HIT Digest #180

Friday, August 07, 1998 14:22:24

This digest contains the following messages:

#1. Re: HD 178, #1, Snack Suggestions - from bszymanski@minolta.com
#2. Recovery of ligaments/tendons... - from Brian and Terri Williams
#3. Response to criticism of HIT/SuperSlow - from Deaton, Eric
#4. Fight Training - from Ian Haines
#5. IMPOSTER - from Andrew M. Baye
#6. Daily Food Intake - from Garcia, Senen
#7. Calorie Requirement Formulas - from Christopher Heer
#8. Arthurs Arm Routine From Hell - from Richard Eastwood
#9. RE Pushing yourself to failure - from Richard Eastwood
#10. Response to Steve on Failure - from Daryl Wilkinson
#11. RE: Unknown - Digest#179 - from Brant Pethick
#12. Re: Plyometrics - from Sonofsquat@aol.com

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#1. Re: HD 178, #1, Snack Suggestions - from bszymanski@minolta.com
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Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 9:44:00 -0500 From: bszymanski@minolta.com Subject: Re: HD 178, #1, Snack Suggestions Hi. If you're in an office environment, perhaps there is a refrigerator somewhere on the floor. In that case, you could bring 8 oz. containers of low-fat cottage cheese (Lite & Lively is OK, Friendship is not bad either) and a package of disposable plastic forks. Or, you could keep some three-packs of flip-top 3 oz. cans of water-packed tuna in your desk drawer (be aware that people nearby might smell the tuna while you're eating, and if they have absolutely nothing better to do, you'll hear some "cat food" wisecracks). Or, you could get the small box-packs of Soy milk, bring in some protein powder (whey or soy -- actually, soy has some very good health benefits all its own), and a small, 16-ounce container (go to a camping store and get a Nalgene container -- makes a great shaker). Empty the soy milk into the container, add two tablespoons (1 oz.) of protein powder, shake like crazy, then drink. A quick trip to the bathroom and you could wash the container out in the sink. Also, add a few complex carbs with the snacks, but not too much (that's easy, just think grains). I also live in an office environment, and this works for me. Have a snack, Bill

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#2. Recovery of ligaments/tendons... - from Brian and Terri Williams
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Date: Sun, 2 Aug 1998 16:25:21 -0700 From: "Brian and Terri Williams" <windsortoyspaniels@ibm.net> Subject: Recovery of ligaments/tendons... I have been wondering what the rate of adaptation for ligaments and tendons is when we lift, or if and how they do. I wonder if some of our injuries come from a slower rate of recovery in supporting tissues. If this is true, maybe I should be increasing my rep schemes before raising my weights rather than just tossing on another plate when I can complete my set. If lifting has a training effect to our ligaments and tendons, I suppose it comes down to whether they respond in a similar fashion to our muscles as to set/rep schemes, and if they need similar times for recovery. Any thoughts? Have I just done too many deadlifts today? We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans ..." --Bill Clinton (USA TODAY, 11 March 1993, page 2A)

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#3. Response to criticism of HIT/SuperSlow - from Deaton, Eric
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Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 17:25:22 -0400 From: "Deaton, Eric" <eric.deaton@lmco.com> Subject: Response to criticism of HIT/SuperSlow Hey, you guys! Listen up! Here we have an "fitness expert" saying that HIT and SuperSlow were not fit protocols for beginning weight lifters. For this individual, I offer the following empirical data. I have no scientific information to back this up, I will leave that to Andrew Baye and Lyle McDonald and others who possess more knowledge than I. However, I would like to disclose what I have seen with my own eyes. 3 months ago, I started training Superslow and though I am not a beginner in the game, I have seen gains of 1-2" in all measured body parts, i.e., arms, chest, thighs, and a loss in waist. Do not use just my experiences to judge please. What follows is indicative of what is possible through SuperSlow. My father and mother, 56 and 55, respectively, began training SuperSlow 3 weeks ago. In that time period, my mother, who at best, lived a sedentary lifestyle(my father too) has already seen a 7 pound decrease in overall body weight and lost a minimum of 1" in all respects on her body! My father has lost 1 1/2" on his waist and is surprised that his bodyweight has not gone down. Dad used to be very strong and stout and I explained to him that his lack of loss was more a gain in muscle, which I hope we all can agree, weighs more than fat! So, his weight will not decrease as much as mom's as he will gain muscle back fairly rapidly for the first 2-3 months of this regime. For perspective's sake, my mother and father were both members of Bally's Health Club here in Orlando, and for 8 months went religiously, followed a AFPA certified trainers schedule and lost nothing but money and patience. So, I offer that not only is HIT/SuperSlow useful for beginners, but it will extend the results that so-called educated exercise gurus describe as necessary for extended participation in the iron game. Regards Eric Deaton Eric.Deaton@lmco.com

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#4. Fight Training - from Ian Haines
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Date: Tue, 04 Aug 1998 06:50:05 PDT From: "Ian Haines" <ihaines@hotmail.com> Subject: Fight Training I have just read Andrew Baye's most recent POst Workout Delirium Induced Ramblings. Number 11 I think. Anyway, it contained some criticisms of conventional martial arts training, saying that by practising 'pulling' a punch, you are not effectively learning how to punch properly. Fair enough. However, Andrew goes on to describe how himself and a friend used to practice fighting by beating the living daylights out of each other for 45 minutes at a time. Now I'm not saying that the idea of beating some of my colleagues about the head doesn't appeal to me - But... It does seem a little strange that someone such as Andrew, who has been known to criticise people for dangerous exercise techniques, should advocate indulging in fighting. I believe people have been injured as a result of doing this in the past. I'm sure Andrew will point out the differences between needlessly hurting oneself whilst trying to get fit, and practicing a sport, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway. Ian.

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#5. IMPOSTER - from Andrew M. Baye
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Date: Wed, 5 Aug 1998 08:29:00 -0400 From: "Andrew M. Baye" <drewbaye@gdi.net> Subject: IMPOSTER It has recently come to my attention that someone has been making vulgar and inflammatory posts on various training related message boards using my name. If anyone sees any posts on any message boards under my name that are obviously out of character or inflammatory in any way, please Email me at drewbaye@gdi.net and also inform the owner of the message board of the situation so that I can clear up any confusion this has caused. If anyone has any idea who this person is, please let me know, as I intend to contact their ISP provider and have their internet service cancelled. Thank you, Andrew M. Baye The SuperSlow Exercise Guild, Inc http://www.superslow.com

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#6. Daily Food Intake - from Garcia, Senen 
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Date: 6 Aug 98 14:40:00 PDT From: "Garcia, Senen " <GARCIAS@vax1z.scz.ssi1.com> Subject: Daily Food Intake Hiters, To all serious HITers; I'm sure all readers including me will be very interested to know about your food intake (bulking & dieting phase). Please include your suplement intake as well. thx--Sen

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#7. Calorie Requirement Formulas - from Christopher Heer
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Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 21:18:11 -0400 From: Christopher Heer <cdheer@engmail.uwaterloo.ca> Subject: Calorie Requirement Formulas Does anyone have a calorie requirement formula or estimate based on lean mass and fat mass (with possible inclusion of height)? It seems as this would be a better estimate than just using weight since muscle has considerably higher energy demands than fat. But also, I'd expect height would affect this estimate as well. Consider HITer A HITer B Weight 180 lbs 180 lbs Height 5'8 6'0 Lean Mass 162 lbs 162 lbs Fat Mass 18 lbs 18 lbs Since HITer B is four inches taller, more of his lean mass would come from bone structure etc. This would probably make his calorie requirement less than HITer A who had more muscle mass despite the same amount of lean mass. If no one knows of such a formula or estimate using lean mass and height, does anyone care to make their own prediction? Chris

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#8. Arthurs Arm Routine From Hell - from Richard Eastwood
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Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 12:42:09 -0700 From: "Richard Eastwood" <rpeast@globalnet.co.uk> Subject: Arthurs Arm Routine From Hell Have any of you good folks ever experimented with the fabled 'Arthur Jones Arm Blast' ? ( sounds suspiciously Wiederish, but bear with me ). To re-cap, and for those who don't know, it goes a little sumtin like this... 1 x 30/30 Chin up ( and that's *super*-slow ), followed immediately by: 1 x Max Curls ( Until the bar falls out of your hands, and then some; needs a torture, sorry, workout partner ) Take a little breather, then..... 1 x 30/30 Dips ( starting from bottom position ), moving swiftly onto: 1 x Max Triceps Ext. ( I used pushdowns, but I think the idea was to use 'French Presses' ) Anybody been mad enough to give this a real go? And if so, have you got any results worth shouting about? I didn't have much sucess on it too be honest, certainly never added an inch to my arms :( but I'd like to hear from those of you who did. RichE

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#9. RE Pushing yourself to failure - from Richard Eastwood
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Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 14:42:22 -0700 From: "Richard Eastwood" <rpeast@globalnet.co.uk> Subject: RE Pushing yourself to failure >>-------------------- 3 -------------------- >>Date: Fri, 24 Jul 98 17:54:54 +0900 >>From: Henry Jung <hjung@jp.FCNBD.COM> >>Subject: Pushing yourself to failure >> >>Hi all, >> >> >>The idea of going to failure is great. But everytime I lift I swear I'm >>pushing myself to failure for 1 set, but I feel as if I didn't go >"hard" >>enough. Is there a way to insure (I lift alone) that I'm going to >failure. >>Dumb question. But I feel as if I can do another set, but I push myself >>till I can't do one more rep. >> >> >>Am I doing something wrong? I am getting results, but I have just >started. >> >> >>HJ >> > >I feel the same way! I wonder what the more experienced HIT-ers have to >say about this... > >Steve > > My personal feelings on the subject, drawn from my experience an a personal trainer teaching new lifters/converts to HIT, are that when most people start a 1 set to failure program they often tend to feel they are not working 'hard enough', or that they could easily 'do another set'. This is because a novice lifter lacks the mind/muscle connection required to push themselves to the limit. While that theory might sound a little like a muscle-mag fairy tale, I usually have beginners/new HITers start with 3 sets of a given exercise until they become proficent in the movement. The better they become at the exercise, the more efficiently they can break down muscle tissue during a set, perhaps because the body becomes able to recruit more fibres during the movement. After a few months of a x3 set program, and when gains start to wind down, I have them drop to 2 sets. After about a year of training, they will have the skill and be able to generate the necessary intensity to get the most out of a 1 set program. As I said, this is JMHO. Belive me, when the weights get bigger, you'll soon find yourself 'wiped out' after one set. Also you say you lift alone; you MUST have a strong safety rack to catch the weights if you drop them, as by definition going to failure means you won't be able to move the bar off your chest. Don't use dumbells either if you train solo to failure - there is a real possibility of dropping them at the end of a set and straining your shoulders. Hope this helps. Happy Training RichE

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#10. Response to Steve on Failure - from Daryl Wilkinson
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Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 10:07:29 +0000 From: Daryl Wilkinson <daryl@uk.ibm.com> Subject: Response to Steve on Failure I said: >>If you have just started, then you really need to stop worrying and just >>follow a basic program (choose one from cyberpump if your unsure). I don't >>even train to failure (just like others don't) but results still come.. >>Progressive resistance, good nutrition and adequate rest - that's what I >>think you should focus on. >> >>Daryl >So, if you train to failure on the first set, do you feel it is >productive to wait a minute or two and do a second set, or move on to >the next excercise? Steve, If I go to failure on the first set, then no, I wouldn't do a second set. I don't see any benefit from doing more. I *stimulated* growth on the first set, I believe a second would just tax my recovery "system" more. Any further stimulation I get from a second set, is not worth the extra cost on my recovery. I want to minimise the stress on my recovery and maximise the stress on my muscles. This is a crude explanation, but I hope you get my point. But like I said, failure is nothing more than another tool which you can use to progress. Progressive Resistance...that's what I have to remind myself when I get caught up in debate on volume training and HIT etc. Daryl

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#11. RE: Unknown - Digest#179 - from Brant Pethick
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Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 10:07:24 -0400 From: Brant Pethick <bpethick@sagus-security.com> Subject: RE: Unknown - Digest#179 I've experienced poor performance on a second set as well quite recently after starting a new HIT training program. After years of working with multiple sets I am convinced that 1 or 2 sets should be enough. I've noticed on bar curls and bench press that if I try a 2nd set after going to concentric or total failure on the 1st, I can usually only perform half of the reps after a 2-3 minute break with the same weight. To answer another question submitted to the digest that is related, I too feel that, in conlusion, if performance on the 2nd set was poor then the muscle has been exhausted enough to provide adequate stimulation for growth. Your 1st set was enough...sometimes I throw in the 2nd set just to remind myself that one set was enough. The most difficult thing to overcome is the idea that only 1 set is enough. I've been fighting this for months but now it's a pleasure to be in the gym briefly and know that I'm getting more out of my workouts. That 1 set per bodypart feels even better than the 3-4 sets I used to do. Why not approach each workout thinking that you will only perform 1 set per bodypart. If you can successfully get to this point then you won't even worry about doing a 2nd set, you will give it all you can...satisfaction will come after only 1. Failure is the key!......Brant Pethick

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#12. Re: Plyometrics - from Sonofsquat@aol.com
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Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 11:01:45 EDT From: Sonofsquat@aol.com Subject: Re: Plyometrics Fred Hahn wrote: <<For those of you who advocate plyometrics and believe that they are necessary to create explosive athletes, are you seriously suggesting that if Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays...>> Both these folks competed in a time where weight training was shunned due to the belief that it would make them slow and bulky, and would actually decrease performance. Mickey, from what I’ve heard, wasn’t a proponent of proper nutrition and healthy living either! Yet, can we dismiss nutrition and weight training as activities which do not promote better performance? <<If, in fact, plyometrics are so great how come the athletes that use them today never seem to get any better....>> Lotta records are broken every year! Even more important, the overall performance of athletes is increasing. “Mediocre” athletes are better today than they were yesteryear. If you want to go tit - for - tat on who’s using what program, be my guest. <<According to Doug McGuff MD, plyometrics do the exact opposite of what its proponents think it does....>> I could buy this argument if it were totally supported by science, which it is not. Komi (1992) notes a study (by Gollhofer et al. 1987) in which Stretch Shortening Cycles were repeated 100 times. “Fatigue was demonstrated by an increase in contact times for the eccentric and concentric” Komi goes on to explain, “ the reflex contribution to sustain the repeated stretch loads became enhanced, especially when measured during the maximal drop-test condition before, and immediately after, the fatigue loading.” It can be argued that this was one session of exercise, and the effects on the stretch reflex over several sessions was not tested. However, if what McGuff says is indeed true, I believe it would’ve been displayed at some point over the 100 repetitions. Chu also notes, “Although the response time of the stretch reflex remains the same even after training, training changes the strength of the response in terms of muscle contraction.” In searching the physiology and sport psychology text books, I could find no statements or evidence which supports McGuff’s notion that continuous use of the stretch reflex in any way damages it. <<In short, no one needs plyometrics to be a good athlete. Babe Ruth would have laughed Donald Chu all the way back to Chu-land.>> >From what I understand, Babe at his coach when he suggested that Babe quit drinking quarts of vodka and eating hot dogs during rain delays! See my comments on Mickey Mantle above! Fact is, while some studies have found no connection to plyometric training and athletic performance, many others do!

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