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#1. re: DL - from Andrzej Rosa
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Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 13:41:10 -0800 From: Andrzej Rosa <rosa@wsrp.siedlce.pl> Subject: re: DL Bryan Kimble regarding deadlift technique wrote: <3) I have found that higher reps [15-20] with good form produce better results in size, not necessarily with strength. I use wrist straps because my grip strength will give out before that.> I don't like straps. Not only becouse you may have wrist pain from them, but more important that straps make DL less efficient. That is hard to lower the weight to fit to Your grip strenght, but it worth to sacrifice a few pounds. Pronated grip DL may be the best grip excercice. Your back also gets a lot of work during them (I don't really know why, but it works for me). I like to start with pronated grip, go to failure, take a few extra breathes and continue with mixed grip to failure again. Maybe the same tactics could be fruitfull with straps off and on. Just a thought. -- Andrzej Rosa mailto:rosa@wsrp.wsrp.siedlce.pl
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#2. Re: Nutritionally Impaired; HIT #101 - from LFeld49371@aol.com
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Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 17:10:21 EST From: LFeld49371@aol.com Subject: Re: Nutritionally Impaired; HIT #101 From:LFeld49371@aol.com Subject: RE:Nutritionally Impaired.From: "Curtis Clyde Button" <syphon@mailexcite.com> <<I am a moderate bodybuilder who got to where I am today (5'8", 188lbs, approx. 20%bf) by basically eating everything that came in front of me.>> Is this good or bad? It's difficult to pass judgement on someone I've never seen, but 20%BF sounds pretty high for a male bodybuilder of your height&weight. Do you feel you need to loose weight?? <<I was just wondering how do you control your diet?>> By a combination of common sense and knowing when to but the fork down...as silly as it sounds, most people just don't know when to stop and how to control the size of the portions they eat. <<I mean how do I calculate what calories, protein, fat and other stuff I'm putting in my body and what should I be taking in?>> Calories:The simple method for establishing minimal caloric needs(not factoring in activity): Men-multiply weight by 12 The more accurate method: Convert weight to kilos(divide weight in lbs by 2.2) Convert height to cms(divide height in "s by 2.54) Formula for Men: 66+(kg.x13.7)+(cm x 5)-(6.8 x age) Simple way to estimate protein, carbs, fat?: Get a food scale, get an idea of what an ounce is(it's not much). Food that is total carb or protein is 100 calories per ounce. Fat is a bit more than 200 cals per ounce. So a one ounce slice of French bread(flour and water) would be 100 cals. A one ounce croissant(flour,water, butter...very high in fat..about 50%)would be about 150 cals. No big deal, huh? The catch is the average croissant you get in a bakery is about 3 ounces. Basic guidelines for protein:For the average person:0.8-1.0 grams per your weight in kilos. For atheletes: 1 to 1.5 grams per weight in kilos. <<Also what should I eat? I am a self-professed dietary idiot. I know very little about nutrition. I know basically what is good for me and what isn't but I don't know how much of it I require.>> Just don't make food the enemy(there are as many arguements among "experts" about how calories should break down as there are HIT posts about fiber recruitment, but the usda guidelines are 30%fat,12%protein,58%carbs). During the 80's, the in thing was keeping total fat to 10% or less. Well, now it seems that if the body gets too little fat from the food you eat, it will try harder to hang onto the fat it has stored....so much for the experts. You don't need them or me to tell you that friuts and vegetables are good and Twinkies are bad(can Hostess sue me for saying that?), but keep in mind that an excessive amount of any thing other than water can amount to a lot of calories. On the other hand, a half of a Twinkie now and than won't hurt. LCF
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#3. Altitude sickness - from Ken Roberts
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Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 14:45:07 -0800 From: SAILOR@webtv.net (Ken Roberts) Subject: Altitude sickness The 1500ft. rule generally pertains to altitudes at or over 20,000ft. Symptoms, other than nausea/vomiting, must include lassitude, headache, and/or insomnia (often including shortness of breath in the supine position). People who experience this usualy remain miserable for days at altitude. (You learn the darndest stuff on this page:)) Ken
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#4. Squatting for Rolle and Ken. - from Paul Englert
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Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 12:00:22 +1300 From: Paul Englert <Paul.Englert@vuw.ac.nz> Subject: Squatting for Rolle and Ken. While not as tall as you fellows, I have long femuers which making squatting difficult. A few suggesrtions. 1. Try squatting with the bar lower on your back. To quote Stuart McRobert " Directly over the flexed muscles on top of your retracrted shoulder blades. I have found this very useful for enhancing my squat. Also try light weights to get the technique right. Once you have perfected the technique then progree in weight. Tall as you guys are the movement of your lifts is great, ie. the distance that you are moving the weight is greater. Levrage is also against you so adjust expectations accordingly. 2. Mental imagery. Feel the weight on your heels. This will keep you centered and ensure pressure on the knees is minimised. Kiwi Paul. P.S. I have just returned from holiday so will try to catch up with posts over the coming week, ie James reply to HD.
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#5. body comp. improvement... - from GORINSKI, ROBERT
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Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 19:58:41 -0500 From: "GORINSKI, ROBERT" <rwg3216@sru.edu> Subject: body comp. improvement... I'm going to ask/discuss a topic that I believe would be new to the digest...it has been hit upon here and there on Cyberpump! An article on Nutrimuscle briefly hits on this, but I would like to hear what some of the folks on the list have to say about a debated body composition issue. Is it possible for a (relatively) TRAINED person to decrease body fat while simultaneously increasing lean body mass? I believe that this is probably not possible, while some sources I have seen (including one of my Exercise Science profs.) believe otherwise...any thoughts or personal experience? Bob G.
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#6. Re: Poor Achilles Tendon Flexibility - Deadlift Technique - from Sean Sullivan
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Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 20:14:56 -0500 (EST) From: Sean Sullivan <sms64@ultranet.com> Subject: Re: Poor Achilles Tendon Flexibility - Deadlift Technique >-------------------- 1 -------------------- >Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 15:07:17 +1000 >From: Teri Pokere <T.Pokere@uq.net.au> >Subject: Poor Achilles Tendon Flexibility - Deadlift Technique > >Hi Guys, > >I have been doing deadlifts in the past and will again do them >tomorrow. My problem appears to be this: My technique may not be >correct because of a lack of flexibility in my achilles tendons. I have >read technique recommendations that the hips should be lower than the >knees when beginning the movement but thought that this was a >unintentional mistake until I read it somewhere else as well. I disagree with the idea of trying to get your hips lower than your knees at the start of the deadlift. I used to try and get my hips real low at the start thinking I could get a more powerful pull if I was more upright, but the opposite was true. Thankfully I have a good strength coach who saw the problem and had me move my hips higher. It made a huge difference. BTW I do sumo deads, not regular, but I believe the advice would be the same. The Hardgainer web page has an article by John Christy on exercise technique which addresses this issue. The url is http://www.hardgainer.com/articles/02-51.html
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#7. Re: ABCDE diet - from James Krieger
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Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 19:32:02 -0800 From: "James Krieger" <jkrieger@eecs.wsu.edu> Subject: Re: ABCDE diet Sean, You said that you broke through old plateaus of bodyweight while on the ABCDE diet. Did you set any new personal bests in strength? James
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#8. 1RM formula; HR measurements - from Marcus C. Tate
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Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 15:55:12 +1100 From: "Marcus C. Tate" <mtate@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au> Subject: 1RM formula; HR measurements Hi folks, A couple of things: (1) A few months ago I saw a formula for predicting 1RMs using sets with up to 10 reps. Unfortunately, I didn't write it down. Since then a few web sources have brought up tables that predict 1 RM for various rep ranges. But, I'd really like to have the formula itslelf, if possible; I'd like to do some experimentation with myself and a few friends. If anybody knows what it is, could they email it to me privately ? I'd also be interested in opinions regarding its validity from anyone who's tested it. (2) There were a few comments recently about measuring intensity of resistance exercise sets using heart rate. I've been measuring my heart rate during compound exercises like deadlifts and chins (1 set to failure, followed by iso. contraction to failure), and have gotten up to 85% of max HR before major dizziness set in and/or grip failed. I'd be interested in seeing more discussion regarding how much HR reflects exercise intensity, and how much it simply reflects arterial constriction during exertion. Any pearls of wisdom ? Marcus. ========================================= Marcus C. Tate, School of Earth Sciences Macquarie University, Sydney, N.S.W 2109, Australia. Email: mtate@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au
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#9. Re: HIT Digest, digest #103 - from Trygve Lorentzen
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Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 10:06:31 +0100 From: Trygve Lorentzen <trygvelo@sofus.hiof.no> Subject: Re: HIT Digest, digest #103 Deadlifting questions. I've just turned 19, and I started weight training two months ago. My problems on the deadlift are that I'm tall (6' 6", 198 cm) and my legs are long. I started out doing deadlifts last week (I have done it twice so far) with 2 sets of 12 reps with 135 lbs (60 kg). After the first workout doing deadlifts I felt very sore in my lower back. I wonder if this was just becouse my muscles had to adapt to the exercise or that my form was incorrect, becouse from my last workout (two days ago) I don't feel very sore at all. I also wonder if you should do deadlifts to total failiure or stop at the last possible rep. I also wonder how to hold the barbell. Is it right to do what I see at http://www.golden.net/~tomb/dead.html and hold one hand from each side of the bar? If that's the case, should you change grip between sets? Trygve Lorentzen
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#10. Ratio between leg curls and leg extensions - from Bradley K Lambson
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Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 16:56:18 -0600 From: bklambson@juno.com (Bradley K Lambson) Subject: Ratio between leg curls and leg extensions Though I have trained off and on for years, I don't know anything and have never really accomplished anything. I have been using HIT successfully for 10 months. Currently I do an abbreviated full body workout using 6 exercises once a week. I am progressing on all exercises except the leg curl. My leg extensions are progressing rapidly. My leg curl is now 48% of my leg extension. I remember being told that the leg curl should be 75% of the leg extension. Does anyone know if I am headed for injury? I am learning from this list that the leg curl and leg extensions are a controversial movement in the first place. I do them right after my squats or dead lift. I am sure learning a lot from this list! Brad bklambson@juno.com
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#11. HIT #103 - from JawDogs@aol.com
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Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 18:37:24 EST From: JawDogs@aol.com Subject: HIT #103 2/15/98 FR: Fred Hahn (Jawdogs@aol.com) RE: HIT digest #103 article #11 by Juan Castro >Yet in your aerobics article in Master Trainer, you argued that sleeping is more aerobic than running.< Please keep in mind the difference between the biolgical term aerobic and the marketed noun Aerobics. Running is more Aerobic than sleeping, but not more biologically aerobic. >Why don’t you consider the absolute amount more important in this case?< Good question. (Here I assume you mean in the case of mitochondrial density.) In short, there is no evidence that I am aware of that people who strength train decrease the total amount of their mitochondria. Without getting into a complx biology lesson, (I’m sure, Mr. Castro, that you may know much of this already) mitochondria reside inside muscle cells. They are the site of aerobic energy production. The greater the number of mitochondria in a muscle cell, the greater the aerobic energy production capability of that cell. As far as I know, when muscles experience hypertrophy, all of the components that make up the muscle fiber increase in volume or thickness (not number). It would stand to reason that if the muscle increases in thickness or size the muscle must have been supplied with an increased amount of muscle cells. (You can actually see this in cross- sectioned slices of muscle tissue after training.) I have picked the brains of many a doctor who have shrugged their shoulders when asked the EXACT mechanism and outcome of muscular hypertrophy. The absolute truth remains an enigma. Clear logic and an in-depth understaning of the biology we DO know to be true is paramount. There is a host of misinformation (due to its over simplification) in the common exercise physiology text books and especially in the ACE and ACSM certification manuals. There are many other factors that determine whether or not a person can perform endurance-type activities at a high performance level. We all realize that the strongest men in the world cannot run as far as the greatest runners of the world. But where does it state that the ability to perform long distance, endurance events is THE measure of “fitness?” By and large, the people who invented exercise physiology were below average athletes who could do only one thing well -- endurance activites. They made up their own science to fit what they did well and continue to do so today. Ask Dr. Squat what he thinks of aerobics. Ask Mike Mentzer, El Darden or any of the “power” gurus. But here I digress too far. Back to the point. By training to run a marathon many physical changes and adaptations will occur. One thing is sure to happen -- your strength training improvements will slow and probably halt quite abruptly. Especially in the legs. If indeed an actual increase in the total amount of mitochondria increases this may only be due to the fact that the total amount of muscle cells are decreasing, meaning muscular atrophy. More muscle cells means more mitochondria. Due to the fact that the muscle cells need the mitochondria for aerobic energy production they may, in fact, increase in total amount to account for the decrease in the total amount of muscle cells. Who the heck knows. I’ll tell you this. If you were to chop off the upper body of one of the worlds strongest men and place Frank Shorter’s upper body in its place, this Frankenstein monster would run the marathon in record time. Realize that the muscular mass of most strength athletes can be as much as quadruple the mass of an endurance athlete. The size of the heart and lungs of both men, however, is roughly the same. Take a world class marathoner and place a weighted vest of say 50-70 pounds or so, place it on his person and see how well he does. I put to you that he doesn’t make it to the finish line. Question: How much more massive is an 18 inch biceps than a 16 inch biceps? Answer: Roughly 400% (not times) more massive. Think about how this pertains to and how it affects endurance performance. As far as neuro adaptations are concerned, in my article in Hardgainer I stated that it takes “...several sessions...” to adapt neurologically. In my HIT post I said a few. A few, several -- you are right to point this out. I should be more specific. But I hardly call this a contradiction. If you are training properly (I don’t want to get into proper training now) my experience indicates that after 3-5 sessions you’ve mastered the exercise neurologically. How do I know that it takes place so soon? I don’t. I suppose that it is possible one continues to adapt neurologically to bike riding or baseball hitting forever. But the fact is this -- neurological adaptations are occurring all the time in everything we do. The only measure we have is logging increases in our muscular strength. There is much more to say. I thank Rob for printing this in its entirety. Sincerely, Fred Hahn
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#12. HIT Digest, digest #103 -- James Krieger's comments - from Timothy J. Ryan
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Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 16:13:28 -0500 From: "Timothy J. Ryan" <72263.2770@compuserve.com> Subject: HIT Digest, digest #103 -- James Krieger's comments In his response to Fred Hahn, James Krieger makes several comments that are technically incorrect. 1.) On the subject of Mitochondrial density, Mr. Krieger states: "increase mitochondrial number, increase density." This is not necessarily true. If muscle hypertophy occurs concurrently with the increase in total number of mitochondria then density may rermain the same, decrease, or increase depending upon exactly how much hypertophy occurs relative to the total increase in mitochondria. An increase in mitochondria is no guarantee of increase density. Mr Hahn's point was directed at an individual who had stated that aerobic training increased mitochondrial density, and that strength training did not. Mr Hahn correctly pointed out that an increase in density does not automatically mean an increase in total number of mitochondria. Aerobics may lead to increase density as a result of muscle atrophy, not an increase in total number or volume of mitochondria, Furthermore, since strength training causes muscle hypertophy, the mitochondial density may decrease or stay the same, but this in no way means that total number of mitochondria decreased. Therefore, using density as an argument pro aerobics is not valid. 2.) Whether or not muscle hypertophy is a result of hyperplasia ( increase in number of muscle fibers), or increase number of myofibrils, both, or neither is a moot point. We have no power to manipulate what occurs in this regard nor can we dictate muscle hypertrophy sans strength by manipulating training techniques and/or protocol. All we can do is stimulate strength increases -- period! Hypertrophy, by whatever method, will follow if the body is allowed adequate rest and recuperation and most importantly time. Yes, due to neurological adaptations, it is possible to increase strength to some degree without an equal increase in size. However, this occurs only to a point, at which time continued strength increases require hypertrophy. 3.) Relative to each individual, an increase in a muscle's size ALWAYS results in that muscle being stronger, not USUALLY stronger as Mr Krieger states. A muscle with increased cross sectional area and more actin and myosin cross bridges is capable of generating more force -- nothing else is even possible. This is not subject to opinion -- physics proves this. Mr. Krieger also states that it is possible to increasea muscle's size without the muscle increasing in strength. Not true. This erroneous belief results from his confusion between exercise performance, and true, accurate strength measurement. For example he states that he could increase his squat poundage by 40 pounds and experience an increase in thigh muscle cross sectional area, but not see a corresponding increase in leg extension strength. There are several problems with this observation which lead to his false conclusion. One, if leg extensions were not practiced regularly during the period of time that the squats were producing the strength and hypertophy, then the non-improvement in leg extension is partially the result of not being neurologically adapted to the performance of leg extensions. Two, squats rely on numerous muscles groups including quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. When you increase strength in squats, all of these muscles become stronger not just quadriceps. Furthermore, glutes, hamstrings, and lower back are far more responsible for squat performance than quadriceps. Therefore, it is incorrect to assume your isolated quadricep performance on leg extension will increase to the same degree as your squats. Three, squats do not provide full range strengthening of the quadriceps. Four, neither squats, nor leg extension is a valid, accurate strength test of any muscle. True muscular strength can only be measured in a isometeric fashion by a sophisticated measuring device which provides total isolation of the intended muscle group and also accounts for factors such as the effect of gravity upon the limbs, stored energy, counterweighting of body and machine parts, positional reference and several other factors. At present, the only machine capable of accurately testing the strength of the quadriceps is the MedX Medical Knee machine. In summary, simply because leg extension performance did not improve to the same degree as squat performance is not evidence of poor or no strength increases to the quadriceps. Mr. Kriegers example for hypertophy without strength increase is invalid. So is his conclusion. Tim Ryan