Strength Training, not brainwashing.

So I'm writing this BLOG as I reach the end of a great weekend.....at least one part of why it was great was the news of someone's decision to try more evidence-based strength training methods. I know that's a little sad but really the number of people who appear resilient to science when it comes to training is somewhat scary, and if one person makes a change and realises then hopefully his word of mouth might convert another one with something of a waterfall effect.

I guess I should take a step back and clarify exactly what I'm talking about.....Single set training. Simple.

The scientific evidence (and don't tell me we don't like scientific evidence; it's given us most medicines and pharmaceuticals via clinical trials - exercise science follows the same rules) suggests that

single sets of a resistance exercise when performed in a controlled manner, to muscular failure are at least as beneficial as multiple sets

I know that some people are still arguing against this, and for the most part I have given up trying to convert the masses. But apparently there was a recent article in Men's Health or the like stating this. I was particularly happy to hear this since I don't read fitness/health magazines as they are, well, for want of a better word; wrong. They are media based hype and b*llsh*t. which got me thinking as to how most people who go to the gym have come to do multiple sets......brainwashing. Like a politician selling you their ideals, or a pusher with a drug, you've been sold on something. Sorry. If you ask the right questions then you'll either get the right answers or excuses. If you get excuses be worried; you would with everything else, right!?

This article is a tribute to Mike Mentzer.
June 2011 marks the 10 year anniversary of his death.

Anyway, I'm going to talk about Mike Mentzer and Arthur Jones who, to me, were the founding fathers of exercise science. They likened resistance training to prescriptive medicine with a dose response relationship. My favourite analogy was that of a general anaesthetic. A Doctor would give you a precise amount to make you unconscious, too much would likely kill you, and too little would not work. Exercise is the same, almost literally. Mike also used to compare training to eating jelly baby's; some is good, but too much and and you get sick. Of course he also made analogies with regard to our genetics, some people are very sensitive to the sun, and some are not sensitive to it at all......we are the same with training, our doses should come when we need them not when a magazine tells us. So think of it this way;

• We perform a resistance exercise slow enough to keep the muscle under tension all the time, until we simply cannot perform the exercise any more.
• We do not twist or turn or cheat our form or posture, we breath as close to normally as possible and when we're done we get up and move to the next exercise.
• We aim to train every muscle possible without over training any of them

Of course this sees a marked decrease in time spent exercising, and perhaps a great time spent doing other things, one of which is recovery. I always laugh when I explain that I train, at most, twice per week. When people question it I explain it this way...."we grow when we rest right?...so I only train twice per week; but I grow 5 days per week" On that note, if you train 3 or 4 or 5 days per week consider that your growth is quite likely stunted by this. 

As for single sets, well once you've stimulated a muscle to grow there is simply nothing gained by stimulating it again, in fact you are making further in roads into your recovery and probably doing more harm than good.

When it comes to speed of movement; I always want muscular tension, no ballistic movements and no plyometrics; if the muscle isn't under tension it's not doing anything right?? You can take this to the extreme (e.g. 10-second concentric (lifting) and 10-second eccentric (lowering)) or even further; I'm partial to the occasional 60 second pull-up. Instead of just gunning out as many horrible form pull-ups as you can with body movement and all sort, try to start at the bottom and move very slowly upwards....for 60 seconds. Ideally you get to the top at the end of the minute. Then you come back down for a further 60 seconds. That's 2-minutes of muscular tension, if you can't do it (and most people can't) then make it your challenge, and challenge others too. Most people revel gym challenges and yet this one because of the decreased velocity and difficulty seems less popular. If you're struggling with the 'slow' concept think of it this way. You're contracting the muscle, everything else is a bi-product! - E.g. when you do a bicep curl your aim is not to move the bar, you don't go in the gym saying I'm going to move this bar. You want bigger arms right/ So to do this you make the muscle work. If the bar moves, that's just a bi-product. The primary aim is to contract the muscle, until you can't contract it any more. Simple.

I've said this so many times to people I'm almost bored of hearing it, but now and then I get the urge to help people out again. So here it is for you. As for the science, here's an article written by two colleagues of mine that discusses resistance training philosophy and methods in detail, specifically those of Arthur Jones. If you're really interested in your workout then you NEED to read it.

Be well

JF

More Sleep, Less Fat. Simple.

I've blogged recently about sleep patterns and the healthy regulation of hormones, but I'm reading more and more about sleep patterns and body composition that I wanted to share with you.

A blog I link to, Conditioning Research, prompted to me to take a look at an article titled "Longer sleep duration  associates with lower adiposity gain in adult short sleepers" (follow the link to read the abstract). It's a longitudinal study over a 6 year period which essentially reports that people with reduced sleep patterns over the 6 year period reported higher body mass index and fat mass (kg). However, without having access to the full study I (frustratingly) can not help elaborate on why!!

However, I can look at other research.....

Another study; "Short Sleep Duration and Weight Gain; A Systematic Review" (follow link for full article) which considers over 30 studies which have linked diminished sleep patterns to weight gain and obesity. The evidence seems pretty clear but the underlying mechanisms are are still only theoretical:

Research seems to suggest that sleep deprivation causes increased hunger as well as an increased opportunity to eat (which essentially leads to higher calorific intake), but also altered thermo-regulation and increased fatigue (which leads to reduced energy expenditure). In conjunction with the increased calorific intake there is the likelihood that with more daylight hours (remember our body doesn't differentiate between sunlight and electrical lighting), our body craves more sugar under the pretense that it is summer and we should be storing calories (fat) ready for winter. [We don't get fat eating fat, we get fat eating sugar - see previous blogs! - I should note this is a link to any previous blogs discussing carbohydrate intake. Yes, carbs is sugar. Don't go on believing there's much difference in the refining process between bread and pasta and the candy bar or chocolate you want! - It's the same evil.......tangent!!!]

Of course there's also the (previously discussed) likelihood that reduced sleep messes up our hormone regulation and has the potential to reduce our immune system. In which case not feeling well might in turn reduce our likelihood of exercise or once again prompt our diet to incorporate more sugar. An interesting study based on all of this might relate to the carbohydrate intake associated with reduced sleep patterns to see if there is any correlation!

I recently read and vehemently advocate the book "Lights Out" by Wiley and Formby. I have facebooked about how good this book is and in case you missed my rant here it is again;

This is the best book I've ever read. It quite literally has the potential to make your life better (and if not help you understand what's been going wrong). 

Here's how nice I am and how much I believe in this book....

Amazon link. (It's £5.16 - I recently ordered a copy for a close friend in America, and if you're that much of a scrounge then I might buy one for you too!)

Google Books link (in case you need to preview in greater detail.

Before this starts sounding like an advertising campaign I should clarify; I am not on commission and I do not know the authors. I am in no way linked to this book, however, I firmly believe in the dissemination of practical knowledge.

I think that is scratching the surface of this as a topic area, and at some point I am likely to revisit this but in the mean time our take home message is to get some sleep. Plain, and simple. It's in our control. Now turn the computer off and go to bed.

Be Well

J

My weekend soundtrack....

So the thing is I consider myself a bit of a music geek. A friend of mine years back once declared me a modern day John Peel...which is something of hyperbole but a compliment nevertheless. I always seemed to have the bootleg or limited edition vinyl version of something, whether it's Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Dylan or Guns 'n' Roses.

The first track here I heard, what now seems like, a long time ago. And remember being instantly impressed with his musical creativity as much as his Mraz-esque rhythm......



Although I do love this track the repetitive nature seemed to have a larger than expected impact and it's novelty value wore thin.....
...........
....however, this past weekend in Canterbury (smile) I revisited Ed Sheeran musical talents with this track.

I haven't blogged about music for a while and though I constantly have it playing somewhere in my everyday life I mostly leave people to their own and vice versa. Until now. I have not escaped this tune since Saturday morning and yesterday evening found myself picking it out on my own guitar. Of course, I've come in to work today and found the following version on youtube to be my favorite....enjoy.



Be Well

JF

A legend retires....

What to say about Shaquille O'Neal; He was big; at 7'1", and ~325lbs he was definitely one of the largest players in the NBA. Whilst living in Florida I traveled down to a few Miami Heat games, and recall a pre-season game against Dallas where I sat the row behind the Miami bench and watched him stand and Dirk with Dirk Nowitzki (also around 7') - he literally made him look like a boy. Shaq was so big, he made 'big' look small.

The reality is that Shaq was a legend. He was never anything less than a character with a mighty grin, and often one of the greatest basketball players ever to play the game. I checked on the NBA website his career statistics line:

23.7 points per game, 10.9 rebounds per game, 2.5 assists per game, and 2.3 blocks per game

Along with the following highlights/awards:

• 4× NBA Champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006)
• 3× NBA Finals MVP (2000–2002)
• NBA Most Valuable Player (2000)
• NBA Rookie of the Year (1993)
• 15× NBA All-Star (1993–1998, 2000–2007, 2009)
• 2× NBA scoring champion (1995, 2000)
• 8× All-NBA First Team (1998, 2000–2006)
• 2× All-NBA Second Team (1995, 1999)
• 4× All-NBA Third Team (1994, 1996–1997, 2009)
• 3× All-Defensive Second Team (2000–2001, 2003)
• NBA All-Rookie First Team (1993)
• 3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2000, 2004, 2009)
• 1994 FIBA World Championship MVP

I know people have their issues with Shaq; he was a turbulent character who notably fell out with Kobe Bryant (I'm really not getting in to this debate), and he never managed to get a grasp of free throw shooting. he shot somewhere in the region of 51% for his career. He was offered by legend Rick Barry to be taught how to shoot underhand free-throws and rejected the offer basically because it wasn't cool. He was heavily criticized for this since he became a liability in close games who adopted a technique known as "Haq-a-Shaq" - meaning they would foul him and force him to shoot free-throws. It was commented that "here you have an $x-million dollar player and you can't even play him at the end of close games".

Although notably he seemed to have a flurry of success when he shot 69% for a spell and of course, in his own style nicknamed himself "Shaqovic" (under the guise that most great shooters in the NBA are European with their name ending in "ovic").

Amongst his other nicknames; "The Diesel, Shaq Fu, The Big Daddy, Superman, The Big Agave, The Big Cactus (when he got traded to Phoenix), The Big Shamrock, The Big Leprechaun, (when he got traded to Boston).

My personal memories of Shaq; he couldn't rap, and he couldn't act, but he could throw down on anybody. He got a technical foul called against him for waving his finger after dunking on Dikembe Mutombo (notoriously Mutombo would wave his finger after blocking a shot). He got ejected from a game after dunking viciously on Andre Kirilenko (there didn't seem any reason for this - the ejection, not the dunk). He fought with Charles Barkley, and nearly came to blows with Andrew Bynum (bynum dunked and came down and pushed Shaq as if to let him know what just happened, Shaq pushed back and they were quickly seperated; a moment later Shaq dunked on Bynum).

And my favorite all time memory.....well.....enjoy....




Sorry for the poor quality but lest we forget that David Robinson was a respectable center himself. This simply optimized Shaq - raw power. In fact while we're on the subject let's see some more....



Victims include Shawn Bradley, Luc Longley, Robert Parish, David Robinson (again), Hakeem Olajuwon, and Dikembe Mutombo. Ouch.

Alas towards the end of his career he was simply riddled with injury; likely the effect of running with a 300+ lb weight for 20 years. And he begin to drift from team to team, trade after trade. I got kind of sad but I guess it's the life of that once great, once dominant center, people are waiting on something; a glimpse of the old days and it doesn't come anymore. It got especially painful for me as I've made a point of buying every Shaq jersey and it was just getting expensive; Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland, and Boston. I don't really know what my fascination was, as a player I was never like him (at 5'10" there's little comparison). Maybe I just found him exciting!? He even frustrated me with his ignorance toward free-throw improvement! But something always lured me back. From a rookie in Orlando through his best days in LA, or as a veteran in Miami, something always got me excited about watching him play!

Reebok Shaqnosis

I don't know what more to say, if you're a basketball fan then you have your own memories and if you're not then I'm surprised you've even read this far.

On a final note perhaps a brief memory to a pair of his early Reebok's - Shaqnosis....If they bring them back sign me up - I want a pair.

So goodbye Shaq, and thanks for everything. Thanks for the memories, and the dunks, thanks for Lakers and Miami, and for posterizing Robinson.

As for the NBA playoffs they'll go on, but next season just feels like it'll be a little less 'big'.

Be Well

JF