Body by Science / HIIT Experiment

[pete02]

BTW, as you can see, I added the pull-up to the "free-weight big 5" from the book - I found it strange that they have included a pull-down exercise in the "machine big 5" but not in the free-weight version. Some sort of pull-up or pull-down exercise is included in almost any exercise plan... Does anybody know why they didn't include it in the free-weight big 5?

I think it may be because, for many people, a pull-up is harmful to the low back. I know that I simply could not do it. But I can do all of the Big 5 even in my debilitated state!!!

I agree. It seems some might have to be careful with certain exercises. I just came from the chiropractor and found out that push ups are not recommended for people with neck injuries. It's possible that the push ups I did Friday night stirred up the herniated disc in my neck from last year so I'm concentrating on lower body for now. I had opted to go without buying the home gym but it might be my best option after all. The big 5 seems the best way to go.

 

[Scottie]

Peeps here have been doing pull-ups instead of the pull down... It's pretty much the same thing. When you watch Buff McGuff's vids, he says the basic exercises are: pull towards you perpendicular to your body, push away perpendicular, pull down towards you from above the body, push up above the body, and a leg press type thing.

Today I realized that without pull-ups, I simply won't get enough weight. So, if you want to do pull-ups instead of the pull-down, that's fine. Just keep the relative motion identical.

 

[Eulenspiegel]

I think it may be because, for many people, a pull-up is harmful to the low back. I know that I simply could not do it. But I can do all of the Big 5 even in my debilitated state!!!

I don't think pull ups are inherently bad for the lower back, since they mainly train the upper back/lats. The pain might be caused by tight muscles in the surrounding areas or improper form(overextending your lower back/pulling your head with your neck muscles too much).
Many people also avoid doing deadlifts because they assume it hurts their lower back. However, with proper form, it actually strengthens the lower back. Then again, it is sometimes difficult to learn proper form from a book. It's always preferable that someone watches you when you learn the exercises.

 

[Scottie]

Then again, it is sometimes difficult to learn proper form from a book. It's always preferable that someone watches you when you learn the exercises.

Yeah, form is important... BUT... Sometimes good form for one person is necessarily different due to past injuries, etc.

Of course, that's not what a doctor or pro trainer would tell you. Generally I've found that if I compensate for past injuries with "bad form", it gives time to strengthen everything so that later, I can slowly adjust to "good form".

Pull-ups are interesting because I've seen people do all kinds of crazy things with the rest of their body when they do them: swinging, holding their legs tense in weird ways, arching their back, etc.

Plus, to do a pull-up, you have to be able to lift your own body weight, which ain't easy for most people! You can be very strong overall and not be able to do a single pull-up.

Anyway, I think the most important thing is to do some general form of the 5 exercises. If you want to set a goal for yourself like, "I'm going to be able to do ONE pull-up!" then that's fine. But no lamenting that you can't do this or that. I think it's the overall progress and the continuing efforts that count.

 

[Scottie]

BTW, by pull up, I mean a CHIN up...

Chin-ups are with palms facing you when you grip the bar. Pull-ups are with palms away from you when you grip it, and usually with a wider grip distance between the hands. Works different muscles!

 

[Altair]

The pin setting assumes you're using weight machines where you adjust the weight by moving a pin into a hole. On those you'd insert a pin into the right weight level. So for example, maybe pin 10 is at 190 lbs (or the equivalent in kgs). See the image below:

I see. So it's not very useful when working with free weights. Thank you for the explanation. I guess I'll rather stick with the Excel spreadsheet shared by Scottie.

 

[Mark]

There's a new thread for the HIIT / TUL app I made. That'll help keep any discussion about that in its own thread.

The app is now available in the Google Play store for easy installation.

Here's the thread:

Body by Science HIIT / TUL App

 

[loreta]

I definitely start to do the exercises. Yesterday I bough an exercise bar and will start today the 5 exercises. Monday I will buy the book (kindle) and start to read about it. Thanks for all the information, this is a new challenge! It is fun to learn!

 

[pete02]

I agree. It seems some might have to be careful with certain exercises. I just came from the chiropractor and found out that push ups are not recommended for people with neck injuries. It's possible that the push ups I did Friday night stirred up the herniated disc in my neck from last year so I'm concentrating on lower body for now. I had opted to go without buying the home gym but it might be my best option after all. The big 5 seems the best way to go.

I feel that I should clarify on this. After doing a bit of research on the web I can't find one site saying push ups are not recommended for people with neck injuries. Basically they all say anything that flexes the spine you have to be careful with. So either I wasn't holding the proper form while doing them or push ups are no good for my specific injury. I'm on the mend again now so I'm going to try exercising the upper body with an exercise bar and see how that goes.

 

[genero81]

I have 'Body by Science Question and Answer Book.' If anyone has specific questions, I can see if it has been addressed in that book. It seems pretty thorough, so chances are it will have something on your specific issue.

 

[A Jay]

So far I've had 8 exercise sessions at Dr. McGuff's personal training studio, and I wanted to report some observations.

In the 6 months I was doing HIT prior to training at the studio, I would do a single set and would select a weight that would have me reach momentary muscle failure at around the 50-70 second mark. However, I often felt that I wasn't tapping into every last bit of my reserves, and so I would frequently do rest-pause reps or other advanced training techniques to get a deeper inroad. But even then, I didn't feel like I was 'hitting the mark'. I would have a deep muscle fatigue for a day, maybe two, and would feel ready to go again a day or two later. Also, just before going to the studio my strength gains had leveled off to where I was only infrequently increasing the weights I used and was only making minor progress in my time under load.

Since training at the studio I've been reaching failure at around the 100-130 second mark and the difference is pretty drastic. The deep muscle fatigue that I felt before now lasts for 4 days after, and I definitely can't exercise more than once a week. My results have been impressive as well. I've gone up 30 lbs on the row machine, 20lbs on the overhead press, and 60 lbs on the leg press and I'm still maxing out my times which means it's time to up my weights again. I'm also hyperventilating way more than before, which suggests greatly increased metabolic activity and would mean I'm getting some good conditioning benefits as well.

I know there's more to my results than just a longer time under load. But, having reached momentary muscle failure at 60 seconds and 120 seconds I would recommend people at least consider experimenting with higher times under load. It will mean a slightly longer total exercise time, but I've found it to produce better results.

 

[A Jay]

With a shorter time under load it seemed to me that I reached physical limits of my strength before I reached a really significant mental limit to the level of discomfort I was willing to endure. However, with a longer TUL this has been reversed and that's why I think it's been more effective for me. I'm able to push through the mental blocks of wanting to avoid discomfort and tap into muscle fibers that my brain really doesn't want me using.

 

[genero81]

I just came to the place in the book where it says recovery from this workout takes 4- 6 days. From what I've already experienced I would say that's exactly right. So one of my frustrations with exercise is that the whole idea is to increase one's capacity to live life 'more abundantly,' so to speak. To have more energy and strength to get through the day. However, the catch 22 is that one spends most of their time in recovery mode, in a weakened state. I had to take this week off because I got sick with a cold so it will be two weeks between workouts. The thing is, I'm not trying to build muscle from scratch because I've been weight training consistently for over 3 years already. So I'm thinking I may try doing this workout once every two weeks. That way, theoretically, I could enjoy the benefits of my efforts for up to a week and a half before having to stress my system again. I just thought of this but I might do it. I'll keep y'all posted.

 

[Laura]

I just came to the place in the book where it says recovery from this workout takes 4- 6 days. From what I've already experienced I would say that's exactly right. So one of my frustrations with exercise is that the whole idea is to increase one's capacity to live life 'more abundantly,' so to speak. To have more energy and strength to get through the day. However, the catch 22 is that one spends most of their time in recovery mode, in a weakened state. I had to take this week off because I got sick with a cold so it will be two weeks between workouts. The thing is, I'm not trying to build muscle from scratch because I've been weight training consistently for over 3 years already. So I'm thinking I may try doing this workout once every two weeks. That way, theoretically, I could enjoy the benefits of my efforts for up to a week and a half before having to stress my system again. I just thought of this but I might do it. I'll keep y'all posted.

Well, don't get riled up yet. I found that I had "recovery" time that was a bit painful for the first couple of sessions, but after that, even if I was in "recovery", I didn't really notice anything off.

 

[hesperides]

I feel that I should clarify on this. After doing a bit of research on the web I can't find one site saying push ups are not recommended for people with neck injuries. Basically they all say anything that flexes the spine you have to be careful with. So either I wasn't holding the proper form while doing them or push ups are no good for my specific injury. I'm on the mend again now so I'm going to try exercising the upper body with an exercise bar and see how that goes.

I was also wary push-ups (using the bar) would hurt my back, neck, and particularly my right shoulder, which would hurt when sleeping on the right side, or the day after having carried heavy weights or cleaned the house all at once. Now, I´m just flabbergasted at the result after just four training sessions, even without having reached the inroad momentum as I first wanted checking the responses of my body with these kind of exercises. In fact, right after the first session, 80% of the pain already disappeared as by magic, and now I´m able to sleep on the right side and endure much longer time doing my everyday´s busy tasks.

Pete02, I don´t know whether herniated disks might ideally call for massages first or else, but I think your idea of using the bar without adding weights and overdoing from the start will quickly tell you the best approach. Fwiw.