Conditioning Research

I've had a bad back the last week or so. Work has been busy recently and I've been doing 10-12 hour days over the last few weeks. Lots of sitting and lots of stress too. The lower back was getting very tight but it would always loosen off quite quickly when I started moving. Then last week we were out for lunch at a pub in the country and afterwards while walking round the loch I decided to climb a tree (!) and I got this massive back spasm that I've been recovering from all week. I've had episodes of back pain over the last 15 or so years and am used to it but each time it really makes me appreciate basic health and fitness. When you cannot move due to intense muscle spasms literally immobilising you, when you cannot put your own socks on or wipe your own arse then all this health and conditioning discussion seems a bit stupid. It is only when you are injured that you truly appreciate what it is to be fit, mobile and healthy. Of course when you are well, you soon...

So it looks like taking protein helps but it doesn't matter when you take it..... (UPDATE - as Jeremy points out in the comments, you can also read this as saying that the supplement doesn't make any difference at all.....) Effect of protein-supplement timing on strength, power, and body-composition changes in resistance-trained men. The effect of 10 wk of protein-supplement timing on strength, power, and body composition was examined in 33 resistance-trained men. Participants were randomly assigned to a protein supplement either provided in the morning and evening (n = 13) or provided immediately before and immediately after workouts (n = 13). In addition, 7 participants agreed to serve as a control group and did not use any protein or other nutritional supplement. During each testing session participants were assessed for strength (one-repetition-maximum [1RM] bench press and squat), power (5 repetitions performed at 80% of 1RM in both the bench press and the squat), and bo...

This blog has gone a wee bit quiet of late. Apologies for that, but I've been busy at work. I'll catch up soon.

This isn't exactly fitness related but it is absolutely fascinating Check out this illusion: The break of the curveball

This looks interesting. Does Training Fasted make you fast? Does anyone have access to the full article?

I've had posts up here before about how low carb / ketogenic diet can limit or even reverse cancer growth. unlike healthy cells, which generate energy by metabolizing sugar in their mitochondria, cancer cells appeared to fuel themselves exclusively through glycolysis, a less-efficient means of creating energy through the fermentation of sugar in the cytoplasm. The theory is simple: If most aggressive cancers rely on the fermentation of sugar for growing and dividing, then take away the sugar and they should stop spreading. Meanwhile, normal body and brain cells should be able to handle the sugar starvation; they can switch to generating energy from fatty molecules called ketone bodies — the body's main source of energy on a fat-rich diet — an ability that some or most fast-growing and invasive cancers seem to lack. Here is another one Carbohydrate restriction may slow prostate tumor growth "The mice that were fed a no-carbohydrate diet experienced a 40 to 50 percent prolo...

Wear and tear. The progressive damage caused by repetitive movements. This is not the main topic of Doug McGuff's talk here but it is one that is really important to me now. I'm 41 and being injury free is now very important. Professionally I can't afford days off right now. Yet I sometimes think that some of my training over the years how damaged me rather than protected me. I don't want to get all wimpy and scared of movement, but I do want to be aware of the positive and negatives.

High-intensity interval exercise is characterized by relatively brief, intermittent periods of muscle contraction, often performed with an ‘‘all-out’’ effort or at an intensity close to that which elicits peak oxygen uptake. Depending on the specific intensity, a single effort may last from a few seconds to up to several minutes, with multiple efforts separated by up to a few minutes of rest or low-intensity exercise for recovery. Although sometimes equated with strength or heavy resistance training, high-intensity interval exercise training (HIT) does not induce marked fibre hypertrophy (Ross and Leveritt 2001). Rather, there is a growing appreciation of the potential for HIT to timulate the skeletal muscle remodeling normally associated with traditional endurance training (Gibala and McGee 2008). This paper explains what is going on! The full text is available for download. Like strength or resistance training, interval exercise is characterized by brief intermittent bouts of rel...

Well that is my reading of the paper. The whole paper is available for download and it will repay some study. Here is the abstract: Normally, skeletal muscle mass is unchanged, beyond periods of growth, but it begins to decline in the fourth or fifth decade of life. The mass of skeletal muscle is maintained by ingestion of protein-containing meals. With feeding, muscle protein synthesis (MPS) is stimulated and a small suppression of muscle protein breakdown (MPB) occurs, such that protein balance becomes positive (MPS > MPB). As the postprandial period subsides and a transition toward fasting occurs, the balance of muscle protein turnover becomes negative again (MPB > MPS). Thus, during maintenance of skeletal muscle mass, the long-term net result is that MPS is balanced by MPB. Acutely, however, it is of interest to determine what regulates feeding-induced increases in MPS, since it appears that, in a number of scenarios (for example aging, disuse, and wasting diseases), a supp...

I've been reading Clarence's books for years. I don't always agree with him - especially on diet where I like more fat and meat than he would be comfortable with - but he is always a stimulating read and writes really well. It was through him that I first came across Art DeVany and the whole Evolutionary fitness thing. Actually thinking about it, he first wrote about Pavel and kettlebells. Anyway, he has a piece up this month on Body By Science (my interviews with the authors are here and here ) which is definitely worth reading. Aerobics, Do You Need It? Complete Fitness in 12 Minutes a Week For those still in doubt, here’s my opinion. First, I believe you can skip traditional aerobic workouts—if you are willing and able to do high-intensity intervals once or, at most, twice a week. (Walking or at least staying active on off days is also advisable.) We’ve already seen from the McMaster studies that sprint intervals dramatically increase endurance capacity in a frac...

This is superb It is bonus footage that never made it into Tom Naughton's Fat Head .

This is pretty astounding There is a good analysis of it here . He ran the first 100m in 9.90 seconds, which is an extra-ordinary time and a sign of things to come. But even more amazing, the final 100m (from 50m to the finish line) were clocked in an astonishing 8.72 seconds! That is being reported, though it's so fast I'm almost sceptical.

Here are 2 new studies on the low carb diet: Long-term effects of a very-low-carbohydrate weight loss diet compared with an isocaloric low-fat diet after 12 mo. Interesting because it looks at a very low carb diet: 4%, 35%, and 61% of energy as carbohydrate, protein, and fat, respectively. Conclusion: The LC diet may offer clinical benefits to obese persons with insulin resistance. And the second one: Low-carbohydrate diet disrupts the association between insulin resistance and weight gain. The adoption of LCD promotes a unique metabolic state that prevents insulin resistance, even in guinea pigs that gained more weight. The association between weight gain and insulin resistance seems to be dependent on high carbohydrate intake. That is an interesting conclusion!

These - 0:18-0:32 - are amazing....

Real rest between sprints - lets you perform better than active rest..... Muscle Deoxygenation during Repeated Sprint Running: Effect of Active vs. Passive Recovery Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of active (AR) versus passive recovery (PR) on muscle deoxygenation during short repeated maximal running. Ten male team sport athletes (26.9±3.7y) performed 6 repeated maximal 4-s sprints interspersed with 21 s of either AR (2 m.s−1) or PR (standing) on a non-motorized treadmill. Mean running speed (AvSpmean), percentage speed decrement (Sp%Dec), oxygen uptake (V˙O2), deoxyhemoglobin (HHb) and blood lactate ([La]b) were computed for each recovery condition. Compared to PR, AvSpmean was lower (3.79±0.28 vs. 4.09±0.32m.s−1; P In conclusion, during run-based repeated sprinting, AR was associated with reduced repeated sprint ability and higher muscle deoxygenation.

One of the benefits of the internet is the ability to make contact with all sorts of people. Authors and celebrities who were once difficult to track down and seemed to exist in different worlds are now able to be reached quickly with a few clicks. Things have shrunk and that is good. I first came across John Little’s name over 20 years ago. I was a teenager reading the now defunct UK magazine “Bodybuilding Monthly”. One issue – in about 1984 or '85 I think – ran an interview that John did with Mike Mentzer. What struck me then - and I remember it still - was the breadth and intellectual depth of the interview. There was stuff on training but there was also a discussion of philosophy and of the nature of friendship (I still remember the point: friendships must be based on a mutuality of values). It was through the interview that I was given my first exposure to the objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand . As someone with an intense adolescent interest in both bodybuilding and ...

This is an interesting looking one. They compared people that trained with weights with a set of controls who didn't. The weight trainers were less mobile . They had decreased mobility when compared with the control group for all active range of motion measurements except external rotation. The weight trainers had strength imbalances . Presumably there was a lack of balance between the pushing and pulling muscles, reading between the lines - people tend to do lots of pushing and little pulling....which leads to such strength imbalances. So, weight trainers are predisposed to strength and mobility imbalances as a result of training. The imbalances identified have been associated with shoulder disorders in the general and athletic population; thus, these imbalances may place RWT participants at risk for injury. It is true. Even forgetting the weights some people train with hundreds of pushups and no balancing pulling moves. This will lead to problems. It is ironic that those who...

You've probably seen these in gyms. According to their site : BOSU™ is an acronym for "both sides up". The BOSU® Balance Trainer can be used with the platform side either up or down for different types of balance challenge. The solid platform is 25 inches in diameter and the dome should be inflated until it is firm. Two recessed handles on the bottom of and towards the sides on the platform make it easy to turn over or carry. This hybrid fitness product has its genesis in the field of medicine, as well as balance, functional ( oh no! you know we have been discussing functional training! ) and sports specific training. Neuromuscular physiology, which helps to define human movement, provides the science that backs this remarkably complete approach to training. The BOSU® Balance Trainer offers a different means to make exercise more appealing and effective for average people, fitness enthusiasts and highly trained athletes. Here is a study I have just seen that questions...

I've said this before , but here is another new study: Acute effect of a ballistic and a static stretching exercise bout on flexibility and maximal strength. Consequently, static stretching may not be recommended before athletic events or physical activities that require high levels of force. On the other hand, ballistic stretching could be more appropriate because it seems less likely to decrease maximal strength. So don't do static stretching before your exercise......it makes you weaker. Ballistic stretching could be OK however. Mike Nelson has been saying the same thing recently .

video of the Ricky Hatton / Manny Pacquiao fight now available here.

Check out some more shockers on Art's blog.

First one says that a low carb diet including eggs - i.e. adding cholesterol - has good effects on both insulin resistance and the hormones that make you feel full. Carbohydrate restriction (with or without additional dietary cholesterol provided by eggs) reduces insulin resistance and plasma leptin without modifying appetite hormones in adult men. Carbohydrate-restricted diets (CRDs) have been shown to reduce body weight, whereas whole egg intake has been associated with increased satiety. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of additional dietary cholesterol and protein provided by whole eggs while following a CRD on insulin resistance and appetite hormones. Using a randomized blind parallel design, subjects were allocated to an egg (640 mg/d additional dietary cholesterol) or placebo (0 mg/d additional dietary cholesterol) group for 12 weeks while following a CRD. There were significant reductions in fasting insulin (P Second one is low carb in people with Diabet...

interesting article in the Guardian today: How to beat that exhausted feeling Not surprisingly, the simple act of getting a good night's sleep is central to Lipman's approach. He prescribes a daily "electronic sundown" - all computers, mobile phones and TVs should be turned off by 10pm to allow for the "transition into sleep". Keep your bedroom cool and totally dark - "like a cave," he says - with LED alarm clocks covered up or even disposed of, blackout blinds installed or eye-masks donned. This should, he says, help keep night-time melatonin production going. He also advises not turning the bathroom light on if you go to the toilet in the middle of the night, otherwise your body will be fooled into thinking it's morning again and turn off the melatonin tap. This is the same idea I've pointed to before especially in Lights Out (and here )

I train once a week at Krav Maga Edinburgh . I am pretty rubbish at it but I like the simplicity of the moves that we are taught and it is good to train in something useful and practical. Our instructor is a pupil of Mark Davies and a lot of the things we do are not classical Krav Maga but are influenced more by Mark's Tactical Edge system . I've not yet had the chance to get to one of Mark's seminars - too busy on the weekends - but this is a flavour of the techniques he uses. Simple but destructive.

In all the debate about functional training the key was that skills are specific. You must practice the precise moves that you are trying to improve. In that I reckon that this workout is functional (apart from the thrusters ). The guys are practising the skills they need - shooting, sprints in uniform, radio assembly. They are not expecting burpees to improve their target practice.

Does anyone have access to the full paper for this one? The abstract doesn't help much As far as I can make out it looks like there were more bacteria in the mouth but the gums got healthier. The impact of the stone age diet on gingival conditions in the absence of oral hygiene. Baumgartner S, Imfeld T, Schicht O, Rath C, Persson RE, Persson GR. Laboratory of Oral Microbiology, Department of Clinical Research, School of Dental Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Background: The objective of this study was to assess the oral microbiota and clinical data in subjects without access to traditional oral hygiene methods and who ate a diet available in the Stone Age. Methods: Ten subjects living in an environment replicating the Stone Age for 4 weeks were enrolled in this study. Bleeding on probing (BOP), gingival and plaque indices, and probing depth (PD) were assessed at baseline and at 4 weeks. Microbiologic samples were collected at the mesio-buccal subgingival aspects o...

Manny Pacquiao vs Ricky Hatton (special highlights HQ) from GORILLAproductions on Vimeo .

Here is one for the "functional" training debate that we have been having recently. Here is the abstract: Nesser TW, Lee WL. The relationship between core strength and performance in Division I female soccer players. JEPonline 2009; 12(2):21-28. To identify relationships between core stability and various strength and power variables in division I female soccer players. 16 NCAA division I female soccer players (height 163.6 cm ± 5.2 cm, weight 60.7 kg ± 7.5 kg) completed strength and performance testing prior to off-season conditioning. Subjects were tested on two strength variables (1RM bench press, and 1RM squat), three performance variables (countermovement vertical jump, 40 yard sprint, and a 10 yard shuttle run), and core strength (back extension, trunk flexion, and left and right bridge). No significant correlations were identified between core strength and strength and power. The results of this study suggest core strength is not related to strength and power . Co...