Creatine - Sunday January 31, 2010

Everyone has probably used it or knows someone who does/has, but I’ve found that very few people actually know what it does and how it works.  Most people think it works in muscle building by drawing water into the muscles during exercise, but this isn’t the case.  Creatine is actually used to create a Phosphate reservoir in the body. When you engage in activities that are extremely short in duration and maximally intense (think of swinging a baseball bat, jumping as high as you can to get a rebound or dunk, throwing a pitch, the 40 yd dash, attempting a max squat, etc.), your muscles use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for fuel (think of an A with 3 (tri = 3) P’s attached to it forming a triangle).  When your muscles need energy, they break off one of the P’s and you’re left with adenosine diphosphate (ADP, which is an A with 2 (di = 2) P’s attached to it).  Where creatine comes into play is once your body has used up all the ATP, it can break the P off of creatine (the white powder you buy at the supplement shop is creatine monophosphate (CrP), so it’s creatine with 1 (mono = 1) phosphate attached to it) and reattach it to the ADP, creating more ATP.  Instead of using other fuel sources and energy systems because all of your ATP has been converted to ADP, you will still be able to use ATP for fuel.  This will allow you to push yourself a little harder for a little longer and recover a little faster (without having to use those other energy systems, you will cut down on your soreness).     

So the next time you hear someone talking about how creatine helps water be absorbed into the muscles, you’ll be able to set them straight.  Either give them the full explanation and break out with a chemistry lesson like I did, or you can give them the CliffsNotes and tell them it helps you workout longer at a higher intensity by converting ADP back to ATP.

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Muscle Hypertrophy - Sunday February 7, 2010

Hypertrophy is an increase in the cross sectional area of a muscle and is the term used when referring to muscle growth.  While most people know lifting weights makes your muscles bigger, what they do not know is there are two different types of muscle growth.  Think of muscles as a cardboard paper towel tube filled with five or six straws all evenly space out within the tube so that there is space in between each of them.  The first type of hypertrophy is called sacroplasmic hypertrophy which is characterized by growth in the sarcoplasm and the non-contractile proteins (the space in between the straws) of the muscle fiber.  This type of hypertrophy is typically seen in bodybuilders and other individuals who lift at a moderate intensity (~60-70% of your 1RM) and high volume.  The second type of hypertrophy is called myofibril hypertrophy and is characterized by a growth in the myofibrils (the straws themselves).  This type of hypertrophy is typically seen in Olympic lifters and powerlifters because they lift at near maximal intensity for a low number of repetitions.  While it is possible to influence, through training, which one manifests itself to a greater degree, pure sarcoplasmic and pure myofibril hypertrophy never occur.

Knowledge of this is important for both hardgainers (skinny guys) and athletes, especially athletes who compete in sports with weight classes.  Hardgainers need to make sure any program they follow utilizes both sarcoplasmic, to gain size, and myofibril, to gain strength, hypertrophy.  This is what made Joe DeFranco’s original “Westside for Skinny Bastards” routine so popular and effective.  Two of the three training days start with a derivative of the bench (ME Upper Body) and the squat or deadlift (ME Lower Body) to put a greater emphasis on myofibril hypertrophy and strength gain.  Following the max effort lifts, are supplemental lifts all done at a moderate to high intensity and moderate to high volume to help build the muscles used in the max effort lifts, and to emphasize sarcoplasmic hypertrophy for bodyweight gain.  The same holds true, aside from a repetition lift being substituted in for a max effort lift, for the third training day of the week, Repetition Upper Body.

Athletics is based around relative strength, being as strong as possible at any given bodyweight. This is especially true in sports like wrestling or mixed martial arts where the athletes are divided by weight classes.  Training to emphasize myofibril hypertrophy is essential to achieving a very high degree of relative strength.  On UFC Countdown 107, Frank Mir stated, “In the past when I had experimented with weight training, it had always been more like a bodybuilder…and so I never saw the carryover.”  After saying this, his strength coach and former strongman Mark Philippi discussed Mir’s current training regimen, which consisted of squatting, deadlifting, and cleaning, adding, “You can’t lift nice looking chrome weights real light for a lot of reps and get the same effect.”  This ensured myofibril hypertrophy was the dominant hypertrophy in Mir’s training and led to Mir dominating Cheick Kongo and winning via submitting in the first round of their UFC 107 bout. 

References

Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M., and William J. Kraemer. Science and Practice of Strength Training. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2006.

Siff, Mel C. Supertraining. Denver, CO. Supertraining Institute, 2003.

“107” UFC Countdown. Frank Mir and Mark Philippi. Spike TV. 9 Dec. 2009.

No Excuses…Ever - Sunday February 22, 2010

I felt like someone had simultaneously punched me in my stomach and kicked me in the balls when I read my brother’s text message.  In mid-December a friend of mine, my younger brother’s best friend in fact, was diagnosed with Leukemia.  I did not know what type he had; I did not know what the survival rates were, all I knew was Leukemia is really, really bad.  However, after finding out the exact type of Leukemia he had, and then reading up on the survival rates for that particular type, I knew he would have a good chance to beat it.  By mid-January he was in remission and ready to get back into the gym. Yes, you read that last sentence correctly.  Only four weeks after being diagnosed with cancer and going through spinal taps and bone marrow transplants, losing 20 lbs, and being bedridden for nearly a month, he was ready to get back into the gym.

Prior to the Leukemia, we had both done a push/pull powerlifting competition together. At a bodyweight of only 165 lbs he was able to bench 215 and deadlift 424.  Not earth shattering by any means, but respectable enough.  That first day back he could only bench 95 lbs.  I joked around with him about it, but it sucked watching him struggle with such little weight.  After only a few sets of bench he was exhausted and had to stop.  About two weeks after that, one of my brothers decided to do some conditioning with the Prowler and he joined him.  This was the kind of conditioning he did before he was diagnosed with cancer. That night it took everything he had to push an empty Prowler 50 yards.  After his second set he was done.   I have never said this to him, but I have nothing but respect for what he did those first couple days back.  Most people just don’t have it in them to push through that kind of adversity.  Mentally, they are too frail to deal with the challenges placed in front of them.  There is a scene in the movie Pumping Iron where Arnold talks about what it takes to be champion and perfectly illustrates the point I am trying to make in this article.  In it he says, ‘The body is not used to, maybe, the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth rep with a certain weight, so that makes the body grow.  Going through this pain barrier, experiencing pain in your muscles and aching, and just then go on and go on and go on.  And these last two, or three, or four repetitions; that’s what makes actually the muscle then grow.  And that divides one from a champion and one from not being a champion.  If you can go through this pain barrier, you make it to be a champion.  If you can’t go through, forget it.  And that’s what most people lack is in having the guts…the guts to go in and just say “I go through and I don’t care what happens.”’ 

References

Pumping Iron. George Butler II and Robert Fiore. VHS. Rhino/Wea, 1977.

Why You Are Probably Wasting Your Time Pt. I – Friday April 2, 2010

If you are like me, your first exposure to set/rep schemes, programming, exercise pairings, etc. came from bodybuilding magazines like Muscle & Fitness or FLEX.  I spent many of my early years doing the routines designed and promoted by the top bodybuilders featured in these magazines.  Monday was always chest and triceps day, followed by back and biceps on Tuesday.  Legs and shoulders were supposed to be worked out on Wednesday, but I always used to skip working out legs and just do shoulders and extra curls.  Thursday was then the same as Monday, Friday the same as Tuesday, and I’d usually wind up skipping Saturdays all together.  When I got bored with the current routine I was on, I’d dig up a new one out of the pages of whichever magazine I happen to be reading at that point and start over again.  What I didn’t realize back then that I realize now, is it was all just a huge waste of my time.  I didn’t make any serious gains during this time (which is when the biggest gains can be made) and I neglected working the most important muscle group, my legs.

I know I make shock some people with what I’m going to say next, but the routines in bodybuilding magazines are designed for BODYBUILDERS, not average gym goers, older guys looking to get back into shape, or athletes.  They’re designed for guys who are on massive amounts of steroids (compare Steve Reeves and Larry Scott to Ronnie Coleman or Jay Cutler and you’ll see how steroids have effected bodybuilding) and do nothing but eat, inject and lift.  Bodybuilders aren’t required to do anything but walk on stage, flex their muscles, and walk off.  Their routines don’t have to address mobility, injury prevention, athletic performance, correcting imbalances, rehabilitation of old injuries, the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, etc. 

That begs the question, what should you be doing?  And the answer is very simple, if you are a beginner in good health with no preexisting injuries you need to be doing a full body routine three to four times a week.  For roughly the first six months of training (this includes novices or people who haven’t lifted at all in over a year), you can do almost anything and see results (P90X anyone?).  Only after you’ve stopped making linear gains does the programming of your training have to get more sophisticated in order for you to keep making progress. 

A full body split can be set up into Day 1 and Day 2 and then alternated each day you go into the gym.  Day 1’s main lifts should consist of squatting for 5 sets of 5 reps followed by benching for 5 sets of 5 reps.  For accessory work, choose a rowing exercise like dumbbell row, seated row, or barbell row and a unilateral lower body exercise such as static lunges, dynamic lunges, split squats, or step-ups.  Perform 1-2 sets of 12-15 if you are just starting, or 3 sets of 12-15 if you have been training for a few weeks.  On Day 2 the main lifts will be deadlift for 3 sets of 5 reps and then chin-ups for 5 sets of 5 reps.  Accessory work for Day 2 will consist of a vertical pushing movement, like dips or military press, and posterior chain work like 45° back raises, good mornings, or SHELC for the same number of sets and reps as Day 1’s accessory work.

Add five pounds every week to the main upper body lifts and ten for the main lower body lifts.  For the accessory work, if you were only able to get twelve reps keep adding reps until you can do fifteen.  Once you are able to do fifteen reps, bump the weight up enough so twelve reps become challenging again and repeat the cycle.  It’s also extremely important you keep a training log so you know what you did in the previous sessions.  There’s no point in rowing the 30 lb DB for 3x12 if last week you did that same weight for 3x13.  The key is to try and progress every single workout and the only way to make sure you are doing that is to write everything down in a log.

You can do ab work on two of the three or four days per week you workout.  If you have never worked out before, start by doing static holds/bridges/planks for one set for time, working your way up to one minute.  After you’ve mastered that, you can do weighted abs, like sit-ups with a five or ten pound plate behind your head or hanging leg raises for 3-4 sets of 10 reps.  

Using a full body routine like this, I had one of my clients go from benching 115 for a 5RM when he first started, to maxing out at 205 three months later…at 43 years old.  The key to his gains were proper programming on my part, and dedication on his (no matter what he was in the gym busting his butt three days every week).  

In Part II I’ll go over the next progression from the total body routine, the upper/lower split.