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HIIT-like 400m sprinting is exhausting, but unlike running to exhaustion and medium intensity steady state cardio its not going to mess up your nervous system.

Not one but two recent studies confirm what many of us have experienced first hand: Endurance training - specifically during a cut - is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, its a neat way to augment the energy deficit, when youre dieting and maintain in a eucaloric state, when youre not. On the other hand, however, even moderate endurance training can alter the sympathetic and parasympathetic balance and thus create an imbalance that is characteristic of any form of overtraining.

Speaking of overtraining: As a SuppVersity reader you should actually be aware of the fact that scientists distinguish two different types of overtraining: Sympathetic and parasympathetic overtraining
Due to the fact that the symptoms (see Figure 1) closely resemble those Morbus Basedow (engl. Graves Diseases) and Addisons Disease, respectively, sympathetic and parasympathetic overtraining are also called Basedowoid and Addisinoid overtraining.

Figure 1: Overview of the symptoms of the two major forms of overtraining.

You can see that the symptoms partly overlap. Thats yet not the only problem you have if you want to diagnose the type of overtraining. In many resistance trainees, for example, you find either mixed forms or see a transition from classic sympathetic to parasympathetic overtraining over time (assuming the athlete doesnt do anything to normalize his / her sympathetic nervous system function).
For the average study participant in a recent experiment that was conducted by scientists from the , The 42nd Hospital of PLA, the Xinqiao Hospital and the Chongqing Normal University in China, the duration and intensity of their cardio workouts (running) determined, whether the prescribed workout routines that consisted of ...

• There is such a thing as overtraining, folks | read more

  4 times a week running at 100% of their maximal heart rate until they were exhausted (utmost intensity group)
   
• 30 minutes of running four times per week (moderate intensity group)


• 3 - 5x 1200 m runs per day with a  5-min break every 400 m four times per week (high intensity group)

made them overtrain or not, and whether their para- or sympathetic nervous system was overreacting.

Table 1: Characteristics of study groups at pre and post | Data are means XS± . Pre, pretraining; post, at the end of 8-week training; mid, at the end of 4-week training. Utmost, utmost intensity endurance training; moderate, moderate intensity endurance training; high, high intensity endurance training (Tian. 2014)

The subjects, 72 nonsmoking male students whose characteristics are summarized in Table 1, followed the routine they had been randomized to for 8 weeks. As you can see, there were no statistical significant changes in body composition over the course of the 8-week study. Although, it sould seem that the body fat percentage (I assume BFR is body fat) declined a tad bit more in the high intensity group.
Where the subjects differed, however, was in their response to the specific aerobic exercise programs theyve been assigned to (I will directly quote the results from Tian et al (2014) and briefly comment on each of them):

• Heart rate variability (HRV): No significant changes in HRV parameters were found in all groups at pre and mid. But at post, the moderate intensity group showed more significant increases in RMSSD, PNN50, HF, LF and SDNN (P < 0.05 or 0.01) and much greater reduction in LF/HF than the other two groups (P was 0.033, 0.037 respectively). HFn of the moderate intensity group was significantly higher than that of the utmost intensity group (P = 0.012), while the opposite pattern occurred in LFn and LF/HF of the two groups (P was 0.025, 0.015 respectively).
  
  As you would expect the changes in HRV in the moderate and utmost intensity group reflect increases in parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system activity, respectively.
• Circadian Changes in Cold Pressor Test (CPT): From pre to post marked differences were not found in SBP and DBP of all groups and their increases. At post HR was much less increased in utmost intensity group during CPT than the other two groups (average P < 0.05).
  
  Next to a high basal heart rate an inhibited increase in heart rate is another characteristic of later stages of sympathetic overtraining.
• Plasma catecholamine (NE & EPI): Norepinephrine (NE) concentration was considerably lower in utmost intensity group than the other two groups (P was 0.001, 0.00 respectively). At post marked inter-group differences were still not found in plasma PEI concentration.
  
  A reduced catecholamine release is a classic characteristic of long(-er) term sympathetic overtraining - a phenomenon, some people may call "adrenal fatique" that occurs after an initial phase of catecholamine overproduction in sympathetic overtraining.

Overall, the results of the study at hand confirm previous research that found associations between classic "moderate intensity" endurance training and parasympathetic dominance (Yamamoto. 2001; Pichot. 2002; Myslivecek. 2002).

For the utmost intensity group, on the other hand, the scientists diagnosed an "over-excited SN [sympathetic nervous system]" (Tian. 2014), which is in contrast to the medium intensity and high intensity group, where the head-up tilt test did not indicate an "impairing effect on autonomic regulation" (Tian. 2014).
References:

• Myslivecek, P.R., Brown, C.A. and Wolfe, L.A. (2002) Effects of Physical Conditioning on Cardiac Autonomic Function in Healthy Middle-Aged Women. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 27, 1-18. 
• Oosthuyse, T., & Avidon, I. (2014). Changes in substrate utilisation and protein catabolism during multiday cycling in well-trained cyclists. Journal of Sports Sciences, (ahead-of-print), 1-11.
• Pichot, V., Busso, T., Roche, F., Garet, M., Costes, F., Duverney, D., Lacour, J.R. and Barthélémy, J.C. (2002) Autonomic Adaptations to Intensive and Overload Training Periods: A Laboratory Study. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 34, 1660-1066. 
• Tian, Kaixin, et al. "Effect of Endurance Training on the Autonomic Nervous System Function of Young Male." International Journal of Clinical Medicine 5.19 (2014): 1189.
• Yamamoto, K., Miyachi, M., Saitoh, T., Yoshioka, A. and Onodera, S. (2001) Effects of Endurance Training on Resting and Post-Exercise Cardiac Autonomic Control. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 33, 1496-1502. 

When the satellite cells merge with the existing muscle cells to form new myonuclei this is more than muscle repair, its also the foundation for future muscle growth - beyond previous limits | more

If youve read the Intermittent Thoughts On Building Muscle (read it) you are beyond the simplistic view of muscle growth as a one-way process in the course of which muscle cells balloon up endlessly. Without the incorporation of "new" myonuclei (cell kernels) from the periphery your muscle would become dysfunctional sooner or later (learn more); and while myostatin will prevent that from happening the recruitment of new muscle cells from the satellite cell pool will provide the basis for future muscle growth.

I dont want to go into more detail, here. If you want to develop a better understanding of this process(es), I suggest you head back to the initially mentioned series about the physiological underpinnings of skeletal muscle hypertrophy.
Next to the inclusion of new myonuclei and facilitation of future muscle growth, the satellite cell pool will also provide the raw material for the repair or I should say replacement of damaged muscle cells. For strength trainees like you and me, its thus of paramount importance to ensure that our satellite cells are happy and healthy. And you know what? Thats not even difficult!

According to a recent study from the Aarhus University all it takes to  help your muscle precursor cells happily proliferating (grow, divide and mature to "real" muscle cells) is the mix of carbohydrates and whey protein youre probably consuming after each workout, anyway: A shake containing 28 g whey protein hydrolysate high in leucine (4 %) an 28 g of carbohydrate (4 %) - a 56h carbohydrate supplement served as control.

Figure 1: Overview of the experimental procedure (Farup. 2014)

As you can see in Figure 1 this supplement was not ingested once, but rather thrice a day - with the first serving being ingested immediately after the fasted subjects, 24 healthy young recreational active men,  initiated the exercise protocol, which lasted for approximately 30 min.

Its the whey that does the trick, but we dont know if we dont need CHOs as an adjunct

The provision of extra whey protein (but nor carbohydrates; white bars in Figure 2) lead to significant increases in satellite cell activity in both mixed muscle and type II fibers, but not type I fibers (not shown in Figure 2).

Figure 2: Number of satellite cells per muscle fiber (higher number = higher chance of incorporation; Farup. 2014)

Still, in view of the fact that regeneration is an energetically costly process, its not 100% certain that a certain amount of carbohydrates may be necessary to see the beneficial effects on satellite cell activity and the changes in maximal voluntary contraction force (not shown).
Reference:

• Farup, et al. "Whey protein supplementation accelerates satellite cell proliferation during recovery from eccentric exercise." Amino Acids (2014). Ahead of print.

Weights works for ladies, too! Really!

I am not sure if you remember it, but youve read about what I would like to refer to as the "proximity hypothesis" before, here at the SuppVersity.

The basic idea behind is eventually similar to the notion of "localized fat loss", yet on the micro- not the macro-scale. In other words, instead of "do sit-ups to burn abdominal fat" the no-bro-science-variety of the "proximity hypothesis" says: "Train your legs to empty the huge intra-muscular fat stores and have them refilled from the abdominal fat."

Probably you will already have realized that this is "proximity" as in "right next to the skeletal muscle mitochondria" and not "proximity" as "a fat depot next to the muscle your train".

SuppVersity Suggested Read: " Spot Reduce Abdominal Fat With Green Tea, Green Clay & Magnesium Sulfate Soaked "Plaster Body Wrap"... Really!?" | read more

As S.O. Shepherd and his colleagues from the Liverpool John Moores University, the University of Birmingham and the University of Stirling point out, it has long been speculated that part of the improvements in insulin sensitivity following endurance training

"[...] are mechanistically linked to increases in muscle oxidative capacity, intramuscular triglyceride (IMTG) utilization during endurance exercise and increases in the content of the lipid droplet-associated perilipin-2 (PLIN2) and PLIN5." (Shepherd. 2014)

These lipid droplet-associated proteins (or short PLINs) coat the lipid droplets in fat and other cells and protect them from lipases of which you, as a SuppVersity reader know that they are enzymes our body uses to break down and "free" stored body fat - a process scientists usually refer to as "lipolysis".

An increase in perilipin in the musculature will thus necessarily increase the storage of lipid droplets in the muscle; and since it does not affect fat storage in the adipose organ and in view of the fact that the fat must come from somewhere (nutrition, endogenous fatty acid production from glucose, or stored body fat) this is not a bad thing.

More fat in the muscle? Thats bad, right?

Its thus not shocking to have a "high" amount of fat in the muscle, as long as it is deposited there as a fat reserves for the mitochondria and serves as an alternative, additional or auxiliary, astonishingly readily available energy source for the muscle. A "range extender" with profound beneficial effects on muscular endurance.

Figure 1: Changes in heart rate VO2max, carbohydrate + fat oxidation, and respiratory exchange ratio (left); blood glucose + insulin levels after an oral glucose tolerance test before and after RT intervention (Shepherd. 2014)

Any marathon runner, ironman or -woman and even pharmaceutically enhanced Tour de France drivers would thus be happy if they experienced a similar increase in intramuscular triglyceride stores (IMGT) as the thirteen sedentary males (20±1 years, 24.8±0.8 kg/m²) in the study at hand.

The guys had perfoemed a 6-weeks whole-body resistance training program (3 sessione per week) in the course of which Shepherd et al. observed not just the previously mentioned increases in IMTG, and PLIN2 and PLIN5 protein content, but also highly significant increases in intramuscular fat breakdown during "light" cardio training (65% VO2max; +43% in slow-twitch type I and +37% in fast-twitch type II fibers).
References:

• Geirsdottir, Olof Gudny, et al. "Physical function predicts improvement in quality of life in elderly Icelanders after 12 weeks of resistance exercise." The journal of nutrition, health & aging 16.1 (2012): 62-66.
• OConnell, Matthew DL, et al. "Do the effects of testosterone on muscle strength, physical function, body composition, and quality of life persist six months after treatment in intermediate-frail and frail elderly men?." Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 96.2 (2010): 454-458.
• Rizzoli, René, et al. "Quality of life in sarcopenia and frailty." Calcified tissue international 93.2 (2013): 101-120. 
• Shepherd, Sam O., et al. "Resistance training increases skeletal muscle oxidative capacity and net intramuscular triglyceride breakdown in type I and II fibres of sedentary males." Experimental Physiology (2014).
• Silva, Neto LS, et al. "Association between sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, muscle strength and quality of life variables in elderly women." Revista brasileira de fisioterapia (Sao Carlos (Sao Paulo, Brazil)) 16.5 (2011): 360-367.

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.
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.

Chest	Biceps	Back	Core	Legs	Triceps	Shoulders
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).

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). 
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.