Hypertrophy Differences

If you've ever read a bodybuilding magazine (you have, it's OK, I forgive you) or some other training-related article online, then I'm sure you've heard that for functional gains, you need to be lifting in the 5-8 rep range, and for structural gains, you need to be in the 9-15 range (or something like that).

I definitely want to note that these rules are not set in stone. There are people who grow like weeds keeping everything under 5 reps and others, whose legs grow like they're being fertilized by Mother Nature herself doing nothing but sets of 20-rep squats. With that being said, they are a good general rule for most people.

Now, what is the reasoning for these adaptations and what exactly do they mean? Structural gains refer to actual increases in the size of the muscle. To keep it as direct as possible, training in the 5-8 rep range forces your muscles to partake in very high levels of tension. Your body, being the genius that it is, responds to this by attempting to prepare itself for the next time they have to display such high levels of tension. It does this by increasing the size of and/or adding more contractile proteins to the muscle.

When you lift weights in a rep range beyond 8 reps, and maybe even stretching into the 15+ rep range, your gains in hypertrophy will differ from those mentioned in the above paragraph. Whereas before, the muscle actually increased the size of its contractile elements, it will now respond by storing more "energetic" components in the muscle.

Why? Same reason as before, it just adapts to whatever you tell it to do. Since you did some sets with a weight that required good endurance, it responds by storing more energy in the muscle, so that it can better handle those endurance-related activities, that it expects to see again in the near future. This type of growth is more temporary and short-term than the functional gains talked about before. The famous "pump" will often rear its head in situations like this. And like Arnold said, the pump is definitely a cool feeling, and your muscle will look bigger, but, as you now know, it's very temporary.

If you are interested in looking bigger on a regular basis, you'd be much better off spending time trying to increase the size of your muscle fibers (5-8 reps), not wasting your time with a bunch of high-rep sets that'll send a bunch of glycogen and blood to the muscle, and not much else. To hypertrophy!

Vertical Jump Notes

Let's talk about the standing vertical jump (the one they test at the NFL Combine, for instance) for a second. 

Q: Why is it important? It's not like you ever just jump straight up and down in any sport.

A: Good question. And it's true, for the most part, that you never actually just jump straight up, from a standstill, and come straight back down. Jumps usually take place off of a jog or sprint or cut, and sometimes off of one leg, not two (especially depending on the individual's physical qualities). 

But it's important because it is a solid indicator of power. Rarely will you find someone with an impressive (and legit!) standing vert who isn't impressive in other tests of power. Guy who are getting up are usually pretty damn fast (shorter distances, <40-60>

Q: What is the fastest way to improve my standing vertical jump?

A: Easy, get stronger. Kelly Baggett has a great example that anyone can understand to really comprehend this point. I'm not even going to try and recap it. Take a look:

"Go in the gym and grab 2 fifteen pound dumbells and lie on a bench and bench press them 100 times. Now stand up and do 100 half squats with your bodyweight. Which is harder? Probably the squats right? So that means it takes more strength to do a half squat with your bodyweight than it does to lie on your back and press 15 pounds. 

Now realize a shotput also weighs about 15 pounds. What is a shotput? Basically a press where you throw the weight. What is a vertical jump? Basically a 1/2 squat where you "throw" your body into the air. The 15 pounds sounds really light until you think about throwing the weight. Now let's figure out how much strength it takes to be a good shotputter: Well, the routines of top shotputters contain a fair mix of both explosive and strength oriented training but on the strength end you won't find any that don't bench press over 400 pounds. The large majority of them will bench press over 500 pounds. So, through real world observation it has been established that there is no such thing as a top shotputtter who bench presses less than 400 pounds. We've also established that squatting and "throwing" your bodyweight into the air requires more strength relatively than does throwing a 15 pound shotput. So, if a shotputter benches a minimum of 400 pounds what does that tell you about how strong our legs should be for jumping? It tells me they need to be quite strong. Just as you will never see a good shotputter who can't bench press 400 pounds you will never see a good vertical jumper who isn't strong in the legs as well. In fact I have a $500 bounty for the first person who can show me someone with a legit 35 inch vertical jump who can't squat 1.5 BW within a week of learning the movement. I could probably crank that up to 2 x BW and I doubt I would ever lose. 

Now, does that mean that just because someone can bench press 700 pounds that they will be able to throw the shotput a mile? Or does that mean that just becuase so and so has a 500 pound squat they'll be able to jump out of the gym? No. There is technique and movement efficiency involved in both shotputing and jumping. What it does tell me though is if you're weaker than a kitten you're completely wasting your time spending all your time with plyometric work until you've built a base of strength. Once you have your base of strength you'll get the best results in vertical jump practicing jumping related tasks."

To sum that up, to heave your body 30-40 inches in the air, it's going to take a lot of strength. There is no way around it.

Q: What about all the different drills, like plyometrics and other explosive exercises?

A: Plyometrics can be good in doses at certain times. Lower-intensity drills can be done all year long if you want. They'll help with certain athletic qualities, mostly related to your tendon's ability to absorb force, which in turn, will improve the amount of elastic contribution you'll be getting from them in your sporting activities. Things like stiffness and reactivity, and in a more general sense, footwork and coordination improvements.

The other explosive drills probably won't do much until you have that prerequisite strength base. And when I say strength base, I'm thinking at least a 2xbw FULL squat. And even then, you won't get much out of them, and if you do, it won't last for very long.

It 's not the path of least resistance (truthfully, there'll be a ton of resistance!), but the quickest path to jumping high will involve just two components: Getting really, really strong and practicing your jumping. 

I believe the en vogue term nowadays is horsepower+movement efficiency=sick VJ. 

Intra-Workout Sex...Hormones

Ever wonder how exercise affects your sex hormones? If not, then I apologize, but come one, you know it's all you think about...riiight.

Anyways, here's what happens. In a gender-specific fashion, acute exercise of any type of significant intensity is directly associated with a rise in plasma concentrations of sex hormones. Translation: If you work out hard, your body will very quickly respond with an increase of sex hormones. As to which hormones are released will depend on your gender.

For males, it's an increase in Androstenedione (precursor) and Testosterone. These levels seem to peak at around 30 minutes, then slowly decrease. Males also experience little change in levels of estradiol and estrone. Estradiol is the main representative of estrogen. A lot of people (including yours truly) think estrogen is somewhat evil for guys. I mean,  it has been shown to be directly leaked to lower sperm levels. Guys should take solace in knowing your body knows what to increase and what not to when you train.

For females, you're looking at acute increases of estrogen and progesterone during a workout. And accordingly so with the menstrual cycle, estrogen increases more during the follicular phase and progesterone increases more in the luteal phase. And similar to guys, increases in Testosterone are miniscule in response to exercise (Borer 166). I should definitely note here this is probably the biggest reason why females who are scared to lift weights in fear of "getting huge" should fear not. Testosterone is a major culprit in an increase of muscle mass. (Steroids, anybody?) Since you're not producing much of it, you can't build the guns your male counterparts yearn for so badly. So stop fretting and move some weights!

I should also note that these increases are directly related to exercise intensity. The harder you go, the more profound these increases are. So, if you've been training like your in a year-long deload, give it up and push yourself.

 

Fasted Cardio

How many of you have ever tried fasted cardio, in a strategic effort to drop some fat? The theory is that when you wake up, your body is pretty depleted, so if you go and do something active right then, your main source of fuel should be lipids, not glycogen. A lot of people think it's great, others think it's dumb, others even think it's too catabolic. So, what's the deal? Here's Kelly Baggett's take:

"Do your cardio whenever. It's a myth that AM cardio is superior. I've actually done experiments comparing AM cardio to PM cardio....same total calorie intake and same duration of exercise. Guess which one worked better? 

The body burns fat when you sleep. The less glucose and fatty acids you have floating around your bloodstream prior to going to sleep the less you have floating around to store as fat and the more fat you will burn during sleep. So with afternoon, PM, or nighttime cardio you basically burn more fat by storing less fat, if that makes any sense. You also stimulate your metabolism at a time when it would be slowing down. 

It's a lot easier for the body to burn off nutrients that are floating around in your bloodstream then it is to pull them out of storage and then burn them. 

Not to mention the endocrine aspects. People are already overstressed as it is particularly when they're on a diet......think waking up and busting ass on cardio is gonna help that?"

So, he's saying no to fasted cardio, and recommending that you'd be better off doing it later in the day.

Also, don't ignore the last thing he said, regarding the endocrine aspect of it. Dieting sucks. It's hard, especially when you're doing it right. It will screw with your hormones. Your body does not want to lose weight. It's job is to survive. Losing weight, to your body, is not conducive to survival, especially losing fat. It would much rather say "Peace," to all of your muscle mass before getting rid of the fat. So, when you're dieting, your body won't be producing Testosterone or any other really good hormones. It'll be stressed out, ACTH will increase, and then comes cortisol and other stress-related hormones. Those hormones are conducive to fat gain and muscle loss. And you thought dieting wasn't "that hard." Newsflash, it is. 

And, don't forget to forget the fasted AM cardio. Save it for later in the day. 

Direct Relationships

As I continue to grow and live life and train and all that other fun stuff, I am starting to notice how certain things positively relate to each other. That is, when on thing increases or improves, another things also increases or improves.

Some of these are totally obvious and others aren't quite as apparent. Let's take a look at some of these things: (as the one on the left goes up, so too does the one on the right)

Money : Quantity/quality of things owned

McDonald's Consumption : Body-fat

Time spent on your cell-phone : Time spent annoying those around you

I get it, I mean, who else are you going to talk in this situation?

Time spent foam-rolling : Time spent feeling better everywhere

Water consumption : Metabolism

Reading books : Intelligence

Reading magazines : Stupidity

Doing things you enjoy : Energy

Watching 24 : Catecholamine release

Adrenal fatigue, here I come!

Listening to your parents: Nerdiness

Listening to your parents : Making all the right decisions

Making eye-contact : Quality of relationships

Time spent sitting : Inhibited glutes

Inhibited glutes : Back issues

Inhibted glutes : Running slower

Inhibted glutes : Jumping lower (get the point..just get your glutes turned on!)

Sugar alcohols : Body-fat and bloating

Listening to Coldplay : Parasympathetic dominance

Listening to Saliva : Lifting heavier weights

My own personal psych-up.

Talking to people who are where you want to be : Motivation

-And now, the most important one of all-

Getting stronger : QUALITY OF LIFE 

Endocrine Mondays!

OK, so it's actually Sunday night, but most of you will read this on Monday anyways.

I've decided to make every Monday all about endocrinology. Besides playing a huge role in training, nutrition and LIFE, I've always had a weird fascination for chemical messengers. So, you can check in here every Monday to learn something new about hormones, neurohormones, neurotransmitters and the rest of 'em, and what the heck it has to do with you, your training or your diet. Let's get started today with some basic stuff.

When you exercise, you affect 5 major biological functions. They are:

1. Maintenance of homeostasis and the internal environment
2. Stress responses
3. Availability and utilization of metabolic energy
4. Growth and maintenance of skeletal and cardiac muscle, along with other parts of lean body mass
5. Reproduction

These effects take place immediately and over time when you exercise. What you do in your training session has a direct effect on your body's endocrine reaction. Walking uphill does something totally different than hitting a max deadlift. Both can be good. 

These chemical messengers can and will work together to restore homeostasis, influence the growth of structural body components and alter reproductive function in response to some forms of chronic exercise. (Funny how when you put the word "chronic" before another word, it makes the subsequent word sound bad. No worries though, "exercise" is still a good thing.)

Chemical messengers as a term can include hormones, neurotransmitters, neurohormones and neuropeptides. All of these things transmit a certain message. (Borer, 2003)

So, that's some of the basic stuff. To recap, your body has a lot of systems. Chemical messengers work individually, and together, to keep you going strong.  Exercise has a direct effect on what they do and when they do it. By broadening your knowledge of the topic, you can take advantage of your body's natural responses and improve your self, which is always the goal anyways, right?

Just So You Never Forget

Foam roll, foam roll, foam roll. A lot. And often.

Jim Wendler says "foam roll".

Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson say "foam roll".

I say "foam roll."

Do not ignore this message. Don't read it, laugh for a second and then forget about it as you move on with the rest of your life. I absolutely implore you to take action. 5 minutes a day. 10 minutes a day. An hour a day. It doesn't really matter. Just do it. Why?

• Less aches
• Less pains
• Less inuries
• More flexibility
• Re-read 1-4 and realize how incredible they actually are. 

Dedicated foam rolling almost completely neutralizes every negative thing that accompanies training. Use it.

5-Hour Energy

It seems like every time I turn on the TV, I see Cleveland Browns WR Braylon Edwards talking about how great 5-Hour Energy drinks. (Note: This is the same guy that was taking training advice from a certain Olympic swimmer, when his teams Strength and Conditioning coach is the great Tom Myslinski. Not judging, just saying..)

The million-dollar question is, of course, do the drinks work? Hmm.

After taking a quick look at the ingredients, I have got to say, no, it probably doesn't do much. Why? It literally provides no “energy”. By definition, energy has to come from the stored form of carbohydrate, fat or protein. The drink doesn’t have any of those macronutrients, hence, no energy.

It’s a bunch of vitamins, mainly B-vitamins, and other precursors to stimulatory neurotransmitters. It doesn’t say how much of each is in it, but at the right doses, some of those things can improve focus and overall well-being. I would guess they’re shorting you on those, otherwise they would have listed how much of each ingredient is in a bottle.

On an interesting, side-note, it contains Taurine. Taurine has been shown to actually, after a short, initial boost, to make you feel tired and lethargic. A lot of energy drinks have it so that, at first, you do feel good, but pretty soon, that dissipates, you crash and then, you have to go back and buy another one of their drinks. If it works for you, great. But for everyone else, I wouldn't waste your money on it.

Radio Interview

Mark Rippetoe, author of several great books including  Starting Strength & Practical Programming, did a really good interview with NPR recently. This is especially for informative for the "general population" who are maybe just beginning their foray into the wonderful world of fitness. Check it out:

Mark Rippetoe Interview

Basketballers Take Note

Basketball players do a lot of things wrong. And if you're a coach reading this, I know the first thing that comes to your mind is TURNOVERS. But, in regards to the performance aspect of basketball, here is a list of some of the major mistakes players make:

Top 5 Mistakes Basketball Players Make

When to Stretch

Everyone knows about the benefits of stretching. But not everyone knows when to do it and what kinds of stretching they should be doing. Static or ballistic? Dynamic or PNF? Before or after workouts? In the morning or at night? 

PNF Stretching.

The truth is that there isn't one concrete solution. The answer is an individual one. But there are some ideas that are, for the most part, universal for everyone:

• Static stretching can decrease neural drive to your muscles and should be reserved for post-workout periods, and other non, pre-workout periods.
• Dynamic stretching will increase blood flow and do a good job of "waking up" your nervous system. These should be used pre-workout as part of your warm-up.
• PNF stretching can have an impressive effect on flexibility. I like to use it in the post-workout period, but a lot of people use it before workouts too, and swear by it, so take that for what it's worth. 
• I tend to stay away from any type of ballistic stretching. A lot of people will tell you it's super dangerous, but if a muscle is properly warmed up, you're probably not at that great of risk for injury. Regardless, I haven't ever seen much benefit from ballistic work so it's been, for all intents and purposes, tossed.

So, where does the "individual" fit in here? Well, everybody has their own issues, their own strengths and weaknesses. Some people need to do some static stretches for certain muscle groups so they can do a certain lift. Others find PNF stretching wildly uncomfortable.

Almost everyone I've seen squat has overly tight psoas, and by static stretching them, they were able to hit a lower depth during squatting without sacrificing a neutral lumbar spine. So, in those cases, static stretching was necessary before lifting. 

Stick to the principles outlined above, individualize them to you and your needs and stretch away.