Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The Low Fructose Diet

The Low Fructose Diet
by Cassandra Forsythe, PhD(c), CSCS, CISSN

Are you looking for that nutritional edge to get your body composition to the next level?
Have you been eating your "five-a-day" like a good girl should, but just can't shake that last bit of icing off your former muffin-top?

Well, take close note: if you reduce the fructose in your diet, you will lose that stubborn body fat!
Fructose is a type of simple sugar (a carbohydrate in its simplest form) that is much different than its sister sugar, namely glucose. When you eat fructose, it's absorbed more slowly in the intestine, and its absorption is slightly limited.
Some people—like those with diabetes, see fructose as a superior simple sugar because it doesn't get used as quickly or as efficiently. What they don't realize, is that fructose is normally consumed at the same time as glucose, which speeds up the absorptive process.
Once fructose passes through the intestine, it's quickly taken to the liver for processing. Here, it has two fates: it's either turned into glucose and then stored as liver glycogen; or it's used for energy by liver cells.
Unlike glucose, fructose can only be metabolized in the liver, whereas glucose can be passed to other body tissues, like your muscles.
If you have a lot of fructose in your diet, it only has one place to go: your liver. If your liver glycogen levels are full, which is the case all times of the day except before you eat breakfast, then that fructose is turned into fat!
Since your liver doesn't want to store this new fat, it ships it to other parts of your body; places you don't want it, like your belly and butt.
Do you now see why too much fructose in your diet can be one of the biggest reasons you can't shrink those last few fat cells?

When people hear the word fructose, they usually think fruit. Ready for a shocker? Fruit is actually not the major source of fructose in your diet!
Yes, it does have fructose, but only certain fruits are high in it, while others are relatively low. Not all fruits are bad for your body composition; vegetables are the same way.

The major contributors of fructose in your diet, in descending order, are as follows:

• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
• Table Sugar, which is a 50:50 combination of glucose and fructose
• Brown Sugar
• Maple Sugar
• Cane Sugar
• Molasses
• Honey
• Concentrated Fruit Juice
• Fruits
• Vegetables

Avoid the top eight in this list at all costs!

Read labels carefully, because HFCS is hiding in almost every food you eat nowadays. And, just because honey is natural, doesn't mean you should use it in abundance.
You must have been living under a rock if you haven't already heard about HFCS being related to every common human disease we face today, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and cancer.
This relationship was first discovered in lab experiments with rodents. (1) When a high fructose diet (about 50-60% of total energy intake) is given to rats, they present symptoms of the Metabolic Syndrome, which is the precursor to full-blown diabetes and heart disease.
These animals develop high blood pressure, endothelial dysfunction, weight gain, increased abdominal fat, hyper-triglyceridemia and insulin resistance. The weight and fat gain is thought to be due to leptin resistance; rats that eat a high fructose diet long-term have higher leptin levels than rats that don't eat a lot of this simple sugar.

Researchers then concluded that in humans, it's the fructose and not glucose that begins the cascade of Metabolic Syndrome risk markers (2); and this seems to be initiated by insulin resistance. Men forced to eat experimental high fructose diets develop insulin resistance within a week (3), compared to no insulin abnormalities in people given a high starch diet.
Sucrose, also known as "table sugar" (glucose and fructose combination), is even worse: people given a 28% sucrose diet for 10 weeks not only develop insulin resistance, but also gain weight and have increased blood pressure!
In another study, when overweight women were put on a "no-restriction" diet high in either sucrose, fat, or starch, only the high starch diet group lost weight and body fat. (4)
Today, most Americans are eating about 70-100 grams of fructose per day, and we're getting fatter by the minute. In bright contrast to today's world, this nation consumed just 15 to 40 grams of fruit & veggie-derived fructose in the 19^th century, when we weren't even close to being this chubby. (5)
Fructose and fructose-containing foods will usually make your meals taste better, so you end up eating much more than necessary. They also fail to make you feel satisfied after you eat them, due to inadequate stimulation of leptin and ghrelin, the two satiety hormones. (6)
There is also evidence that fructose slows your metabolism: kids who drink sodas and fruit juices (both are rich in HFCS and fructose) are fatter than those who don't drink them, but who eat the same amount of calories. (7)
Although fruit does contain some fructose, it's not the only sugar that it contains. Fruit is beneficial for you because it's the best natural source of antioxidants that help you fight free-radicals, a major cause of aging and muscle damage. It's also an important source of fiber.
Your best bet is to choose fruits that are low in fructose, and only eat the higher fructose fruits in the morning, when your liver glycogen levels are low. At this time, your liver can use or store the fructose without converting it to fat.

The following fruits are highest in fructose (per typical serving size)*. They contain more than 4 grams of fructose per serving.

Stay away from these outside of an occasional breakfast:

• apple
• banana
• cherries (1 Cup)
• grapes (1 Cup)
• mango
• melon (2 wedges)
• orange
• pear
• pineapple (2 rings)
• watermelon (1 large slice)

These fruits are lowest in fructose; they contain less than 4 grams of fructose per serving.

You can eat these with less restriction:

• apricot
• avocado (1/3 medium; yes, it's a fruit)
• blackberries (1/2 cup)
• figs
• grapefruit (1/2 medium)
• papaya
• peach
• plum
• raspberries (1/2 cup)
• strawberries (1/2 cup)
• tomato (yes, also a fruit)

*Note, these values were calculated by adding all of the fructose plus have of the sucrose per typical serving size (i.e., a typical apple weighs 120 grams)
Vegetables are much lower in fructose than fruits. The highest fructose-containing vegetable are corn and sweet potatoes, and they only have roughly 1.2 grams of fructose per serving. If you're really trying to keep this sugar low, also avoid white potatoes and green peas.
Fructose may be one of the reasons your body is not dropping the stubborn body fat you've been fighting for weeks, or even months. Before you start avoiding the produce section of the grocery store, start scanning the labels of some of your most frequently consumed foods.
Does your salad dressing contain HFCS? Do you douse your morning eggs with HFCS-laden ketchup? Or maybe you're known to eat "all-natural" products made with honey?
Once you've eliminated these major fructose-suspects, turn to your fruit intake. Don't eliminate it completely because some fruit will aid your overall health and beauty by fighting free-radical-induced aging and muscle damage. Just choose fruits lower in fructose.
Apples may keep the doctor away, but with their high fructose content, they'll keep your sexiest bikini just as out of sight.

Cassandra Forsythe is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Connecticut studying exercise science and nutrition. She received her M.S. in Human Nutrition and Metabolism and her B.S. in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. She is certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and is a Certified Sports Nutritionist (CISSN) through the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN).

At UConn, Cassandra studies under Jeff Volek, PhD, RD researching the effects of low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets and resistance exercise on risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and body composition. She works as a nutritional educator and weight-loss coach and is the author of two popular books for women: "The New Rules of Lifting for Women", co-authored with Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove, and "Women's Health Perfect Body Diet". In August 2008, she will begin her dietetic internship to become a Registered Dietitian and will complete her PhD in January 2009. She can be reached at her website.

1. Segal MS, Gollub E, Johnson RJ (2007) Is the fructose index more relevant with regards to cardiovascular disease than the glycemic index? Eur J Nutr 46:406-417

2. Elliott SS, Keim NL, Stern JS, Teff K, Havel PJ (2002) Fructose, weight gain, and the insulin resistance syndrome. Am J Clin Nutr 76:911–922

3. Beck-Nielsen H, Pedersen O, Lindskov HO (1980) Impaired cellular insulin binding and insulin sensitivity induced by high-fructose feeding in normal subjects. Am J Clin Nutr 33:273–278

4. Raben A, Vasilaras TH, Moller AC, Astrup A (2002) Sucrose compared with artificial sweeteners: different effects on ad libitum food intake and body weight after 10 wk of supplementation in overweight subjects. Am J Clin Nutr 76:721–729

5. Raben A, Macdonald I, Astrup A (1997) Replacement of dietary fat by sucrose or starch: effects on 14 d ad libitum energy intake, energy expenditure and body weight in formerly obese and never-obese subjects. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 21:846–859

6. Teff KL, Elliott SS, Tschop M, Kieffer TJ, Rader D, Heiman M, Townsend RR, Keim NL, D'Alessio D, Havel PJ (2004) Dietary fructose reduces circulating insulin and leptin, attenuates postprandial suppression of ghrelin, and increases triglycerides in women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 89:2963–2972

7. Dennison BA, Rockwell HL, Baker SL (1997) Excess fruit juice consumption by preschool-aged children is associated with short stature and obesity. Pediatrics 99:15–22

Monday, May 16, 2011

My Top 5 Single-Leg Exercises

by Eric Cressey – 5/10/2011

Single-leg work has been a pretty controversial topic lately.

Some folks say that it's the only safe way to train the lower body for the long haul and that bilateral exercise is the devil. Others insist that you can't possibly build size relying on unilateral lower body exercises and that they're a cop-out for those who don't want to squat and deadlift heavy.

What's my take?

I think that people just like to be controversial.

The truth is that I think single-leg work is fantastic and I include it in a ton of the programs that I write. I experienced great improvements in some of my bilateral lifts when I made a dedicated effort to improving my single-leg strength. I'm also convinced that including unilateral lower-body lifts in my programs has helped me to stay healthy. These are benefits I've seen in our athletes and clients as well (and Mike Robertson covered these benefits in great detail in Single-Leg Supplements).

That said, unless we're talking about an individual who has some injury history that renders squatting and deadlifting dangerous, I think it's a mistake to build programs purely around single-leg exercises. In other words, the bilateral work will always be the meat, but the single-leg stuff is the potatoes.

In other words, for most lifters, single-leg work tends to be the first or second lower-body exercise in a training session. For those with some type of injury that makes that heavier bilateral work a problem, we do our single-leg work first and follow it up with whatever bilateral exercise (e.g., pull-throughs, glute-ham raises) they can handle.

With all that in mind, not all single-leg exercises are created equal, so I thought I'd use today to outline my top five.

1. Barbell Reverse Lunge – Front Squat Grip

This is an awesome exercise to help educate folks on how to stay upright during just about any lower body exercise, as the front squat grip forces good posture during the drill. Conversely, it's much easier to "slump" when holding dumbbells – and the last thing you want to do is execute the entire set with the shoulders rounded.

Using the front squat grip during a the barbell reverse lunge also works well with athletes dealing with shoulder problems (excluding AC joint pain), as it keeps the shoulders in a pain-free position while still offering the benefits of axial loading. It's also more knee-friendly than forward lunging variations, as there isn't a whole lot of deceleration taking place with the athletes stepping back rather than forward.

2. Barbell Forward Lunges

This strength exercise might be the granddaddy of all single-leg drills for me simply because it's the one that allows for an appreciable amount of loading, but is also combined with two factors that make it especially effective. First, lunging forward increases deceleration demands and, in turn, eccentric strength. Second, positioning the bar on the upper back raises the center of gravity farther away from the base of support, which adds to the stability challenge.

The only people for whom it isn't a good fit are those with poor shoulder mobility and/or with anterior knee pain. If you've got stiff shoulders, stick with the front squat positioning. If you've got knee pain, find a drill with less deceleration demands.

3. DB Reverse Lunge to 1-Leg RDL

This exercise actually looks pretty "foo-foo," but the truth is that it will likely make you sorer than any movement you've ever done before in your training career. And, because each rep takes longer to do, those whose spines may not handle compressive loading very well can still get a great training effect without lugging really heavy weights around. I've seen guys with squats over 400 pounds humbled with 3x8/side using 50-pound dumbbells on the reverse lunge to 1-leg RDL.

Additionally, this is a great addition to metabolic resistance training medleys because of the minimal loading needed and larger excursion of movement. The only people who may want to stay away from it are beginners whose form may break down as the set goes on and fatigue accumulates.

4. 1-Arm DB Bulgarian Split Squats from Deficit

When I see this exercise in my program, I usually just want to cry. Then, after I wind up doing it, I feel a hell of a lot better about myself. Here's the scoop...

When you hold the dumbbell on the same side of the trailing leg, you have weight pulling your support leg into adduction and internal rotation (as your hip flexes). In other words, positioning the weight in this fashion forces your hip external rotators, abductors, and extensors to work harder eccentrically.

What externally rotates, abducts, and extends the hip? The gluteus maximus.

What do most people suck at using? The gluteus maximus.

Great exercise.

Try it without shoes to increase the difficulty and work on ankle mobility and function of the muscles of the lower leg and feet.

5. Sled Pushing (or pulling, or dragging, or side-stepping, or whatever)

I know what you're thinking: sled pushing isn't a lunge, split-squat, pistol squat, 1-leg RDL, or step-up – so it can't be a single-leg exercise, can it?

Well, watch someone push a sled and – as is the case with sprinting – there are always points in time where only one leg is in contact with the ground.

So you could make the argument that sled pushing is the most basic, stupid-proof single-leg exercise out there, yet it's still quite effective.

It teaches hip separation (one hip extends while the other flexes).

It allows you to load someone without making them sore, as there's no eccentric stress.

It's so basic that anybody can do it – no matter how uncoordinated they are.

It can be used for everything from metabolic conditioning, to speed training, to strength work.

You can push it (high or low setting), drag it backwards, or do side sled-drags. You can do farmer's walks and pull it with a harness behind you. The options are near limitless – but regardless of what you do, you'll still be in single-leg stance. It's a beautiful thing.

Conclusion

These five options might be my favorites, but they're really just the tip of the iceberg. We use 1-leg RDLs to increase our posterior chain emphasis and allow those with anterior knee pain to still improve their balance. We use step-ups with beginners who need extra practice in single-leg stance without getting ridiculous soreness. The options are limitless, but the message is clear: single-leg training is a valuable tool in your toolbox, even if it isn't top dog in your strength and conditioning program.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Lift Smarter, Get Bigger

Your body won't change unless your workouts do. "Your need to find new ways to stimulate your body to boost your strength," says Mark Philippi, C.S.C.S., a former America's Strongest Man. Use Philippi's techniques to overcome these common barriers.

You're Unable to Bench More Weight

Fix It with Heavier Loads

Try "eccentric lifting," in which you focus on lowering the weight during a bench press rather than lifting it. Load the barbell with 80 to 120 percent of your 1-rep max (for example, 110 to 160 pounds if your 1-rep max is 135), and take 4 to 5 seconds to lower the weight while keeping tension in your chest. Have your spotter help you press the bar back up as fast as possible, and then repeat. Do 2 to 4 sets of 3 to 5 repetitions each.

Why it works: Your body can handle more weight as you're lowering the bar than as you're pressing it up. Repeated lowering of a heavy weight will slowly help your body adapt and learn to handle more weight in general. Eventually, you'll be able to press a heavier load too, says Philippi. The slow lowering also creates a lot of tension in your muscles as they work hard to keep the bar stable. That builds more size.

Your Legs Need a Boost

Fix It with Partial Reps

Set up a box about 2 inches behind your body. As you squat back, sit on the box so your upper thighs are parallel to the floor. Then stand back up. Complete 1 to 3 sets of only 1 to 3 reps each. As you become stronger, use higher boxes and add weight, which creates more tension.

Why it works: The box removes all momentum where the lift is most challenging, which forces your muscles to work harder to start back up. And by limiting your range of motion, you learn to handle heavier loads.

Your Program Needs an Upgrade

Fix It with New Rep Counts

Eliminate the 10-rep, 3-set routines.

Why it works: Your body quickly adapts to the number of reps you perform, but it takes a while to adjust to the exercises you do. (That’s why you can keep using the same exercises.) By changing your rep ranges on a weekly basis, you’re gaining benefits from the repeated movements while always pushing your body in new ways—and that helps you increase strength. When you improve in each workout, you add new muscle.

You're Building Strength but Losing Flexibility

Fix It By Lifting Through a Full Range of Motion

Stretching isn't the best way to improve flexibility—lifting weights through a full range of motion is, according to a recent study at the University of North Dakota. Pausing for 2 to 3 seconds at the "down" position of the lift (where you feel the stretch) without relaxing your muscles is even more effective.

Why it works: During resistance exercise, your muscles first contract, and then stretch to their full range between each repetition, increasing overall flexibility, says study coauthor James Whitehead, Ed.D.

Your Strength Gains Have Plateaued

Fix It By Leaving a Little in the Tank

Training to failure slows your results, say Spanish researchers. They found that lifters who performed each set of a workout until they couldn't complete a repetition had smaller gains in strength than those who left a bit in reserve. End each set when your lifting pace starts to slow, suggests Men's Health fitness advisor Mike Robertson, C.S.C.S.

Why it works: As your muscles fatigue, they use fewer fast-twitch fibers, which have the greatest potential for size and strength gains. Using a weight that allows you to finish all of your repetitions will focus your training where it counts the most—on those fast-twitch fibers.

Strengthen Your Core and Loosen Your Hamstrings

by CHAD WATERBURY on MAY 9, 2011

Core training is what fitness is all about these days. Ten years ago, “core training” was basically crunch variations along with an assortment of leg raises. Then Dr. Stuart McGill came along and changed the game. Thanks to his terrific research, Dr. McGill taught us that the ability to brace the core, and maintain that position for time, improves back health and performance. When I say “brace,” I’m referring to that core tension you instinctively create when someone is about to punch you in the stomach. You don’t need to bend your spine around like a twig to get the most bang for your core training buck.

McGill’s research also shows how detrimental spinal flexion can be. Each time you do a normal crunch, your spine flexes. It’s the repeated flexion of the spine that can lead to all sorts of nasty problems such as disc herniation. And when you bend over to pick up a weight while your spine is rounded the story gets even worse. In order to protect your discs and nerves from undue stress it’s essential to learn how to properly brace your core.

Now, teaching someone to brace their core isn’t as easy as it sounds. Sure, we can all tense our abs, but most of us can’t maintain that tension while moving our body, especially when an external load is added to the mix. A simple way to train someone to maintain core tension is with the plank. Most people should be able to hold the regular plank for 90 seconds. This core endurance is essential to keeping your back healthy and strong.

However, we’ve been inundated with pics, articles, and videos about the plank, so doing that exercise probably doesn’t sound new or exciting to you. That’s why I want to show you two of my favorite core exercises once people are ready to move past the regular plank.

The first exercise is called “Stir the pot,” and I learned it from Dr. McGill. It’s an outstanding exercise to build core stability strength. Here’s how you do it.

First, rest your elbows on a large swiss ball with your body in the plank position – body straight from neck to ankles and core braced tight. Second, make circles with your forearms/elbows so the ball rolls aroundwithout moving your body. This exercise is tougher than it looks when you do it right. You’ll feel muscles working all the way down to your spine. As you get accustomed to the exercise focus on making larger circles. The goal of this exercise, or any core exercise, is to make it as difficult as possible.

The second exercise, the “leg curl with single leg balance,” I learned from Dr. Craig Liebenson, owner of LA Sports and Spine and a terrific doctor who specializes in everything related to the spine.

To perform this exercise, lie on your back with your legs straight and heels resting on a Swiss ball. Then, lift your hips as high as possible and perform one leg curl. Next, brace your core/hips super tight and lift the right leg in the air and hold it for 4-5 seconds. Do the same with the left leg. From start to finish it’s one rep. Perform 5 reps.

Not only does this exercise improve core stability strength and performance, but it also induces a surprising side-effect that I hadn’t measured before: it loosens your hamstrings.

Try it with yourself or a client who has tight hamstrings. First, perform a standing toe touch and make a note of how far your fingertips reach. Then, perform five reps of the leg curl w/single leg balance and test it again. It’s common to increase your range of motion 3-4 inches. Pretty impressive considering you didn’t do any stretching.

How does the leg curl exercise increase hamstring mobility? Before I answer that, let me explain why your muscles get stiff in the first place.

You see, when a muscle is stiff most trainers will stretch it. Immediately, the muscle will increase its range of motion. But here’s the important part that I’m sure you’ve experienced: the added range of motion from static stretching doesn’t hold. A few hours later, or the next day, the muscle is stiff again.

More advanced trainers will do deep tissue work such as the Active Release Technique (ART) to restore range of motion. This hands-on style of improving mobility and tissue health can be effective and I’ve used similar techniques for years. But again, the added range of motion doesn’t hold for long.

The problem with typical stretching or soft tissue techniques is that they don’t address the root of the problem. I’d say that 99% of the time the problem is actually in the spine. In order for a muscle to be flexible, the nervous system must get the memo that it’s safe to increase the range of motion. In other words, if you have super stiff hamstrings it’s likely the deep muscles that support and surround your spine aren’t firing correctly, or they’re just plain weak. So the nervous system puts the brakes on your hamstrings mobility.

The leg curl with single leg balance activates deep core and hip muscles that provide a strong foundation of support for your muscles to work against. This immediate neural enhancement (potentiation) allows the nervous system to release the brake that’s currently holding your hamstrings tighter than guitar strings.

And when you perform the “stir the pot” exercise right before the leg curl exercise it works even better. So, test your hamstring mobility by attempting to touch your toes, then perform one set of each exercise I posted above. Retest your hamstring mobility and prepare to be impressed. Continue doing these two exercises for one week and the increased range of motion will hold.

Get ready for a more effective approach to mobility training. It all starts at the spine.

Stay focused,
CW

Saturday, May 7, 2011

The New Science on Squatting and the TRUTH About Assessing and Teaching the Squat – Interview w/ Dr.Mark McKean � Nick Tumminello Fitness | Baltimore MD Personal Trainer | Sports Performance & Bodybuilding

The TRUTH About Squating – Interview with Dr. Mark McKean

Who are you and why should we listen to you?

I started my career as a physical education teacher and taught high school PE for just over 3 years extending my interest in sports coaching and performance with high school athletes. In the late 80’s I changed careers to work as a fitness instructor and strength coach. I have now worked as a PT for 23 years and strength coach for 21 years. I have owned a number of fitness related businesses including fitness centres, studios, PT businesses, and an instructor training organisation. I have since coached athletes to international level competition in 18 sports and helped some of these win both Olympic and World Championship medals in 5 sports. In 2009 I completed my PhD in sport science focusing on movement timing and coordination of the human body and the strength ratios, muscle balance, and ROM about key joints. Since then I have set up a research program at the University Sunshine Coast specifically to research practices and issues within the fitness industry so we can feed back good quality scientifically validated information to instructors and trainers.

In particular the key lower body activity I used in my research was the back squat exercise. I have since had 2 papers published in JSCR on squat movement pattern and have also finished a further 2 studies on squatting soon to be published as well. Over the last 15 years I have presented over 500 lectures and workshops both nationally in Australia and internationally on posture, strength, flexibility, and personal training. One of those in Beijing last year was where we got to meet and spend some time with our great friends in China.

When you and I met (while both presenting in Beijing China), you had mentioned your research on the Squat. Can you please give us the bullet points of your squat research studies?

The squat research really came about as a result of the workshops and lectures I was presenting and I found so much conflict between instructors and coaches regards the techniques and cues used to teach and correct the squat movement pattern. I always had the opinion instructors were over teaching the squat and not letting the individual develop their own pattern based on their own physical structure. Too many cues, too many restriction, etc just seemed to go against all normal motor development strategies. As a result the last 5 years has seen my research program do a number of studies into the squat pattern and to look more closely at how people squat and what the timing and coordination strategies are developed to perform the squat.

Some of the key findings we have found probably confirm what many experienced strength coaches and lifters already know but was not always carried over to the fitness industry.

With so many key outcomes from the research here is a brief summary of what I have found so far.

Set Up

- One of the more obvious but less expected findings was that in every case, as soon as a loaded bar was placed across the rear shoulder region prior to the commencement of the downward phase of the squat, the lumbar spine lost its normal or natural curve.

- It appears that the normal response to a loaded bar on the shoulders is for the human body to adjust its posture so as to align the changed centre of mass now including the loaded bar so that the spine is more aligned directly underneath the load. Check it out next time you train a client and watch how the person’s lumbar spine changes once the bar is taken onto the back.

Knees

- The knees must move first and must forward to a point where the hip and knee joints can then coordinate with almost perfect precision.

- This means DON’T stop the knees moving over the toes but also don’t make a fuss about whether they do or don’t, just let the knees move into a position that allows the next part of the squat to become more coordinated. Some of our subjects kept their knees above the toes but other went forward of the toes by as much as 17 cm, with the average being 6-9 cm in front of the toes. But the knees always appear to move first and initiate the squat.

- This was also evident when we looked at the angular velocity of the shank and found that the shank did not move in a smooth way through the ascent and descent but moved in way that suggests the shank and knee are used by the body to control centre of balance and adjust total body position to remain stable and coordinated. Other research has also shown that anterior tibialis also contracts first to initiate the shank moving forward and this supported by our findings also.

- Mediolateral knee alignment does not remain in a constant width aligned with toes but tends to vary its width at different stages of the descent and ascent by between 5-9 cm. Again this appears to be important trainers and coaches should not prevent people from letting knees move slightly in or out as this assists with keeping the hip and knees in a coordinated movement pattern.

Gender differences

- Men and women definitely have different strategies in squatting and the timing of when each joint and segment reaches it maximum is different in all squat variations.

- Knee angle differ the most between males and females and this appears to be influenced most by different segment lengths of the lower limbs.

- Tall women tend to alter knee angles and tall men tend to alter hip angles when squatting.

- To adjust body position men tend to alter trunk angle and women tend to alter pelvis position

- Men appear to be more inherently stiff in the lumbar spine and women tend to be looser through the lumbar spine suggesting that women who squat will benefit from a good core strengthening program.

Lumbar spine

- Even with our experienced squatters most found it hard to maintain neutral or semi-flat lumbar curve.

- Our squatters went below parallel thigh and once below this depth it appears that the lumbar spine actually reverses its curve and becomes kyphotic.

- It’s not known if this is a good practice and loads used in our study were not 1RM but its concerning and needs further investigation to study or predict how this changes loading into the lumbar spine as all current models are done with neutral or semi curved lumbar spine.

Segment lengths

- Segment lengths definitely influence the squat movement pattern with height and trunk length being two of the most influential determinants to technique.

Overall squat strategy

- From a number of studies it appears that the main movement strategy developed by the brain to allow us to squat revolves around allowing the hip and knee to move with almost perfect precision.

- Movement of the knees, lumbar and sacrum regions, and shank all occur so that hip-knee coordination occurs evenly and smoothly.

What was your most surprising finding from your squat research?

The thing that really hit home to me about the complexity of such a gross movement was the manner in which the shank angle changed so much as a means to create stability and a constant centre of mass. This has never been reported or even discussed in the literature previously but when you look at the graphs of the speed of the hip and knee and the lines are so smooth and change perfectly and then you see the shank velocity going up and down and you match this with the centre pressure of mass, it really reinforced how important it is to be stable but also how clever the human movement pattern is to allow one component to almost be responsible for controlling this stability.

What conclusions has your squat research lead you to?

Wow that’s a big question. I would suggest my research has confirmed my previously held opinion that most trainers get it wrong with respect to the knees when squatting. Too many times I hear trainers and coaches tell their athletes or clients to keep the knees behind the toes and to keep them aligned. One of the key things I would suggest to these people is to let the knees move more freely and coach your athlete or client to perfect the coordination between the hip and knee rather than isolate the coaching of good technique to specific aspects of things like ‘break from the hips first’ or ‘keep the knees behind the line of toes’. Also allow squatters to develop a pattern over time rather than over teach and over correct too early before they have developed a coordinated movement based on experience.

Is there only one way “right” way to squat?

Good question…. in my opinion there is no best way to squat if you refer to specifics such as joint angles, or feet position etc, but I do believe there are ‘ideal’ strategies to teach. These include things like I have just mentioned with letting knees move freely and aiming to achieve perfect coordination between hip and knee joint angles and time at which the maximum of these angles occur.

Also know that taller people will squat differently to shorter people and most experienced coaches will know this. In my first bear of strength coaching I did some work experience with a national basketball team and these guys just could not squat, and over time I realised why and this research for me explains why this happens.

Should men and women squat differently?

When teaching men and women to squat I still go with the overall strategy of good squatting practice, but I’m also aware that the genders will correct and adjust position differently. The big indicator for differences with genders is the knee angles and subsequent trunk position. If you keep an eye on this you will see what I mean.

The other interesting thing I haven’t mentioned yet is that women tend to achieve more perfect coordination in all squat variations of load and stance, but men tend to achieve a better level of coordination only when squatting with heavier loads. It’s as if the load tends to optimise their patterns by either; allowing muscles and fascia to be stretched by the load, or with stronger stiffer muscles the extra load provides equal tension and improves coordination. This doesn’t mean go and load up every male’s squat weight because they squat poorly to assist with coordination, but be aware that the difference between unloaded squats and loaded squats will look more different in males than in females.

What do you think are some of the biggest mistakes trainers & coaches make when teaching or assessing the squat pattern?

Over teaching or over cuing. This really comes about from the way most professionals are taught and during this process they are told how to squat rather than how to ‘teach’ people to squat. I hear professionals provide clients with as many as 6-8 teaching cues, and then wonder why the person moves so slowly and in such a disjointed manner. The poor client is so busy trying to put everything they are told into a pattern that they have to be slow and the movement looks stiff or disjointed. Typically I teach people to get into the correct start position and then discuss what the correct bottom position looks like, by either talking it through or showing them, then allow the person to practice moving between these two positions. I also allow about 8-12 reps to achieve a more consistent pattern before I step in and coach. By doing this the person knows the two ends of the movement and has to develop their own strategy to move between these points. It generally takes 8-12 reps to develop this and only after that should you try and coach for an improved pattern rather than a predetermined pattern or one size fits all approach.

Assessing the squat pattern also has issues if you come from the predetermined or 8 cues approach as you will then typically look for a set sequence of events in the squat rather than consider the overall movement and how coordinated it might be which in the end is the ultimate aim, i.e. to squat smoothly and safely. There will always be issues related to poor flexibility and poor stability or balance that you can pick up on, but to my mind I want my clients to be smooth an d efficient in the squat as it then allows me to develop loading parameters to suit their goals.

What do you currently have going on – What can we look forward to in the near future form you?

After the squat research we have now moved onto looking at the shoulder press exercise. Again, more from industry feedback and behaviours, the behind the shoulder press exercise has received a lot of bad press even being banned by some industry leaders, but when I went looking for research to support why this exercise was so bad, I found nothing.

We recently completed data collection and have been crunching the data and running the stats. Our aim is firstly to compare the passive ROM about the shoulder girdle with the active ROM required to perform both in front and behind the head shoulder press. We have also collected data on the behaviour of the lumbar and thoracic spine, as well as scapula during both variations, and we also decided to use 3RM loads and 8RM loads to see if load altered this pattern. We are currently writing up the results and looking to submit this for publication within the next month or so.

I’ve always wanted to do something similar for chin-ups so perhaps that will be the next project. But we’ve also got a lot of other research going on…

- The ability of PT’s to become health educators and fight obesity by testing their nutritional knowledge

- Comparing constant interval training in elderly

- Using the WiiFit as a training tool for elderly

- Quantifying the value of group fitness classes to a variety of health measures

Once we get these done I’m happy to pass on our findings as well. Perhaps Nick you can even become part of our research board and help suggest ideas that require research that we can work on together.

Cheers and thanks for the chance to answer some questions on our research and specifically the squat.

Mark McKean PhD CSCS

Here A few of my personal favorite take-home quotes from Mark’s interview:

- “When teaching men and women to squat I still go with the overall strategy of good squatting practice, but I’m also aware that the genders will correct and adjust position differently”

- “The other interesting thing I haven’t mentioned yet is that women tend to achieve more perfect coordination in all squat variations of load and stance, but men tend to achieve a better level of coordination only when squatting with heavier loads”

- “Too many times I hear trainers and coaches tell their athletes or clients to keep the knees behind the toes and to keep them aligned. One of the key things I would suggest to these people is to let the knees move more freely and coach your athlete or client to perfect the coordination between the hip and knee rather than isolate the coaching of good technique to specific aspects of things like ‘break from the hips first’ or ‘keep the knees behind the line of toes’. Also allow squatters to develop a pattern over time rather than over teach and over correct too early before they have developed a coordinated movement based on experience.”

I HIGHLY Recommend You to Go Back and Read this interview AGAIN!

You know how we do things here at NickTumminello.com – We always bring you nothing but the best information and consistently exceed your expectations. Mark’s interview above is certainly no exception!

Since Mark’s interview is so jam-packed with so much usable information on teaching the squat exercise and assessing the squat pattern. I suggest reading this interview a few times over in order to ensure you’ve gotten every last thing you could out of it.

Contact Mark McKean

Be sure to check out Mark’s website, his blog, and his published research & reviews.

You can also friend him on Facebook here.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

5 Simple Strategies for Bigger Muscles

By: Selene Yeager

Strength training today suffers from the Starbucks effect. Just as it's increasingly difficult to fight off the sprinkles and foam when you order a cup of joe, it's hard to call yourself a modern muscle maker when you do a weight-lifting move without a few added kinks.

"It's great fun to watch guys trying to do squats while standing on stability balls," says former Olympic weight-lifting coach Harvey Newton, C.S.C.S., of newtonsports.info. "But the truth is, if they just did the basics better, they'd produce the results they want without involving all the bells and whistles."

Now hold on, Harvey. Those big balls do a lot of good. On the other hand, all these half-caf mocha-latte workouts are starting to get on our nerves. Sometimes you just want to bust a move and make more muscle.

So we asked exercise experts to help us pinpoint ways to make the classic moves we all do—squats, rows, bench presses, and crunches—work better. Follow their advice and see fast results . . . without the sprinkles.

Tap When You Squat

Experts agree: The squat is one of the best muscle builders in a man's portfolio because of the number of muscles the exercise engages. Experts also agree that most lifters perform it incorrectly. Namely, they don't squat down far enough, nor do they place the emphasis on their glutes by anchoring with their heels. This means the glutes are never fully engaged.

New York City–based trainer David Kirsch, C.S.C.S., author of The Ultimate New York Body Plan, offers this solution: Stand in front of a weight bench. Squat down until your butt touches the bench, then immediately press through your heels back to the starting position. Using the bench forces you to squat all the way down until your thighs are parallel to the floor, so the exercise will yield better results.

Give 'Em a Squeeze

As you prepare to lift, contract the muscles you're working and keep them that way throughout the entire move. "You won't be able to lift quite as much weight, but your muscles will be doing more work overall, so they'll grow," says Sam Iannetta, C.P.T., owner of Functional Fitness and Wellness Centers in Boulder, Colorado. "For instance, on the bench press, imagine you're trying to bring your hands toward each other but don't move them at all, so your pecs are squeezed together. You won't believe the pump."

Bring the Situp Back from the Dead

"Men spend entirely too much time doing crunches, which involve only a 30-degree range of motion—way too small for significant muscle building," says Patrick Hagerman, Ed.D., C.S.C.S., a professor at the University of Tulsa. "If you want to build your abdominals, do a full situp. Your abs spend more time working dynamically under tension, so they'll grow bigger and stronger. Full situps also strengthen the hip flexors, which can get pretty weak if all you do is crunches." (To improve your crunches, add a Swiss ball.)

To do situps right, lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor, knees bent about 90 degrees, hands clasped lightly behind your head, and elbows out to the sides. Tuck in your chin, contract your abdominals, and roll all the way up until your chest nearly touches your knees. Then slowly roll back down.

Lose the Bench

By working while standing, you involve more muscles and burn more calories, says Douglas Lentz, C.S.C.S., director of fitness for Summit Health, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. "Except for a few sessions devoted to increasing mass, our athletes do almost everything standing," he says. "It engages your core, so your total strength increases."

A classic example is the bent-over dumbbell row. Most men lean over and brace themselves on a bench, then perform the exercise with one arm. Instead, assume a wide, stable stance and bend from the hips, keeping your back flat—and don't use a bench. Perform your rows from that position. You'll work your core for stability and do a bit more mid-section work. You won't be able to lift quite as much weight, but your entire body will benefit from the move.

Whittle While You Wait

Instead of sitting around working your mandible between sets, exercise another body part. "Supersetting helps you use your time better," says Lentz. And, if you do it properly, it builds more muscle. For the best results, alternate lower- and upper-body moves, such as a leg press followed by a lat pulldown. That way, each muscle group has time to recover between sets. Alternating upper- and lower-body exercises also keeps your heart rate revved up and stimulates your circulatory system, so you deliver more oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood to your working muscles and burn more calories.

Don't like blending upper- and lower-body workouts? Do ab work between sets. You'll be less likely to blow it off than if you save it for the end.

FROM FAT TO FIT