Tampilkan postingan dengan label single-set training. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label single-set training. Tampilkan semua postingan

Sabtu, 23 April 2016

BFR, Detraining Mass & Strength | Multiple Sets Multiply 'Ur EE | 1- vs. 2-Arm Kettle Bell Swings Rock the Core & More

The # of hands you use to hold your KB while doing swings determines core muscle activity.
With the publication of the latest issue of the The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (May 2016 - Volume 30 - Issue 5 | read it), the time has come to do a training science update with data on the effects on blood flow restriction on strength and size gains during detraining, the energetic demands of single vs. multi-set training, the highly significant core muscle activity patterns with single- vs. two-arm kettlebell swings and a handful of auxilliary studies summarized in the bottom line... Sounds interesting? Well, then I don't want to keep you any longer. Let's see which insights said studies have to offer...
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  • Low intensity blood flow restriction training done during three times per week during 6 weeks of detraining helps maintain mass in in phys. active subjects (Kim. 2016).

    Compared to vigorous cycling at 60–70% of the subjects' individual heart rate reserve [HRR] without BFR, the low-intensity cycling protocol (30% HRR) with BFR (160–180 mm Hg) Kim et al. prescribed to their subjects, thirty-one healthy college-aged males (22.4 ± 3.0 years, range: 19–30 years), actually increased the leg lean mass of the subjects over time.
    Table 1: Strength and body composition data - *LI-BFR = low-intensity cycling with BFR; CON = control; BFLBM = bone-free lean body mass; ES = effect size; VI = vigorousintensity (Kim. 2016)
    The strength development in both groups was identical, though. This and the fact that cycling is not exactly what you should do to maintain strength and size (learn more about detraining) are yet things you have to keep in mind, before freaking out about how "awesome" BFR is.
  • Study unsurprisingly confirms the superior energy requirements of multiple- vs. single-set workouts - Difference is larger than 100%, in young men and women (Mookerjee. 2016).

    In their study, the researchers from the Universities of Pennsylvania and Cumberlands, as well as the College of New Jersey compare energy expenditure (EE) of single-set and multiple-set resistance exercise protocols using indirect calorimetry.
    Table 2: Loads (kg) used for each exercise presented by gender and combined data (Mookerjee. 2016).
    Twelve men and twelve women (age = 21.4 ± 1.3 years) performed a single-set (SS) and multiple-set (MS) resistance exercise protocol in random order. The subjects performed two protocols at 70% of their 1-repetition maximum. The protocols consisted of 5 upper-body exercises of either 1 or 3 sets per exercise performed in random order. Metabolic and cardiorespiratory data were recorded over the entire exercise session and during 5 minutes of recovery by a portable metabolic measurement system.
    Figure 1: Gross and net (left), as well as relative (per lbm) EE in kcal during SS (single set) and MS (multiple set) training in male and female study participants (Mookerjee. 2016).
    As you can see in Figure 1, the gross (167.9 ± 58.7 kcal) and net (88.3 ± 41.6 kcal) EE for the MS protocol were significantly greater (p < 0.001) than gross (71.3 ± 26.5 kcal) and net (36.3 ± 18.7 kcal) EE of the SS protocol. Conversely, there was no significant difference in the rate of EE between both protocols. Heart rate, respiratory rate, relative V[Combining Dot Above]O2, respiratory exchange ratio, and minute ventilation values were significantly higher during the MS than the SS protocol.

    As it was to be expected, a significant gender difference (p < 0.001) in absolute and relative EE was observed for both protocols where values in men were higher than women. 
  • Doing kettle bell swings with one vs. two arms induces a greater neuromuscular activity for the contralateral side of the upper erector spinae and ipsilateral side of the rectus abdominis, and lower activation of the opposite side of the respective muscles (Anderson. 2016).

    The aim of the study of this study from Norway was to compare the electromyographic activity of rectus abdominis, oblique external, and lower and upper erector spinae at both sides of the truncus in 1-armed and 2-armed kettlebell swing. To this ends, the researchers had sixteen healthy men perform 10 repetitions of both exercises using a 16-kg kettlebell in randomized order.
    Figure 2: Comparison of the EMG activity of the core muscles 1- vs. 2-armed kettle bell swings in sixteen healthy men (age, 25 ± 6 years; body mass, 80 ± 8 kg; stature, 180 ± 7 cm) with 7 ± 7 years of resistance training experience (Anderson. 2016)
    As the data in Figure 2 reveals, For the upper erector spinae, the activation of the contralateral side during 1-armed swing was 24% greater than that of the ipsilateral side during 1-armed swing (p < 0.001) and 11% greater during 2-armed swing (p = 0.026). Furthermore, the activation in 2-armed swing was 12–16% greater than for the ipsilateral side in 1-armed swing (p < 0.001). For rectus abdominis, however, 42% lower activation of the contralateral side was observed during 1-armed swing compared with ipsilateral sides during 2-armed swing (p = 0.038) and 48% compared with the ipsilateral side during 1-armed swing (p = 0.044). Comparing the different phases of the swing, most differences in the upper erector spinae were found in the lower parts of the movement, whereas for the rectus abdominis, the differences were found during the hip extension. In contrast, similar muscle activity in the lower erector spinae and external oblique between the different conditions was observed (p = 0.055–0.969). In conclusion, performing the kettlebell swing with 1 arm resulted in greater neuromuscular activity for the contralateral side of the upper erector spinae and ipsilateral side of the rectus abdominis, and lower activation of the opposite side of the respective muscles.
Normalized electromyography (EMG) amplitude values (mean 6 SD) for the straight and hexagonal barbells, collapsed across 65 and 85% 1 repetition maximum loads (Camara. 2016) |  ++ significant advantage of regular bar; + significant advantage of hexagnoal bar.
What else have we got? Well, there are Trexel's previously discussed popular creatine vs. caffeine study discussed in July 2015 (read more) and Ohya's 400- and 800-m track running study showing that even trained females' performance suffers from inspiratory muscle fatigue after short-duration running exercise, suggesting that "[c]oaches could consider prescribing inspiratory muscle training or warm-up in an effort to reduce the inevitable IMF associated with maximal effort running" (Ohya. 2016).

Furthermore, Camara's previously (only in the Facebook news) discussed study showing differences in the muscle activity pattens (data see Figure on the right) and significantly greater peak force, peak power, and peak velocity for deadlifts with hexoganal vs. regular bars, and, last but not least has now been officially published.

Last, but not least, Beyer's study showing that 4 weeks of unilateral strength training results in "an increase in strength and size of the trained musculature, and cross education of strength in the untrained musculature, which may occur without detectable changes in muscle size, activation, or the acute hormonal response" (Beyer. 2016) as well as two studies I will discuss in detail, next week, should not be forgotten either | Comment on Facebook!.
References:
  • Andersen, V, Fimland, MS, Gunnarskog, A, Jungård, G-A, Slåttland, R-A, Vraalsen, ØF, and Saeterbakken, AH. Core muscle activation in one-armed and two-armed kettlebell swing. J Strength Cond Res 30(5): 1196–1204, 2016
  • Camara, KD, Coburn, JW, Dunnick, DD, Brown, LE, Galpin, AJ, and Costa, PB. An examination of muscle activation and power characteristics while performing the deadlift exercise with straight and hexagonal barbells. J Strength Cond Res 30(5): 1183–1188, 2016
  • Kim, D, Singh, H, Loenneke, JP, Thiebaud, RS, Fahs, CA, Rossow, LM, Young, K, Seo, D-i, Bemben, DA, and Bemben, MG. Comparative effects of vigorous-intensity and low-intensity blood flow restricted cycle training and detraining on muscle mass, strength, and aerobic capacity. J Strength Cond Res 30(5): 1453–1461, 2016
  • Mookerjee, S, Welikonich, MJ, and Ratamess, NA. Comparison of energy expenditure during single-set vs. multiple-set resistance exercise. J Strength Cond Res 30(5): 1447–1452, 2016
  • Ohya, T, Yamanaka, R, Hagiwara, M, Oriishi, M, and Suzuki, Y. The 400- and 800-m track running induces inspiratory muscle fatigue in trained female middle-distance runners. J Strength Cond Res 30(5): 1433–1437, 2016.
  • Trexler, ET, Smith-Ryan, AE, Roelofs, EJ, Hirsch, KR, Persky, AM, and Mock, MG. Effects of coffee and caffeine anhydrous intake during creatine loading. J Strength Cond Res 30(5): 1438–1446, 2016

Sabtu, 17 Oktober 2015

BFR Preconditioning Not Better Than Placebo? Long Rest Periods For Sustained Testosterone Increase? Train One Leg, Grow Both? - Resistance Training Update October '14

Single-legged leg presses that make both legs stronger are only one of many topics, today.
Time for an update on the latest resistance training research - just the interesting stuff, obviously ;-) What exactly? Well, let's see: We'll take a look at how long rest periods sustain the exercise induced. Then, we'll dive right into a placebo-controlled study on blood flow restriction as a means of preconditioning before resistance training, only to top things off with a study that found that training your dominant leg will also increase the leg press strength of the untrained, non-dominant limb.

Ah, and since there was some space left in the bottom line, we will acknowledge that AM vs. PM training have identical effects on power, force and hormonal response in young men and pretend to be surprised that a three-set upper-body workout is much more energetically demanding than its one-set analog. All in all, a very balanced update on the latest resistance training research, I'd say.
Read more about exercise-related studies at the SuppVersity

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  • Long rest periods prolong testosterone response to bench press exercise -- From various previous SuppVersity articles you know that resistance training triggers an acute increase in testosterone. That this increase may depend on the rest between sets, though, is news. News from a recent article in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

    The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of rest period duration (1 vs. 3-minute between sets) on acute hormone responses to a high intensity and equal volume bench press workout (5x3 sets at 85% of the 1RM, to be specific).
    Figure 1: Mean (left) and individual (right) free testosterone levels before and after performing bench presses with 1 min or 3 min rest (Scudese. 2015).
    To this ends, Scudese et al. (2015) recruited ten resistance trained men (25.2 +/- 5.6 years; 78.2 +/- 5.7 kg; 176.7 +/- 5.4 cm; bench press relative strength: 1.3 +/- 0.1 kg/kg of body mass) and had them perform two bench press workouts separated by one week. Each workout consisted of 5 sets of 3 repetitions performed at 85% of 1-repetition maximum, with either 1 or 3-minute rest between sets. The rates of perceived exertion and serum levels of growth hormone (GH), cortisol, free and total testosterone were sampled at three different timepoints right (PRE), right after (T0) before, 15 (T15) and 30 (T30) minutes after. The results were as follows:
    • For total testosterone, both rest lengths enhanced all post-exercise verifications (T0, T15 and T30) compared to PRE, with 1-minute showing decreases on T15 and T30 compared to T0.
    • For free testosterone, both 1 and 3-minute rest protocols triggered augmentations on distinct post-exercise moments (T0 and T15 for 1-minute; T15 and T30 for 3-minute) compared to PRE.
    • Since the the cortisol values did not change throughout any post-exercise verification for either rests, the total testosterone/cortisol ratio was significantly elevated for both rests in all post-exercise moments compared to PRE.
      The growth hormone values did not change for both rest lengths.
    Now, that's exciting, right? The free testosterone levels kept increasing... well, not exactly. If you look at the data in Figure 1 right, you will notice interpersonal differences that suggest that the elevation would not have lasted for much more than those 15 extra-minutes .

    What's of significantly greater importance for the interpretation of the study results is yet a study by West et al. (2012) who observed that the testosterone response (both free and total) to resistance training is not associated with either strength or size gains. So what? It is very likely that the results of the study at hand are of zero practical relevance for your gains (strength- and sizewise, as West's study indicates).
  • Blood flow restriction before strength training? It works - just as well as placebo! -- You will probably remember my recent article about the benefits of using blood flow restricting cuffs before a sprint workout, right (click here if not)? With the publication of the results of Moacir et al.'s (2015) latest study, we do now know that similar benefits will be seen with subsequent resistance training, too.
    The study at hand should make you question the results of the previously discussed study which did not have a placebo group | learn more
    "Thirteen men participated in a randomized crossover design that involved 3 separate sessions (ischemic preconditioning, placebo and control). A 12-RM load for the leg extension exercise was assessed through test and retest sessions prior to the first experimental session. The IPC session consisted of 4 cycles of 5 minutes occlusion at 220 mmHg of pressure alternated with 5 minutes of reperfusion at 0 mmHg for a total of 40 minutes. The PLACEBO session consisted of 4 cycles of 5 minutes of cuff administration at 20 mmHg of pressure alternated with 5 minutes of pseudo-reperfusion at 0 mmHg for a total of 40 minutes. 
    The occlusion and reperfusion phases were conducted alternately between the thighs, with subjects remaining seated. No ischemic pressure was applied during the control (CON) session and subjects sat passively for 40 minutes. Eight minutes following IPC, PLACEBO or CON, subjects performed three repetition maximum sets of the leg extension (2min rest between sets) with the pre-determined 12-RM load. Four minutes following the third set for each condition, blood lactate was assessed" (Moacir. 2015)
    When the researchers analyzed the results, they found that for the first set, the number of repetitions significantly increased for both the IPC (13.08 +/- 2.11; p = 0.0036) and PLACEBO (13.15 +/- 0.88; p = 0.0016) conditions, but not the CON (11.88 +/- 1.07; p > 0.99) condition.
    Figure 2: Significant increases in the number of reps (left) were observed for both the placebo and IPC group. The fatique index (right) did not differ between treatments, but the large inter-individual variety in the IPC group clearly suggests that BFR as a means of preconditioning ain't for everyone (Moacir. 2015).
    Similarly, the IPC and PLACEBO conditions resulted in significantly greater repetitions versus the CON condition on the 1st set (p=0.015; p=0.007) and 2nd set (p=0.011; p=0.019), but not the 3rd set (p=0.68; p>0.99). No significant difference (p=0.465) was found in the fatigue index and lactate concentration between conditions.

    As the researchers point out, their results "indicate that IPC and PLACEBO ischemic preconditioning may have small beneficial effects on repetition performance over a CON condition" (Moacir. 2015). It is thus not completely logical that they suggest "that ischemic pre-conditioning might be practiced gradually to assess tolerance and potential enhancements to exercise performance" (ibid.). What? Oh, you think your clients would notice that their blood flow is not actually impaired and the placebo effect would be lost? Right, now I understand why you should keep using it. Unfortunately that does not exclude that it is still a placebo effect which seems not unlikely in view of the larg(er) inter-individual differences in the IPC vs. any other group. Further studies are necessary... obviously!
  • Train your right leg, and your left leg will become stronger, too - on leg presses, at least -- What sounds like a joke (or magic) is actually science. Science that is going to be presented in an article in a future edition of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research; and more precisely from a study that assessed the cross education of strength and changes in the underlying mechanisms (muscle size, activation, and hormonal response) following a 4-week unilateral resistance training (URT) program.

    In said study by Beyer et al. (2015), a group of nine untrained men completed a 4-week URT program on the dominant leg (DOM), while cross education was measured in the non-dominant leg (NON); and were compared to a control group (n=8, CON).
    "Unilateral isometric force (PKF), leg press (LP) and leg extension (LE) strength, muscle size (via ultrasonography) and activation (via electromyography) of the rectus femoris and vastus lateralis, and the hormonal response (testosterone, growth hormone, insulin, and insulin-like growth factor-1) were tested pre- and post-training" (Beyer. 2015).
    In all strength and size related measures, the trained group improved significantly better than CON. Significant group x time effects for PKF, LP, LE, and muscle size were observed only in the dominant leg (DOM), the non-dominant (NON = untrained leg), on the other hand, the scientist observed not just a trend, but rather an actual and statistically significant increase in leg press strength.
    Figure 3: Relative leg press and leg extension strength relative to body weight; the values above the post-bars indicate the relative difference between post and pre-test (2015).
    Whether that's related to the acute hormonal response to URT, the scientists observed, is more than questionable, after all the strength increase in the non-dominant leg didn't just occur in the absence of "detectable changes in muscle size, activation (EMG), or the acute hormonal response" it did also occur only during leg presses - if it was the result of any of the aforementioned factors one would expect to see at least something like a trend for leg extensions, as well.

    Against that background it should also be clear that you must not neglect one leg or arm when you train in the definitely false hope it would grow and the almost certainly false hope it would get stronger as you train your "favorite" limb. 
There's more: In view of the fact that the bottom lines to the individuals studies discussed in SuppVersity Research Overviews are always provided at the end of the respective item, I have room for mentioning two other interesting results at least briefly.

Figure 4: Energetic demands of 5x3 vs. 5x1 set upper body workout in men and women. Needless to say that the inter-group difference between 3 vs. 1 sets and the inter-group difference between men and women (not shown) were significant (Mookerjay. 2015).
Firstly, Hatfield et al.'s study of the "Effects of circadian rhythm on power, force, and hormonal response in young men" that indicates that "high force and power exercises utilizing  bench press-throws or jump squats may be performed any time of day without detrimental decreases in acute performance" (Hatfield. 2015). And secondly, Mookerjay et al.'s "[c]omparison of energy expenditure during single vs. multiple-set resistance exercise" (Mookerjay. 2015) that yielded a very obvious result which was that the multi-set protocols yield greater metabolic and cardiovascular demands than single set protocols when the number of exercises performed are the same (see Figure 4). In the study 5 upper-body exercises of either 1 or 3 sets per exercise performed in random order the gross and net energy expenditure was determined for the workout + 5 minutes of recovery. You can see the exact data in Figure 4, in case you're interested | Comment on Facebook!
References:
  • Beyer, et al. "Short-Term Unilateral Resistance Training Results in Cross Education of Strength without Changes in Muscle Size, Activation, or Endocrine Response." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2015): Ahead of print.
  • Hatfield, et al. "Effects of circadian rhythm on power, force, and hormonal response in young men." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2015): Ahead of print.
  • Moacir, et al. "Ischemic preconditioning and placebo intervention improves resistance exercise performance." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2015): Ahead of print.
  • Scudese et al. "Long rest interval promotes durable testosterone responses in high intensity bench press." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2015): Ahead of print.
  • West, Daniel WD, and Stuart M. Phillips. "Associations of exercise-induced hormone profiles and gains in strength and hypertrophy in a large cohort after weight training." European journal of applied physiology 112.7 (2012): 2693-2702.