Showing posts with label reduce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reduce. Show all posts

Monday, April 11, 2016

Want to Design a Killer Workout Reduce the Rest Times and Burn 37 More Energy During Your Workout!

The squat may be a power exercise, but trust me, it will also help you to "look good naked"!
I guess it would be hilarious to call the simple insight that cutting the time you rest in-between sets during your squats can turn a regular into a killer workout would be news, right? Well, what about some figures to define "killer" as in one minute rest between sets vs. "regular" as in three minutes rest between sets squats, then? Thats news, right; and we have to thank Nicholas A. Ratamess and his colleagues from the College of New Jersey for these insights.

I mean, huffing and puffing is one thing, but your subjectively perceived level of exhaustion and the very concrete, objectively measured data on the difference in energy expenditure and the contribution of aerobic (fat) and anaerobic (glucose) energy sources during a workout, as they are presented in the paper at hand, are two different animals.
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Apropos animal, you dont necessarily have to be a similar "animal" as the 22-year old subjects of the study at hand with their ~8-year training experience to perform the tightly controlled experimental workout, the researchers describe as follows:
"After BL [baseline] measures, each subject performed a warm-up consisting of 3 minutes of stationary cycling and 2–3 lightto-moderate sets (40–60% of 1RM) of the bench press and squat. Respiratory masks were temporarily removed from each subject during the warm-up to allow subjects to consume water one last time before initiating the protocols.

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The protocols consisted of performing 5 sets of the bench press and 5 sets of the back squat for up to 10 repetitions using 75% of their predetermined 1RM. The BP group performed the bench press first, whereas the S group performed the back squat first. For all exercises, resistance remained constant while total numbers of repetitions were recorded. Heart rate and oxygen consumption data were collected during the entire protocol. In addition, a linear position transducer (Tendo Sports Machines, Trencin, Slovak Republic) was attached to the bar to measure power and velocity during each completed repetition."
On each of the three occasions the subjects reported to the lap, a different rest interval was used. With 1-, 2-, and 3-minutes of rest in-between sets, the and a standard 2-minute RI was used in between exercises, the study represents more or less what I see trainees do at the gym on a daily basis, as well... ok, the lazy "I just want to be strong"-10-minutes-of-rest-between-sets-fat-ass was not accordingly represented in the study at hand, but lets be honest, how many of the average trainees do actually fall into this category? I mean, if you ask people why they are going to the gym, they will either lie or tell you that they are there to "look better naked".

"Looking good naked" is a valid training goal, folks - so admit to it!

For most people sculpting their body may be only one of the reasons, but in the end, it usually comes down to this and "health" or "fitness", when youre getting honest answers from gym users.
Figure 2: The amount of energy the trainees expended on bench presses and squats was significantly higher with the 1-min rest periods (17% and 36%, for squats; 8% and 18% for bench presses; data based on Ratamess. 2014)
Against that background, the insight that short rest periods lead to significant increases in energy expenditure is highly relevant (Note: The energy expenditure was calculated by multiplying the total VO2 for the session x 5.05kcal/L). Losing fat is after all number one on the "looking good naked" priority list of most trainees and in spite of the fact that you wont lose any fat without dieting, the 36% higher energy expenditure of the 1min vs. 3min rest time workout could make the difference between ordinary and outstanding fat loss results... in spite of the increase in the respiratory exchange ratio, an indicator of an increased anaerobic contribution to the energy expenditure, by the way!
And what about building muscle? There is insufficient data to draw a firm conclusion, but based on the few hardly comparable studies we have suggest that shorter rest times in the 1-2 minute realm are also associated with a more pronounced growth stimulus (Willardson. 2006; de Salles. 2009) and have either no or a hardly significant, yet positive effect on muscle growth (Ahtianen. 2005; Willardson. 2008). Resting for more than 2 minutes between sets does therefore make sense only if you are training for strength.
Short rest times + 6 Simple Rules of Reasonable Weight Loss = Succes!
Unfortunately, the myth that "burning fat" during exercise was in any way relevant to your weight / fat loss success is as die hard as it is stupid and flawed.

Especially for the leaner folks out there, "burning fat" is absolutely irrelevant. In fact, the whole HIIT research appears to suggest that short intense, highly glycolytic exercise regimen are more suitable to shed body fat for athletic individuals than arduous multiple-hour workouts in the non-existing (!) "fat burning zone".

The reason I still recommend LISS as a preferable type of cardio training for the advanced trainee with three to four resistance training sessions per week is that all the "high intensity stuff" (dont neglect your strength workouts!) is going to overtax the sympathetic nervous system. The classic light-intensity steady state (LISS) work, on the other hand, offers a welcome parasympathetic stimulus to balance all the intense explosive training youre doing at the gym.
Never train to burn fat! I know this article could create the impression that it would be worth going to the gym to "burn fat", but in the end, the main determinant of fat loss is your diet. If the latter aint in check, all the training is not going to help. So, you better think of your workouts as the tool to control the fat / muscle loss ratio on a diet.
Bottom line: If "looking good naked" is your goal and "losing fat" among your top priorities, the results of the study at hand clearly support the longstanding wisdom that cutting back on your rest times will give you the edge.

You got to be careful, though, without cutting back on your energy intake and following the 6-simple rules of reasonable weight loss, you are not going to be very successful. No matter, if you rest for 1, 2, 3 or 20 minutes - diet and exercise, exercise and diet: If you want to look good naked, the two are simply the front and back of a single coin - you cannot separate them.
References:
  • Ahtianen, Juha P., et al. "Short vs. long rest period between the sets in hypertrophic resistance training: influence on muscle strength, size, and hormonal adaptations in trained men." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 19.3 (2005): 572-582.
  • de Salles, Belmiro Freitas, et al. "Rest interval between sets in strength training." Sports Medicine 39.9 (2009): 765-777.
  • Ratamess, Nicolas A., et al. "Acute Oxygen Uptake and Resistance Exercise Performance Using Different Rest Interval Lengths: The Influence of Maximal Aerobic Capacity and Exercise Sequence." Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 28.7 (2014):1875–1888.
  • Willardson, Jeffrey M. "A brief review: factors affecting the length of the rest interval between resistance exercise sets." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 20.4 (2006): 978-984. 
  • Willardson, Jeffrey M., and Lee N. Burkett. "The effect of different rest intervals between sets on volume components and strength gains." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 22.1 (2008): 146-152.


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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Lean vs Overweight Post Breakfast Skipping Binge is Overweight Specific Lean Subjects Reduce Both Energy 26 Sugar Intake 14 When They Skip Breakfast

It always hits the (already) big ones.
A recent study that was conducted by a group of researchers from the Roehampton University, and the Universities of Northampton and Hull in London took an interesting and totally overdue approach to dispel the myths that revolve around the anti-obesity effects of breakfast. In the said study, a team of researchers recruited 37 participants who were assigned to one out of four groups on the basis of their body mass index (BMI) - normal weight BMI <25 kg/m² | or overweight/obese BMI > 25 kg/m² | habitual breakfast eaters | habitual breakfast omitters.

Subsequently, even the latter, i.e. the breakfast eaters were requested  to  eat  breakfast  for  an  entire  week. The BREAKFAST week was followed by a one week wash-out and an entire  week during which the subjects had to omit breakfast.
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Over the course of the whole study period, all subjects hat do keep detailed 7-day food diaries, reporting what was consumed and the timing of consumption were completed for each breakfast condition.
Figure 1: Lean (left) and overweight (right) subjects react very different to breakfast skipping (Reeves. 2014)
As the data in Figure 1 already reveals, the total energy intake was significantly higher during the breakfast than the no breakfast week. But just as the scientists say, the present study did also reveal a "significant effects of timing on energy intakes": More energy was consumed during the afternoon in the no breakfast week compared to the breakfast week.

Timing and body weight, both make a difference!

In general, overweight participants consumed greater amounts of  energy than normal weight  participants (surprise ;-) in the early evening - the effect was even more pronounced for those of them who were regular breakfast omitters and thus used to feasting in the afternoon / evening.

Overall, this sounds as if having breakfast regularly was a very good idea, but unlike some people want to make you believe, the total energy intake does count. The same is yet also true for the amount of sugar, which skyrocketed in the overweight subjects in the no breakfast week. Running around on empty and being unable to tap into their affluent energy depots on the hips and around the waist, the insulin resistant (dont tell me about "healthy obesity!") overweight part of the study participants gravitated towards readily available energy intake.
Table 1: Mean sugar and micronutrient intakes in breakfast and no-breakfast conditions (Reeves. 2014)
Bottom line: Paired with the reduced folate and iron intake in the non-breakfast week, the previously outlined results of the study at hand highlight once more the practical value of having breakfast for the average American who is neither willing nor able to track his energy and macronutrient intake on a daily basis. In a controlled diet scenario,  on the other hand, lean individuals have no reason to eat breakfast, if they feel that intermittent fasting (=breakfast skeeping) helps them to stick to their planned energy intake.

If you take another look at the data in Table 1 to the right, you will after all realize that the lean study participants were able to live of their fat stores and did not have to resort to Snickers, Twinkies and *bs* "protein bars" with a sugar content of 85% - the sugar intake of the habitual breakfast eaters decreased significantly by 31% while their fibre intake remained stable in conjunction with the 26% reduction in energy intake this alone should have been enough to she a couple of pounds of body fat... So what? Good bye "healthy" breakfast cereals ;-)
References:
  • Reeves, Sue, et al. "Experimental manipulation of breakfast in normal and overweight/obese participants is associated with changes to nutrient and energy intake consumption patterns." Physiology & Behavior | Available online 24 May 2014.


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