This study compared 3 training volumes, to see their impact on strength gained. Researchers compared individuals who performed 1 set, 4 sets, and 8 sets. All were using intensities at 80% of their 1RM. All 3 groups performed the same workout just at the different volumes. Strength levels were tested at the start, 3 weeks in, 6 weeks in, and at the end of 10 weeks. There were a few interesting findings here. First off, both the 4 and 8 set group found about the same increases in strength from the start to 3 weeks. The 1 set group saw no significant change in strength. It actually took 6 weeks for the 1 set group to see improvements. At 6 and 10 weeks the 4 set group saw no significant changes compared with the 1 set group. It was only the 8 set group that continued to see improvements through out the entire study.

This study gives us a little more insight into training volume recommendations. Although there is no one size fits all program, this gives us a few guidelines we can incorporate. In the initial stages of your program you will not see much difference between 4 sets and 8 sets so save yourself the time. The first phase of you program you can stick with moderate volume workouts. After this initial phase though from 3-6 weeks it is a good idea to increase your workouts to high volume to continue to see significant strength gains.

The one draw back of high volume workouts is they take a very long time to get through. One recommendation is to incorporate hybrid training styles into your workouts. This will allow you to accomplish high volume for some exercises, but not spend two hours in the gym every workout. Here is a sample program that you can try out on your own:

Phase 1 Weeks 1-3
Day 1
3×6
A1. Box Jumps
A2. Plyo Push Ups
4×8
B1. Barbell Deadlifts
B2. DB Bench Press
2×15
C1. DB Lunges
C2. Push Ups

Day 2
3×6
A1. KB Snatches
A2. MB Slams
4×8
B1. Barbell Squats
B2. Chin Ups
2×15
C1. SB Hamstring Curls
C2. DB Press

Phase 2 Weeks 3-6
Essentially the same exact workout now except change the volume only on the second superset. Perform 8 Sets at 80% of your 1RM for as many reps as possible. Your first set should be around 8 reps. If you can perform more than that you increase the weight.

After your complete phase 2 you can deload for a week and then start back over with new exercises to change up your program. Give it a try and I promise you will see dramatic increases in the weights you are pushing.

Check out this weeks free featured workout to see some of the exercises in action: http://www.myworkoutcreator.com/premade-workouts/free-featured-workouts/hybrid-strength

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator.

I hope 2012 is off to a great start for you. Just 3 weeks into the New Year and you will start to see people fall off the wagon. If you are a regular gym goer you might look forward to less crowded gyms now. One of the biggest reasons people can’t stick with their program is because they feel that they do not have the time. Most people have a very busy schedule and they can’t fit in an hour of exercise a few days a week. Actually, we could probably make the time if we really look at their schedule, but still it can be tough to get in that workout you have been meaning to do.

One huge misconception is that you need to workout for a long period of time. You can get an absolutely effective workout in only 20-30 minutes, as long as you are very efficient with your gym time. Most people struggle here. How many times have you gone to the gym and just seen people hanging out around equipment waiting 5 minutes between sets talking with friends. This is even more frustrating when these people are using something you wanted to use.

Anyway, if you ever feel like you don’t have enough time to get a workout in or just want to try a tough workout that does not take a long time try these three tricks to shorten your workout:

1. Escalating Density Training.

This style of training was created by Charles Staley. For this technique it is simple. You just set a timer, pick two exercises, set the weight and reps for each, and repeat as many sets as you can for the given time. You can play around with all of these variables to create different results. This is a very challenging workout though so if you plan on doing multiple supersets you might want to start with a shorter time. For example you can perform KB Goblet Squats paired with Push Ups. Perform 10 reps of each for 5 minutes. Rest when you need to rest, otherwise you are working. Just pick 2-3 supersets and there is your workout.

2. Timed Circuits.

Here is another tough but very simple workout. It is similar to EDT. We just create a circuit of 3-6 exercises, set the weights and reps, and repeat for a given time. Here is a sample circuit you can try:
1-Barbell Front Squats- 8 reps
2-SB Chest Press- 12 reps
3-DB Lunge Walks- 10 ea
4-Pull Ups- 6 reps
5-KB Swings- 15 reps

3. Timed Rest.

This might be the simplest thing you can do to shorten your workout and make it extremely effective. Rest is an important variable to consider for your workout. It shouldn’t be determined by a conversation you are having with someone or until you are completely recovered for the next set. Depending on what your goal you are working on and the intensity you are lifting it will determine your rest. Here is a general guideline you can follow for rest depending on your reps you are performing:
15+ reps = 30 seconds
8-14 reps = 45-60 seconds
6-8 reps = 60-90 seconds
5 and under = 2-3 minutes.

There you go. Three easy ways you can probably cut your workout time in half. Give them a try this week and see how it feels.

Have a great workout.

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

In order to truly reach a goal you need to know where you are starting from. If you just start working out or dieting, you really won’t be able to see how much you progressed. This is one HUGE reason why people give up so easily. They probably have made significant progress but really have no way of knowing how much better they are doing. Instead they just weight themselves and that is it to determine their starting point.

This step is skipped way too often. Even when people do assess themselves they just see how much they weigh. This measurement is ok but doesn’t really matter as much as you think. The scale only tells you how much you weigh not how much muscle or how much fat you have.

If changing how you look is your goal for this year then instead of just weighing your self, take before pictures, take your body fat, or you can just take a few circumference measurements. If you are performing strength training then these would be a much better way to assess yourself.

These are all great ways to start your year. It is also a very good idea to test your physical ability. This may be testing your 1RM or your endurance. Something that is easily measured to you can see how much you are progressing. I actually just did this yesterday for myself. I tested my vertical jump, 1RM for the hang clean, deadlift, bench press, and squat, as well as my endurance for pull ups and push ups. It may not be necessary for you to test all of these but it is nice to see a range of abilities.

If you are not comfortable performing a 1RM lift, here is a test that I learned from Boston Strength Coach Mike Boyle. I did this yesterday actually to measure my push ups. You need a metronome or stop watch. Here is what you do. Set the metronome to 50 beats per minute. Have an object like a small ball or yoga block so you know how low you have to get. On the first beat you touch your chest to the object and on the second beat you push up. Continue this until you no longer can keep up with the beat. Test again in 6-8 weeks.

Sometimes it is fun to put together a challenging workout and see how fast you can get through the workout. Here is this weeks free featured workout that I often use as an assessment for some of my clients:

http://www.myworkoutcreator.com/premade-workouts/free-featured-workouts/new-years-fitness-test/

Good Luck In 2012!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

One of my favorite action goals, especially if strength improvement is your goal, is to break records during your workout.  One mistake people tend to make is that they alter their workouts too often and really don’t see the progress they are making.  It is fine to add variety to your routine, but you should have a very consistent foundation.

Here is my challenge to your.  Regardless of what you overall goal is, try this out for the next 6-9 weeks.  Pick 2-4 core exercises to build your program from.  Your goal is to break records for these exercises.  You can perform others through out this time, but these few exercises stay consistent.  To give yourself more variety and more chances to break records you will use a undulating periodization model, meaning you will change the reps and sets each workout.

Here is an example for gaining strength.  I will pick two upper and two lower body exercises to start.  For this example I will perform Bench Press, Weighted Chin Ups, Hex Bar Deadlifts, and Squats.  Pretty basic exercises but that is ok.  This can be your entire workout or you can add auxiliary exercise to add on.  I would recommend breaking this up since we will be lifting fairly intensely for each exercise.  Day 1 will be Bench Press and Deadlifts and Day 2 will be Chin Ups, and Squats.  Then we will perform different sets and reps each week.  Here is what it may look like:

Week 1 – 6 sets of 3 reps

Week 2 – 4 sets of 6 reps

Week 3 – 3 sets of 12 reps

*the final set of each workout you will perform as many reps as possible.

You will need to adjust the weight accordingly.  Now you just track and repeat the program.  You can perform this same exact workout for 2 cycles of 6 weeks or 3 cycles of 9 weeks.  You goal is to either use more weight then the previous time or complete more reps in your last set.  I promise if you follow a workout like this you will see amazing progress and your year will be off to a great start.

Have a great workout.

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS

My Workout Creator

First off I believe this topic can be very debatable in both directions, but I wanted to share a few studies that looked at training to failure vs not training to failure. The first study, Differential effects of strength training leading to failure versus not to failure on hormonal responses, strength, and muscle power gains, took two groups of individuals. They both performed the same workout over an 11 week period. One group trained to muscular failure while the other did not train to complete failure. Following the 11 weeks researchers found that just about all measurements they tested for both improved the same amount. Gains in 1RM for Bench Press, Squats, muscle power output of the arm and leg, and muscular endurance were all relatively similar. One difference they did find, however, was that resting levels of insulin like growth factor (IGF-1), an anabolic hormone, had decreased in the failure group. The non failure group saw a decrease in resting cortisol, a catabolic hormone, and an increase in resting testosterone.

So to sum up this study, after 11 weeks of training both group saw about the same increases in strength, but the failure group had higher levels of catabolic hormones and lower levels of anabolic hormones.

In a second study, Short-Term Performance Effects of Weight Training With Multiple Sets Not to Failure vs. a Single Set to Failure in Women, researchers looked at the difference in women training 1 set to failure or 3 sets to non failure. In this study they found that the non failure group improved in strength and power significantly more than the failure group.

What does this mean for your program? Well first off I think it needs to be stated that it is very difficult to study failure training techniques. They are advanced and not everyone is willing to train this hard. Even in studies like these I think we may have to question if participants are truly performing until complete failure. I think these studies do show that we may not have to ALWAYS train to complete failure. We can see much benefit from increasing the volume of work performed without actually hitting failure each set.

On the other hand we can’t simply ignore results that body builders have been getting for decades with this style of training. My best advice would be to vary up your program. It is fine to include failure training techniques like drop sets or rest pause sets, but we can’t train this way all the time. These styles of training create significant muscle damage that needs time to repair. If we are constantly damaging the muscle we need to allow enough time to recover. So be careful not to abuse failure training. Remember the first study we talked about. This style of training may lead to increases in catabolic hormones which will actually break more muscle tissue down.

Instead you can create a program where you alternate between high intensity failure training with high volume training. This way you can stay fresher and continue to see more progress.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS

http://www.myworkoutcreator.com/20111025/the-truth-to-bigger-arms/

This post was based off a really cool research study that I had found.  Well I found another one that shows one simple trick you can do to increase your energy expenditure during your workout.  If fat loss is one of your goals for strength training you might want to through this in the mix.  Here is the study:

When my high jumping career was over I started taking more of an interest in strength training.  I started reading muscle magazines and watching what other people did at the gym.  Since performance was no longer my goal I wanted to workout more to look bigger and be stronger.  I trained incredibly hard to reach this goal.  I would dedicate whole workouts to bi’s and tri’s to get huge arms.  After 2 years of training my new weight…..the same as when I started.  Believe me I know how frustrating it can be to workout hard and not hit your goals.

Hindsight my problem was actually an easy fix.  How can I gain 25lbs in college when my goal was performance and then gain nothing when my goal is weight gain?  In fact I probably would have gained more weight in college if I wanted to.  Because I was an athlete I need to watch my weight, so I would have to control my eating to prevent even more weight gain.   When I examine how I was training in college vs post grad the answer becomes clear.  I was focusing on the wrong things.  I wanted bigger arms so I would only train my arms one day per week with nothing else.

World famous fitness expert Charles Poliquin is known for saying, “to gain 1 inch in your arms, you need to gain about 10lbs of muscle mass.”  If this is the case how long will it take to gain 10lbs doing bicep curls?  I tried to 2 years and didn’t come close.  Instead when I look at my college program I see exactly why I gained so much muscle.  I was performing compound upper and lower body exercises.  In fact I rarely did any arm exercises.  We would even get yelled at by our strength coaches if they saw anyone doing a bicep curl.

Here is a study that helps demonstrate this point:

Rogers et al

The Effect of Supplemental Isolated Weight-Training Exercises on Upper-Arm Size and Upper-Body Strength

Human Performance Laboratory, Ball State University, Muncie, IN.
NSCA Conference Abstract (2000)

To quickly sum this study up, researchers had two groups perform exercise.  One group did a workout consisting of 4 compound upper body exercise while the other group did the same workout but added in bicep curls and tricep extension.  The results…both groups got bigger arms and strong upper body, but there was no difference between the groups.  Adding isolated arm work did nothing.

Another feature of my college program was I was perform total body, compound exercises, multiply times per week.  The common body building program you see is splitting the body up into parts and working each one out per day.  Something like Chest on Monday, Back on Tuesday, Shoulders/Arms Wednesday, Legs Thursday….With this type of program you will only hit these muscle once per week, maybe twice.  By performing total body workouts or at least not splitting up workouts as much you will be able to hit each muscle group more often.

One last study that prove this point:

Comparison of 1 Day and 3 Days Per Week of Equal-Volume Resistance Training in Experienced Subjects

For this study researchers had one group perform strength exercise once a week and another 3 days a week.  They both kept total volume the same so both groups actually did the same amount of work.  The results were that the three day a week group saw more significant muscle growth and strength increases even though they did the same over all work.  More exposure is superior.

So the bottom line is, if you want to build more muscle concentrate on big lifts.  The method muscle grow is through muscle damage and hormonal release.  Isolated exercise will not work very well to release anabolic hormones like testosterone and growth hormone compared to pull ups, deadlifts, or other compound exercises.  It is ok to throw arm exercises in your program but they should not be the foundation of your training. I can personally see this happen over the past few years.  I currently weigh 20lbs more than I did in college with right around the same body fat percentage.  My secret was simple.  I started lifting like I did in college with a few new twists that I have learned along the way.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

In the latest issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, they looked at this question in terms of Excess Postexercise Oxygen Consumption or EPOC.  If fat loss is a goal of you program that this will be a concern for you.

If you have never heard of EPOC before, it is essential the energy required after exercise to return your body to pre-exercise levels.  Think about after you do a workout, how high your heart rate is.  It doesn’t just immediately return to resting levels.  It takes a few minutes for this to happen.  This and other reactions in the body require energy (calories) to do so.  So the higher you can get the EPOC the more calories you will burn after your workout when you are doing nothing.

There are a few things that we know will increase EPOC.  One of the biggest ways is by increasing the intensity of the workout.  The high the metabolic demand the higher the EPOC response.

This study looked at if doing cardio before or after resistance training changed EPOC at all.  This study took a group of individuals and had them perform 30 minutes of moderate cardio before strength and then after the strength workout on another day.  EPOC was measured up to 60 minutes post workout.

This study found that there was no significant difference of performing cardio first or last.  Whether you do cardio first or last, according to this study, it will make no difference on calorie burn after the workout.

One issue with this study that is worth noting is it used a very small sample size.  There were only 7 male participants total.  This study did not look at calories burned during exercise either which might have been different. So while it is worth noting the results, I think it is safe to say more research should be performed to test this.

What can we take from this study?  Since there may not be a major difference in term of EPOC it might not make a huge difference which you do first.    Some general guidelines I recommend are as follows:

1.  Perform what is most important first.  If you are trying to build more muscle mass do your strength first.  If you are trying to improve your endurance you probably want to start with cardio first.

2.  If neither strength or endurance goals outweigh each other than I would recommend strength first.  It is usually performed at a higher intensity so it should be performed when fresh.

3.  Perform your cardio and strength workouts on separate days.  It may not be possible  always to do this since it means you will have to workout more days per week, but if you can just do each workout on separate days.

4.  If you cannot do it on separate days then mainly focus on one of them.  For example perform your high intense strength training first and then just finish with moderate cardio to burn extra calories.  Or the other way around.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

You don’t have to take my word for it though.  Check out some of these studies I reviewed for you on interval training:

1.  Effect of Exercise Training Intensity on Abdominal Visceral Fat and Body Composition
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 40 no11 1863-72 N 2008

This study took obese individuals and divided them into a control group who did nothing, a low intensity cardio group (what most people do), and a high intensity interval group.   The low intensity group worked out 5 days per week while the high intensity group worked out 3 days per week at a high intesnity and 3 days at a low intensity.

Researchers measured abdominal fat before and after the study which lasted 16 weeks.  The only group that saw any change in abdominal fat over the program was the high intensity group.  This means that the low intensity group trained the same number of days but didn’t lose ANY abdominal fat.

2. Physiological responses during interval training with different intensities and duration of exercise.
J Strength Cond Res. 2011 May;25(5):1279-84.

This study looked at what duration of interval training and intensity provided the best results.  The longer you can train at higher intensities will result in greater caloric burn.  So this study tried to find what duration of interval should be used to get the highest return.  They compared using intervals of 30 seconds and 3 minutes with intensities of 90-100%.
What they found was that by using an intensity of 90% and shorter intervals of 30 seconds, participants were able to keep this pace for longer workouts, burned more calories, and increase aerobic and anaerobic capabilities better.

3.  Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996 Oct;28(10):1327-30.

This is the famous Tabata study, named after one of the researchers.  This study compared 6 weeks of moderate intensity cardio with very high intensity intervals of 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off for 8 rounds.  The neat part about this study was the interval group had to work very hard but only had to train for 4 minutes each interval workout.

The main findings from this study that just 4 minutes of interval training resulted in better aerobic improvements and anaerobic improvements after 6 weeks.  This is powerful stuff, further proving that the higher the intensity you can train the better results you will see.

Try switching your program up if you are currently only doing moderate intensity cardio.  You can continue this training just add 2 or 3 high intensity interval training workouts each week.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

Post Workout Nutrition is becoming the new most important meal of the day for some. I still think breakfast is the #1 meal you NEED to get in but post workout is definitely up there. When we refer to post workout here we are talking immediately after a workout. Research is showing about a 45 minute window to get the most out of your snack. Remember it does take time to digest and absorb the foods you eat or drink so do your best to get it in A.S.A.P.

There are three main reasons for getting this post workout snack in:

1. Stop Protein Breakdown.
2. Start Protein Synthesis.
3. Replenish Glycogen Stores.

When we workout, especially resistance training, we are breaking down and damaging our muscles. Our bodies react to this stress by releasing certain hormones so that our bodies can handle the stress. One hormone that is released during stress (including exercise) is cortisol. Many people are now because familiar with this pain in the ass hormone. While certain amounts of cortisol are absolutely necessary, too much can become a problem. When cortisol levels increase, like during long and intense training sessions, our bodies become in a catabolic state. This means things are being broken down. We are most concern with protein. Our body senses low blood sugar and depleted muscle glycogen so the cortisol causes us to break down protein in muscle to amino acids for energy. Cortisol is also responsible for storing abdominal fat.

This is where the importance of nutrient timing comes in. When you eat the right foods at the right time you can start to reverse the catabolic environment and become anabolic. By eating food at this time our muscle are more receptive to change. They are in desperate need of energy so the foods you consume will be used for good. Eating immediately after will release insulin which will do two things. It will signal the body to decrease cortisol levels and it will help shuttle glycogen and amino acids into the muscle to start the recovery process.

Here are 3 simple things you can do for an effective post workout snack:

1. Consume a snack immediately after training.
2. Use fast acting carbs and proteins. For carbs use simple sugars (like fruit) and for protein whey isolates is usually the best.
3. Get a 1:3 ratio of carbs to proteins. Most people underestimate how important carbs are after a workout. There is no need to go crazy with the protein. For fat loss I usually recommend around 10g of protein and 30g of carbs and for muscle building around 30g of protein and 90g of carbs.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

PS. If you haven’t checked it out yet our new fat loss app is now available in the app store. Get your fat loss workouts directly on your phone. Unlimited workouts when you purchase it. Hurry though, it is only $.99 for the first 30 days we launch it. Just search for Fat Loss in the App Store.