Friday, November 19, 2010

Anabolic Erobics

Every year, there are new techniques in training, diet and supplementation that allow us to take our physiques to the next level. I think many of the "Old School" laws have hung around much longer than they should have. We have to learn to accept that there won't always be one best way to do something. You don't eat your eggs raw anymore, do you? We now have whey protein and there's really no need to do it anymore.
Cardio: Yea or Nay
Well there's one more thing that should go. And that's the law that says cardio will kill your gains in muscle. Cardio should be a part of every program whether your goal is maximum muscle or serious fat loss. In fact cardio, if implemented intelligently, can even augment your effort in the weight room! That's right, you don't need to be come a slob to put on muscle. You can stay lean and even lose that spare tire in the process.Is it really possible to build muscle with out 6,000 calories a day?? You bet your sweet ass it is! And even more interesting, it happens in young, healthy people who have been training for years. Its really a matter of how you go about it and how you manipulate your diet to maximize you bodies internal workings. This first article is going to focus on just how cardio can help grow muscle.First we need to realize that simply increasing caloric intake does not lead to muscle mass. We can all agree that the types of calories (ie. Protein, carbs, fat) play a much bigger roll. Its also been widely accepted that keeping glycogen stores high is a determining factor in the rate of growth. This is why many bodybuilders find it necessary to consumer more carbohydrates than some endurance athletes.This is where cardio, and more specifically intense cardio comes into play. A protein molecule called, GLUT4, transports glucose. It basically sits on the surface of cells. The more you have the more glucose can be carried into muscle cells. High intensity aerobic work greatly increases the amount of the transporters. Intense aerobics also creates the same catabolic state and 3 hour nutritional window of opportunity as does weight training. This is the first down fall of many bodybuilders.How many of you out there actually supplement a cardio session exactly the same as weight training?? That's what I thought. And this response stays elevated above normal resting conditions for literally days.
Insulin
However, you can't get any glucose into a muscle cell with out the presence of insulin, the king of anabolic hormones. If you don't control your insulin all day, every day, you are basically shooting a hole in the boat you're sitting in . Both aerobic and heavy weight training increase insulin sensitivity , so in the long run, less carbs are needed to reach optimal levels of glycogen stores. There is also a strong correlation between the amount of insulin secreted and the rate of protein synthesis . And, surprise, surprise, insulin responses are much higher to the initial dose of carbs after intense exercise .
However, the longer you are inactive, those high rates of synthesis drop off quickly with ever hour that passes . So for those of you who lift on a 3-day split, you may be wise to slip a short intense cardio session on those off days. And if you are someone who goes to lift twice a day, it would also be wise to make one of those times a cardio session instead of more weights. By lifting two times a day, you are setting yourself up for disaster. It seems that with every weight training session on a given day, the catabolic hormone response is amplified !But overall cortical (the catabolic hormone) levels stay very low in people who go once a day, every day . In fact, its been shown that people who incorporate 3 days of weight and 3 days of cardio gain more lean mass, and even with a negative nitrogen balance . As much as a 4% increase in dry muscle. Not, fat free mass, not weight, not lean mass, pure stinking muscle. And a loss of 5% body fat ta-boot .Growth hormones and IGF-1
The most promising aspect of cardio work is its effect on the two remaining hormones that are paramount in muscle growth, growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-I. Now, there has been some debate as to whether or not GH is really anabolic and increases muscle mass. Well let's say for argument's sake that it isn't. But one thing is for sure, its metabolic offspring, IGF-I sure as hell is !We all know that stacking on the heavy weights increases these two hormones rather effectively , but not many think of cardio doing that as well. In fact, cardio is just as effective as the heavy weights . GH whether or not it is actually active in muscle growth is irrelevant when you know that it is the hormone that stimulates the release of IGF-I . And it appears that as the intensity of the cardio increases, so does the amount of GH .And to top it all off, if for some unknown reason you decide to do more than one cardio session a day, the release of GH is magnified with every time . What exactly is "intense" cardio? Well roughly 85-90% or your VO2 max, or heart rate . If you can go for more than 20 continuous minutes, it simply isn't hard enough. The goal of intense cardio is to not so much burn off the 400 calories in the session, but to let your body do that as it tries to "fix" it self after the ass whipping you just dished out.The shorter your sessions, the less chance you run of hitting the catabolic wall . However, the effects of IGF-I on muscle seem to be "local", meaning it has to be produced by, or introduced into the muscle . And because contracting muscle has an insulting-like action (you probably call it the "pump"), all the extra movement from the cardio will be drawing more IGF-I in to cells. So it would be wise to find some type of cardio that uses a lot of different muscle groups.So to bring this to a close, doing cardio during a "bulking" phase to stay lean or lose some extra fat will only magnify your efforts in the gym. Cardio increases your ability to store glycogen with less carbs and calories, it conditions our body to suppers catabolic hormones for longer periods of time and it not only sets the muscle building stage buy producing an abundance of anabolic hormone, but it keeps the process going at a high rate .

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Quats!

quats are the main diet for the powerlifter, Olympic lifter, football player, track & field competitor and every other competitive athlete. But there are many assistant exercises that deliver that extra for squat strength and quad development. These assistant exercises offer coordination and balance to specific muscle groups to execute squat performance and quad development. So, whether that boost is strength, power, size, or a combination of them all, assistant exercises play a very important factor in the squat.
The squat is a strength and mass builder. Squat assistance exercises are done for shaping, and also strength. Let me explain. Bodybuilders are not interested in getting their squat to an all time max as a powerlifter is. Not all of them anyway. The competitive bodybuilder uses squat assistance exercises for shaping. But, the powerlifter is more interested in serious strength gains. Assistant squat exercises give an extra boost on all strength levels. Absolute strength, limit strength, starting strength and explosive strength. For those of you who are not referenced to these terms and those of you who need "strength" defined let me explain. Strength is the ability of the muscle to exert maximal force at a specific velocity.
Absolute strength constitutes a maximum amount of weight lifted like a "max" squat! Explosive strength is the max force exerted in a certain extension period of time. Limit strength is similar to absolute strength, which is the recruitment of musculoskeletal force generated for one all-out effort. Starting strength is the athlete's ability to "switch on" as many muscle fibers as possible in one instant. The ability to place an overload on the muscle that is being exerted with a heavier weight for maximum reps enables those muscles to get use to higher workloads.
There are many assistant exercises that can imitate the squat itself. Like placing your legs on the leg press or a hack machine with the same feet spacing you would for squatting. Assistant exercises can be box squats or reverse-hyper extensions, famed exercises performed by Louis Simmons students, step-ups, single leg presses, and many others. This is all good, but you ask why step-ups? Well, think about it. Step-ups are in all conventional terms a one legged squat. This specific assistant exercise will benefit you in gaining leg strength, the same as the single legged press would but with the added benefit of balance. Any individual who desires a good assistant exercise for squats should give single leg presses a try. I hope you realize that one leg can't press what both can, so, start off light increasing your weight each set until you get to a good working weight performing 6-10 reps on each leg. When doing leg presses or hack squats place your feet together and try 20-reps for each set. I recommend only 2-3 sets of those. They're pretty grueling! I am sure your legs will be ready to explode after all that.
The definition of the word "assistant" means: "assisting; helping; serves as a helper," - that's all an assistant squat exercise is - a helper. There are many different supplementary assistant exercises to implement in your squat training regiment. The best way to find out what is best for you is to first ask yourself what your goal is. Is your goal Strength? Size? Or both? Really, it doesn't matter because whatever assistant exercise you choose, done properly, over a period of time, will only spell out increases in strength, size, and shape. So, don't forget to take your supplements and give me one more rep!