SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

Explosive training can, but it does not have to involve medicine balls and plyometric exercises. You can also do the regular bench press as fast as possible and will - as the study at hand says - achieve higher levels of muscle activity and an increase in rep volume. You will probably have heard the acronyms EMG = electromyography and TUT = time under tension before, but did you know how they go together? The simple assumption that a higher time under tension would yield greater EMG values and thus higher muscle activations is - as a recent study confirmed, once more - as far from being correct as it is from being logical. Think of it: It's simple physics. The force you apply is the product of the mass you move and the acceleration you exert on that mass. It's F = m · a - Force equals mass times acceleration. If you go slow to achieve a maximal time under tension, the acceleration will be low and so will be the force. Since my friends from the exercise physiological depar...

Lunge with resistant bands as it was done in the study (Jakobsen. 2012) The paper the Danish researchers Jakobsen, Sundstrup, C.H. Andersen, Aagaard and L. Andersen are about to publish in one of the forthcoming issues of Human Movement Science is not the first certainly won't be the last study on explosive training ( more ) and plyometrics ( more ) you have and still will read about, here at the SuppVersity . And while I am not sure whether you would say that it is the most exciting one, I am pretty convinced that you will be inclined to hear how different rep-speeds (ballistic=explosive vs. normal) effected the EMG activity during a full-body exercise like lunges with different loads and equipment (dumbbells vs. resistant band). Before we start, just a brief reminder for all of you who have not read the SuppVersity EMG series as of now. If you want to know the "best" exercises to target specific muscle groups, I'd suggest you make a detour to all or just tho...

Image 1 (musclemag.com): You don't have to restrict your plyometrics to leg exercises - plyometric push ups, for example can help you to build a bigger chest and a bigger bench. "How many sets, how many reps, which exercises...?" These are the standard topics people are chatting about at the gym. Things like ROM (range of motion), explosive training or plyometrics , on the other hand, are almost as rarely talked about as they are done. What about you? When was the last time you counted the seconds it took you to compile the concentric phase of a squat? What about "plyos" (=plyometric exercises) do you have some in your current routine? No? According to the results of a recently published study by Eduardo Sáez de Villarreal and his Spanish co-workers, this may be a mistake - at least if your goal is not solely to maximize muscle size, but also muscle function. Plateau busting plyometrics and power building explosives - more than just hilarious bogus? ...

Figure 1: Outline of the HRC protocol used by in the study. The beneficial effects of fast-paced (indicating short / no rest periods between exercises) circuit training on fat loss have long been established. With the original intention being the addition of an aerobic component to traditional strength training routines, the loads (weights) that are usually used in these types of exercise regimens are often to low to elicit significant strength or muscle gains . This, however, was different in the study protocol Pedro E. Alcaraz and his collegues from Spain and Australia used in their most recent study ( Alcarez. 2011 ). Alcarez et al. recruited 33 healthy men , who "had been regularly performing resistance training (RT) in a gymnasium (e.g., ca. 6–12 repetitions per set, 3 sets per exercise, 2–4 d/week" (in other words recreational weight lifters ) and assigned them to one of two training regimens: High resistance circuit t...