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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.
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.

Find out how to optimally train your legs - The SuppVersity EMG Series - Gluteus, Quads & Co | read more

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!

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.
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.

Post-Workout High Isoleucine AA+CHO Decreases Glucose Spikes, But Impairs Musclular Glyocogen Resynthesis - Reason Enough to Skip Amino Acids?

If you put any faith into the promises of the supplement industry, amino acid supplements are the solution to all your problems - including those you havent even known about, yet. Against that background its always interesting if scientists study the real world effects of amino acid supplements in a realistic scenario like after strenuous exercise.

In their latest study Wang and colleagues from the University of Texas at Austin and the Shanghai Research Institute of Sports Science did just that: They studied the effects isoleucine and four additional amino acids, on blood glucose homeostasis and glycogen synthesis after strenuous exercise.
As the scientists point out, the results of their study "could provide a practical and safe means of increasing the rate of muscle glycogen synthesis after exercise and enhancing the rate of recovery" (Wang. 2015).

Table 1:  Subjects’ characteristics (Wang. 2015).

Ten healthy active adults volunteered for the study. All subjects were accustomed to cycling for prolonged periods of 3–5 h during an exercise session. The ,aximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) was measured in all subjects on a cycle ergometer by using a TrueOne 2400 metabolic measurement system (ParvoMedics, Sandy, Utah) to verify adequate aerobic fitness levels (results see Table 1).

Figure 1: Basically the AA supplement contained almost exclusively isoleucine. It was administered in the dosage shown above and at twice that amount in the LAA and HAA trials (Wang. 2015)

"Two to three days after the VO2max test, the subjects reported to the laboratory to perform a practice ride to familiarize them with the laboratory environment and the experimental protocol. The practice ride was also used to adjust and verify appropriate workloads for the experimental trials. The practice rides simulated the protocol ride but without blood samples or muscle biopsies being taken. The ride consisted of cycling at 70 % VO2max for 2 h, which was followed by five 1-min sprints at 85 % VO2max. The sprints were separated by 1 min cycling at 45 % VO2max. During the first 15 min of each hour, oxygen uptake was measured for 5 min to verify workload.

Water (250 mL) was provided every 20 min of exercise. Heart rate (HR) was monitored and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) on a Borg-scale (ranging from 6 to 20) were collected every 30 min of exercise. The practice ride and each of the following three experimental trials were separated by a minimum of 7 days and maximum of 12 days" (Wang. 2015).

The actual tests consisted of cycling on an ergometer to deplete muscle glycogen. Blood sampling and a muscle biopsy were performed immediately on cessation of exercise. After the muscle biopsy, subjects were given the first of two supplement doses. More specifically they received either...

• 1.2 g carbohydrate/kg body weight (CHO), 1.2 g carbohydrate/kg body weight plus 6.5 g AA (CHO/LAA) or 
• the same carbohydrate supplement plus 6.5g (CHO/LAA) or 13 g AA (CHO/HAA) 

immediately after the first muscle biopsy and at 120 min of recovery. The carbohydrate base consisted of simple dextrose dissolved at a ratio of 100g/296 mL in an orange flavored drink (SUN-DEX, Fisher Healthcare, Houston, Texas). The additional amino acids contained 0.046 g cystine 2HCl, 0.023 g methionine, 0.045 g valine, 6.342 g Isoleucine, and 0.044 g leucine per person, or twice that amount in the CHO/HAA trial. The amino acids were simply added to the dextrose drink.

Why would you even believe that there may be benefits from AA supplementation?

As Wang et al. point out, "this amino acid mixture was selected as it was previously reported to be more effective in lowering the blood glucose response to a glucose challenge than isoleucine alone" (Wang. 2015) by Bernard et al. (2011).

Figure 2: Blood glucose AUC during the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Sprague-Dawley rats were gavaged with either glucose (CHO), glucose plus a 5-amino acid mixture (CHO-AA-1), glucose plus a 5-amino acid mixture with increased leucine concentration (CHO-AA-2), or placebo (PLA). Blood was taken from the tail immediately before the gavage and 15, 30, 60, and 120 min afterward (Bernard. 2011).

The three test beverages were similar in color, taste, and texture to allow a double-blinded and counter-balanced study design. All test drinks were randomly assigned and dispensed by a laboratory technician who was not involved in the data collection.

Figure 3: Blood glucose postexercise and during the 4-h recovery. Treatments were with CHO (circle), CHO/LAA (triangle), and CHO/HAA (filled circle) supplements provided immediately after and 2 h after exercise. Values are mean ± SE. CHO/HAA vs. CHO (*p < 0.05). CHO/LAA vs. CHO (# p < 0.05) - left; Blood glucose area under the curve (AUC) during the 4-h recovery. Treatments were CHO, CHO/LAA, and CHO/HAA supplements provided immediately after and 2 h after exercise. AUC was calculated with baseline (pre). Values are mean ± SE. CHO/HAA vs. CHO (*p < 0.05). CHO/LAA vs. CHO (# p < 0.05) - right (Wang. 2015).

As the data in Figure 3 indicates,There was a similar effect in humans as it has previously been observed in rodents. An effect of which you as a SuppVersity reader know that it is probably mostly ascribable to isoleucine (see "The Glucose-Repartitioning Effects of Isoleucine" | more).

Figure 4: Total muscle glycogen storage in the vastus lateralis during the 4-h recovery from intense cycling. Treatments were CHO, CHO/LAA, and CHO/HAA supplements provided immediately after and 2 h after exercise. Values are mean ± SE. CHO/HAA vs. CHO (*p < 0.05 | Wang. 2015)

What is a bit disappointing is the fact that the decrease in blood glucose did not come with an increase in glycogen storage.

As the data in Figure 4 shows, the exact opposite was the case. After 4h of recovery the muscle glycogen levels were not higher, but lower in the amino acid supplemented trials.

For diabetics this wouldnt be a problem. For athletes its yet clearly a disadvantage that the 4-g recovery glycogen levels were lower and significantly lower in the low and high dose amino acid supplement trials.

Eventually this result is surprising because specifically in the high amino acid group (a) the insulin levels, (b) the AS160, a protein that controls insulin mediated glucose uptake, (c) the mTOR & p-AKT levels, (d) the "exercise hormon" levels of serum irisin  and (e) the levels of glycogen synthase which stores carbs in forms of glycogen in the high dose AA trials were significantly elevated.
References:

• Armstrong, Jane L., et al. "Regulation of glycogen synthesis by amino acids in cultured human muscle cells." Journal of biological Chemistry 276.2 (2001): 952-956.
• Bernard, Jeffrey R., et al. "An amino acid mixture improves glucose tolerance and insulin signaling in Sprague-Dawley rats." American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism 300.4 (2011): E752-E760.
• Doi, Masako, et al. "Isoleucine, a potent plasma glucose-lowering amino acid, stimulates glucose uptake in C2C12 myotubes." Biochemical and biophysical research communications 312.4 (2003): 1111-1117. 
• Ivy, John L., et al. "Early postexercise muscle glycogen recovery is enhanced with a carbohydrate-protein supplement." Journal of Applied Physiology 93.4 (2002): 1337-1344.
• Ivy, J. L., et al. "Post exercise carbohydrate–protein supplementation: phosphorylation of muscle proteins involved in glycogen synthesis and protein translation." Amino acids 35.1 (2008): 89-97.
• Morifuji, Masashi, et al. "Dietary whey protein increases liver and skeletal muscle glycogen levels in exercise-trained rats." British journal of nutrition 93.04 (2005): 439-445.
• Morifuji, Masashi, et al. "Post-exercise carbohydrate plus whey protein hydrolysates supplementation increases skeletal muscle glycogen level in rats." Amino acids 38.4 (2010): 1109-1115.
• Wang, Bei, et al. "Amino acid mixture acutely improves the glucose tolerance of healthy overweight adults." Nutrition Research 32.1 (2012): 30-38.
• Zawadzki, K. M., B. B. Yaspelkis, and J. L. Ivy. "Carbohydrate-protein complex increases the rate of muscle glycogen storage after exercise." J Appl Physiol 72.5 (1992): 1854-9.

The study tested only leg exercises, but you can safely expect increased reps on other exercises, as well.

Citrulline? Yes thats the stuff the supplement industry claims to be a better version of arginine. A "super pump supplement", but not necessarily an ergogenic - in spite of the fact that corresponding evidence from rodent and human studies (Briand. 1992; Pérez-Guisado. 2010; Giannesini. 2011) existed years before the study at hand was published (Wax. 2014).

Benjamin Wax and his colleagues from the Mississippi State University and the Auburn University  investigated the effects of citrulline malate supplementation on lower-body resistance exercise performance, blood lactate, heart rate, and blood pressure.

Based on citrulline malate’s chemical composition and a review of the current literature Wax et al. hypothesized that citrulline malate supplementation would mitigate fatigue occurring to the working muscle; therefore, augmenting resistance training performance.
To test their hypothesis the researchers recruited 12 advanced resistance trained male subjects (85kg body weight; <12% body fat; 22.1 ± 1.4 years) and conducted a randomized, counterbalanced, double blind study.

The subjects were randomly assigned to placebo or citrulline malate (8 g; 60 minutes before the workout) groups and then performed repeated bouts of multiple lower body resistance exercise:

"Subjects warmed up on an upright stationary bike (Life Fitness, Brunswick Corporation, Lake Fores, IL) for five minutes, at 60 – 70 revolution/minute with a mass of 3 – 5 kg. Following this warm up, subjects performed two warm up sets (10 repetitions at 90.9 kg and 8 repetitions at 136.4 kg) on the leg press machine. Subjects rested three minutes between sets during the warm up and trial sets.

Next, 60% of each subject’s predetermined 1RM was loaded on the leg press machine and the subject completed as many repetitions as possible until failure occurred. This process was completed for 4 additional sets for a total of 5 sets on the leg press. Next, the subjects performed one warm upset (10 repetitions) on the hack squat machine at a mass of 40.9 kg. This warm up set was followed by 5 sets of 60% of their predetermined 1RM to failure. Finally, following one warm up set (10 repetitions at 36.4 kg) on the leg extension, subjects completed 5 sets of 60% of their 1RM to failure." (Wax. 2014)

The rest periods (recovery periods between sets of exercise), exercise order, and number of sets performed were the same for all subjects in this investigation, for sessions 2 and 3. Blood lactate, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure were determined pre and post exercise.
The exercise protocol resulted in sequential significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the number of repetitions in all three exercises. However, subjects in the citrulline malate group performed significantly (p < 0.05) higher number of repetitions during all three exercises compared to placebo group.

Figure 1: Wax et al. observed significant increases in maximal leg press, hack squat, and leg extension (not shown) repetitions in response to the ingestion of 8g of citrulline malate 60min before exercise (Wax. 2014)

Blood lactate and heart rate, on the other hand, were significantly increased (p < 0.05) post-exercise in both groups with no significant inter-group differences between citrulline malate and placebo (p > 0.05).
References:

• Briand, Joël, et al. "Use of a microbial model for the determination of drug effects on cell metabolism and energetics: Study of citrulline?malate." Biopharmaceutics & drug disposition 13.1 (1992): 1-22.
• Hickner, Robert C., et al. "L-citrulline reduces time to exhaustion and insulin response to a graded exercise test." Medicine and science in sports and exercise 38.4 (2006): 660-666.
• Giannesini, Benoît, et al. "Citrulline malate supplementation increases muscle efficiency in rat skeletal muscle." European journal of pharmacology 667.1 (2011): 100-104.
• Pérez-Guisado, Joaquín, and Philip M. Jakeman. "Citrulline malate enhances athletic anaerobic performance and relieves muscle soreness." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 24.5 (2010): 1215-1222.
• Verleye, M., et al. "Effects of citrulline malate on bacterial lipopolysaccharide induced endotoxemia in rats." Arzneimittelforschung 45.6 (1995): E712.
• Wax, Benjamin, et al. "Effects of Supplemental Citrulline Malate Ingestion During Repeated Bouts of Lower-body Exercise in Advanced Weight Lifters." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (2014).

Do you really need a barbell or will hopping around in a group dance course or working out in the water aka hydrogymnastic suffice to build the 2015 cover model physique thats part of your new years resolution? A recent Portuguese + Brazilian study may hold the answer to this "important" question.

Its about time to think about a good new years resolution; and since any resolution thats aimed at losing weight and/or building a better physique, naturally involves exercise, the latest study from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro comes right in time (Soares Costa de Mendonça. 2014).

The study that was conducted by Rosa Maria Soares Costa de Mendonça, Adenilson Targino de Araújo Júnior from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro in Portugal, Maria do Socorro Cirilo de Sousa from the Federal Institute of Technology Education in Brazil and Helder Miguel Fernandes from the Research Centre for Sport in Portugal was designed to investigate the possible effects of 16 weeks of practicing different physical exercise programmes (strength training, dance or hydrogymnastics) on the body composition and anthropometric dimensions of adult women.
The sample was comprised of 89 adult women aged 25–55 (41.42 ± 9.23 years), who were used to train at least three times a week and had no history of health issues that may compromise their ability to participate in the study. . Of these, 60% were married, 27% single and 12% divorced, all residing in the northeastern part of Brazil. As the scientists point out, ...

"[t]hese women were selected using a non probabilistic manner in specific locations, such as fitness clubs, hydrogymnastic gyms and a public municipal institution.

The sample was randomly divided into four groups, of which one was designed as the control group consisting of individuals that were sedentary (CG) (n = 25) and three were characterised as experimental groups:

• strength training (SG) (n = 25), in which the ladies trained three times per week under the supervision of a qualified trainer and did 3 sets of 8–12 repetitions (weights were progressively increased) with a 2–3 min rest period on each of the 50–60 workouts in which all the major muscle groups of the upper and lower limbs were exercised with the use of either machines with weights, free weights or resistance equipment,
• dance (DG) (n = 18), which the women trained three times per week at a moderate to vigorous intensity, which was defined as 60 to 85% of the maximum heart rate as identified by the calculation 220 – age for 50 to 60 minutes workouts involving activities activating all the major muscle groups in a continuous manner using basic steps and a minimum of three rhythmic variations of popular dance styles and aerobics per session with songs of a rhythmic cadence of 100 to 160 beats per minute, and
• hydrogymnastics (HG) (n = 21), in which the women trained with a frequency of three days per week at moderate to vigorous intensity, defined as 60 to 85% of the maximum heart rate using exercises that involved the major muscle groups of the upper and lower limbs with a focus on cardiorespiratory exercises, followed by muscular endurance exercises using equipment such as shin pads designed for hydrogymnastics, dumbbells, bars, plates, floating devices and pool edges with each exercise taking from 2 to 3 min to complete and the whole session lasting 45 to 55 min.

All workouts were designed according to the exercise routines from the ACSM guidelines (Garber. 2011) and the adherence to the exercise prescription was monitored by trained personnel. The workout duration and frequency were more or less identical and even the intensity was similar.

Figure 1: Changes in anthropometric parameters after 16 weeks of training (Soares Costa de Mendonça. 2014).

As you can see all training regimen lead to measurable improvements in the anthropometric parameters. Of the three different exercise regimen the "exotic", i.e. the hydrogymnastics training, was yet on overall the most effective "belly fat reducer" among the three training protocols.

Figure 2: Changes in body composition (calculated based on caliper data) after 16 weeks of hydrogymnastics, weight training, dance or idleness (Soares Costa de Mendonça. 2014).

Things look a bit different, when we take the body composition data the scientists calculated based on the skinfold measures into account: Here the strength training has a slight, but not necessarily significant edge over the hydrogymnastics (keep in mind that the efficacy of hydrogymnasticsmay partly be due to a novelty effect, i.e. new exercise = greater response | see fat mass loss after 8 vs. 16 weeks). Every ladies favorite, the group based dance exercise is yet - once again - trailing third.
References:

• Garber, Carol Ewing, et al. "American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: guidance for prescribing exercise." Medicine and science in sports and exercise 43.7 (2011): 1334-1359.
• Soares Costa de Mendonça, Rosa Maria, et al. "The Effects of Different Exercise Programmes on Female Body Composition." Journal of Human Kinetics 43.1 (2014): 67-78.