Optimum Rep Speed For Maximum Gains

Welcome to one of the oldest issues in the world of bodybuilding: how fast should you lift for optimal muscle growth? There have been different answers to this question over the last two decades from various experts and scientists and that has made the matter even more complicated and confusing that it actually is. In this article we’ll try to shed some new light upon this debate and ultimately help you achieve better results by adequately adjusting your rep tempo.

Slow or Fast?

Rep tempo or lifting speed is basically the rate at which you perform reps in a given set. Some personal trainers will tell you that the best way to lift is explosively, thereby maximizing fiber recruitment and triggering greater growth, while others claim that lifting in a slow and controlled manner, especially on the eccentric portion of the movement, will create greater muscle tension and lead to greater hypertrophy. And then there are those who swear that frequently varying the speed is the key lifting technique for optimal gains.

So Which of These Opinions is the Closest to the Truth?

For starters, it’s a fact that a slow rep tempo will reduce the amount of weight you can handle and you’ll end up performing less work than you would with a high-velocity movement. But still, it’s also true that time under tension tends to be significantly greater at slower velocities and muscles get stimulated for a longer period of time. Therefore, manipulating the tempo will produce important differences in muscle adaptation, based on its effects on the correlation between volume and time under tension.

But most recently, a meta-analysis on the subject, involving data from eight controlled trials that compared the effects of different training tempos on muscle hypertrophy, showed that there are no significant differences in hypertrophy between lifting with a rep tempo of half a second and eight seconds, in terms of training to the point of muscular failure. It seems that the specific benefits of both slow (greater volume) and fast velocity (greater time under tension) training get evened out and in the end both tempos produce similar results.

However, there seems to be a threshold beyond which slowing down the lifting speed has negative influence on hypertrophy – when reps last for 10 seconds or longer, the amount of weight you can lift is dramatically reduced, resulting with an equally reduced muscle activation. And this inability to recruit the full spectrum of muscle fibers is ultimately detrimental to both strength and size gains, so it’s safe to say that super-slow lifting is not the best idea for maximizing your growth.

Concentric vs. Eccentric Tempo

The previously discussed findings inspected the effects of different total rep durations but left out the influence of varying the tempo on the concentric and eccentric portions of the lift. Unfortunately, only a small number of studies have tried to determine optimal concentric and eccentric tempos for muscle growth. One of them, that explored hypertrophic adaptations between different concentric and eccentric tempos under traditional training methods, split 28 women with previous training experience into two groups: one performed lower body exercises with two-second duration of the concentric portion and a six-second duration of the eccentric portion of the movement, while the second group trained on the reverse way – with a six-second duration of the concentric and two-second duration of the eccentric portion. That being said, the load and total time under tension were equal for both groups.

The results showed a similar hypertrophy of type I fibers between the groups after nine weeks of training, but the group who performed slower on the concentric part had greater increases in type II fiber than the group who performed slower on the eccentric part. However, these results cannot be made into definitive conclusions, given the many methodological flaws and practical limitations of the study.

Take Home Message

The limited number of studies and their lack of in-depth analysis of the issue make it almost impossible for us to draw objective conclusions about which lifting tempo promotes better muscle growth. In reality, lifters use a wide range of lifting speeds to stimulate optimal hypertrophy and the results vary greatly from one individual to the other. Still, there are a few things we can say for sure:

• Taking more than three seconds on the concentric portion of the movement reduces the effectiveness of the exercise in terms of muscle activation.
• Eccentric portions should be performed in a way that enables sufficient muscular tension, meaning that you shouldn’t let the forces of gravity do the work. Controlled doesn’t necessarily mean super slow.
• If you want to increase time under tension, it’s best to use slow tempo on the eccentrics and perform the concentrics explosively.
• If you want to keep on building muscle at a relatively steady rate, you could benefit from varying the rep tempo every 4-6 weeks in order to recruit different muscle fiber types.

Essentially, manipulating with rep tempo can definitively help you maximize the effectiveness of your workouts, but until science provides us with more definitive answers, you will need to find out what works best for you, based on the basic rules we’ve uncovered in this article, and keep pushing yourself beyond your limits. Good luck!

6 Best Calf Slimming Exercises To Do At Home

Naturally bulky calves can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on the point of view. Male bodybuilders usually have a trouble stimulating their calves to grow, while most of the ladies don’t really enjoy having large calves that barely fit in their favorite pair of skinny jeans. And let’s not even mention that wearing skirts or dresses that don’t cover your big calves is a sure way to stand out in a crowd. The terrifying thing is that an increasing number of women who are unsatisfied with the size of their calves are seriously considering calf reduction surgery to help them get the legs they want. Is this really necessary? Not really, because there are others, less invasive and painful methods to slim down your calves which we’re going to uncover in this article. 

In order to slim down your calves, you need to perform high reps with light weights. Here are the exercises:

#1. Sumo squats

Stand up with your feet wider than shoulder width apart, toes facing out. Lower yourself down until your thighs are parallel with the floor, keeping your back neutral, and drive yourself back up through your heels. Perform 20 reps to warm up your legs.

#2. Sumo squat calf raises

Isolate the calves by standing tiptoe and squatting down and up from the sumo squat position with feet wider than shoulder width apart. Squeeze your calves hard on your way up. Perform 20 reps.

#3. Running

Have you noticed that runners always have really slim legs? This is because endurance running is one of the best ways to get defined, slim calves. For best results, perform it for 30 minutes at a moderate pace, three times per week.

#4. Skater hops

Lower your body toward the floor, knees slightly bent, then jump off your left leg. Land on the right foot, lifting your left leg behind you, then jump from right to left, lifting the right leg behind you. Keep hopping like this until you complete 15 reps on each side.

#5. Calf raises

For this movement you’ll need a high platform or some stairs. Stand straight with your feet wide apart, toes pointing either straight (equal emphasis on all calve muscles), inwards (emphasis on the inner calves) or outwards (emphasis on the outer calves), and raise your heels off the floor as you exhale by contracting the calves. Hold the top position for a second, then lower back down. Perform 30 reps.

#6. Calf Stretches

Calf stretches will elongate the calf muscles and make them appear slimmer. Choose a wall and support your body weight into the wall with your arms. Put one foot forward and bend the knee at 90 degrees while keeping the other foot back and straight. Push the back leg down by pushing the heels into the ground. Keep the calves of the back leg stretched like this for 30 seconds, then switch legs.

The Best Core Exercises for Runners

There are lots of core exercises out there. You've got crunches, planks, ab machines and dozens of other options. Which ones should you do as a runner? Answering this question becomes easy if you first consider what your core muscles are supposed to do for you when you're running. Once you've identified the responsibilities that these muscles need to fulfill, choosing the right core exercises is a simple matter of picking movements that train your core to do its various jobs more effectively.

Your core muscles have three major duties when you're running: 

- Keeps your pelvis and spine properly aligned, and stable in that alignment 

- Aids the transfer of forces between the upper body and the legs 

- Limits spinal rotation as you run

Let's take a closer look at each of these responsibilities and identify a sample exercise that helps the core perform each more effectively.

How Your Core Helps You Maintain Stability During Running

The major joints of your body—the ankles, knees, hips, etc.—are kind of like fault lines underneath the surface of the Earth. The impact of the foot against the ground during running is a bit like an earthquake. When an earthquake occurs in an area with highly unstable faults, lots of things on the surface get broken. Similarly, runners with poor joint stability have a way of getting injured. Well-conditioned core muscles are needed to keep the spine, pelvis and hips relatively stable when impact forces travel upward from the ground through the body.

While healthy running requires a strong core, running itself doesn't create a strong core. To strengthen your core muscles so that they do a better job of stabilizing your joints when you run, you need to do exercises that force key muscles such as the transverse abdominis—the deepest core muscle, which wraps around the lower torso like a corset—to work hard. The stability ball roll-out is one such exercise.

Core Exercise #1: Stability Ball Roll-Out

Kneel on the floor facing a stability ball, lean forward slightly, and place your forearms on top of the ball. Pull your belly button toward your spine. Slowly roll the ball forward by extending your forearms out in front of you and allowing your body to tilt toward the floor. Concentrate on maintaining perfect alignment of your spine. Stop just before you're forced to arch your back. Hold this position for three seconds and then return to the start position, exhaling as you do so. Do up to 12 repetitions.

How a Strong Core Enhances Running Performance

A strong core not only reduces injury risk, but also enhances running performance. In fact, better performance may be the primary benefit of having a strong core. A 2009 study by researchers at Barry University found that six weeks of core strength training significantly improved 5K race performance in a group of 28 runners.

How does a strong core enhance running performance? This question has not been definitively answered, but I suspect that strong abs allow for a more efficient transfer of forces between the upper body and the legs during running. Although the legs get all the credit, the upper body makes a crucial contribution to power generation when you run. To appreciate this, try running with your arms pinned against your sides and feel how much harder it is. A strong core creates a tighter link between the upper body and the legs so that less force generated at one end of the body is dissipated as it travels to the other end.

You can improve the capacity of your abdominal muscles to transfer forces more efficiently by including exercises that test this capacity under load. One such exercise is the standing cable high-low pull.

Core Exercise #2: Standing Cable High-Low Pull

Stand with your left side facing a cable pulley station with a D-handle attached at shoulder height. Bend your knees slightly and place your feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Use both hands to grab the handle. Your arms should be almost fully extended with your trunk twisted to the left.

Now pull the handle from this position across your body and toward the floor, stopping when your hands are outside your right ankle. This is a compound movement that involves twisting your torso to the right, shifting your weight from your left foot to your right foot, bending toward the floor, and using your shoulders to pull the handle across your body. Concentrate on initiating the movement with your trunk muscles. At the bottom of the movement, pause briefly, then return smoothly to the starting position. Complete 10 repetitions. Reverse your position and repeat the exercise.

How a Strong Core Helps You Move More Effectively

Although running is a straight-ahead action, a certain amount of rotational movement of the body helps you move forward more effectively. In particular, your pelvis needs to rotate to the side as your stride opens up to allow your push-off leg to extend farther behind you. But while this happens, you want your torso to stay locked in a forward-facing position, which requires that your spine avoid rotating with your pelvis. If your spine does rotate with your pelvis, you will waste energy in much the same way you'll waste energy if you pull with one oar at a time instead of with both oars together in a rowboat.

Runners with a weak core tend to exhibit wasteful trunk rotation. You can eliminate this problem by consistently doing core exercises, such as the standing trunk rotation, that challenge the abdominal muscles. Strong abdominal muscles resist rotational forces.

Standing Trunk Rotation

Stand with your left side facing a cable pulley station with a handle attached at shoulder height. Grasp the handle with both hands and fully extend the arms. Begin with your torso rotated toward the handle and tension in the cable (i.e. the weight stack is slightly elevated from the resting position). Rotate your torso to the right while keeping your arms fully extended and the handle in line with the center of your chest. Keep your eyes focused on the handle as you rotate, and keep your hips locked forward. Return to the start position without allowing the weight stack to come to rest. Complete 12 repetitions, then reverse your position and repeat the exercise.

3 Good Reasons To Go Swimming? Heart Disease, Diabetes & Obesity

For some of us (70%, to be exact), this conversation will start off with a trip to your local YMCA to get swimming lessons. I bet you’ll want to get those lessons asaptually (new word) when you read about all the health benefits of swimming. Ladies, forget about your hair getting wet and find a protective style that will allow you to dive into the deep end without splitting your loose ends. Brothers, let go of the life jackets and come get some of this knowledge. This aerobic activity improves cardiovascular health, controls blood sugar and helps in weight loss.

Where’s Your Heart At?

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the number one killer of African Americans. Swimming might have an answer to this problem. Breaststrokes can help decrease your chance of having an actual stroke. When cholesterol levels are high, strokes can occur. This aerobic activity improves your cardiovascular health and lowers cholesterol levels.

It’s recommend that you swim 20 to 40 minutes at a brisk pace. You’ll want to exert yourself moderately enough to work up a nice heart rate. You can start off slowly, resting between laps. However, over time you’ll be able to work out longer, adjusting your speed and technique as you progress in the practice.

Swimming is also great because you won’t be exerting your heart too much while doing it. Unlike running and other sports, swimming places less of a demand on your heart. Your heart rate while swimming will be around 10-20 beats per second.

Diabetes

The loss of Phife Dawg at 45 and Doug Banks at 57 sent an alarm to our community, which is desperately in need of an intervention for diabetes. In addition to the many diabetes-related complications, diabetics also have a higher risk of heart disease. Swimming helps to burn calories which helps in weight loss, important for diabetes prevention and management.

Swimming helps to strengthen all the major muscles in the body which helps in lowering blood sugar. Because of the nature of diabetes and how it causes the blood sugar in the body to fluctuate, it’s recommended that you regularly swim to maintain the glucose control levels. Start off by swimming as much as possible. This can be 5-10 minute sessions, eventually working your way up to 45-60 minute sessions with 10-15 minute rest periods.

Weight Loss & Toning

Going to the pool and doing the regular lap routine is only a start. For weight loss and strengthening, you want to maximize your time in the pool by trying out the butterfly stroke, fast crawl, breaststroke, backstroke and sidestroke to burn a lot of calories. These high-impact strokes will help you lose weight and tone up in places that weren’t imaginable with your other aerobic activities. For ladies looking to lose inches around the waist, this is the perfect exercise.

I’m tired of going to pool parties in the summertime and seeing all these good looking people parlaying on the side and not in the pool. As heart disease, diabetes and obesity continue to be major life-threatening conditions in our community, we must think about new and creative ways to address these issues. Exercise isn’t only lifting weights and running. Add swimming to your list – for life.

4 Things You Need to Do to Get to a Single Digit Number Bodyfat

Most of you probably already know the secret to getting a flat belly. Some strict training regime and dieting are bound to do the trick. But, if you want to truly dice your midsection and make those hard earned abs to start showing, you need to drastically reduce your body fat percentage, which takes a much more rigorous approach.

According to John Alvino, a nutrition expert who works with body builders, you can aim to reduce your body fat to 7%. However, in achieving this goal you must to approach your dieting plan more seriously, tailoring your nutrition intake with outmost precision. In other words, you need to see food purely as energy source. To help you in this effort, we provide you with these four steps.

Balancing Your Macros

Gaining lean muscle mass and reducing the body fat to 7% is not an easy task, unless you’re a genetic freak. To achieve this goal you need to constantly monitor your proteins, carbs, and fats intake, making sure that each micronutrient participates with the right amounts in your diet.

The first step is to determine how much calories you should consume on a daily basis. The easiest way to calculate your recommended calorie intake is by multiplying you current weight by 15 (if you are moderately active). In other words, the recommended daily intake for a 180 pounds guy is 2,700 calories to maintain his bodyweight.

However, you should have in mind that this applies only when you are in the normal weight range. If you are overweight and need to reduce belly fat, you calculate your daily calorie intake using the targeted bodyweight.  In other words, although your recommended daily intake is 3300 calories when you weigh 220 pounds, if you want to weigh 180 pounds, your daily intake should be 2,700 calories.

The next step is determining how much protein you should eat. The recommended daily dose is around 1.1-1.2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. Apply the above described principle in calculating your daily intake. If you want to weigh 180 pounds, but you weigh 220 pounds, consume just 200 grams of protein per each pound of bodyweight. Having in mind that one gram of protein contains 4 calories, you’ll be consuming 800 calories from protein based foods. Thirty percent of your daily calories should come from fats. For a moderately active 180 pounds guy that would be 900 calories every day.  One gram of fat contains nine calories. So, if your projected weight is 180 pounds, you should consume 100 grams of fat.

Now, it only remains to determine how much calories you should consume from carbs. This is calculated by subtracting the amount of fats and protein calories from the total number of calories.  As we already know the other figures for a 180 pounds guy, the equation would look like this: 2,700 (total daily calories) – 900 (fats calories) – 800 (protein calories) = 1000 (carbs calories). Having in mind that 1 gram of carbs contains 4 calories, the daily intake of carbs should be 250 grams.

Find Healthy Food Sources

Consume only lean protein mostly from animal sources like chicken breast, fish and beef. Restrain your carbs intake to starchy foods like potatoes and rice. You can also include some fruits in your diet, but not too much. Two pieces a day should be enough. Although fruits provide many health benefits, if you want to reduce your body fat to less than 10%, Alvino recommends eating “only enough fruit to fill your liver with glycogen. Any extra fructose can slow fat burning or encourage fat storage.” You can also consume non-starchy vegetables, like salads and greens.

You should aim at consuming most of your fats from the protein-based foods in your diet. If you need to find additional sources of fats to satisfy the macro requirements, you can go for avocados or coconut and olive oil.

Improve Your Lifestyle

The next item on Alvino’s list is the lifestyle. Most of the guys with ripped bodies have centered their lives around rigorous training and dieting. If you want to look like them, you should try and follow their lead. No more partying and alcohol. Instead, you should aim for at least seven hours of night sleep, and drink lots of water – at least one gallon a day. According to some studies, drinking 30 ounces of water can lead to a 24% increase of energy expenditure in resistance training individuals.

It’s also essential that you reduce stress to minimum. Find some time to relax by meditating or practicing yoga.  Of course, you can’t get far without proper workout. Aim for at least three weekly training sessions, that provide you with total body workout. Your protocol should mainly consist of compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, presses and rows.

Cycle Your Carbs

It’s not unusual for your progress to slow down once you start seeing some definition in your midsection. In times like this you need to rev up your metabolism so that you can continue shedding fat. This can be done by reconstructing your carbs intake and alternating through days with reduced carbs intake and days with increased intake.

Alvino recommends reducing your total calorie intake to 10 calories per each pound of body weight for three days. During these three days consume one gram of protein and 0.5 grams of carbs per each pound of bodyweight, while the rest of the calories should come from fats. On the fourth day you should increase the calorie intake to 15 calories per pound of body weight, and your carbs intake to two grams per pound.

According to Alvino, this increases the metabolic rate as a result of the work that your digestive system has to perform. Another benefit of boosting the carbs intake is that it will make your muscles look bigger and leaner by filling them up with water.