Conditioning Research

 I don't know if anyone is still reading this blog, but I wanted to highlight that Ken Hutchins books are now available on Kindle. Amazon.co.uk: Ken Hutchins: books, biography, latest update Critical Factors - probably the fundamental text - is being published in several parts, but for most people I think I would recommend starting with his book Balance It has a good statement of his ideas on Timed Static Contraction (TSC) his approach to isometrics with a staged approach to work through the sequential recruitment of muscle fibres.  Hutchins is the brain behind much of what became known as HIT training, inspiring Doug McGuff (Body by Science) and others through SuperSlow.  His articles at  Articles - Serious Exercise  are definitely worth reading. My book Hillfit ( www.hillfit.com )  is very influenced by Ken Hutchins' thinking I hope people can support Ken by buying his books via Kindle.

I'm just posting this here as a reference. Ken Hutchins has developed his very precise definition of exercise: Exercise is a process whereby the body performs work of a demanding nature, in accordance with muscle and joint function, in a clinically controlled environment, within the constraints of safety, meaningfully loading the muscular structures to inroad their strength levels to stimulate a growth mechanism within minimum time. (I copied this from  Analyzing the Definition of Exercise  but he has published this in lots of places before. I have had some enjoyable correspondence with Ken in recent years - virtually all my training is now Timed Static Contraction - and I have refined the definition in my mind at least, trying to express the ideas in a way that I understand them.  Hopefully they are as precise as Ken would like Exercise is the application of mechanical tension to muscles, in accordance with muscle and joint function, within the constraints of safety, loa...

The  Dunning–Kruger effect   This phrase was new to me when I heard it on a podcast recently. So I consulted google for a definition.  You are not an expert The  Dunning–Kruger effect  is a cognitive bias  manifesting in unskilled individuals suffering from  illusory superiority , mistakenly rating their ability much higher than is accurate. This bias is attributed to a  metacognitive  inability of the unskilled to recognize their ineptitude. [ 1 ]

You will have noticed that this blog has been quiet for a while....  There are a few reasons for that, reasons that I thought I'd list here: WORK -  my day job has been incredibly busy and stressful this year. Working 10-14 hour days the last thing on my mind when I got home was putting something on here.  FACEBOOK/TWITTER - I suppose I've been using other channels to do some of what I used to do here. Quick fire posts pointing to interesting studies or news etc tend to get posted to Twitter (@chrishighcock) or to the Facebook Hillfit group http://www.facebook.com/groups/263083947097000/  REASSESSMENT - I've found myself less comfortable with some of the positions I've taken in the past. Sometimes I'm embarrassed by some of the things I've promoted. I'm not Paleo or low carb. I think Tabata and intervals are misunderstood and misapplied. I cannot really claim to be HIT.   I find myselfunable  honestly to post things on here and pretend that I am some sort o...

I am still here although this blog has gone quiet. My work has been very busy leaving little time or energy for posting things here.  I've become somewhat disillusioned by much of the drama in the online fitness/health/diet world. The debates are religious in nature with heretics fighting strange arcane battles while 90% of the world just get fatter and less active.  I am also less inclined to give much attention to the alternative, new or faddish approaches. Ecclesiastes has it right - there is nothing new under the sun. Certainly the science is interesting and is discovering things, but there is little justification for the tabloid excitement about some new diet or exercise.   I think the mainstream science  is generally right.  Conspiracy theory is for the crazies.  This year I've leaned out for summer by simply cutting calories - no Paleo, IF, high protein. Just being normal.  I lift weights with no special protocol. I walk. I even run sometimes. I...

As someone with a history of chronic back pain and other niggling aches and pains I've had an interest in reading about the science of pain.  There is a lot going on in this area and the understanding that science has of pain is far different from what most people would think is going on. There is no denying that people have real actual pain,  but the current understanding is that the pain is something that the brain creates as a way of protecting you from threats.  There is a lot out there on this and a lot to reflect on, but here are some good start points: What recent pain science can do for your chronic pain right now

I am sorry this blog has been so quiet recently.  My work is really busy and leaving little time or energy for much outside of that. I am still training, still reading and still trying to get into the hills whenever I can but when i get back from a long day at work the last thing I want to do usually is sit here and pop up a blog post. Hopefully I will post more often in the future, but things may well be quiet here for a while. A thought to leave you with for now from Coach Stevo : Dear internet, It's picking up heavy shit. Save the rocket science for NASA.   Coach Stevo .

You've probably already seen this, but this fella is amazing

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was taking part in "Dry January".  I didn't make a big song and dance about it, but I decided to go for a calendar month or so with no alcohol.  A few people have asked me about my experience, so here are a few points. Why take a break from drinking? Alcohol is an interesting topic.  As a drug it is widely accepted in society, central to so much of our socialising and leisure.  There seem to be lots of health benefits - so we are told - yet there are also a lot of problems in terms of health, relationships and lifestyle that come from drinking. Over a few years I'd begun to become aware and then concerned that I was drinking too much and too regularly.  I am in a busy and stressful job and sometimes a glass of wine after work to relax is really helpful.  But over time, one glass became two.  Two glasses became ....I might as well finish the bottle.  A habit got established....and was starting to get too e...

I don't normally use this blog to promote products, but this is different.  Just launched is a new bundle of ebooks and audio interviews from some of the most respected voices of reason in health and fitness.  My Hillfit book is included in the bundle but even without it, I'd be recommending this package.  Buy the Superheroes of Health eBook Bundle - Over 23 eBooks, Audio Books, and Interviews for only $67!! Over the last couple of years you will have noticed that I have been preaching a gospel of simplicity, encouraging people to focus on the basics: avoiding stress, getting enough sleep, doing some exercise, walking and eating sensible.  I'm been moving away from the fad diets, the magic bullets, the secret exercises and routines.   Disillusioned with the hype, drama and dogma I've been getting back to patience and just being happy with being lean, strong and fit.... enough !  Being satisfied and not pushing for a perfection that ...

I've a couple of posts in draft that I will get up soon -  an update / reflection on Dry January and some thoughts on the scheduling benefits of short workouts if your life is busy.  Before that though, I am pointing to something else. However, I wanted to highlight something that is coming this weekend that I've been involved in.   Amber Rogers (Gokaleo and author of Taking Up Space ) has been pulling together a bundle of books from various authors with a common theme, one that I've been pushing here recently.   Keep it simple, avoid the hype, be patient, be consistent and flee the gurus.   I've talked before about how we get obsessed with pushing for more and more, when enough is OK.  I've given my view that so much of the health and fitness internet world is more like a gnostic religion than something that will benefit your life. There are other voices out there saying similar things and I'll be pointing to a bundle of books later this week ...

This follows a little from the Enough is Enough post , from last year.  By the way, I've had some comments from people concerned that this blog is not really posting much scientific/conditioning research at the moment.  I've not got the time to search for news and studies at the moment, but I also increasingly recognise my limits.  I am not a scientist.  I skim the papers and for a long time I was only looking for things that confirmed my biases.  That is not good.  If you want more of the science perhaps you should check out Suppversity or subscribe to Chris Beardsley's Research Review or Alan Aragon's Research Review . The Economics Professors I was at an event this week in which four economics professors were speaking in Edinburgh.  They were talking currency and banking options in a potential independent Scotland.  I did Economics at university so I could follow what was being said most of the time....but some times it was beyond me...

I want to talk about alcohol.  This post was prompted by a number of things: Rearranging the Deck-chairs Tom Furman had a good post recently which hit a nerve with me.  He spoke about how too often we major on the minors.  We ignore the really important stuff and fiddle with minutiae.  We might have everything right, all the right things in place.....but then we sabotage it with something else we are doing. You might be eating well and training well.....but are you also smoking?  Are you watching your diet, counting calories and macros....but drinking a bottle of wine a night?  Are you training hard, eating well but not getting more than 5 hours sleep a night? You get the picture. By avoiding the real problem, you can pretend to be courageous. You perhaps act as if you are uninformed, but you are mimicking a child who closes his eyes and believes he is invisible. You really aren’t fooling anyone. Not even yourself. - See more at: http://ww...

In 2012  I pointed to the research of Samuele Marcora on how facial expression impacts on fatigue in his psychobiological model of fatigue .   His study here showed how the onset of frowning indicated the point at which things were starting to feel hard, but in discussions by email we chatted about the possibility that things could work the other way - smiling might make everything feel easier and ward off fatigue. I was reminded of this when I saw this video from Eric Cobb It is a simple trick but I think it is worth trying.

How to get swole A lot is written about how best to train to make your muscles grow.  You can go to T-Nation or do a google search for hypertrophy training and get confronted with scores of routines illustrated by photos of the top bodybuilders (generally the genetic elite with pharmaceutical assistance).  There will be prescriptions of certain techniques....rep ranges....exercises and diet.  It is confusing and complicated. What does the evidence say? Why should you trust all these recommendations?  Surely they must be right because they are on the internet (yeah right).  This routine must be the best because Mr Olympia says so.....  or because everyone at the gym trains like this (yet they still haven't improved for months).  These are not good reasons.  We will not get into epistemology, but lets take a different tack.  What does the evidence say? It is not fashionable....but when you look at the evidence (in terms of scient...

Ecclesiastes 1:9 (ASV) That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. It is Christmas, so here is a reminder of a key truth from the Bible which is very relevant to our obsessions with health, diet and fitness.  There is nothing new! Every time you read of some new diet, supplement, exercise protocol or secret technique remember that it will have been done before.  10   Is there a thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been long ago, in the ages which were before us. Just ask each time.....is this new?

I don't think I've shared this on this blog, but mentioned it on Facebook. Impressed by an athlete A few weeks ago while at work I bumped into a mate who is a veteran sprinter - Scottish 100m and 200m champion for the over 50s.  He is a proper athlete  -  runs internationally, trains with some Olympic and Commonwealth Games athletes.  That sort of thing. We often bump into each other at the gym at work and chat.  He is always interested in what I am doing and I ask a lot about his training. Anyway, this day he was going to be doing some sprints at lunchtime, in the car park.  Dragging a car tyre.  He invited me to join him for the session.  It sounded fun and I was a bit flattered to be able to train with him. Sprints Lunchtime saw me changed and in the car park.  A brief warm up and then we started.  He gave me some tips on form and then it was a 50 m sprint, while dragging this tyre, pulling it attached by a rope to a weigh...

The frequency of posts to this blog has diminished quite a bit recently.   My work is busy and when I get in I'm more likely to read or vegetate in front of the TV to relax rather than think about putting stuff up here.  Also you will have picked up the theme in recent months that I am trying to keep things simple.  Sometimes there is little to say.  There is not a lot to add:  move, sleep, eat and relax. I became disillusioned with the contrarian world of health and fitness on the internet, especially as regards diet.  It is not as complicated as we try to make it...paleo, low-carb, low fat or "real food" or whatever become dead-ends sometimes, cultish little communities where any dissent is akin to heresy.  I've been banned from at least one Paleo Facebook group for questioning their orthodoxy. Anyway, the point of this post.... Terracotta soldiers I saw a documentary this week about the Terracotta Soldiers .  A couple of thousand years ...

This is one that I would like everyone to listen to...   Nick Tumminello of Performance University – How To Do Science Nick Tuminello Way back....27 years ago....I started my course at the University of Leeds to study Philosophy and Economics.   The first year I did philosophy of science and for 3 years I did courses in formal logic.  Great fun, although a long way from what I now do for a living. I've always been fascinated by this idea of how we know what we know....why we believe what we believe. This is not some vague mystical thing...it is vital to everyday life and definitely to this whole area of health and fitness.  There are so many people out there telling us what is true...what is the best diet or training regime.  How do you decide what is really true, what is really worth investing your time and effort in? As I've discussed here in the past, so much of this stuff is not based on solid critical thinking but on principles more related to g...

No meaning to the photo....I just like it More Less or Enough? How about re calibrating our attitude towards diet and exercise to one which is focused on the idea of enough? So often in both diet and exercise we find ourselves at an extreme.  More and more of this and less and less of that.  What would happen if we shifted to a focus on sufficiency? Instead of trying to achieve less or more how about aiming for enough? Relax a little. Instead of pushing at the limits live in the middle for a while.  What do I mean? Try to use the word enough a little more.   Eat less and move more?  No eat enough and move enough.  Get more sleep?  Get enough (to wake up rested) Eat more protein? No eat enough (to repair and grow) Eat fewer carbs? No eat enough carbs (to fuel your activity) Eat less fat. No eat enough fat (to keep healthy hormone production) You get the idea Get less stress. No get enough( hormesis) ...