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11/03/2024

When your body uses glycogen or fat that has been stored as its energy source, your body is in a catabolic state.

When you enter the “post absorptive state” (after food is digestion and absorbed), your body has to rely on stored substrates for energy.

Muscle protein breakdown, exceeds muscle protein synthesis by about 30% in the post absorptive state

A small meal digests faster. A large meal digests slower. Meals higher in carbs digest faster than meals higher in protein. Fat takes the longest to digest and be absorbed.

These things can all contribute to why gaining muscle while loosing fat is a more difficult than when eating more and or more often.

10/27/2024

Many believe that training with lighter weight for more reps will produce the same results as training with heavier weight for less reps. While both may result in muscle growth , the factors causing the growth can be different.

Reps in the 8-12 range stimulates maximum sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which is the increase of fluid in the muscle cell. This type of hypertrophy results in the largest growth potential of either individually.

Reps in the 1-5 range stimulate myofibril hypertrophy, which is the creation new or thickening of the existing myofibril, the smallest contractual unit of muscle.

10/17/2024

If you are on calorie restricted diet, I believe you can and should have at least one day a week where your calories are increased.

It shouldn’t be an excuse to dive into a bag of chips or box of chocolates, but simply increasing what you already eat is beneficial for a healthy metabolism.

You can have a less than desirable desert or other sinfully delicious pleasure, but I’d plan for it on the same day every week, and let the treat be the reward for adherence throughout the week.

09/17/2024

Joe Weider called them the Weider Principles, Others referred to them as simply “Training Principles” and Gold’s Gym referenced them as Advanced training techniques.

When someone says training principles, this is what comes to my mind. The core principles were first listed in 1950 and are still used, and now more than ever, supported by the science. In no particular order they are:

09/01/2024

As long as the calories consumed are lower than the calories used, any macronutrient combination will result in fat loss. You don’t need to eliminate any one of the 3.
Macros influence fat loss, things like metabolic rate, hormone balance, workout recovery, even hunger and satiety.

08/24/2024

Cortisol levels peak after exercise, up to an hour and a half after. What you do after training can is potentially more impactful to the results than how long you train.

Most gym goers, training for much over an hours, likely aren’t training hard enough to have cortisol be a significant factor.

Extended rest periods between sets and slower paces would be things that could lead to lower overall cortisol levels. You can still lift hard, but if you wait 5 minute for your next set vs 90 seconds, the cortisol response will be affected.

Short rest periods can increase cortisol levels but shorten a workout, where as longer rest periods help keep cortisol levels lower but lead to longer workouts which can increase cortisol levels, so pick your poison.

Unless your levels are chronically elevated I wouldn’t give it much thought, it’s all part of the process. You’ll worry about it more than it will probably matter.

12/27/2023

Bulking and Cutting:
The experts and science tell us there are better ways to increase muscle mass and get leaner than bulking and cutting. Even within the world of competitive bodybuilding, it has been suggested that there are better ways to put quality lean muscle on your frame.

Slow gradual increases in muscle or decreases in fat are more sustainable and safer.

The sustainable part can be seen in anyone that goes through a bulk and cut cycle. How much of the muscle gained bulking is maintained while cutting? Studies have shown that bodybuilders, even when increasing anabolic steroid use by 40% to help offset muscle loss, while gaining significant amount of muscle on the bulk, lost much of their fat free mass in the cutting phase. If it’s not sustainable by those with the best available coaching, it’s unlikely a novice or even experienced lifter, going it alone, will achieve greater results.

As far as safety? If done properly, with the guidance of an experienced coach, the risks are minimized but you will undoubtedly experience some level of metabolic stress and reduction in resting metabolic rate. A more extreme downside might be the development of eating disorders, chronic elevated cortisol levels, or increase in exercise injury potential.

From my experiences, most recreational or non competitive lifters that do bulks and cuts simply get fatter then leaner but don’t significantly enhance their lean mass or muscle mass.

Slow and steady wins in most cases.

Lenzi, Jaqueline L.1; Teixeira, Emerson L.1; de Jesus, Guilherme1; Schoenfeld, Brad J.2; de Salles Painelli, Vitor1,3.Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 35(9):p 2546-2551, September 2021.
Spendlove, J., Mitchell, L., Gifford, J. et al. Sports Med 45, 1041–1063 (2015).
KT Ganson et al 2022
Paulo Gentil et al 2017
Ashtary-Larky D, Bagheri R, Abbasnezhad A, Tinsley GM, Alipour M, Wong A. a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Nutrition. 2020

12/25/2023

There is nothing wrong with weighing, measuring, tracking, or logging your meals. In fact, I’d recommend it, especially when starting out or when making significant changes to your meal plan.

It’s also ok to take the training wheels off once in a while.

12/15/2023

Partial vs Full range of Motion.

A resent study, posted in the International Journal of Strength and Conditioning, did a review of previous studies and data on all types of partial reps training. The data supported that that full or long range of motion seemed superior to partial rep training for strength, speed, power, muscle size and body composition. There wasn’t a significant difference, but full range was better. It went on to say partial rep training might have some lesser benefits. Wolf, M., Androulakis-Korakakis, P., Fisher, J., Schoenfeld, B., & Steele, J. (2023).

11/24/2023

Are you working out hard enough?

For Building Muscle:
Findings from a recent study found the answer to be that most people don’t.
The percentage of those lacking intensity’s significant enough to build any significant muscle was 78%.

It’s was 160 men, ave 26yrs old +/- 4.5yrs
Ave weight 178 lbs +/- 25 lbs
Ave height 5’11” +/- 2.5”

They asked: what weight they lifted for 10 rep max to failure in bench press? Only 22% reached failure at 10-12 reps, with the 78% mostly reaching reps from 13-15.
(Barbosa-Netto, 2021)

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Ames, IA

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http://Absolutefnp.com/

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