ANTI-STEROIDSDEADLIFTS.COM

here is a good question

for the sake of time I will condense (leave out names etc)…so here we go

1)can I perform HITT cardio and still squat heavy?I read a lot of magazines and most if not all
of them say that HITT cardio is bad..I dont thinkits quite so bad.) I guess my question is
is it ok to squat and sprint? will I overtrain?

answer:thank you for the question. so right off yes you can squat heavy and sprint
(or perform interval cardio)its all about a few things though

1.staying away from CNS burnout(avoiding failure training like the plague.yeah training to failure is great just not as often as some folk do it.still train hard though

2)given number 1.also look to ammend the number of sets of acutal leg training you perform
if a normal squat workout looks as follows

mon:squat-4-5x5reps
leg ex-3x9reps
rdl-3x7-9 reps
leg curls-3x8
tues:sprint

note that while adaptation will certainly occur(and progress gained on the 1st option) would it not be best to do whats optimal instead of whats optical?(ok I suck at rhyming)
a better option may be

mon:squat-2-3x4-5reps(heavy)
rdl-2-3x5reps
next day-sprint etc..

or even sqaut-2x4
rdl-2x4
sprint the later that day

thats likely a bit much(ok not likely it for sure is a bit much)especially if doing cardio interval style
is the goal then DONT DO THAT!afterall sprinting is in effect a leg workout(dont think so?)
go perform intervals on a quad dominat modality(I will wait right here)
it has the same effects as a heavy squat session(its the speed of the intervals that can in effect cause hypertrophy..speed being a componet of a lifting(a quick/fast contraction can cause a response(via overload).In fact powerlifters do this with DE (speed ) training(done with 60-70% of a max with a focus on ?you guessed it speed

but all in all avoid the urge to “beat the crap out of the muscles” there is a difference between
training at a percent of a max and training ..to the max. exercise during diet(contest/cutting) is much akin to… when it comes time to diet(speaking of lifting) all it really is a reduced amount of what you did before you started the diet

get it?

ANTISTEROIDSX

extremes don’t work for very long

above pic is from 2010 (yes I ATE CHEESE.POPTARTS,ICECREAM,WHITE RICE,WHITE BREAD BROWN BREAD,BROWN RICE..FRUITS,VEGGIES.CHICKEN CHEESEBURGERS(LOW FAT BTW) ETC..)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7TsTGdDdS0&list=HL1334087359&feature=mh_lolz

Hey,
whats the deal with everyone having a shit fit when it comes to..processed food(I say processed food but im really speaking about pop tarts)leave it to people to not be able to discern between
way to much(typical us diet)and not enough(typical us healthy diet where an entire food group is
just removed which always strikes me as a big wtf? kinda thing

assuming you hit fiber goals/requirements (“simple or complex” cho sources have very little relavance)now I’m not saying every one go eat bacon and butter&poptarts to reach p/c/f
goals..that would be silly. what I am saying is food choices should be adapable to the situaton
that the lifter finds themselves in(IF IT FITS YOUR SITUATION AS 3DMJ COACH Alberto Nunez
says)

and thats some thing I think has huge carryover to the weight room..weight room activites
needing to be adaptable to how the lifter feels(mental,physical,etc) but thats another article

ok its like this EXTREMES DONT WORK! either the body fights back(slowing weight loss down/increasing net fat gain etc.) or you break the diet from a lack of(can we say boredom)
flexibilty allows you to something like a say 20week diet(contest prep or other)
imagine eating chicken/green veggies/brown rice everyday?EVERYDAY!??no thanks

lastly we have those folks who discover IIFYM who go “oh I can eat whatever as long as it fits my numbers” (again an extreme in my mind)now I wont say that it would lead to cheating on a diet
but its not the best way to always be able to look down and see your penis(vagina for the ladies)

what this all boils down to is moderation…hit pro/carb/fat goals (get enough fiber rda=30grms) I like 45-55 grms for us active folks with all the muskles..and the dieting to get contest lean and stuffs.

.besides white rice taste so much better than brown rice

ANTISTEROIDSX

DONT STRESS ME BRO!

I want this one to be short(well as short as I can keep it while still being as wordy I like words )..anyhow I want to talk about adaptation..adaptation is basically an acute/chronic
response to overreaching.this occurs in 3 basic stages

these stages were brought to the attention or forefront..by endocrinologist Hans Selye.GAS
or General Adaptation Syndrome.Lets start off with the 3 stages

1)Alarm is the first stage. When a threat or stressor is encountered, the body’s stress response is a state of alarm. During alam stage, adrenaline will be produced in order to bring about the fight-or-flight response. There is some activation of the HPA axis, producing cortisol. another way to describe it would be if you think of an athlete who either is unaccostomed to a specific level of exercise.. say cardio..lets say its also LISS/MISS..or an athlete who is untrained
either way both athletes will basically experience the same thing for the most part
(increased HR,breathing,sweating,increased CHO usage as hr/intensity increases)

2)Resistance is the second stage. If the stressor persists,
it becomes necessary to attempt some means of coping with said stress(hypertrophy,increased stroke volume,strength gain..are all responses to a stressor)…also these 3 stages are a huge reason why I think the whole “overtraininig” thing is a total croc of shit..or atleast makes folks confused as shit but lets not got there at this time huh?
The bodydoes begin to try to adapt to the strains or demands of the environment,(like say 10 intervals..or a heavy squat session) the body cannot keep this up indefinitely, so its resources are gradually depleted.(so thats why exercise gets hard huh?)

3)Exhaustion is the third and final stage of GAS . At this point, all of the body’s resources are eventually depleted and the body is unable to maintain normal function. The initial autonomic nervous system symptoms may reappear (sweating, raised heart rate, etc.). If stage three is extended, long-term damage may result, as the body’s immune system becomes exhausted, and bodily functions become impaired, resulting in decompensation.once you reach stage 3
now if we want to talk about “overtraining/overreaching” then we can begin to truly entertain the idea of such things..but as I said in DOMS with me.most people..barring untrained athletes
casual or other wont ever be able to substain the needed beatings to reach stage 3…

DOMS with me(Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)pt1

Do you remember your first workouts?Do you remember how you felt after?or Better yet remember after your first REAL leg day? how it hurt to walk(up stairs,down stairs)sit hell at some point even stand? so what was it?

What it is and is not

I will tell you this.ITS NOT A BUILD UP OF LACTIC ACID.Lactic acid is formed from the breakdown of glucose. lactate does not directly cause acidosis.for a few reasons one being its inability to release a proton(speaking of lactate)..not to mention that the acidic form of lactate(lactic acid) is not formed in skeletal muscle..

During this process(breakdown of glucose) the cells make ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which provides energy for a bulk of the chemical reactions in the body. Lactic acid formation doesn’t use oxygen(anaerobic metabolism).Lactic acid is produced whenever we breakdown CHO for energy.The more rapidly this occurs the greater the lactic acid creation (think high intensity exercise)

Exercise Intensity

When we  increase exercise intensity we as a result increase the need/conversion rate/use of cho as an energy source.mostly due to the fact that Fast twitch fibers mainly use cho as it primary energy source(to fuel muscular contraction)

Boring Crap

Carbohydrates/monosaccharides  are digested and enter the circulation via the intestines to the liver mainly in simplest form glucose (blood sugar). However, instead of entering the liver as glucose and being converted directly to glycogen, most glucose from dietary carbohydrate bypasses the liver, enters the general circulation and reaches your muscles and converts into lactic acid. Lactic acid then goes back into the blood and travels back to the liver where it is used as building blocks for making liver glycogen. Your body produces much of its liver glycogen indirectly from lactic acid rather than directly from blood glucose.

so this means that when we engage in high force activities(sprinting,lifting ,etc) we require a large amount of energy very quickly when lactate production rises(or at least rises quicker than use can occur)blood lactate..concentrations rise(mostly due to NAD+..regeneration)which allows energy production to be continuous as well as  exercise

lactate is removed (or can be ) via..O2-pyruvate(pyruvate then goes into the Krebs cycle)or from synthesis of new glucose via gluconeogenesis(with release back into circulation)

Muscle damage

In a nutshell lengthening(eccentric) muscle contraction is the main cause of DOMS or better yet I should say an increase in workload.now this increase in workload can be in the form of(weight,sets,reps) or any combination of the three variables.It should pretty clear(or not) that lifters need to learn 1)DONT ATTEMPT TO DO EVERYTHING AT ONCE…everyone wants everything yesterday…learn to take 2steps back to take 1 giant one forward 2)give some thought(at least learn to give thought)programming variables a good program will allow the lifter to shape it around his or her life not the other way around.this also plays into training to failure/overreaching I will leave that at that

lastly on muscle damage

DOMS can also be seen in lifters who a)have reduced training frequency for whatever reason(life,desire etc) and are  looking to reintroduce a higher frequency.b)lifters who have for whatever reason removed a lift and thus become detrained in said motion  this likey occurring in the long term but still note worthy IMO

REPEATED BOUT EFFECT

a protection mechanism/adaptation against a stressor(increased workload,load, etc)basically Is What the repeated bout effect is.so after the “initial damage bout” the repeated bout effect is put into effect assuming all variables from the initial session are consistent.a good reason why say benching 225x7 wont yeild the same results (muslce damage,muscle growth etc)done endless weeks in a row adaptation my friends

IN CONCULSION

DOMS is not a result of lactate accumulation.but a product of carbohydrate metabolism.learn the meaning of “progressive overload” (I call it “progressive overreaching”(humor me))..a good training program is shapeable to the lifter and his or her life(life has ups and downs so does training)

Training to failure? yay? or nay?

    Do you enjoy lifting? Even if you don’t lets assume you do for the purpose of this talk(BTW if you don’t just stop reading this right now until you grow some  :)OK so all intelligent lifters need to  know that  while training to failure has its merits to simply hang all your hopes and dreams on this one aspect of training is a fools error.

…So what defines failure?….lets define failure as either A)an inability to complete another rep with good form or b)positive eccentric muscular failure…Now you have two schools/trains of thought.. The first being those who believe in the one set to failure method(Mentzer,Yates,Jones etc).

Then you have those who believe in the whole..last set to failure method(or as close as close as possible) Ala Arnold you know the famous line from pumping iron “its teh laz few reps dat makes the muscle grow” which is in a nutshell is the tension part of the hypertrophy equation.

So is training to failure overtraining? it depends..yes! that’s my smarty pants answer…It depends. Mostly on individual recovery ability&training load(For the most part

one persons “overtraining” is another’s “perfect fit”. Besides do you realize how much effort it would take to do so? and most people(even if you truly can )likely cant and wont push themselves that far.Though training to failure on a daily consistent basis is for sure a way to take your CNS and run it into the ground

CNS=Central nervous system-The CNS is composed of the brain&spinal cord the brain in the cranial cavity is composed of the forebrain,midbrain,hindbrain.

The (telencephalon) is the largest part of the brain and is divided into left and right sections by a longitudinal fissure that runs along the median sagittal plane. Inferiorly the hemispheres are connected together by a band of white matter called the corpus collusm. The outer layer of the cerebrum is composed of grey matter and called the cerebal cortex. It is responsible for the analysis of sensory input, memory, learning and cognitive thought. Each hemisphere is greatly folded forming  (folds) and sulci(grooves) which increases the surface area of the cerebral cortex

Each hemisphere can be further divided into lobes, their names of which correlate with the surrounding bones that protect them.

Frontal,Temporal,Parietal,Occipital,Insula.Frontal&temporal being most responsible for motor learning as well as muscle contraction.Frontal being responsible for? say having the thought to “overreach”/train to failure.Or the thought process behind those dreadful twilight movies yuck!

SO WHAT?

Lets say for example you want to use your frontal lobe(thought) to increase/become a better squatter.well the best way to do so(through increased motor learning) is to squat more often(TEMPORAL,FRONTAL)

Again assuming you acutally know how to squat squatting more often will be rather difficult if you run your CNS into the ground.Via consitent High excitement activity yes over the course of time submax loads be it high or low volume can still cause overreaching

its just that….

training to failure/overreaching( hell training in general) is a high excitment event/A MUCH QUICKER WAY. Its like this making really long story kinda short .Your cns becomes excited

sending signals to motor neurons to begin contraction) imagine this happening all the time (for lack of a better term and its late)and like most processes in the body your body will slow things down /stop them mostly as a protection mechanism(event dependent though)..me first is its midset yes your body is an a hole.A good reason why a deload is so effective!(helping to reduce CNS excitement)

IN CONCULSION

so wrapping this babbling up where do I stand on failure/overreaching Im more of a middle of the road type of guy .I like to put it like this..failure/overreaching is a place you want to visit but you dont want to live there