HIT

Thanks for the comment on HIT (High Intensity Training). The training world is divided between HIT and HVT (high volume training). I tend to opt for a middle path - I find one set insufficient to stimulate all muscle fibres and excessive volume impedes recovery and tends to elicit an overtraining response.

Intensity (load) is generally considered the most important factor in strength training and, as Arthur Jones et al recognised, an increase in intensity requires a decrease in volume.

Once the training goal has been identified it is fairly straight forward to work out the rep range (i.e. 9-12 reps is optimal for hypertrophy); this rep range will correlate to % of 1RM (intensity).

I generally advocate brief training sessions - no more than 45-60 minutes, which prevents against gluconeogenesis/catabolism. Pre and post workout nutrition is also crucial if you want to optimise the training effect.

Chutz & Del's Training Log Part 1

Following on from a winter of heavy lifting and over-indulgence on pizza and wine, Chutney and Derek have started leaning out using a modified form of Poliquin's German Body Comp Program. The routine involves alternating two whole body approaches twice per week. The rest intervals are reduced and exercises are paired or in circuit form. The rep-range is generally 10-12 so there is still some hypertrophy. The increased blood lactate produced during the routine elevates growth hormone production and therefore increased fat burning. Heart rate remains elevated throughout the workout burning calories and creating an extended POEC.

Coupled with the new workout, Derek is now taking hydroxycut hardcore, L-glutamine, l-carnatine, CLA, vitamin supplements, BCAAs and protein and Chutney has switched from Cyclone to Labrada Lean Body Carb Watchers protein. Here are the latest workout shots. Hopefully there will be less fat next time!

Fat Loss Through Weight Training

Many people think that to lose fat they need to go on a restricted calorie diet and perform hour upon hour of cardio. Calorie controlled diets are virtually certain to backfire: they generally result in a loss of lean muscle tissue which leads to a corresponding drop in metabolic rate. Eventually progress with the weight loss plateaus until there is another drop in calories and a further reduction in metabolic rate. From here there are generally two options: continue the progressive calorie restriction (ultimately leading to anorexia and cachexia, or severe muscle wasting) or return to normal eating and put on even more weight than you lost due to the reduction in metabolically active muscle.

Aerobic exercise may help to shed even more calories but it does not effect major changes to body composition and metabolic rate. Cardio is ideal for health (the 30 minutes per day of exercise equivalent to brisk walking recommended by the ACSM) or sports-specific training, but weight training is superior for lasting fat loss and changes to body composition.

Not only can muscular hypertrophy lead to a better physique and the burning of significantly more calories at rest, but there are even protocols for training with moderate weights (65-75% of 1 rep max) that will generate high levels of blood lactate with a corresponding high production of growth hormone (which burns fat whilst stimulatin glean tissue growth).

For maximum fat burning it is essential to produce high levels of lactic acid by extending sets and increasing time under tension (through relatively high reps, say 10-15). It is helpful to pair exercises using super or compound sets and to reduce rest intervals (generally to between 45 and 65 seconds; sometimes as low as 30 seconds). This "incomplete" recovery contributes to the elevated lactate levels and growth hormone response.

Diet also has its part to play but not by excessively reducing calories. Generally the ratios of macronutrients need to be manipulated in favour of higher protein and lower carbohydrate (but not to the levels suggested by Atkins). Low GI complex carbs should be the principal form of carbohydrates. The level of carbohydrates decided upon will be dependant upon carb tolerance, energy levels, and activity. The only exception to the low GI rule should be the post workout (within 15 minutes) meal.

For more information on losing fat through weight training contact Derek at fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk

Heavier Isn't Always Better

Generally the recreational bodybuilders who seem to have reached a plateau in their development adhere to a decidedly myopic training philosophy: increase the resistance, but keep everything else the same. Good form is often sacrificed at the expense of more weight. The result has been the evolution of some rather bizarre lifting techniques: how many times have you witnessed the ectomorphic novice trying to swell his biceps by holding a barbell with elbows flexed, swaying back and forth from the waist before throwing the weights down with a mighty crash and then striding off to admire the supposed growth in the mirror. Lateral raises are the funniest exercise performed poorly. Determined to keep pace with the big boys, the over-zealous bodybuilder extends the prescribed slight elbow bend to a full ninety degrees (thus reducing the lever length and the comparative resistance), and then proceeds to flick the dumb bells up to shoulder height with a complex multi-joint movement focused chiefly on the lower back and wrists.

In such cases the target muscle gets off rather lightly whilst there is an unintentional, and largely ineffective, working of the lower back and forearms. The risk of injury is high and the likelihood of muscular development low.

Let’s look at the bicep curl. This exercise, presumably, is meant to stimulate growth of the biceps/brachialis muscles. To effectively target a muscle it is necessary to focus on the relevant joint action. In the case of the biceps, the role of the muscle is to flex the elbow joint (not the lower back!). It is essential, therefore, to isolate this joint by fixing the elbows at the sides and keeping the wrists in line with the elbows and forearms throughout the motion (many body builders make the mistake of curling the wrists over at the top of the movement). The torso should remain upright with a neutral spine position and the shoulders down and relaxed. The abdominals should be pulled in about 25% and the knees should be soft (slightly bent).

Generally the speed should be moderate with control of the eccentric (downward) movement during which the muscle is lengthening under tension. Poliquin (1990) demonstrates that the greatest hypertrophy gains are made using a repetition range of 8-12 and a moderate resistance: it is not necessary to lift very heavy weights to develop muscle. A weight should be selected that allows the trainer to perform within the prescribed rep range so that overload is achieved at the end of the set. Weight increases should be made in small increments allowing for the retention of perfect exercise form.

The challenge for the recreational body builder is to compete not with the other people in the gym, or with Arnold Schwarzenegger or whoever one’s idol is, but to compete with oneself. The weight must fit the person and that person’s specific goal. The exercise chosen, the form, the speed, the number of sets, the rest periods must follow the law of specificity. What do you wish to achieve? What is the best exercise to achieve this? What joint actions are involved and how do you best perform the exercise? Training is not random and it is not about brute force. You must know what your goals are and how best to approach those goals by using safe and effective exercises. If you must flick your wrists and sway your back during lateral raises then you should be able to explain exactly why you are doing this.