Body by Science / HIIT Experiment

3DStudent said:
I didn't read the book but recall this thread. Since December 2019 I started exercising twice a week mostly using my body weight on a yoga mat. I missed a day this past week so when I did it it had been 7 days.

Basically I felt like I could do more and it took longer to run out of breath. So I wonder if there is something to putting longer periods in between working out, like 7-10 days.
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That is one of the major ideas of the book that bares out in my personal experience as well. The stronger you get the more recovery time you need and if you want positive adaptations (i.e. you want to build muscle, strength, conditioning, etc.) you must add more rest time on top of simple recovery time in order to allow for those adaptations to be made.
 
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First of all, many thanks to @ScioAgapeOmnis and @Scottie for bringing up BBS and HIT. It was a life saver for me.

Beyond mandatory P.E. at school I've never done any meaningful physical activity growing up. Probably due to low energy levels (poor diet) and a poor physical coordination, I've always disliked sport. Unfortunately, a heavy school backpack combined with no physical activity and a sudden growth (I'm now 188cm/6'2"), resulted in chronic back pain and a slight spine deformation. Carrying extra fat didn't help either.

In order to remedy the pain I've started to try bodyweight strength programs in order to strengthen my back's muscles. I didn't obtain much results and the last one, a crossfit-like program, nearly killed me (well not literally, but it clearly wasn't good for my health). At that time I saw the BBS thread and gave it a go. Reading the book really put strength training into perspective, especially the intensity/volume paradigm.

Since I have a poor body control I thought it wasn't a good idea to practice with free weights and no gyms were available near me at the time. Fortunately, someone posted the adapted bodyweight routine and I started with that. I was then struggling to adjust the exercises to my strength as my arms, shoulders and back were really weak. After a few weeks of struggle and doubts about doing things right, I gave up practicing.

In February last year I've transitioned to a carnivore diet and subsequently lost a bunch of fat and excess water (from water retention). I had more of a skinny-fat profile so losing the equivalent of 10kg/22lb definitely made me look like a skeleton (at least my upper torso and back). On top of that my back pain was still there even though the change of diet brought overall a far better sense of well-being. Addressing the issue became critical and at the same time everything went into lockdown so going to the gym (even far away) wasn't an option anymore.

After searching for similar HIT methods as BBS, I stumbled upon Drew Baye's Timed Static Contraction Training. It is a program of minimalist high intensity Isometrics that needs as equipment only a strong, non-elastic strap 2"/2.54cm wide and two and one-half times as long as you are tall. Forearm-style moving straps for furniture can be used for this purpose.

Contrary to dynamic exercises (as in BBS) your own strength become your load and no movement is performed during the exercises. An exercise is 1m30s long and is split into 3 sections of 30s :
  1. Contract the muscle group targeted by the exercise at around 50% of maximum strength. The goal is to feel the muscles targeted and warm them up.
  2. Contract the muscle group targeted by the exercise at around 90% of maximum strength. The goal is to contract as far as you dare without hurting yourself. Here you reach muscle fatigue and diminish the maximum strength. For comparison, the intensity is comparable as the last one or two repetitions of a dynamic exercise performed to the point of momentary muscular failure.
  3. Contract the muscle group targeted by the exercise at maximum strength. Now that the muscles are fatigued, contracting at full strength (or what's left of it) won't hurt the body. The goal is to deeply fatigue the muscles until no strength is left.
This approach has advantages and drawbacks :
  • - Performances and progress must be quantified indirectly (body composition, how clothes fits, weight, etc).
  • - With no feedback during the exercises, contracting the muscles as intensely as you should can be a challenge (especially when working out alone).
  • + Can be done virtually anywhere.
  • + Arguably easier/safer to perform than dynamic HIT exercises (especially free weight ones).
  • + Scale up/down automatically according to the person's strength.
Rest periods between sessions are determined by your sensations (i.e. do you feel ready/at full strength ?) and is therefore variable. An indicative average figure of 2-3 days is given but just like the 7 day rest in BBS, it may not be long enough.

This program really fitted the bill for me and I've practiced it for the past 8 months and half. I am definitely surdier and stronger than before. I'm starting to resemble a human being again, that's something :dance:Even 2 months in, back in August, I was moving houses and I really felt the difference when mounting/moving furnitures (especially my lower back). While I feel less back pain I'll probably have to rectify my spine if I want to be completely pain free on that front.

To sum up, a huge thank you for getting this way of working out known. It made me love physical activity for the first time in my life :-)
 
I found this podcast with Dr. Schoenfeld to be of interest and appreciated his moderate attitude too.
#78 Brad Schoenfeld, PhD: Resistance Training for Time Efficiency, Body Composition & Maximum Hypertrophy
I think it has its place here since this is the thread to discuss resistance training in general.
Dr. Brad Schoenfeld is a professor at Lehman College, CUNY, in the Bronx, New York. His research primarily focuses on muscle adaptations to strength training and muscle hypertrophy. He has published more than 300 articles about exercise science and sports nutrition, making him a leader in these fields. Dr. Schoenfeld began his career as a competitive bodybuilder and personal trainer, giving him a unique practical lens through which he communicates his academic expertise.

In this episode, Dr. Schoenfeld and I discuss:

  • 00:02:12 - Why resistance training is important, especially as we age.
  • 00:13:06 - Whether kids should participate in resistance training.
  • 00:16:34 - Whether we can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.
  • 00:24:08 - How much protein we need to optimize muscle hypertrophy.
  • 00:45:29 - Whether lifting heavy weights (versus lighter ones) is necessary for building muscle.
  • 01:06:44 - How much time is needed between sets and workouts.
  • 01:08:09 - How much time we should spend working out for optimal benefits.
  • 01:09:37 - What exercises can help you maximize your workout time.
  • 01:19:16 - How to speed up recovery.
  • 01:43:18 - Whether stretching is really necessary.

The unique qualities of resistance training​

"Resistance training is one of the safest things you can do, in a supervised environment. With children, as young as six, seven, eight years old, there has been good, compelling research showing that they can do it." - Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D.CLICK TO TWEET

The health benefits of exercise are undisputed and, seemingly, innumerable. Exercise challenges the heart, bolsters immune function, enhances cognitive function – and the list goes on. But not all exercise is created equal, especially when it comes to promoting muscle strength and bone health. That's where resistance training exercise really shines.

Resistance training involves pushing or pulling against the resistance of an object, such as weights, bands, or even one's own body weight. These exercises exert powerful forces on the bones, slowing bone loss and even promoting bone accretion. The importance of engaging in resistance exercise for bone health takes on greater significance as we age, as bone mass decreases markedly, especially in women, who comprise nearly 80 percent of all osteoporosis cases. Incorporating exercises that require the movements of multiple joints – such as squats, pushups, or rows – can really pay off.

The mythology of youth resistance training​

"Resistance training is one of the safest things you can do, in a supervised environment. With children, as young as six, seven, eight years old, there has been good, compelling research showing that they can do it." - Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D.CLICK TO TWEET

Habits formed early can often be, for better or worse, lifelong. Why, then, don’t we start all of the really important ones during our formative years?

The next question, then, becomes this: Just how early can we start resistance training? To address that question, Dr. Schoenfeld takes on one of the most important myths standing in opposition to starting resistance training young, even in early childhood: that resistance training will undermine a child’s adult height by damaging the epiphyseal plates.

As intractable myths often do, it sounds plausible. There’s a proposed mechanism. However, the problem is that cumulative evidence has consistently refuted the existence of any such negative effect of properly performed resistance training.

"Parents often have no issues with letting their children play football and basketball, where the possibility of getting injured, and potentially breaking bones (...) are much higher." - Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D.CLICK TO TWEET

Highlighting a certain hypocrisy, Dr. Schoenfeld points out that while most parents won't blanch at their children participating in sports that are characterized by real risks of injury, they will often worry themselves unnecessarily about resistance training, which has fewer risks. In fact, resistance training with proper form carries very little risk of injury. The question then becomes: Why not resistance train? With appropriate coaching on proper form and, above all, keeping it fun, resistance training can become a lifelong pursuit with benefits that extend beyond the obvious physical aspects, benefiting self-esteem, body image, and mental fortitude.

Resistance training as we age​

It's never too late to begin incorporating some form of resistance training into one's fitness routine, and evidence shows that even adults in their eighth and ninth decades of life gain muscle mass when they engage in resistance training. Although the hypertrophic gains are modest in older adults, the relative strength gains can be enormous – and may even be lifesaving, reducing the risk of falls and other aspects of frailty. Of course, one will gain the greatest benefits from resistance exercises when they're part of a lifelong program of fitness.

How to gain and retain muscle – and why resistance exercise is important especially during an energy deficit​

"Evidence shows that 25 to 30 percent of the weight loss will come from muscle. So, you might lose, let's say, 70 percent from fat (...) and 30 percent from lean mass if you don't do resistance training.CLICK TO TWEET

For many people, a desired outcome of resistance training is body recomposition, or "recomp," – improving body composition by simultaneously decreasing fat mass and increasing muscle mass. But if a person reduces their caloric intake to lose weight, as much as 30 percent of their weight loss may come from muscle – unless they engage in resistance training. However, resistance training by itself is a poor strategy for losing weight, says Dr. Schoenfeld, and is most valuable when used as an adjunct to calorie reduction.

"It is fundamental to combine resistance training (...) with an energy deficit through nutritional restriction to promote weight loss. If you do not lift weights, you will lose muscle as you're losing body fat." - Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D.CLICK TO TWEET

Dr. Schoenfeld describes two characteristics that influence a person's capacity for recomp: how much weight they need to lose, and how long they've been training. Someone who has obesity or overweight will preferentially lose body fat when reducing caloric intake, drawing on fat stores long before tapping into muscle stores. But a leaner person will begin to lose muscle much sooner – and to a greater degree – compromising their goals for recomp.

And someone who has been training for many years and is closer to their genetically determined capacity for building muscle – their "genetic ceiling" – will find recomp challenging. Dr. Schoenfeld cautions that there's an important caveat when it comes to recomp: A person can't maximize muscle mass while losing fat – an important consideration for bodybuilders and strength athletes.

Eating enough protein to optimize muscle protein synthesis​

"Leucine is the amino acid that seems to kick-start the muscle-growth process." - Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D.CLICK TO TWEET

Judicious food choices are important for recomp, as well, with special emphasis on protein-rich foods. Current recommendations for protein intake for healthy adults – at just 0.8 grams per kilogram (0.36 gram per pound) of body weight per day – are far too low for building and maintaining muscle mass, says Dr. Schoenfeld, especially when restricting overall caloric intake. Doubling the recommended amount, ensuring a daily intake of 1.6 to 1.8 grams per kilogram (0.7 to 0.8 grams per pound) of body weight, will pay the greatest dividends for promoting muscle protein synthesis for non-novices. Bodybuilders can probably consume even more – as much as 2 grams per kilogram (0.9 grams per pound) per day.

The importance of adequate dietary protein is amplified in older adults, for whom anabolic resistance – the reduced sensitivity to the stimuli that promote muscle building – is a major concern. Obtaining sufficient dietary leucine, a branched-chain amino acid found in salmon, eggs, and legumes, can carry older adults across the "leucine threshold" and expedite anabolism. Although getting protein from whole foods is best, supplements may be necessary for some.

Training load (going heavy vs. higher volume)​

"You can gain muscle (...) across a wide range of loading spectrums, up to 30 to even 40 repetitions, which is a long set. And that's at the whole muscle level." - Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D.CLICK TO TWEET

For many years, the prevailing wisdom has been that heavier loads are always better than lighter loads for building muscle. However, Dr. Schoenfeld's research has shown that older adults benefit from using lighter loads and performing more repetitions – debunking his earlier views as a trainer. Not only can lighter loads build muscle, but they are often the best choice for those dealing with injuries or chronic joint problems.

Similarly, taking every set to failure – the inability to perform another repetition with proper form – may not be as necessary as once thought. The advantages of this change in perspective are clear, especially when it comes to multi-joint, heavy, compound lifts where the risk of injury is greater. Enter the concept of repetitions in reserve, where, rather than going to failure, getting within a repetition or two of one's personal estimation of failure is generally enough to promote highly effective adaptation.

"If you can do three half-hour sessions per week, I think that's a good kind of minimalist guideline for everyone, including older people." - Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D.CLICK TO TWEET

For many, however, adding resistance training to their exercise regimen presents a scheduling challenge – there's simply not enough time. As an experienced trainer, Dr. Schoenfeld acknowledges (and even experiences) this very real challenge and suggests time-efficient ways to incorporate resistance training into a busy schedule:

  • Training with multi-joint exercises – Doing exercises that maximize movements and performing fewer sets with heavier loads to save time.
  • Superset training – Performing two exercises that work opposing muscle groups back-to-back, such as doing biceps curls and tricep kickbacks, without taking a break between the two.
  • Dropset training – Performing an exercise set until failure, "dropping" (reducing) the amount of weight used, and repeating until failure, minimizing the amount of time between each set.
Two to three training sessions per week, spaced around aerobic training, are optimal.

Selected Publications​

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CHAPTERS: I bolded what I found most interesting
00:00:00 - In this episode
00:02:12 - Why should we lift weights?
00:03:42 - Why building bone matters
00:08:18 - How to lift in old age
00:10:31 - Why to lift while young (especially women)
00:13:06 - Should children lift weights?
00:13:51 - Does lifting stunt growth?
00:16:34 - How to change body composition
00:24:08 - Protein requirements
00:26:05 - How to calculate protein needs
00:33:39 - Protein per meal - what's the right amount?
00:35:04 - Does time-restricted eating undermine hypertrophy?
00:40:04 - Anabolic window: myths vs. reality
00:43:01 - Total daily protein intake
00:45:29 - Training load (going heavy vs. higher volume)
00:51:34 - Why aging affects muscle power (loss of type II fibers)
00:54:37 - Power training vs. strength
00:56:05 - Benefits of explosive power training (fall prevention)
01:00:04 - How to power train with plyometrics
01:00:44 - Training to failure (is it important?)
01:06:44 - Rest in between sets (is it needed?)
01:08:09 - Number of sets per week
01:19:16 - Tips for recovery
01:30:26 - Should you get sore from exercise?
01:33:32 - What can you do for soreness? (without blunting hypertrophy)
01:37:02 - Does aerobic exercise undermine resistance training?
01:41:31 - Resistance training for endurance athletes
01:43:18 - Can stretching increase muscle growth?
01:47:52 - Is yoga a type of resistance training?
01:50:22 - Blood-flow restriction training
01:55:23 - What is Brad's routine?
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I found the bolded parts to be especially interesting regarding HIT. There's no one size fits all, and those are good considerations to have to adapt a program for oneself.

And here is a resource which might be useful for people interested in structured calisthenic exercises with good explanations and progressions: the YT channel Gymnastics Method. He also made me realize how isometric exercises can dramatically help gain strength. In my opinion, one of the best YT channel on the subject.
 
caballero reyes said:
But it says nothing about foods that cause inflammation and are considered healthy.
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As nutrition and its effects on the body is very individual, it may well be that he is the exception to the rule that gluten is an inflammatory agent.

The one thing I have learnt over the years discussing and researching nutrition is, that everybody is different!
 
First, a check-up with a good medical doctor (Gabriela Segura).
Anthropometry studies
Nutrition studies
A good psychologist if necessary.
(Inform yourself) with different professionals.
All this will help to avoid unnecessary pain (column deviations, physical problems) of any kind.
Once the above is informed, the physical activity can be complemented.
Physical activity should be enjoyed.
We will combine the physical-mental and the metaphysical-spiritual, a combination and communion between both worlds:
Take the first step to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Motivate yourself every day followed by being inspired and maintaining that attitude.
Progress will be slow but sure.
Walks every day.
The use of elastic bands, weights.

No matter how long it takes, you have to listen to your body, quality is better than quantity.
Avoid unnecessary injuries
Eat quality food (nutritionist).
At the end of each exercise, do not take a bath immediately to level the body temperature again.
Good rest according to the muscle groups worked (Do not overtrain).
Do proprioceptive body awareness exercises
Perform stretching without pain threshold (optional).
Do not forget to recover the spent electrolytes.
Do not train on days when you do not feel well.
 
I haven't done any cardio routine, but is there something minimal like the Body By Science method for cardio? I was thinking of something simple and saw this video. It's supposed to mimic running without the high impact and is just reverse lunges, chair plank marching, and step jacks:

 
3DStudent said:
I haven't done any cardio routine, but is there something minimal like the Body By Science method for cardio? I was thinking of something simple and saw this video. It's supposed to mimic running without the high impact and is just reverse lunges, chair plank marching, and step jacks:

Click to expand...

Here's a twitter thread you can check out:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1573814106007781386

He mentions burpees as Alejo did above, and several other things like rope jumping, uphill running, etc.
 
been doing a variation of this for a couple months now and I'm liking it, i had a few muscle tears in the past from low rep training so the high reps i think are helping give more confidence that I won't be ripping the muscle while strenghtening connective tissue in the process

I was doing a full body routine before 3-4x a week so all that really changed was decreased volume and weight but to compensate i try going 5x a week
 
hlat said:
I think one is supposed to do less per week, not more per week.
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am still doing relatively less volume per week I think, and before that it was not a high volume routine by any means i can finish it in ~20-40 minutes max? that's a fairly short workout by all standards
I don't believe once a week is enough to even get you out of sedentary class there's no shortcut like people wanting e.g a substitute for impact cardio, without impact your body loses the signaling needed to preserve bone mass and you risk osteoporosis

I'm enjoying the 1 set to failure routine it's at minimum a nice periodization, mike mentzer was a proponent of it for decades(at higher loads)
though there's a caveat at lighter loads it's well-known that it leads to sarcoplasmic more than myofibrilar hypertrophy so more like bloat than real muscle fiber, that's apparent when you stop working out and lose a lot of muscle or gain fat back
but I'm open to change my mind maybe doing reps super slow and to failure can shift things a bit let's see
 
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thought this may fit here:

www.psypost.org

Surprising link between time perception and wound healing revealed in Harvard psychology study

Scientists at Harvard manipulated time perception in a recent study, showing wounds heal faster when people think more time has passed. Published in Scientific Reports, the findings highlight the mind-body connection
www.psypost.org

could the opposite be true i.e slow reps cause a bigger stress response?

doing this workout super slow while fasted has been cruel can literally feel the fibers breaking
 
ImaPrototype said:
thought this may fit here:

www.psypost.org

Surprising link between time perception and wound healing revealed in Harvard psychology study

Scientists at Harvard manipulated time perception in a recent study, showing wounds heal faster when people think more time has passed. Published in Scientific Reports, the findings highlight the mind-body connection
www.psypost.org

could the opposite be true i.e slow reps cause a bigger stress response?

doing this workout super slow while fasted has been cruel can literally feel the fibers breaking
Click to expand...
The article was talking about healing, They didn't vary the time for the cupping process, only the healing process.
Yes, going slowly will, and is meant to, cause damage to the muscle fibers when the weight is being lowered(eccentric), that is moving from muscle contraction to relaxation. Damage does not occur when moving from muscle relaxation to contraction(concentric). Perhaps you could build muscle strength by lifting the weight slowly, and then releasing the weight quickly.
 
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