Most people who fail to get results fail because they switch programs too often, quit too soon, or they are too inconsistent. The issue is almost never that their program is too simple. I watched some of the strongest drug free powerlifters in the country train for years at Silverback’s gym. Their programming was always very simple, rarely exceeding a handful of exercises. The secret […]
Bench Press Versus Pushups Study
Can pushups be used as a substitute for bench presses? Can an athlete develop as much pushing strength using pushups as they can with bench presses? A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research attempted to answer these questions. They used 30 university students with advanced resistance training experience. Some trained with bench press only and others with pushups only (plus […]
Hypertrophy of Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers
A 2014 review paper by Ogborn and Schoenfeld does a great job of summarizing what is known at this point about training slow twitch muscles for hypertrophy. Here are some of the key issues: • Type II (fast twitch) fibers display superior growth following high intensity (heavy) loading, approximately 50% greater than type I (slow twitch). • If loading is greater than 50% of 1 […]
Eccentric Muscle Contractions the Key to Strength/Hypertrophy?
There are 3 basic types of muscle contractions, concentric, isometric, and eccentric. Concentric contractions are when the muscle is contracting while shortening. Think of the up portion of a one arm dumbbell curl. An isometric contraction is when the muscle contracts without shortening. In this case if we curl the dumbbell up half way and hold it, we would be doing an isometric contraction during […]
Fat Burning and Exercise Intensity
In general, the higher the exercise intensity, the greater the reliance on carbohydrates vs fat. in other words, you burn a greater % of calories from fat during low intensity exercise vs high intensity exercise. The image above shows the fuel crossover effect as exercise intensity increases. So….high intensity exercise burns almost entirely carbohydrates. However, high intensity exercise results in an elevated rate of caloric […]
Run Form and Energy Leaks
While running, the musculoskeletal system of the body acts like a compressible shock absorber. When your foot makes contact with the ground you compress the shock. When you push off the spring energy of the shock augments muscular force to make you go faster. You spring forward. This spring effect augments muscular force. The spring works best when it is stiff and there are no […]
Can you use an equation to determine your max heart rate?
The most widely used equation to predict maximum heart rate (the highest heart rate that a person can achieve) is: Max Heart Rate = 220-Age in Years. For example, predicted maximum heart rate for a 20 year old would be 220 – 20 = 200 beats per minute. How accurate is that formula? Not very. Look at the graph below, which represents actual measured maximum […]