Showing posts with label higher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label higher. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Block Periodization for Resistance Trainees 3x Higher Strength Gains on the Bench vs Zero Benefits for Legs

The deadlift probably wont benefit from blocked periodization either... at least if you do it only once a week anyway.
I hope you all remember my recent article about the beneficial effects of block periodization on the training outcome of trained cyclists (if you dont Id suggest you read up on it: "Block Periodization - Impressive Performance Gains in Pro-Athletes") and the hypothesis that the mechanism behind the beneficial effects Rønnestad et al. report in the corresponding paper are not actually a consequence of this specific periodization scheme. Rather than that, the benefits the researchers have observed may well have been a mere consequences of the "change", of "breaking out of the rut" and the provision of a new challenge thats absolutely essential to induce what everyone, from housewife to Olympian athlete is training for: adaptation.

Lets discard the mechanism for a moment, though and lets rather focus on the hard facts - hard facts that are complemented by the results of a soon-to-be-published paper by researchers from the University of Bologna and the University of Central Florida.

Whats so interesting about this paper is ...

....that it looks at the effects of block periodization in trained strength athletes and could thus help us answer a question that may have been preying on your mind, ever since I published the previously cited article about the beneficial effects of block periodization in endurance athletes: "Do Different Rules Apply for Strength vs. Endurance Athletes?" Or, put simply: Would a weight lifter benefit to a similar extend from block periodizing his training regimen as a cyclist - irrespective of what the underlying mechanisms may be?
Figure 1: The subjects trained 4x per week - identical training plans in both groups (Bartolomei. 2014)
The answer is "yes and no" - Yes, if we are talking about the upper body, no - and thats interesting because cycling obviously involves the same muscle groups - when we are looking at the lower body performance gains in Figure 2:
Figure 2: Changes in max. strength (1RM in kg), mean power (in % of baseline) and jump height (in cm) in the 24 study particpants in response to traditional linear or block periodization (Bartolomei. 2014)
As you can see, the gains in lower body power was identical - irrespective of the type of periodization (see overview in Figure 1). For the upper body, on the other hand, the subjects who did not simply ramp up the intensity continuously from 5 sets of 8-10 reps at 65-75% of  1RM  with  less  than  2  minutes  of  recovery  between  sets to 5 sets of 3 - 4 reps at 85 -95% of 1RM with 3 minutes of recovery from week 1 to week 12 (TP group), the ...
"[p]articipants  in  BP  were  more  likely  (79.8%)  to increase the area under the force-power curve than TP. Participants in BP also demonstrated a likely positive (92.76%) decrease in the load corresponding to maximal power at the bench  press compared to TP group, and a possible improvement (~ 60%) in maximal strength and power in the bench press." (Bartolomei. 2014)
Whether thats muscle-specific reaction to the three 5-week mesocycles, instead of one 15-week mesocycle is yet highly questionable - or do you think the legs respond less to the periodization program thats depicted in Figure 3, than chest, back, arms & co?
Figure 3: Illustration of the interplay between intensity and volume of the n=14 24-year-old male, resistance trained (>3 years, >3 sessions per week) subjects in the block periodization group (Bartolomei. 2014)
Personally, I would rather come back to the "novelty approach". It goes without saying that we can assume that the abrupt changes on a blocked periodization regimen favor "growth promoting overloads". In the case of the musculature of the lower body, the simple fact that it was trained just once a week may yet have provided a similarly "novel" or at least less accustomed stimulus on every leg-day.
"Periodize Appropriately and Cut 12% Body Fat in 12 Weeks!" | more
Bottom line: Again, its difficult to tell, whether there is any special magic in block periodization. What can be said, though, is that we can again (see "Block Periodization - Impressive Performance Gains in Pro-Athletes: Revolutionary Training Concept, Or Just a Good Way to Eventually Break Out of the Comfort Zone?" | read more) make an argument for the "breaking out of the rut" hypothesis... in this case, however, in an ostensibly muscle-specific manner thats eventually not "muscle-", but actually "training-frequency-specific".

In the end, it does not matter, if my ad-hoc explanation is or isnt accurate. For you as a practicioner who is probably training the muscles of his upper body thrice a week, the results of this study are significant - no matter what the underlying mechanisms are. In other words: The results of the A classic HST-oriented training program that is eventually "block periodized" will yield better training results than one, where you train in the same rep ranger 365 days a year. But lets be honest: Thats not surprising, is it?
References
  • Bartolomei, Sandro, et al. "A Comparison of Traditional And Block Periodized Strength Training Programs in Trained Athletes." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2014). [ahead of print]
  • Rønnestad, B. R., J. Hansen, and S. Ellefsen. "Block periodization of high?intensity aerobic intervals provides superior training effects in trained cyclists." Scand J Med Sci Sports 24 (2014): 34–42.


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Monday, March 14, 2016

Intensity or Exercises Switching Whats More Effective to Build Muscle And Strength Switching Exercises Yields 20 Higher Strength 5 Higher Balanced Muscle Gains!

Intensity or exercises switching whats more effective to build muscle and strength - or is it best to do both?
Lets be honest: When was the last time youve switched up your exercise regimen? Kicked out the old boring bench presses and squats and did something totally different? You dont remember? Well, what if I tell you that the latest study from the University of São Paulo, the University of Tampa and Delboni Auriemo Diagnostic Imaging Sector shows that not switching up your exercises is whats keeping you from making the gains you deserve?

Shocker? Well in that case I highly suggest you read the rest of todays article, before you go back to the drawing board and revamp your training regimen.
Learn more about building muscle at www.suppversity.com

Tri- or Multi-Set Training for Body Recomp.?

Alternating Squat & Blood Pressure - Productive?

Pre-Exhaustion Exhausts Your Growth Potential

Full ROM ? Full Gains - Form Counts!

Battle the Rope to Get Ripped & Strong

Study Indicates Cut the Volume Make the Gains!
The actual purpose of the study, the results of which are soon going to be published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research was...
"to investigate the effects of different combinations of training intensities and exercises selection, as well as the combination of both, on muscle strength and CSA." (Fonseca. 2014)
Base on the authors previous findings (Lamas. 2012; Laurentino. 2012; Wallerstein. 2012), Fonseca et al. hypothesized that muscle hypertrophy would not be affected by the different loading schemes and exercise variation; however, the differences in motor unit recruitment provided by the exercise variation would produce superior gains in muscle strength.

A secondary purpose of the present study was thus to identify if the loading scheme and exercises variation would produce differences in the hypertrophy response of the quadriceps muscle heads.
Figure 1:  Vastus lateralis (VL), vastus medialis (VM), vastus intermedius (VI), and rectus femoris (RF) cross sectional area (mm²) for the constant exercise-constant intensity (CICE), constant intensity-varied exercise (CIVE), varied intensity-constant exercise (VICE), and varied intensity-varied exercise (VIVE) groups, pre- and post-training (Fonseca. 2014)
Speaking of muscle heads, the two letter acronyms in Figure 1 represent vastus lateralis (VL), vastus medialis (VM), vastus intermedius (VI), and rectus femoris (RF) and as you can see the hypertrophy response was affected by the different loading schemes and exercise variation.
ChestBicepsBackCoreLegsTricepsShoulders
Navigate the SuppVersity EMG Series - Click on the desired body part to see the optimal exercises.
Based on the caption of Figure 1 you will already have gathered that the study protocol involved 4 different conditions (+ control; not shown in Figure 1).
Maybe its not just about the exercises, but also about which exercises you rotate in... This is something you should keep in mind, when you look aat the results of the study at hand. Ok, squats may be the best exercise for legs, but is it surprising that adding in some leg presses and deadlifts will yield even better results? I dont think so - do you?
Table 1: Overview of the Training protocols; CICE= constant intensity and constant exercise, CIVE= constant int. varying exercise, VICE= varying int. and constant ex. VIVE= varying int. and varying ex (Fonseca. 2014).
I would have to waste a thousand words to explain exactly how the exercise regimen differed.

Therefore I decided to simply give you the overview of the 12 training weeks from the original paper in which you can see that there were two parameters Fonseca et al. varied, i.e.
  • intensity as in higher reps, lower weight vs. lower reps, higher weight and 
  • exercise, i.e. did the subjects to the same stuff all the time or did they switch from one exercise to the next,
And eventually, both of them influenced the training outcome, with varying exercises producing a "more homogeneous muscle hypertrophy response" (Fonseca. 2014). 
In terms of strength gains, its ~20% less efficient to vary only the intensity on the same exercise (Fonseca. 2014).
Bottom line: As the scientists point out, future studies will have to elucidate,"whether highly trained individuals would be able to handle a high degree of training variations (i.e. intensity and exercises) and achieve greater strength gains when compared to a program that only varies the exercises." (Fonseca. 2014)

In the mean time, the Brazilian / US research team is yet spot on, when they say that "variations in training intensity are not critical to produce strength and muscle hypertrophy gains in the initial phase of a ST program." (Fonseca. 2014).

Specifically for rapid mass and even more so strength gains beginners and early advanced trainees (instead of trainees who hadnt touched a weight regular for at least 6 months, as it was the case in the study at hand), varying the the exercises and thus the stimulus mode instead of its intensity will yield significant gains and "seems to produce a more  complete  muscle  activation  hypertrophying  all  of  the  heads  of  multi-pennate muscles." (Fonseca. 2014)
References:
  • Fonseca, RM, et al. "Changes in exercises are more effective than in loading schemes to improve muscle strength." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2014). Published Ahead of Print.
  • Lamas, Leonardo, et al. "Effects of strength and power training on neuromuscular adaptations and jumping movement pattern and performance." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 26.12 (2012): 3335-3344.
  • Laurentino, Gilberto Candido, et al. "Strength training with blood flow restriction diminishes myostatin gene expression." Med Sci Sports Exerc 44.3 (2012): 406-412.
  • Wallerstein, Lilian França, et al. "Effects of strength and power training on neuromuscular variables in older adults." Journal of aging and physical activity 20.2 (2012): 171-85.


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Tuesday, March 8, 2016

It Does Matter How You Spread Your Protein Intake 30 Higher 24h Protein Synthesis with 30g Protein per Meal

Todays SuppVersity News will provide you with "confirmation" rather than "innovation", I suppose
With my recent article on the non-existance of protein-related osteoporosis (read more) and the short news post about the unique satiating effects of protein snacks (read more), theres been quite some protein lovin here at the SuppVersity as of late. Usually, I would try to avoid having yet another "protein article" in the same week, but for the most recent study on "Dietary Protein Distribution", I will make an exception and I bet, you wont mind! Why? Well, what about what follows the "Dietary Protein Distribution" in the title of said paper?

"...Influences 24-h Muscle Protein Synthesis in Healthy Adults"

By now, you may feel reminded of a recent review by Alan Aragon and Brad Schoenfeld (Aragon. 2013), the results of which (learn more) are not refuted by the results of the study at hand.
Avoid protein wasting post workout.
Why do I even mention the Aragon + Schoenfeld study? The reason is that I already read how people were going on about how this "stupid review" got it all wrong on Facebook. And though I know that SuppVersity readers are not as ignorant as the average gymbro (watch what I am talking about, here) I wanted to make sure that (a) this study is not about the post-workout anabolic window Aragon & Schoenfeld wrote about and that (b) the tow actually argued that spreading your protein intake across the day instead of placing it in the "anabolic window", should yield superior results.
What the study does tell us, is simple: "The consumption of a moderate amount of protein at each meal stimulated 24-h muscle protein synthesis more effectively than skewing protein intake toward the evening meal." (Mamerow. 2014)

In other words: Dont cram all your protein into one meal!

I guess in view of past articles on related topics (e.g. "2x40g, 4x20g or 8x10g of Whey? Which Feeding Strategy Yields the Greatest Net Protein Retention?" | read more; or "Protein Timing Reloaded: A Reminder on the Importance of Repeated 20g Pulses for Optimal Protein Synthesis" | read more), this insight is not really going to surprise you.
Figure 1: Fractional protein synthesis at breakfast (left), when the difference was most pronounced (+30%) and rel. calculated 24h fractional protein synthesis (right) with EVEN vs. SKEWED protein distribution (Mamerow. 2014)
What may surprise you, though is the simple fact that this study, which was a joint venture of scienfitsts from the Division of Rehabilitation Sciences at the Department of Nutrition and Metabolism, and Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana (Mamerow. 2014) is the first study to conclusively show that spreading a relatively high protein intake (1.2g/kg body weight) across the day is superior to the large steak the average intermittent faster may be washing down with a triple protein shake in the evening.

With an average age of 37 years the 8 healthy, normal-weight adult men and women who participated in the study at hand were neither rodents, nor elderly individuals, and - contrary to what you may expect if you look at the italicized names of the Institutions the scientists who were involved in this study are working at - they were not in need of rehabilitation after an injury - they were average Joes (n = 5) and Janes (n= 3).

This is not about rodents, elderly people or injured athletes

As you can see in the overview in Table 1, the subjects consumed three square meals, i.e. breakfast, lunch and dinner in the course of the 7-day study period. The previous reference to intermittent fasting is thus obsolete - eating a minimal amount of protein in the morning and at noon is after all very different from eating nothing at all. 

Table 1: Seven-day mean energy and macronutrient intake in healthy adults consuming diets with an EVEN or SKEW protein distribution (Mamerow. 2014)
As the scientists point out, the total 24-h protein, carbohydrate, and fat consumption in the SKEW and EVEN conditions was not different.
"Both diets exceeded the RDA for protein [0.8 g/(kg d)] by ~50%. The SKEW diet met the RDA for protein during the evening meal alone. In all versions of the EVEN and SKEW menus used in this study, the animal-to-vegetable protein ratio was ~2:1." (Mamerow. 2014)
By using a 7-d crossover feeding design with a 30-d washout period, the scientists were thus able to measure the influence of protein timing, on the changes in muscle protein synthesis.

The latter was measured thrice, i.e. after each of the three meals, and used to calculate the twenty-four-hour mixed muscle protein fractional synthesis rates on days 1 and 7 after the ingestion of EVEN-ly or SKEW-edly distributed protein diets.
"Fat Loss Principles That Work: 10g+ of EAA W/ Every Meal" | read more
Bottom line: You have already seen the outcome of the three FSR measurement in Figure 1 and there is actually not much to add to what youre seeing there already.

In view of the fact that I gather that youd expected a result like this, I dont feel inclined to repeat that I have been suggesting for years to consume 30g+ of quality protein ("quality" = 10g+ of EAAs per 30g serving) with every meal.

If you stick to this simple principle, its going to help you build muscle and lose fat (see "Fat Loss Principles That Work: 10g+ of EAA W/ Every Meal" | read more).
Reference:
  • Aragon, Alan Albert, and Brad Jon Schoenfeld. "Nutrient timing revisited: is there a post-exercise anabolic window?." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 10.1 (2013): 5.
  • Mamerow, Madonna M., et al. "Dietary Protein Distribution Positively Influences 24-h Muscle Protein Synthesis in Healthy Adults". J. Nutr. January 29, 2014 jn.113.185280 [ahead of print].


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Monday, February 15, 2016

Place Alexa Traffic Widget on Your Site Get Higher Ranking!




This post is a part of serial tutorial on Alexa. Earlier I wrote about- 
  • Creating Alexa Toolbar for Your Site
  • How to Claim a Site in Alexa
  • Benefits of Using Alexa Toolbar
And in this post I wanna tell something about Alexa Traffic Widgets. If youre a regular visitor of blogs and websites you might notice some widgets than shows Alexa Traffic Rank of that site. But this widget doesnt only show the ranking of that site. It does something more . . . 

Guess what? Helps to boost the ranking. 
How? When someone visit a site and if there is Alexa Widgets, then Alexa got information of that site usage information from this widget. Thus it can increase your rank.  


Okay, Im gonna stop the discussion and start the procedure. 

Method 1: 
  1. Visit Alexa Rank Widget page. 
  2. Now copy and paste your site URL in the box and hit on the Build Widget button. (ie. http://munnamark.blogspot.com)
  3. After pressing the button you will get 3 widgets. You can choose any of them. Copy the HTML code from any of the boxes. And then paste it in your site. 
If you are having trouble to understand the process then follow- 

Method 2: 

  
To use this one, use the following code:
<a href="http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/http://www.markspcsolution.com"><script type=text/javascript src=http://xslt.alexa.com/site_stats/js/s/a?url=http://www.munnamark.blogspot.com></script></a>



To use this one, use the following code:
<a href="http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/http://www.markspcsolution.com"><script type=text/javascript src=http://xslt.alexa.com/site_stats/js/s/b?url=http://www.munnamark.blogspot.com></script></a>



To use this one, use the following code:
<a href="http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/http://www.markspcsolution.com"><script type=text/javascript src=http://xslt.alexa.com/site_stats/js/s/c?url=http://www.munnamark.blogspot.com></script></a>

Copy any of the above codes and paste it in your site in appropriate place. Im gonna show you the way for Blogger only. 

Sign in your Blogger Account > Design > Layout > Add a Gadget > HTML/ JavaScript > Paste the above code in the content box > Save > View or Blog.  

Dont forget to replace the URL http://www.markspcsolution.com with your sites home page URL. 

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Monday, January 4, 2016

Use Alexa Toolbar Get Higher Ranking on Alexa !!




Alexa is a popular ranking site. The main feature of Alexa ranking is that, it ranks the sites from 1 to last. Just few months ago, Google was top in the alexa ranking. But few days ago it loses its first position to Facebook. 

Though alexa ranking doesnt matter much for a site. But day by day alexa ranking is getting importance. Sometimes it is very difficult to compare some sites if they have same Page Rank in Google. But in alexa ranking there is no chance to get same position. 




When you use Alexa Toolbar in your browser (only Firefox, Google Chrome and IE) it sends data to their server. It measures how much time do you spend on a site. And how much time you gave on that site. It also shows you the ranking of a website in search result. 


It measures the rank of a site based on: 
  • How much time a person spend on a site
  • How much pageviews does he made
  • How many people visit the site within a particular time
  • From where the visitors come to the site 
All of the above data are collected by Alexa Toolbar. So if you visit your site with Alexa Toolbar installed on your browser, then I can guarantee that your alexa ranking will increase significantly. 

Suppose your alexa ranking is 20500000. If you use alexa toolbar and browse your site your ranking will be less than 300000 !! And if some of your friend visit your site with alexa toolbar, your ranking will be less than 10000 ! 


So why do you avoid this chance? Install it now in your browser. 


To install the alexa toolbar visit this site- http://www.alexa.com/toolbar. Then click on Install Alexa Extension. Then follow the steps that appears in your browser. 

And if youre using Google chrome then you can directly click here. Currently, you can use this toolbar only with Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. Make sure youre using updated version of each browser. 

My personal choice is Google Chrome if you wanna use Alexa Toolbar. Because it will allow you to use the toolbar both as standard view and and toolbar view. 


Dont forget to inform your friends about advantages of alexa toolbar. Because the more people visit your site with alexa toolbar, the higher will be your ranking! 


Stay with Marks PC Solution to get more interesting IT topics!



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