Posts

Showing posts with the label strength

Popular topics

Show more

Acute Effects of Stretching Before Workouts and Long-Term Effects of Separate Stretches | Plus: Stretch→Hypertrophy?

Written by | published on
Image
I am not aware of studies on intra-workout stretching as joggers do it sometimes. I've recently overheard a discussion about stretching between the two other members of my gym. Both of them were highlighting out how detrimental stretching before workouts was and that, instead, you should do your stretches at the end of your workouts because, after all, you don't wont to lose your flexibility. Oh my, if things only were that simple... Even if we just refer to the few studies on stretching that were published in 2018, it becomes evident that one-size-fits-it-all solutions like "stretch after, never before workouts" are problematic and may even do more harm than good. What will affect your energy expenditure  and how much energy do you expend? Squat is the King of energy exp. (35kcal/min) 3 Revelations About EE While Lifting How Dieting Reduces Your EE via the CNS Reduced EE in Contest Prep of Figure Comp. Synergistic or Antagonistic for Max EE ...
Read full article »

Caffeine & Creatine - Synergists, not Antagonists!? RCT: "Caffeine Potentiates Effects of Creatine" on Torque (+68%)

Written by | published on
Image
If you're looking for the extra-kick in leg workouts, the combination of caffeine and creatine may be just what you need.  You will remember that I wrote about the results of Trexel's dissertation from 2015  and that his experimental evidence (real-world) refutes the previously postulated negative feedback of caffeine on the effect of creatine monohydrate on phosphocreatine stores (and thus logically on performance). Against that background, I question to which extent Vandenberghe et al. (36) were right, when they postulated that the interaction between caffeine and creatine can reduce the creatine supply and the pharmacokinetics, it has also IMHO not been proven that caffeine would impair protein synthesis by depleting intracellular calcium that changes the fatigue process but damages protein synthesis. In fact caffeine, there's more recent evidence from Moore et al. (2017) which shows that this is another theory-based hypothesis that cannot be observed in the re...
Read full article »

The Ergogenic Effect of 'F*ck', 'Sh*t' & Co: Swearing Boosts Physical Power (+5%, Wingate) & Muscular Strength (Grip)

Written by | published on
Image
In case you wondered why 'that guy' at the gym, today, kept swearing despite the critical glances of the rest of the gym members? Well, he has probably read the SuppVersity  article at hand before everyone else and decided to put performance before decency, bro ;-) It may sound odd and unlikely, but eventually the hypothesis Richard Stephens and colleagues came up with is logical: "Given the links between swearing, sympathetic activation and the subsequent release of epinephrine and nor-epinephrine, [it is possible that] swearing can affect physical performance via similar changes in organismic milieu" (Stephens 2017). The corresponding paper that has been published recently and ahead of print in Psychology of Sport and Exercise  examines two scenarios where this might be expected. In Experiment #1 a well-known high-intensity 30s anaerobic cycling power challenge known as the Wingate Anaerobic Power Test (WAnT) was applied (Bar-Or, 1987) while in Experiment #2 a...
Read full article »

Visualization Boosts Strength Gains - 'Mental Effort' Boosts Biceps Strength Gains on Low Intensity Workout by 20%!

Written by | published on
Image
The study setup looked sign. different. You will have heard or read about resistance training experts and bodybuilders alike bragging about "focus" and "visualization" being keys to maximal strength and muscle gains. Now, a recent study from the Capital University of Physical Education and Sports  in China, the Lerner Research Institute , the Kessler Foundation  and the  New Jersey Medical School  in the US provides what I would deem the first decently convincing evidence that "mental effort" is a previously overlooked counterpart to "physical effort" when it comes to strength training. As the authors point out, "[h]istorically, most strength training programs have emphasized that, for maximum strength gain, training should be conducted at load intensities that are at or near the maximum level and last long enough for all motor units/muscle fibers in a muscle or muscle group to be fully activated" (Jiang 2017). As a SuppVersity  r...
Read full article »

Rest-Pause Yields 36% Greater Gains in Thigh Size in 6-Week Study With Trained Subjects - Awesome!? Well...

Written by | published on
Image
Yet another study, where reading only the abstract - let alone the conclusion - may be utterly misleading. Always ask for effect sizes and absolute changes. Not even hot off the press, but still weeks before its official publication is the latest paper by Jonato Prestes and colleagues from the  Catholic University of Brasilia , the  Rocky Mountain College in the USA and the  Faculty Estacio of Vitoria  in Brazil (Prestes 2017). The corresponding study was designed to eventually fill the research gap that exists with respect to the longitudinal effects of the rest-pause method on muscle strength and hypertrophy; or, as the authors write, "the purpose of the present study was to compare the longitudinal effects of six weeks of rest-pause versus a traditional multiple-set RT on muscle strength, hypertrophy, localized muscular endurance, and body composition in trained subjects" (Prestes 2017). Are you trying to optimize your training for gains ? Find in...
Read full article »
Disclaimer:The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only. It is by no means intended as professional medical advice. Do not use any of the agents or freely available dietary supplements mentioned on this website without further consultation with your medical practitioner.