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 (TSC) - 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 safet...

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