Mon 16 Nov 2009
W.O.W. 11/15/09 (and a little D3)
Posted by Doug McGuff under Uncategorized
I did my “little 6” routine today. In payback for a week off, I am now working a lot in the ER and it does have an effect on my recovery. Not so much in my performance, but in how “below the baseline” I feel afterwards. I worked out in the morning, and worked a very busy afternoon shift, and boy could I feel it by the end of the night.
Calf Raise- essentially unchanged weight/TUL
MedX Ab- stable weight/TUL (at my long-term sticking point for this movement)
SS Systems Bicep- decided to use this today. This is Ken Hutchin’s machine with the coupled movement arm and fall-off cam. This was very effective, but a little difficult to coordinate the required body positioning (requires a lot of concentration, especially as you fatigue).
Tricep Pushdown- stable weight/TUL up a couple of seconds
Thick Bar Wrist flexion-stable weight/TUL up 4 seconds
Thick Bar Wrist extension-stable weight/TUL up 6 seconds.
Last Wednesday night I gave a lecture to my clients on hunter-gatherer diets. The turnout was great and the information was well-received. I had it professionally video-recorded and will probably offer this as a DVD for sale (with the handout included). Watch for it in the future. Part of what I discussed was vitamin D3 supplementation. Since I have been supplementing with 4,000-10,000 Units of D3 per day I have noted enhanced recovery and size response from my training. Apparently, skeletal muscle has both surface receptors and nuclear receptors for D3 that augment calcium flux during contraction (from surface receptors) and have steroid-like effects at the nuclear level WRT protein synthesis. This D3 supplementation is not really “supplementation” but is instead “augmentation” to levels that would be normal if we got normal sun exposure as we did in our evolutionary past. Check out www.vitamindcouncil.org for more information. Also, check out this abstract below for your consideration. Also, check out this article.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2001 Dec 21;289(5):1150-6.
The vitamin D receptor mediates rapid changes in muscle protein tyrosine phosphorylation induced by 1,25(OH)(2)D(3).
Buitrago C, Vazquez G, De Boland AR, Boland R.
Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica and Farmacia, Universidad Nacional del Sur., Bahía Blanca, San Juan 670, 8000, Argentina.
It has been recently shown that the fast non-genomic responses of 1,25(OH)(2)-vitamin D(3) [1,25(OH)(2)D(3)] in skeletal muscle cells involve tyrosine phosphorylation of MAP kinase (ERK1/2), c-Src kinase and the oncoprotein c-myc. In the present work, blockade of vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression (> or =80%) by preincubation of chick embryonic muscle cells with three different antisense oligonucleotides against the VDR mRNA (AS-VDR ODNs) significantly reduced (-94%) 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) stimulation of c-myc tyrosine phosphorylation and inhibited c-Src tyrosine dephosphorylation implying lack of c-Src activation by the hormone. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments revealed that 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) induces the formation of complexes between c-Src and c-myc, in agreement with the above results and previous studies showing hormone-dependent association between c-Src and tyrosine phosphorylated VDR and c-Src mediated c-myc tyrosine phosphorylation. MAPK tyrosine phosphorylation by 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) was affected to a lesser extent (-35%) by transfection with AS-VDR ODNs implying that both VDR-dependent and VDR-independent signalling mediate hormone stimulation of MAPK. These are the first results providing direct evidence on the participation of the VDR in non-genomic 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) signal transduction. Activation of tyrosine phosphorylation cascades through this mechanism may contribute to hormone regulation of muscle growth.
PMID: 11741312 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Publication Types, MeSH Terms
If you are like me, even the abstract is beyond my comprehension, but the gist of it is in line with something important going on. If you go to pubmed at www.nlm.nih.gov you can also check out the related articles.
Post your WOW’s and your thoughts.
Doug McGuff
Fascinating stuff Dr.McGuff! I look forward to the DVD.
Al
I myself take 4,000 IUs of Vitamin D a day with 1,000 mg of fish oil … nothing else.
If there a difference between Vitamin D3 and Vitamin D?
John
Natural sources of Vitamin D
Fatty fish, such as salmon, are natural sources of vitamin D.
Natural sources of vitamin D include:[1]
* Fish liver oils, such as cod liver oil, 1 Tbs. (15 ml) provides 1,360 IU (one IU equals 25 ng)
* Fatty fish species, such as:
Herring, 85 g (3 ounces (oz)) provides 1383 IU
Catfish, 85 g (3 oz) provides 425 IU
Salmon, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz]) provides 360 IU
Mackerel, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz]), 345 IU
Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 50 g (1.75 oz), 250 IU
Tuna, canned in oil, 85 g (3 oz), 200 IU
Eel, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz), 200 IU
* A whole egg, provides 20 IU
* Beef liver, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz), provides 15 IU
* UV-irradiated mushrooms (Vitamin D2)[28][29]
Good workout today, doing some smaller, single joint exercises this week. Worked out in the morning after a short fast from dinner the previous night. Looking at my records it had been almost a month since I had done the single joint exercises.
Little 6(~15 minutes):
◦Bicep Curl: Up 2.5 # at same time under load(TUL). Still over 90 seconds. Up the weight next time.
◦Leg Curl: New machine and new baseline.
◦Tricep Extension: Same weight and up 8 seconds. Back over 90 seconds. Will up weight next time.
◦Leg Extension: Same weight and up 11 seconds. Back over 90 seconds. Time for a weight bump.
◦Deltoid Raise: Same weight and down 5 seconds. Left shoulder bothering me and was happy with almost getting to same TUL.
◦Calf Raise: Up 10# and up 4 seconds. Still over 90 seconds. Weight increase is in order.
Overall continuing to make steady progress. Broke with tradition and had a protein shake withing 15 minutes afterward. Mixed 2 raw eggs, 8 ounces of raw milk and some protein powder. Who knows if it will provide any benefit
Interesting about D3. I have been augmenting myself(6-8K IU per day). Thanks for sharing.
jeff
W.O.W. 11/14/2009
Lower back–stable wt. 3 reps/3:02 TUL
Leg press –stable wt./up 5 sec. TUL
Inclines –stable wt./up 4 sec.
Lat pull –stable wt. up 8 sec.
decline –stable wt./stable TUL
rows –stable wt./up 1 sec.
Doug
Interesting study on vitamin D3. I have been taking it along with calcium for quite some time since sunlight is a rarity in my part of the country.
I did not post last week’s WOW as I cut the weight back on all exercises. So this week’s TUL was in comparison to last week.
The good–it felt good to average about 4-5 reps per exercise instead of the 1-2 I had been getting on some exercises. It also felt good to experience what Mike Mentzer wrote in his earlier works–”Contraction control” –actually feeling and concentrating on the muscles being worked as opposed to doing anything to get a near maximum weight lifted. Also some knee and shoulder discomfort I had been experiencing were gone. I felt I was performing the reps closer to “the letter of the law” whereas before it barely resembled “the spirit of the law”.
The bad–Psychologically, I have always been addicted to handling heavier and heavier weight (throwback to some powerlifting days) so cutting the weight was a difficult choice. In addition, although the TUL”s went up, some are still not what they were several months ago. I will not progress weight until I get around 90 seconds for upper body and 2 minutes for legs. At least I’m heading in that direction.
With regard to Thomas’s post #37 and Marc’s #30 last week, I know that I cannot duplicate some of the lifts I did at 30-40 years but it was those lifts that were responsible for a lot of joint problems today. I feel that there are subtle ways to tweak the workouts so that people in their 60’s and beyond can still see measurable progress week to week. It may involve restructuring the baseline and starting anew with a different format.So although I cannot duplicate lifts and reps I did 30 years ago, there are some things I can do now I probably couldn’t do back then. I am also doing all exercises much more strictly.
Ed H
I squeezed this one in at lunchtime:
Nautilus compound row
barbell close grip bench press
Nautilus 2ST lower back
weighted chin up
overhead press straight to:
tricep push down
I took a mental/physical break from my usual big lower body movement(leg press,or deadlift,or squats) and substituted the lower back machine.Without that big metabolic assault,the workout actually felt too easy.
My WOW (Program C) for Nov 14th:
Rotary Torso 65lbs (+5) 3mins 55secs (+40secs)
Pull Downs 90lbs 1min 40secs (+19secs)
Overhead Press 70lbs (+7.5) 1min 30secs
Leg Press 150lbs (+15) 2min 17secs (+35secs)
Calve Raises 225lbs (+15) 1min 45secs (+15secs)
Total TUL 10.95 mins
Total Time Elapsed 15
% TUL/Total 73%
W.O.W. 14th November
Leg Press
Weighted dip
Pulley row
Overhead press.
Great workout: very brief, very hard. Metabolic condition seems to improve almost weekly.
Dr. McGuff, very interesting information about Vitamin D3. Is there any risk of toxicity in the longer term?
Steve.
@ Doug. I too notice that the workout is fairly moderate until I get to the lower legs, then I can barely walk out of the gym and am struggling to stay upright for a good 30 min or so. The metabolic effect from legs is much more intense.
Really interesting post Doug, even though I didn’t understand the abstract !
I’ve been supplementing with 2,000 IU vitamin D3 per day for the past two years and my current 25(OH)D level is 100 ng/ml - a bit high but I think that is due to the fact that I eat a lot of oily fish too, I hardly get any sun. My endocrinologist has my 25(OH)D level checked every few months because it is always on the high side….no toxic side effects from the D3 though. I also eat a Paleo diet.
I’ve not posted my WOWs these past few months because they don’t change enough to post, I just add a teeny bit more weight every few weeks to some of the machines in my routine and I’m very pleased.
Anne
John,
Yes, D3 is the “animal version” of D. Plain D is plant-derived and not very absorbable.
Jeff,
Good progress indeed. I am aware that you are well ahead of me on the D3 band wagon.
Ed,
Don’t sweat the somewhat lighter weights. As long as the weight is meaningful enough to reach failure with, you are getting the job done and sparing your joints in the meantime. MAE priciples will also help to milk your resistance for all its worth. Think of progression as a tool for feedback re: your recovery state, not a goal in and of itself. You also appear to have been way ahead of me on the D bandwagon.
Doug
Only you would think of that multi-joint capet-bombing as an “easy” workout.
Norm
Good progress. Neat reporting format.
Steve,
No real risk of toxicity. The skin produces D3 when exposed to UVB, but also possesses an enzyme that destroys D3 when serum levels get too high.
Ann,
You are also way ahead on D3, even measuring your serum 25-OH D3 levels. Understand the infrequent WOW posts, just drop in whenever you can and leave a comment or intermittent WOW. We need the female emphasis. I was picking my daughter’s Barbie out of the tub the other night when I noticed the legs on the thing are THREE TIMES as long as the doll’s torso. The shoulders are 1.5 times as wide as the hips, and I don’t even know what to say about the breasts. I am so glad my daughter gets to see my wife workout so she knows what a strong healthy female is supposed to look like. Now I understand why she always seems to pull the legs off this doll (good for her!).
Doug McGuff
Doug,
Since you asked for more ladies workouts I will post my wife’s, starting with this week. Might be good to get some feedback on it anyway. The workouts have made my wife MUCH stronger. She used to only be able to do 3 bent arm pull ups now, after around 5 months of BBS style lifting, she can do 5 from a dead hang. Pretty amazing for most people and really great for a woman. Also, not bad for spending around 1/5th of the time as before in the gym. She and I both did Devany style workouts primarily for over a year, but the results are better with less investment now with BBS.
Her workout this week was a ‘little 6′ like mine. Took around 12 minutes.
-Bicep Curl: Up 2.5# and down 22 seconds
-Leg Curl: Same weight, up 5 seconds.
-Deltoid Raise: Same weight, down 10 seconds.
-Leg Extension: Same weight, up 8 seconds.
-Tricep Extension: Up 2.5# and down 36 seconds.
-Calf Raise: Same weight, up 5 seconds.
A couple of notes of her doing the workout rather than myself:
-Her breathing never gets as heavy as mine. I am pretty well out of breath and breath heavy for 10-15 min afterward. She is good to go after 5 and really never gets the same whole body response.
-Her weight increases are a large percentage due to lower weight lifted, which I think justifies the lower/reduced TUL in some cases. We almost need even smaller increments then 2.5#.
-She appears to be more variable in her performance. Some weeks she kills it. Others she struggles. There is no apparent reason for this, but it is more variable than for myself.
Any feedback would be appreciated as I am her “trainer”(as she is mine) and I am hardly qualified.
Another minor request of this site. Is there any way to subscribe by email to comments? The community here has fantastic comments and I would love to keep updated that way.
jeff
Amy had another great one after work last night:
Nautilus incline press
-60 sec rest-
barbell bench press
deadlift
Nautilus overhead press
chin up
We have both been eating in hunter-gatherer fashion since mid-June with great results.I’m 50 years old,and I’m down to my college weight of 154 lbs at 5′3″
Amy is a lean and vascular 118.We have had no cravings at all for trashy carbs.
Doug .. I was wondering if you still take fish oil pills and if you do how many grams per day do you take?
Thanks
John
Been busy at work…
WOW for Sat 11-14
Barbell Squats- 20 reps!! new reps and weight
Bench Press with Chains- new weight and reps
Nautilus Pullover- up on weight
MedX Avenger Overhead Press- up on weight
Great workout, felt good.
Everything is coming together, Strength is up fat is coming off (not fast enough) and metabolic conditioning is better.
@Doug Holland-great job with the diet and leaning out. Have you noticed any strength decreases at you lighter weight?
@Jeff-I also train my wife (it took her 17 years to let me do it) and she has similar ups and downs-especially in the upper body exercises. She often complains that her arms feel trashed when doing compound exercises like chest presses and the pulldown. Her lower body improvements are much less erratic and progress very fast (no arms to deal with I guess). Overall she is progressing well and it is cool to see her train harder than virtually all the women in our gym and most of the men. She is also stronger in the legs than some of the men.
Anyone know what triggers “awaiting moderation”?
Sorry about the multiple posts.
I’m experimenting with high rep rest-pause sets lately (akin to Max-stim or pitt-force for the ones in the know). My WOW on sunday went like this:
Lever part.DL: 455 lbs - 20 reps
Upright Dip: BW+11 lbs - 22 reps
Chin up: BW - 13 reps
Lever OHP: 103 lbs - 17 reps
Drag Curl: 71 lbs - 19 reps
All exercises as congruent as possible, starting with the positive/concentric from a dead stop always.
D3,
I take 40,000 IU once per week. It seems to help recovery the least. I could do a workout like the one above every 4th day now and improve (if I had always the time…).
Zinc,
50 mg in the evening. Best Testo-booster ever. Could help the recovery as well.
Bill,
did you include a link? They seem to require moderation (which can take forever here).
Dumbbell flyes, cable flyes, barbell bench press, machine press. And I wonder why my shoulders hurt.
Moment Arm Exercise Chest video on that video website.
Re last week’s variety discussion: the main issue I have is when the quest for variety leads to questionable exercises and techniques. Substituting upright rows for side raises, or stretch-position anything;), for example.
I’m not locked into “one right way”, but I have to admit I really can’t find a justification in the biomechanics for variety, once you’re addressing the muscles you want to address.
And I think Dr. McGuff makes a killer point: for all the tweaking, does it make a difference in the long run?
I personally vary things, within the range of congruent exercise, only enough to keep the enthusiasm for training up.
Overall, I think the variety/standardization aspect of training is not as critical to positive results as writer/bloggers/posters want to think.
Hey, if you want the free videos, you have to tolerate my ramblings.
Some real anecdotal, non-scientific, probably psychosomatic(?), caveats on vitamin D, D3?..
I’m the guy in his late 50’s, who doesn’t do Paleo, and isn’t in the greatest of shape. I totally agree with BBS and the Doctor, that mega-dosing on vitamins and minerals just doesn’t have any science behind it?!
Now Omega-3’s and vitamin D would definitely be the exception. Modern man has shunted those two items.
I’m white, but I tan easily. I’ve never had my serum D tested, but like Anne, for several months I was supplementing or augmenting around 2,000 iu’s/day. Anyhow, about once or twice a week, I started sitting in the south Texas sun, barebacked and shorts, for about 25 to 30 minutes a session. No Geo. Hamilton, but a noticeable tan?
Again, this is pure anecdotal and psychosomatic, but I felt poorly a day or two after tanning??? After tanning, I’d still be throwing down 2,000+ iu’s of D3??
I’ve reduced my D3 to about 800 iu’s a day, and take no D3, for two days after sitting in the sun for 20+ minutes.
It may be totally psychosomatic? As Dr. McGuff stated, if your bucket is full, your skin has an enzyme that destroys D3 from the sun and skin?!!! I don’t think that ‘destruction’ takes place however, when you’re taking the stuff internally and in pill form???
I just want to caution that if you’re sun (lamp?) tanning; you might not want to be doing that 5,000-10,000 iu’s/day post sun session?? That vitamin D council the doctor referenced states, if you’re sun or lamp bathing, you don’t need to augment or supplement???
I just thought this was something people should keep in mind? Augmenting D3 with UVB light, and pill form; might be a little ‘tricky’??
We are training with my wife in BBS-style almost 4 months now. Started with big-5 for me anda big-4 (alternating 2 push 1 pull/ 1 push 2 pull movements) for her. After about 10 weeks both of us stop progressing so switched to big 3, start progressing again. This week we’ll be our 4th workout on big 3, going fine so far.
Like some of the comments above my wife also had the biggest gains in legs. She is 48kg, but do legpress with 70kg for 134secs. last week. Her row is also surprisingly very good. She did 44kg for 98sec last week. However she hate doing chest-press and that’s where she stall a lot, thou she does better now as we switch to big 3. Her shoulder press and pull down are generally ok. I dont know why there is very little progress in the chest thou. Any thoughts?
Like other commentators my wife’s performance seems to vary, esp. around/during her period. So she tend to skip WOW if it is during her period.
I should also note that this is the first time she is working with weights in her life and she is 26.
For me, after my progress stalls (no improvements in weight or TUL for 2-3 weeks) I switched to big-3 and now progressing again. My main problem seems to be pull-down (although I enjoy pull-ups/chin-ups and can do 9-10 dead-hang chin-ups) as my progress there is the slowest. My forearms/grip seems to give away before my back, and last two weeks I start doing wristcurls and/or grip work. We’ll see how they will affect my pull-downs. It could also be the machines, as pull-down machine is basically a cable machine. Don’t have access to MedX or Nat. machines here.
@Bill DeSimone-great post on variety-I think it represents a good middle ground for those who like it (Me) and those who feel it has no use. I also think it is vastly more important for those who tend to train more often. Also, I’m looking forward to your video on MAE for legs.
@Franco-I’d like to hear you experience with zinc and testosterone. Did you measure T before and after supplementation?
BIG 3/rush factor wed 18.11.
1. full squat 15 reps ntf
2. chin negative only 6 slow (~10s) reps
3. dip negative only 6 slow (~10s) reps
I’ve just posted an interview with Bill DeSimone.
If you click on my name - on this comment - it will take you there
(I had included the link but that means it needs approval)
18/11/09
big 5 at Gym at work:
Seated row - 55kg TUL 62s (seat 5)
Press - 35kg TUL 76s (seat 5)
Pulldown - 55kg TUL 90s
Chest press - 55kg TUL 70s
Leg press - 120kg TUL 110s (increase weight needed)
Leg press is weird. Feelign strong but I don’t like the pressure it is putting on my lower back
@Chris and Bill-excellent interview-very informative and intelligent. Thanks!
@Thomas,
no testing, sorry! I just go by feel and performance.
@Bill,
I seem to always come back mostly to the same basic exercises, they may not all be congruent with your recomendations(pun intended!) but they feel good and productive to me.
If one’s seeking variety there is enough room for that in the execution mode of the exercise (high/low reps, superslow/moderately slow/1 minute chin, NO/NA/static/R-P, exercise order etc.).
@Thomas
Thanks. I am learning a lot from Bill.
Did the Big 5 on Tuesday after an unintentional week off last week. Surprisingly, my TUL’s were up on all exercises by an avg of 5 seconds (same weight)? Felt pretty drained afterwards, but not as bad as I thought I would. Pretty sore the next day, especially legs.
@All,
An amazing batch of comments since I last checked in.
Women do seem to show less metabolic effect. I think this is due to their overall smaller muscle mass producing less of a lactic acid load. Most of the huffing and puffing that goes on is mainly trying to adjust blood pH by blowing off C02…I believe this has more to do with it than the oxygen demand issue.
I still take fish oil, but only on days when I eat restaurant meat or grain fed meat. I do this to keep the appropriate omega 6: omega 3 ratio. I mostly eat grass-fed beef and free range eggs, so on most days there is not a need for the fish oil. I tend to take 2 capsules per 8 oz. of grain-fed meat consumed.
For Jim V. I skip vitamin D3 on days where I get meaningful sun exposure or if I lay in a tanning bed with UVB light (I do this about once every 7-10 days to keep just a base tan).
Bill D.- Great Chest videos. I think we are fairly close on our views of variety. “Awaiting Moderation” tends to occur if the post has a video or external link with it. This is a security setting on the admin page that I have not been able to figure out (I’m a techno-moron).
Keep the posts and comments coming.
Doug McGuff
I’m not sure if anyone has seen this yet, but it is certainly relevant to the topic at hand:http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/phys-ed-can-vitamin-d-improve-your-athletic-performance/
nautilus pullover up 20 lbs 72 seconds
chin hold bw 190 only 20 seconds,42seconds last time
going to do this before the pullover next time maybe just do regular chins compound leg press up 100 lbs 40 seconds. Sat on the leg press for about 5 minutes afterwards.
note pullover and compound leg are weights ive done a while back. I realized I was overtraining for a while and took six weeks off. Im nearing the weights I was useing before I got sick in 2006. 8 days since last workout. No more than 2-3 exerecises. Maybe a lateral raise once in a while.
W.O.W 11-15-09
Total: 10 minutes
Leg press: +1.5#, TUL+26s (@180#! From 100 ~3 months ago)
Calf raise: down 2# since last time was under TUL. Hit target TUL
Abs: Used 5# weight adaptor with normal crunches on mat, TUL same as last time, a bit above target
Lessons - Even though I’m going up in legs, I’m finding I need manual help (hands on knees) to get over the sticking point at full compression, it’s either me or the machine (using horizontal slide). There’s an inverted incline slide at the gym too, from back position. Anyone think this would help?
Outside that, everything can go up in weight. I like the 3-way split I’m doing, and also feel like my non-legs workouts are “easier”. Until 24 hours later.
As to the commentary on female response to BBS, I agree with everything said, and yes the hormonal flux during the month has an impact.
Since this is primarily a male audience I will give you one comment to pass on - ever since I started the Paleo diet my PMS has disappeared. So if you’re sick of dealing with that maybe go cook your ladies better food : ) Hope everyone has a good holiday next week.
@Thomas,sorry for the late reply,but no,no strength decreases.In fact,my strength is up,and the inflammation in my shoulders is going away.I’m able to do some pressing movements that,a year ago,were even painful to demonstrate to clients.
@Senya,stay with the diet.It’s just too easy,isn’t it?Amy and I are having guests for Thanksgiving and we’re serving fish,beef,turkey,fruit,vegetables,seeds,nuts…,but no dressing,taters,bread,etc.Those guests who object can leave for the nearest fast food place,but they can’t bring it back to the house.
Now I’m going upstairs to test out my new guitar fuzz pedal…
Doug crank that amp and pedal up. dave
Doug, (Holland)
I also play some electric guitar, (very badly, but have lots of fun) When will we see youtube videos of your playing?
Doug (McGuff, and others)
I have an unrelated question. Have been reading of late the work of Art Devany and was interested in his take on not going to failure. He believes (hopefully paraphrasing accurately) that going to failure in a continuous tension set, results in failing because of the buildup of lactic acid rather than true muscular failure. His suggestion which he calls alactic sets, but seems almost exactly like rest pause to me, allows a few seconds between reps for lactic acid to (dissipate?) Do you believe his explanation is scientifically accurate? I believe Drew Baye’s upcoming book will deal with rest pause fairly significantly, and of course Mike Mentzer and others brought it up for similar reasons years ago.
Folks,
Sort of off topic, but another look at genetics. The new Economist magazine has an article on sprinters. Seems they have different physiology than the rest of us. Different toes, achilles tendons, muscle fibers,etc. Also an interesting statement about muscle force being different in long vs. short contractions.
I think the REAL truth is they are all Crossfit people. Kipping pullups and jump squats made their muscles different, right? Right?
Griff
Doug, thoughts on health care? Would love to read them (as I’m sure many others would, not only as an author of BBS, but as a doctor as well).
-Anthony
Rick,
I think continous sets to failure work well to acheive sequential motor unit recruitment and fatigue. Alactic or rest-pause has its place as a means of emphasizing load at the expense of metabolic effect.
Anthony,
I worked the past 5 days in the ER, so I’m full-up with “health care” right now. To get some idea of where I stand, hop over to Art Devany’s site (www.arthurdevany.com) and read my comments on the health care co-op post. I promise to post on this later.
To All,
Thanks for the great posts. Will get this weeks WOW up either later tonight or Monday AM.
Doug McGuff
@Rick,
did you see my post above? I’m doing that kind of thing since ~4 weeks now. I feel actually the total lactic acid to be more then in a continious set. And it should be as there are ~20 reps as compared to ~10 with “traditional” HIT or 3-6 with ss (like I did it). That lactic acid along with other metabolic byproducts is just released from the muscles between reps. You know what I mean if you ever did 20rep breathing squats.
@Franco,
I assume that you are still carrying these rest pause to failure?
@Rick,
not always. If I get 20 or more reps with rest not longer then 20s between last reps I will usually just terminate the set and add weight next time. Don’t tell anybody!
@Franco…I’m not sure complete failure is as important with rest pause, here is my logic, which I welcome to be challenged… technically, your breaks allow you to lift more reps than you would do normally, so while you may not get the metabolic workout, your muscles are pushing even further than they would with a continuous set…