Bulletproof Executive interviews Dr. Doug McGuff

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Doug McGuff.  I interviewed him here a couple of years ago and he was kind enough to give me a very good review for Hillfit.

There is an excellent interview with Doug at the Bulletproof Executive site that is very well worth listening to.

Podcast #26: Body By Science with Dr. Doug McGuff, MD

The 21 Convention

Anthony has put together a great line up of speakers for this year's conventions.  Click here to visit The 21 Convention LLC. I don't know about the pick up guys, but on the exercise front he has managed to bring together some innovative  thinkers and writers:

In London he has:  Dr John Briffa, Simon Whyatt, Simon Shawcross and James Steele II.

Austin Texas will feature: Doug McGuff, Robb Wolf, Drew Baye, Dave Asprey and Keith Norris
 

I've interviewed a few of these guys, follow all of them through their blogs, twitter etc and think that these events will be like my RSS dumping its contents into a conference suite.  Anthony always does high quality video of the events, so even if you can't make it look forward to some excellent presentations.

Exercise and insulin sensitivity: both hard AND easy training.......

We've had material up here before on the way in which exercise can promote insulin sensitivity - even brief intense exercise.

I spotted this new study that highlights that both endurance and resistance training can have an impact, but on different elements of that sensitivity:

Insulin Sensitivity After Maximal and Endurance Resistance Training

Maximum Resistance Training (MRT) led to a greater increase in glucose uptake capacity (in muscles), whereas Endurance Resistance Training (ERT) led to greater insulin sensitivity, supporting the recommendation of both MRT and ERT as primary intervention approaches for individuals at a risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

It is something that I point to in Hillfit - intense exercise to failure that can tap into all the muscle fibres - slow, intermediate and fast twitch - lets you drain them of glucose in a way in which endurance exercise does not allow....and endurance exercise does have some benefits.

Actually it is pretty much similar to what Mark Sisson has been saying for a while:

• Lift Heavy things
• Move around alot at a slow pace

Or indeed, Clarence Bass "barbell" strategy - 

 I do a combination of high-intensity intervals and low-intensity walking—and very little of the moderate-intensity aerobics that most people do. I call this my barbell aerobics strategy because, like a barbell, it uses both ends of the intensity spectrum—with almost nothing in between. 

which is also of course Nassim Taleb's approach

Doug McGuff reviews Hillfit!

Hillfit.comDoug McGuff is an MD, co-author of Body by Science and a leading thinker in the world of physical training.  I interviewed him on this blog a couple of years ago and have previously pointed to videos of him speaking.  Doug has been good enough to review Hillfit:Strength and offer his comments.  I am humbled by what he says:

Chris has knocked it out of the ballpark with Hillfit! Although the book is oriented to those who hike or climb, it is applicable to any sport, or even just activities of daily life.  In Hillfit Chris has effectively distilled physical conditioning and strength training down to its essential elements.  The "why" and hows" are presented more clearly and precisely than I have ever seen.  This book will not just be another conditioning book for a specific sport;  it will serve to demonstrate for all sports the appropriate separation between physical conditioning and skill conditioning.  Bravo Chris!

Doug McGuff MD (author of Body by Science)


You can find more about the book and buy it at Hillfit.com

Drew Bay Interview

A few months ago I had an interview here with Drew Baye.

There is a great new interview / podcast up now with Drew over on Jimmy Moore's blog.  Drew makes some great points about the nature of real exercise as opposed to activity or recreation. 

Definitely worth listening to (although as with any Jimmy Moore interview I tend to fast forward through the first few minutes of commercials and folksy DJ stuff)

Check it out here

A Bowflex killer?

Keith Norris should not be a new name to you - his Theory to Practice blog is superb.  Anyway, here is Keith (physical culturalist, author, and general manager at Efficient
Exercise (Austin Texas)), giving the world premiere of the ARX Fit Omni at The 21 Convention 2011 of Orlando, Florida, united States of America.






The video notes explain:

The ARX Fit Omni © is a revolutionary new home-exercise machine that
employs motorized resistance across a wide range of movements, providing
a perfectly (and uniquely) matched strength curve across a complete -- or
limited -- range of motion.

Called "the bowflex killer" by 21 Convention architect and founder Anthony
Dream Johnson, the ARX Fit Omni © machine is making waves in the universe of proper exercise, strength training, and sport performance.

Supplying a level of effectiveness, efficiency, safety, and intensity found in no
other machine in the world, the ARX Fit Omni may just be the machine to put
the nail in the coffin of the outdated and ineffective BowFlex © home exercise
machine.

Drew Baye: Fitness Fads are Bullshit

More from Drew (whom I interviewed here)  I like the quotes around 25:00.  Marketing bullshit to make money is the standard thing in much of the fitness industry.

A DVD featuring an extensive lecture from Drew on proper exercise is available here.

It can take at least 6 days to recover from a hard training session

This study seems to support the basic workout frequency prescribed by Doug McGuff and John Little in Body by Science - once a week (and less frequently if necessary).

Recovery after Heavy Resistance Exercise And Skeletal Muscle Androgen Receptor And Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Isoform Expression In Strength Trained Men.

The effects of heavy resistance exercise on skeletal muscle androgen receptor (AR) protein concentration and mRNAs of AR, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF)-IEa, and mechano growth factor (MGF) expression were examined from biopsies of vastus lateralis (VL) muscle before and 48 hours after heavy resistance exercise (5 × 10 repetition maximum [RM] leg press and 4 × 10RM squats) in 8 adult strength trained men. The present exercise induced an acute decrease in maximal isometric force and increased serum total testosterone (T) and free testosterone (FT) concentrations. During 2 recovery days, maximal isometric force and subjective perception of physical fitness remained significantly lowered, whereas serum creatine kinase activity, subjective muscle soreness, and muscle swelling (i.e., thickness of VL by ultrasound) were significantly increased compared to pre-exercise values. Subjective perception of physical fitness was followed up to 7 days, and by 6 days postexercise, it was elevated above the pre-exercise level. Basal T and FT concentrations remained unaltered after the exercise. No statistically significant changes were observed in AR protein or mRNA expression, but IGF-IEa (p < 0.05) and MGF (p < 0.05) mRNA expression were increased compared to pre-exercise levels. These findings indicate that IGF-IEa and MGF responses may be related to acute regenerative processes in muscle because of exercise and may contribute to muscular adaptation to resistance exercise. Subjective perception of physical fitness suggests that recovery over a pre-exercise level of the present type of heavy resistance exercise can take approximately 6 days.


Of course I am left asking about the vaidity of subjective perceptions.....

Interview: Drew Baye .....it is about hard work and progression

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Pushups as a skill......

Gus Diamantopoulos has a fascinating post at Renaissance Exercise.   He touches on a lot of things but manly at the end he is talking about how you there is a great skill element even in basic bodyweight exercises: the pushup, squat and chin.  As such high skill moves, the need for skill can often get in the way of the exercise and the "inroad" of the muscles - i.e., form breaks down befor the muscles reach failure.

When you ask an instructor to show you how to push-up or squat, you’re asking him to show you how to perform upper level martial arts, or how to play music on a new  instrument, or how to ride a motorcycle. These are not activities that one can learn quickly.

They require study, theory, practice, and ongoing, repeated practice. This will be sobering and perhaps even disheartening to some but to suggest otherwise is not only overly optimistic, it’s downright irresponsible.

Having said this, I do believe that the burden of such skills is not insurmountable, especially for the truly motivated and disciplined subject.

 My suggestion for anyone who wishes to apply our most general principles to basic and conventional movements is to practice a small number of basic exercises well and often.  Research proper performance of these basics in books and online.  Make every effort to execute your movements with focused precision and intent.  Record your performances using video and watch for every possible discrepancy and continue to practice. Practice in the early stages should trump ambitions for intensity (i.e., muscular failure and deep inroad).

Only when you’ve practiced sufficiently and over-learned these activities can a program of free squats, push-ups and chin-ups be productive and effective. 

It is worth reading through and ties in to some of my recent thought in recent posts, where I have been musing on the development of strength and the separate development of skill.  The video from Doug here and the  work of Erwan Le Corre  have also contributed. 



(Obviosuly you should go slower than this....and the guys neck should not be extended like that....)

Doug McGuff - skill.....strength and more

Anthony (Dream) Johnson has posted this excellent video from Doug (I interviewed him here)


He makes some interesting points which relate to the issue I mentioned yesterday  -   skills vs strength.  Skill based movements are inappropriate for developing strength.    For strength you need effort not technique.  However, there is still value in developing appropriate skills....which gets me back to MovNat.....and developing useful survival skills - running, climbing, fighting etc  Doug explains that fighting, self defence is a skill set.....best trained fresh to best train the skills.   Which interestingly is the opposite of the Krav classes where we get beasted first and then train the skills!

The talks from Mark Sisson and Drew Baye are also worth watching.....

Patrick Diver - interview with an intelligent, strong, paleo cyclist!

I first came across Patrick Diver via the Body By Science Blog where he was commenting regularly and posting some videos of his training.  I was intrigued at a high level endurance athlete training with  short HIT style sessions.  That led to this interview.  I hope you enjoy it and get as much from it as I have.  There is some great material in here!

Patrick, normally in these interviews I start off by asking a little about your background: how you got into training and how you developed your particular approach.  Who are you?

Pushing Hard on the bike

Hi Chris, my name is Patrick Diver and I’ve had a personal training business, Greyhound
Fitness, for nearly 9 years now in Orlando, Florida. I also have a couple other websites including patrickdiver.com and fitnessgod.com. 

The latter, funny URL and all, has a new weblog I just started (also to be found at patrickdiver.blogspot.com).  

As far as philosophy is concerned, first and foremost, I’m an advocate of strength training. 

I know I will be labeled a “HIT guy," but I got my start in strength training a decade or so before I had ever heard of Arthur Jones or high intensity training.  My father was a math teacher and coach at my high school, so the football coaches more or less took me under their wing and taught me how to strength train.  

Although, I didn't play football, I was allowed to strength train with the team.   Because I was scrawny, I knew that if I was going to fit it, I would have to train pretty hard.   I adopted a high intensity  approach -- going to muscular failure from the start.

Our facility was a hardcore, makeshift gym under the stairs of the football stadium.  We used free weights, some universal machines, for pull downs and rows, and had a couple chain driven Nautilus leg machines.  Not to over-romanticize the environment, but it was dark and damp and everything someone like Keith Norris would love; super hot during the summer months, with only big metal fans offering a smidgen of respite from the heat, and icy cold during the winter months.  I’m from the Midwest -- St. Louis -- so we dealt with both temperature extremes.

Toward the tail end of high school, I started road racing bicycles; my interest in strength training really blossomed out of my desire to improve my strength during the winter off season months.

Your website notes that you are certified in SuperSlow, Nautilus, have a BS in Sports Medicine and Athletic Training and have been a highly competitive cyclist.  Can you tell me how you discovered this style of training – lets call it "HIT"?

When I was looking at getting into personal training as a business I sought advice.  I learned one of the top cyclists in our area, Gary Anger, ran a highly successful personal training business.  At the time, I had just resumed bicycle racing after taking a number of years off. When I learned Gary ran a personal training business, I asked if we could meet. 

Gary was really the one who introduced me to the concept of high intensity training.  The first time we got together he brought me through a workout.  To this day, at least in my mind, it remains the hardest workout I have ever done.  I was no stranger to intensity – especially when you consider that bicycle racing is all about intensity -- but the purity of effort required for his workout was really shocking.  Following that workout, it took me a good 10 minutes to get off the floor.  

So from there on, I was completely intrigued.  I spent the next few months reading anything I could get my hands on from experts like Darden, Hutchins, McGuff, and others.  As important, though, was my own (n = 1) experience.  I began incorporating HIT workouts within the framework of my training for cycling.  About seven months from that first HIT workout I accomplished the goal I had set for myself: winning the Florida Pro I/II criterium championship.  To date, my win is one of 44 state titles on which Gary has his imprint.
 

In addition to HIT, Gary taught me the business of personal training.  For those who know him, Gary is every bit as influential in the HIT community as the other big names like Mentzer, Jones, and McGuff  – he just keeps a lower profile.

Did you find Superslow / Nautilus / HIT consistent with the principles you were taught at university?
 

No, most of what I was taught in school revolved around “functional” exercises and therapeutic modalities.  The modalities have a role in the reduction of pain and inflammation, but the use of “functional” exercises instead of progressive strength based protocols is a therapeutic 'misstep' in my opinion.
 

The fact that I didn’t learn about Arthur Jones or his contributions to the strength and rehabilitation communities through his work with Nautilus Sports/Medical and MedX, speaks volumes.  Even a HIT cynic would have a hard time completely dismissing his body of work, especially with regard to low back rehabilitation.

At the very least, I think Nautilus Bulletin #1 and #2, as well as Ken’s SuperSlow Technical Manual should be required reading. When I was in school (graduated in 1995), strength training was barely covered, while the use of isokinetic machines, wobble boards, total gyms (!), and slide boards was the norm. And I went to a school (Southwest Missouri State, now just Missouri State) with very good instructors and a highly respected sports medicine and athletic training program. But we all know how it goes: instructors simply pass down what they have been taught themselves; most probably had no clue who Arthur Jones was either.

In my mind, physical rehab comes down to two things: reducing pain/inflammation and improving strength.  So for strength training not to be given due diligence is another  therapeutic ‘misstep.’ Furthermore, for it not to be the focus  of exercise physiology classes is somewhat mind blowing.  What is more important than maintaining strength and muscle mass as a person grows older?

Do you still ride the bike competitively?

Killer Triceps!

I have an on-again/off-again affair with the bicycle.  After I won the state championship I raced another half season and then took the next 7 years off.  This past May, I purchased a new bike and started training again -- well, if you can call it that -- my first group ride was a race I entered an hour after picking up my bike from the shop.  The amazing thing is right away I felt like I had never stopped; I was completely comfortable.  Unfortunately that feeling lasted about 60 seconds before reality sunk in and I was given a beat down.  Although my leg strength was high, in HIT vernacular, my skill conditioning was non-existent.  

What are the key factors of importance in training athletes? 

 

When it comes to building strength and metabolic fitness, I would say the most important thing is to motivate athletes to train hard.  It may seem obvious, but many athletes don’t train that hard. 

They are so skilled at their sport that they have never really put forth maximum effort in the gym.  Of course, they all think they are working hard, but I’m talking about really putting forth 100% effort. A good trainer can differentiate between someone giving maximum effort and someone huffing and puffing and creating all this commotion; but not really getting it done.  I’ve found that the stopwatch and workout card don’t lie -- if you’re 30 seconds down from your previous effort something is wrong: it could be recovery or it could be lack of  focus/effort.  

If you’ve read some of my previous interviews you might have noticed that an area that I am particularly interested in is the idea of “functional or so called sport specific training.  Do I take it that you agree with Doug McGuff, John Little and Luke Carlson who explained in their interviews that such an approach is, at best, misguided?  You need to strengthen the muscles in the most appropriate effective and efficient way…..and then learn the skills to apply that strength.
 

I completely agree with them.  Some athletes may put forth lackluster gym efforts (as mentioned above) partially because their energy resources are overtaxed.  When their strength and conditioning coach and head coach want to do conditioning drills, it may be too much.  The athlete may be constantly running at 80% or predisposed to injuries.  The coaches are then left scratching their heads wondering why their team lacked punch in the 4^th quarter or why so many key players are out with injuries. 
 

In my opinion, a superior approach is to separate the two completely. A focused high intensity strength training protocol can produce similar or better strength gains while not monopolizing time or recovery resources better used practicing or resting.

It’s really pretty simple!

How would this apply to endurance activities such as cycling, where the mainstream trainers focus so much on so-called cardio – developing VO2 max etc?
 

The strength training is just an adjunct to all of the work being done on the bike.  The key is to balance the two so the strength work doesn’t interfere with the gains being made on the bike.  Good record keeping and listening to the athlete will help determine this balance. For most, a single strength training session lasting about 10 minutes every week or so is probably ideal.  Of course, this may need to be adjusted based on the athlete’s particular schedule.

 

Can HIT prepare you for competing in endurance sport?
 

Strengthening an athlete will only help their sports performance and buffer their resistance to injury.  HIT is great for this, but it does not replace sport specific endurance training. In fact, the overwhelming majority of clock time for the endurance athlete will be spent doing intervals and other sport specific training routines.
 

As an example, most cycling training manuals advocate strength training during the off-season. My call for once weekly HIT sessions should result in higher strength levels to be enjoyed season long, not just in the off-season.

Furthermore, I think coaches would be wise to look at all aspects of their traditional training programs and possibly cut back or weed out things that may be unnecessary, redundant, or done simply because "it's always been done that way." 

When I resumed cycling this past year, I didn't bother laying down a bunch of "base miles," even though every training manual would call for it -- especially after such a long layoff.  Instead, knowing my races (Pro I/II criteriums) generally last between 1-1.5 hours I concentrated on intervals, short and fast group rides, and training races.  The result?  Within 6 weeks I had finished a Pro I/II race in the pack, and by season end I was back at the front contesting race finishes.

A typical week would look like this:

• Monday:   Off
• Tuesday:  Intervals on bike + short HIT session
• Wednesday:  Training Race
• Thursday: Off
• Friday: Off
• Saturday:  Race
• Sunday:  2.5 hour fast group ride

Total weekly hours: 5-7

Should it?  Are endurance sports healthy?
 

Probably not -- although Dr.Kurt Harris reached this conclusion from a technical perspective, I have always had a hard time believing there was anything particularly healthy about blasting my heart rate for an hour and a half during one of my races.  

Of course, that says nothing of the potential long-term joint risk runners face...or in the case of cyclists, the very real possibility of being sideswiped by a car or truck.    

So no, I can’t imagine endurance sports are healthy.  That said, I wouldn’t necessarily discourage anyone from competing.  I race bicycles because a) I like to compete and b) my phenotype is somewhat designed to do well pedaling a bicycle (I say somewhat, because I am not in the same leagues as a professional like Andy Schleck or Phillipe Gilbert).  
 

If I was as big as Orlando’s Dwight Howard, I would be playing basketball.

At the end of the day, I think people should be aware of the inherent risks and then make up their own mind.  

I strongly disagree when a well meaning doctor or co-worker suggests someone take up an endurance sport to get in better shape.  I believe strength training is a much safer and beneficial choice.

Where do you stand with respect to diet?
 

I have had the most client success generally working within the paleo/ancestral dietary framework.  Clients eager to make changes adapt to it pretty well and the recidivism is generally pretty low.  Of course, not everybody is ready to make the necessary changes, but I keep spoon feeding clients articles, blog posts, podcasts, and books to educate them as much as possible.

I’m a fan of Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint, as well as Nora Gedgaudas’s Primal Body, Primal Mind book (and podcasts).  Robb Wolf’s The Paleo Solution is perhaps my favorite book to introduce the paleo/ancestral nutritional concepts.  I also recommend his podcasts (seriously, any podcast able to work in commentary on the movie, Rad, receives an automatic thumbs up from me).     

Working with clients and food is quite challenging.  It many ways it resembles trying to put together a puzzle that may or may not be missing pieces.  The client really has to be committed and open to the idea that it may not be a quick fix.  For example, if there are thyroid/adrenal issues, sleep/recovery issues, or anxiety/depression issues it may take awhile to uncover potential weight loss road blocks.

I am also open to new ideas as well as opposing views.  Recently, I’ve been experimenting with Martin Berkhan's Lean Gains approach and find it very interesting. From my observation, many naturally lean people tend to naturally swing to an IF approach.

From an athletic viewpoint, I maintained a relativel low carb, mid protein, and high fat diet this past cycling season.  Since I had been eating that way prior to getting back into cycling, I really didn't notice much difference -- although I did up my carb intake a little bit, usually in the form of white rice.  I would say my experience echoed what Jamie Scott wrote about in his excellent High Fat Diet for Cyclists series.

Do you think those of us with an interest in training – even or especially HIT type people – spend too much time obsessing over their training, reading the blogs and forums, analysing the details not the principles?

Some do perhaps.  Personally, I am intrigued by the details but know none of it matters without possessing a solid exercise foundation.  In my mind that foundation consists of two things: exercise intensity and consistency. 

I still think sometimes that I am looking for the magic routine!  I noticed that when John Little introduced his Max Pyramid Protocol – we all jumped on it like it was the secret to success for a while.

Of course, that is only natural -- especially for enthusiasts or those engaged in their own n = 1 experimentation.  To expand on what I said above, however, my personal n =1 includes:

1. Have trained once, twice, and three times a week.
2. Have used free weights, Nautilus (3 or 4 versions including retro-fitted SS cams), Superslow Systems (including the Linear Spine), MedX, Cybex, and many others.
3. Have used many protocols including traditional Superslow, 5/5, 3/3, on-counting, single sets, multiple sets, supersets, rest pause, pyramids, time static contractions and deep inroad techniques. 

Personally, none of this stuff made much of a difference with me.  Record keeping shows I achieved the same results training once a week as three times a week.  Records also show whether I used free weights, machines, or fancy in-roading techniques, the results were the same.  If I have a preference for machines it comes from a practicality and safety standpoint. 

Again, the most important factors still come down to the desire and ability to train with great intensity and consistency.  In fact, since high school, there has not been a period longer than 3 months where I have not worked out on a regular basis. 

So as Fred Fornicola mentioned in his interview each of these protocols represent additional "tools in the toolbox," but none of them will make up for poor or inconsistent effort.

In my opinion, if you keep to the basics of exercise intensity and consistency and place your remaining focus on getting your diet and sleep schedule nailed, you will see your best results. 

Why is there so much hate directed towards High Intensity Training?  After I posted my interviews of Doug McGuff and John Little I saw my blog get described on one forum as “HIT cock sucking”….

It reminds me of the famous quote from Bill Cosby, "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone all the time."

There are some people that are just not ever going to be on board with HIT.  I'm perfectly okay with their choice.  The reality is for many people physical training represents something much greater than improving their physical condition.  The gym, particularly for people in their 20's, can be a home away from home, a social club, or a simply a place to hang out.  So if someone comes along and challenges their perception of exercise and says, "Hey, there is no reason to hang out in the gym all day," it is understood that they might get defensive.

There is no doubt the tone of some of the more prominent HIT authors like Jones and Hutchins turns some people off. Someone like McGuff represents the antithetical approach, but even he gets attacked.

Like I said, I'm not really interested in converting any of these anonymous internet types.  Nor am I going to argue with a power lifter at the gym.  I have over 10 years of experience working out in those environments, know firsthand what it is like, and can even appreciate
it for what it is.

For now though, there are enough people that need and appreciate my brand of strength training for me to focus on.   

One thing that I notice with HIT style training is that is all seems very serious! This catches me a little.  Those into “functional training” look like they are having fun  (e.g. the MovNat guy)!  Movement, skill based movement, is often just joyous!  Jumping rolling, fighting, climbing.  How do we balance the need for proper training with the fact that movement is fun and exciting! 

HIT purists, especially those waving the Superslow flag, would argue that exercise is not supposed to be fun, and that everything under the "functional training" umbrella is better classified as "recreation." To really understand this argument it helps to have a read the chapter on Exercise versus Recreation in the Superslow technical manual.   

To summarize:  many activities that are commonly  labelled "exercise," say cycling, for example, do not provide the stimulation needed to result in an enhancement of total body conditioning. 

Of course, arguments like those end up pissing off a lot of cyclists or whoever that say, "How dare you say I am not exercising!"

My take on it goes like this:  do a HIT session once a week to cover your bases, and then go jump, roll, fight, climb, cycle or whatever else that seems like fun to you. 

Do you see a role for prehab  / rehab exercises?  For example If you read the blogs of some trainers they make much of shoulder work (YWLT moves, face pulls, external rotation work, stretching  etc.)  Others go into detail on joint mobility as a panacea for all sorts of problems.   Is this just a diversion or is there a point to it?

It all depends on if these trainers are getting results. 

Even then it's difficult to determine if the improvement in mobility or pain relief is resultant of the exercises, a reduction in activity, or some other factor.   

A cyclist's tan

I am constantly working with clients with shoulder, knee, or other joint issues so I am open to learning new techniques and strategies, but believe an appreciation of the basics -- knowing when to back off or reduce workload -- is sometimes just as important. 

Much of my training is often done at home – commercial gyms are not convenient and it is often difficult  to get a decent session in with people hogging  machines or chatting.  All I really have at home are dumbbells.   What scope is there for training productively with only callisthenics and dumbbells? (Recently I’ve been experimenting with static contractions)

With Moment Arm Exercise by Bill DeSimone and Fred Fornicola's book, Dumbbell Training for Strength and Fitness, amongst others, there is no shortage of great resources available to home workout enthusiasts.

That said, information is often not the limiting factor -- but a lack of commitment and consistency.  I am all for people doing what works best for them as long as it represents something they can do with long term consistency. 

 
For some people that means working out by themselves at home, whereas others simply won't do it unless they have a personal trainer standing over them.  

The key is to figure out which category you fall under!

Finally, I know that there are a lot of people who read this blog who are not particularly gifted athletes – just average guys with jobs, worries and family responsibilities.  What are the key things that they need to know as they try to integrate some training into their busy lives?

The majority of my clients fall under this category -- just average men or women with stressful jobs, worries, and family responsibilities.  The time advantage of HIT is generally what attracts them. I have clients that have been with me 6-8 years because they know they can come in once or twice a week, blast out a workout, and be on with their lives.  

For years I have been trumpeting the benefits of this exercise approach because most people cite 'lack of time' as their biggest reason for not being in shape.  Well here you go; problem solved.  What is surprising to me is why some of the big box gyms don't offer HIT programs alongside their menu of programs like spin classes, kickboxing, and regular personal training.  The market is there, it just needs to be cultivated.

In summary, though, the key for most people is to figure out a program that can fit in their schedule -- even if it's just once a week -- and  make the mental  commitment to stick with it. 

From there it is simply a matter of one thing, which coincidentally just happens to be the title of my first blog post: Do it.  

There is no other way.

Patrick - thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview and for putting so much time into drafting some very full responses to my questions.  There is some excellent material in here.  All the best for your future training and business.

Train Less....

Bill pointed me to this really good piece by Paul Ingraham:

Less is Not Less
Go to the gym much less frequently and still gain strength just as quickly

This article thoroughly summarizes scientific research on the question of strength training frequency, and it is a rare example of consensus in exercise science. There is no controversy here: 20+ years of evidence is overwhelmingly clear that most people train more often than they need to.

Read the rest of the article here.

It is interesting in the light of what Doug McGuff wrote last week: The Adaptive Time-Course

This experience has got me thinking that we really have everything about the HIT approach well worked out, except our understanding of the time course of the adaptive process. Ed Garbe discussed his observations that clients always perform better when they come back from vacation and have been off for 14 days. His guess was that for hard-training clients every 9-10 days might be optimal. John Little’s BodPod data shows a range of 10-12 days as an average. In many ways I think that anabolic steroid use may increase the rate of DNA transcription and turnover to compress this time course to accommodate the higher training frequencies of the athletes that are prone to use performance-enhancing agents. It may be that a relatively small portion of their effect is related to supranormal adaptations. Stated differently, perhaps this kind of response could be experienced by natural trainees if we were just patient enough to wait.

It is about muscle fatigue

Here is an interesting report, for those of us with an interest in High Intensity Training (HIT).

Building muscle doesn't require lifting heavy weights: study

"Rather than grunting and straining to lift heavy weights, you can grab something much lighter but you have to lift it until you can't lift it anymore," says Stuart Phillips, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University. "We're convinced that growing muscle means stimulating your muscle to make new muscle proteins, a process in the body that over time accumulates into bigger muscles."

The report points to a recent study:

Low-Load High Volume Resistance Exercise Stimulates Muscle Protein Synthesis More Than High-Load Low Volume Resistance Exercise in Young Men

The study used light weights that represented a percentage of what the subjects could lift. The heavier weights were set to 90% of a person's best lift and the light weights at a mere 30% of what people could lift. "It's a very light weight," says Phillips noting that the 90-80% range is usually something people can lift from 5-10 times before fatigue sets in. At 30%, Burd reported that subjects could lift that weight at least 24 times before they felt fatigue.

"We're excited to see where this new paradigm will lead," says Phillips, adding that these new data have practical significance for gym enthusiasts but more importantly for people with compromised skeletal muscle mass, such as the elderly, patients with cancer, or those who are recovering from trauma, surgery or even stroke.

It reminds me of Clarence Bass recent reports that the important thing is effort - Forget Heavy, Think Effort - which Matt discussed here, following up here and here. (incidentally the final link actually points to the original study I started with above).