workouts as long as the focus is on fat loss and not on increasing performance. If you feel that you need more HIIT to lose fat efficiently, then your diet is probably far from optimal.

How often should you do HIIT workouts?

The total amount of HIIT training you do per week will depend on your current goals and the rest of the training you are doing. If you are looking to lose fat fast, then you need no more than 4 to 7 hours of training per week and ideally you should do more resistance training than cardio.

In my training and diet programs, I only recommend 3 to 5 hours of training with weights and 1 to 2 hours of HIIT cardio per week. This way you lose fat instead of muscle and maintain a healthy metabolism.

References:

Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/high-intensity-interval-training-and-weight-loss/

By Michael Matthews

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