Category: Exercise

Push-up exercise

The science behind the push-up exercise

Posted dgreenisfitPosted in Exercise

The push-up exercise has been a go-to exercise for many years. Today we discuss the science behind the push-up exercise and see how it stacks up against exercises like the bench press. The push-up can be altered in many ways to change the intensity and potentially what muscles are targeted. The push up also offers an equipment-free solution to train the chest, shoulders, serratus, and triceps.

It’s a no-brainer that putting one-rep max weight on the bench press will activate the muscles of the chest and triceps more than simply performing a body weight push-up. However, one study compared low-load bench press to the push-up exercise. It was found that low-load bench press (40% of one rep max) and those who performed just push-ups had a significant increase in their one rep max on the bench press as well as similar growth in the pecs and triceps. Bicep size tended to only increase in those who did bench press. This shows us that the push-up exercise despite being an equipment-free exercise still provides both hypertrophy and strength benefits. Other studies have shown that the bench press is preferable to the push up with regard to muscle activation at the same load. However for training triceps when the load is the same the exercises equally activate the tricep.

Regarding push up position, studies have looked at how position affects muscle activation. The muscles that were looked at included the deltoid, triceps, serratus, and lumbar muscles. Studies have shown that activation of the pecs (big chest muscle) don’t really change much with altering the push up by adding instability. One muscle that does tend to be worked a bit harder is the serratus, abs, and triceps when an element of instability is added to the exercise, such as push-ups with the swiss ball or with TRX straps. For this, it requires the hands to be on the unstable surface, not the feet. Studies have shown that resting your feet on a swiss ball vs bench makes no difference in muscle activation. Regarding incline positioning vs decline positioning of course as you elevate your feet, your chest supports more of your body weight leading to increased muscle activation. Alternatively, if you elevate your upper body the push-up exercise becomes easier to perform because more of your body weight is supported by your feet.

Takeaways regarding the push-up exercise:

  1. On many fronts, the push-up and bench press offer similar benefits to increase strength and muscle size.

  2. The great news is the push up doesn’t require any equipment and you can still get hypertrophy and strength gains.

  3. When adding instability to the push-up exercise you may get increase activation of the serratus, abdominal muscles and triceps.

  4. If you are going to add instability let your hands be on the instability equipment (hands on TRX straps or medicine ball rather than your feet.

Sources for the science behind the push-up:

Low-load bench press and push-up induce similar muscle hypertrophy and strength gain

Muscle activation during push-ups performed under stable and unstable conditions

Shoulder muscle EMG activity during push up variations on and off a Swiss ball

Effect of Progressive Calisthenic Push-up Training on Muscle Strength and Thickness

Comparison in muscle activity between bench press and push-up exercise: An electromyography study

Neuromuscular comparison of push-up variations and bench press

Effects of Angle Variations in Suspension Push-Up Exercise

 

HIIT

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) May Be Right For You

Posted dgreenisfitPosted in Cardio, Exercise

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) may be a great option for you. We have all continued to grow busier in our lives. Demands from work, family, finances, or other things may limit your access and the time to you can spend at the gym.

I will lump HITT and High Intensity Circut Training together (HICT.) These programs can get around the typical requirement for gym equipment as often times they can be performed with body weight. Given the higher intensity and lower amount of rest time, it may also be more efficient.

There has been a great deal of hype behind HICT/HITT style training in fact based on a worldwide survey HITT tops the charts as the most popular fitness trend in 2018 followed by group fitness classes and wearable technology.

One of the clear benefits is fat loss, it has been questioned that HITT style training may even have increased fat loss compared to that of typical aerobic steady state cardio.  Part of the reason for this is thought to be due to increase growth hormone secretion and increased catecholamines that occur from HITT training when compared to traditional cardio. The benefits of a ramped up metabolism have been recorded out as far as 72 hours.  Impressively even doing 8 minutes a week of maximal effort HITT can decrease insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the primary mechanism for developing type II diabetes. This is incredibly important ss diabetes is ravaging our country and our obesity rate is nearly 40%. 

When designing a HIIT/HICT routine use these principles: 

1) Full body and balanced

  • Don’t just focus on upper body. You want to focus on hitting all of the muscles throughout your body. You want your routine to be balanced so if you work your abs also work your lower back. If you work your quads also work your hamstrings.

2) Alternate antagonistic/agonistic muscles with each exercise

  • Alternate exercises such as working chest and then back. Biceps and then triceps. Upper body and then lower body.

3) Use large muscles and compound movements

  • Make sure to pick exercises that engage many muscles and exercise such as the squat is a great example. Focusing on big movements that target the chest, back and legs will help hit everything in between. You will inadvertently work your core and arms by doing those big movements.

4) Flexible and willing to change to reach target effort 

  • HIIT only works if you keep the intensity up. You gotta be willing to give it 100% during the short intervals that you are working. So put down the cell phone, no talking, just focus on your intensity.

5) Quick transitions to keep your heart rate up

  • Make the transitions between exercises quick! Try to start doing the next exercises within 15 seconds of completing your last one. This will keep your body ramped up. The intensity is the key and you cannot reach it if you are slugging between exercises.

A few common exercises you can use in HIIT and HICT:

  • Pull-ups
  • Jumping Jacks
  • Burpees
  • Plank
  • Jump Rope
  • Push Ups
  • Dips
  • Sprints
  • Calf Raises

All of these can be done with body weight which is as cheap and easy as it gets. If you are looking to increase the difficulty check out these weighted vests that you can purchase on Amazon. If you have any questions about HIIT training or anything else related to nutrition and fitness let us know!

Sources for HIIT:

HIGH-INTENSITY CIRCUIT TRAINING USING BODY WEIGHT: Maximum Results With Minimal Investment

WORLDWIDE SURVEY OF FITNESS TRENDS FOR 2018: The CREP Edition

Just HIT it! A time-efficient exercise strategy to improve muscle insulin sensitivity

One-set resistance training elevates energy expenditure for 72 h similar to three sets.

Dose-response studies on the metabolic effects of a growth hormone pulse in humans.

Effects of standard set and circuit weight training on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption

The effects of high- intensity intermittent exercise training on fat loss and fasting insulin levels of young women

 

restricted blood flow training

Restricted blood flow training? Bro-science or a key to gains?

Posted dgreenisfitPosted in Exercise, Health

Nearly everyone in the gym is looking for the best way to get swole. Common knowledge leads us to believe that progressive muscle overload is the key to hypertrophy. Today we look at the science behind restricted blood flow training.

What is restricted blood flow training?

This technique was popularized in Japan and is referred to as KAATSU. Restricted blood flow training has actually been around for around 4 decades. There are a variety of approaches to achieving restricted blood flow but generally, it involves placing a constricting band on your extremities (arm or leg)

Why it’s important to consider restricted blood flow training?

One of the interesting questions is can low intensity exercise with restricted blood flow cause muscle hypertrophy? This is interesting because it goes against the common thought that only progressive muscle load and lifting weights >70% of the one rep max (1RM) can cause hypertrophy. There are multiple ways to incorporate restricted blood flow training into your routine. One is by adding in a low-intensity blood flow restricted day to your workout routine. The other option is for those who are limited and unable to do intense exercise. Those people may get increased strength and hypertrophy while avoiding major load on their muscles, ligaments, tendons since they can work at a lower intensity.

You know I wouldn’t be telling you all of this unless there was some science to back it up!

I’ll admit I was skeptical but after doing some research I found myself a bit more convinced. Multiple studies have found that blood flow resistance training results in increases in both size and strength in the arms and legs. New studies even indicate that both size and strength gains are noticed in muscles that don’t undergo restricted blood flow. One study found size and strength increase in the chest in those who restricted blood flow to the arms but not in a control group that didn’t use RBF. RBF training resulted in increased 1RM on bench press and squat. A meta-analysis (which is a study of that compiles and compares the results of many studies) compared those who didn’t use RBF training to those who did found and found an average difference in muscle size of around half a centimeter. Strength gains were noticed even in those that exercised using around 20% of 1RM. Generally, these types of gains are not noticed until workouts of 45-60% of 1RM in untrained individuals or up to 80-85% in trained individuals. The best results tend to occur and are most easily quantifiable 6 weeks into training. A study in 2000 found that after people who did BFR had significantly increased muscle mass and strength vs those who did high-intensity training at 80% of 1RM

Why in the world does restricted blood flow training give us size and strength gains?

It is hard to tell exactly. One thing we know for sure is that BFR causes an increase in growth hormone, which is pretty profound. Growth hormone is known to increase muscle growth and break down fat. Some studies of RBF have shown a 9 fold increase in growth. Typically GH also causes an increase in IGF-1 which is another growth factor. However, in the case of RBF training IGF-1 does not increase. We also know that RBF does not cause increases in testosterone so we can’t give the credit to our friendly anabolic hormone testosterone. There are other reasons that are less understood but changes in metabolism, byproducts of metabolism, and reactive oxygen species may also play a part. BFR training has been shown to increase muscle glycogen content, which is essentially the fuel cell of our muscles. On a cellular level studies have shown an increase in the synthetic rate of proteins from amino acids. This increase can be as high as 46%. Looking to our genetic code DNA which makes RNA which ultimately makes protein. Restricted blood flow training also initiates the process of making RNA into protein by 3 fold.

Why the hell not start doing restricted blood flow training today?

Some of the biggest concerns involve the risk of cardiovascular issues, blood clots, vascular function, nerve and muscle damage. There have been surveys of 30,000 sessions of RBF exercise training. It is important to remember that those who were surveyed came from a generally healthy population. The most side effects that were reported involved bruising, numbness, and lightheadedness. Some more dangerous side effects such as blood clots were also reported but at a lower rate than that of the general population.

When nerves were studied before and after 4 weeks of BFR training there did not seem to be a change in conduction to indicated nerve damage. However, it has been reported In studies of animals that BFR has resulted in structural tissue damage. The risk of clots remains concerning because of something called Virchow’s triad. Virchow’s triad is made up of three factors which contribute to developing a blood clot 1) abnormal flow of blood 2) injuries to the blood vessel wall and 3) alterations in blood coagulation. We can see how 2 of these conditions may easily be met in blood flow restricted training.

Other studies have looked at the safety of restricted blood flow training by measuring blood markers. Researchers did not find increases in the inflammatory marker (C-reactive protein.) There were also no changes in fibrinogen or D-dimer which are related to blood clots.

So what’s our take away based on the science?

Ultimately restricted blood flow training has some incredibly interesting research behind it. It seems that generally, most studies agree that RBF training can cause increases in both size and strength even when the exercise is performed at low intensity. Some studies have shown size and strength increases in muscles other than those that had restricted blood flow to them (such as the chest.) This is possibly mediated by an increase in growth hormone secretion, but it is not still well understood. We, however, cannot in good conscious recommend doing blood flow restricted training since very little research has been performed to understand the safety of these techniques. It will certainly be interesting to see what future research of these techniques will show.

Going to try restricted blood flow training anyway? Here are a few restricted blood flow training kits on Amazon.

Looking to lose weight, build muscle, gain strength, compete in powerlifting or a bodybuilding show? Check out our custom plans to help you reach your goals!

 

Don’t want to work 1 on 1 with one of our coaches? Check out our new 8-week workout plan The Beast Beneath! The Beast Beneath is available for immediate download.

Interested in reading more about blood flow restricted training? You can find all the sources below:

Effects of low-intensity bench press training with restricted
arm muscle blood flow on chest muscle hypertrophy: a pilot
study.

Blood Flow Restricted Exercise and Skeletal Muscle Health

Effects of cuff width on arterial occlusion: implications for blood flow restricted exercise

Relative safety of 4 weeks of blood flow-restricted resistance exercise in young, healthy adults

Effect of restricted blood flow on exercise-induced hormone changes in healthy men

Exercise intensity and muscle hypertrophy in blood flow–restricted limbs and non-restricted muscles: a brief review

Low-intensity blood flow restriction training: a meta-analysis

A Review on the Mechanisms of Blood-Flow Restriction Resistance Training-Induced Muscle Hypertrophy

The efficacy of blood flow restricted exercise: A systematic review & meta-analysis

The Effects of a 7-Week Practical Blood Flow Restriction Program on Well-Trained Collegiate Athletes

Exercise and Blood Flow Restriction

targeted fat loss

The myth of targeted fat loss. Can you really just lose belly fat?

Posted JacobPosted in Exercise

So many people want to lose weight and the first thing they normally want to get rid of is their stomach fat. There’s nothing more motivating than picturing yourself with a rock hard six pack. The idea of targeting a specific area of the body for fat loss is also referred to as is localized fat reduction or spot reduction. These methods are simply ineffective and the practice of targeted fat loss does not work. There are several studies supporting this. One study tested targeted fat loss in 14 men and 10 women. The participants completed ab exercises 5 days per week. The exercises consisted of 7 different abdominal movements and each exercise was performed for 2 sets of 10 reps. After doing this for 6 weeks they found that it had no effect on spot reduction of fat on their core. A similar 27 day study also focused on abdominal exercises for belly fat reduction. The results were the same and showed that spot reduction of fat was not seen in the participants in the study. The research on this topic goes beyond exercises of just the abdominal muscles. Another study looked at 104 subjects who performed resistance training in their non-dominant. At the end of a 12 week period they found that targeted fat loss did not occur in the non-dominant arm. These are just a few of the studies which display how focusing on a single body part to lose fat is not the right way to go about it. Truth is you lose fat in a generalized way throughout your body. You may notice that you lose or gain fat in some places first when dieting or falling off your diet.  This isn’t to say you shouldn’t train abs. There is no doubt that core strength is important within an overall fitness routine but sit ups will not help you lose stomach fat and get the six pack you want. The best way to chisel away fat is by sticking with a diet built for your personal goals and keeping up with a workout routine. If want to read an article on how to get started with weight loss check out our article on that topic.

Sources on targeted fat loss:

Effects of Sit up Exercise Training on Adipose Cell Size and Adiposity

Subcutaneous fat alterations resulting from an upper-body resistance training program.

The effect of abdominal exercise on abdominal fat.

 

variations in squat stance and bar placement

Variations in squat stance and bar placement greatly affect your workout

Posted dgreenisfitPosted in Exercise

Not every squat is the same! Variations in squat stance and bar placement can shift focus to different muscle groups in the legs and also reduce compression and stress in different parts of the body such as the knees and lower back. Wide vs Narrow. High bar, low bar, front squat and depth. Also the depth of your squat can cause change in the workout as well. So if you want to target different muscles or prevent stress in certain areas, know the difference between stances, positions and depth for squats and how they affect the body. Lets learn how these variations in squat stance and bar placement affect your workout.

1) Muscle recruitment wide vs narrow squat

In the narrow stance a study had shown that gastrocnemius activity had an overall increase of 21% more than the wide stance. However wide stance squats have shown to target the GM and adductor longus more than the narrow. It is reported that the greatest activity of the wide stance for those muscles was at 140% shoulder width. The wide stance also increased muscular torque of the adductors and the hip extensors as well. The same study did not show an overall difference in the activation and activity of the quadriceps and hamstrings.

2) Compressive forces varies with stance

The different stances also affect the compressive forces put on the bodies extremities. When squatting wide there is a 15%-16% increase in patellofemoral and tibiofemoral forces. The study does note that the wide stance is from 158-196% of shoulder width while narrow is defined as 87-118% shoulder width. If you are looking for a better stance for less knee compression then you should go for a more narrow
squat. However, while performing a more narrow squat there can be more shear to the knee from a possible 4 to 6 cm increase in forward knee translation compared to a more moderate wide stance. So in turn if looking to reduce the shear at the knee choose a wide stance.

3) Low bar, high bar and front squats

There are many differences in muscle activation with the slight placement of the bar just above and below the acromion. With low bar you are able to get more torque from your hip flexors while in return producing less knee extensor torque. What this also means is that it reduces not only patellofemoral compressions but also involves less strain on the ACL. As for front squat, there showed a reduction of compressive forces in not only the lumbar but the maximal joint at the knee as well. Front squats can also target and isolate the quadriceps more so it is a favorable choice if you would rather develop the top of the thigh rather than the gluteals.

4) Squat depth

Lastly the depth of your squat can have an impact on your leg routine. The study claims that squatting to parallel has shown increase in quadricep development. Full squats in comparison target the hip flexor more and could be more beneficial for those looking to strengthen the hip musculature. Full squats also increases to average muscle activity of the GM when compared to parallel squats.

So as noted in the study there are many differences between the small changes in squat form and position that can affect your workout to focus on different muscle groups or avoid putting stress on areas to avoid injuries and promote recovery.

The High Yield:

Wide stance – Targets hip adductors and extensor while at the same time reducing shear of the knee because of less forward knee translation.

Narrow stance – Targets gastrocnemius and reduces the compression of the tibiofemoral and patellofemoral.

Low bar position – More hip extensor torque

High bar position – More knee extensor torque

Front squat position – Lower knee/ lumbar compression and stress. More concentration on quadriceps.

Squat depth (full vs parallel) – Full squat increase muscle activity of hip flexor GM. Parallel more development in quadriceps.

References for variations in squat stance and bar placement:

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c4fa/4ecd4ce17cc85dfc29dd5894de076e95e68e.pdf

Caterisano, A, Moss, RF, Pellinger, TK, Woodruff, K, Lewis, VC, Booth, W, and Khadra, T. The effect of back squat depth on the EMG activity of 4 superficial hip and thigh muscles. J Strength Cond Res 16: 428–432, 2002.

Donnelly, DV, Berg, WP, and Fiske, DM. The effect of the direction of gaze on the kinematics of the squat exercise. J Strength Cond Res 20: 145–150, 2006.

Escamilla, RF, Fleisig, GS, Lowry, TM, Barrentine, SW, and Andrews, JR. A three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of the squat during varying stance widths. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33: 984–998, 2001b

Escamilla, RF, Fleisig, GS, Zheng, N, Lander, JE, Barrentine, SW, Andrews, JR, Bergemann, BW, and Moorman, CT. Effects of technique variations on knee biomechanics during the squat and leg press. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33: 1552–1566, 2001a.

Fry, AC, Smith, JC, and Schilling, BK. Effect of knee position on hip and knee torques during the barbell squat. J Strength Cond Res 17: 629–633, 2003

Gullett, JC, Tillman, MD, Gutierrez, GM, and Chow, JW. A biomechanical comparison of back and front squats in healthy trained individuals. J Strength Cond Res 23: 284–292, 2009.

Markolf, KL, Gorek, JF, Kabo, JM, and Shapiro, MS. Direct measurement of resultant forces in the anterior cruciate ligament: An in vitro study performed with a new experimental technique. J Bone Joint Surg 72: 557–567, 1990.

McCaw, ST and Melrose, DR. Stance width and bar load effects on leg muscle activity during the parallel squat. Med Sci Sports Exerc 31: 428–436, 1999.

Ninos, JC, Irrgang, JJ, Burdett, R, and Weiss, JR. Electromyographic analysis of the squat performed in self-selected lower extremity neutral rotation and 30 of lower extremity turn-out from the self selected neutral position. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 25: 307–315, 1997

Paoli, A, Marcolin, G, and Petrone, N. The effect of stance width on the electromyographical activity of eight superficial thigh muscles during back squat with different bar loads. J Strength Cond Res 23: 246–250, 2009.

Watkins, J. Structure and Function of the Musculoskeletal System. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers, 1999.