Body by Science / HIIT Experiment

[Gaby]

I have resistance bands and last time I tried (a month or so ago), I was unable to move even a 1/4 centimeter in the next to last strongest band . Although I'm a weakling, I tell you, there are pretty good resistance bands out there. They take practically no space and you can take them anywhere you go.

 

[mkrnhr]

Never tried resistance bands (will test them though) is that they don't seem to offer a way to self-correct the posture while doing the resistance exercise. With weights one has to be very focused on the way the whole body is aligned in order to avoid injury (of just fall). I don't know to what extent the resistance bands offer a sufficient sensory feedback in that respect.

 

[genero81]

Never. Use. Weights.

Well, I have certainly injured myself before but haven't in a long time. The key seems to be, in a nutshell; no sudden movements! As long as you're using slow deliberate movements with proper posture and form, you shouldn't have any problems.

So I do think this workout regimen is safe if done with proper form, because the movements are very slow.

 

[BlackCartouche]

Well, I have certainly injured myself before but haven't in a long time. The key seems to be, in a nutshell; no sudden movements! As long as you're using slow deliberate movements with proper posture and form, you shouldn't have any problems.

So I do think this workout regimen is safe if done with proper form, because the movements are very slow.

Yeh, i guess I should read the book first.

 

[mkrnhr]

The key seems to be, in a nutshell; no sudden movements! As long as you're using slow deliberate movements with proper posture and form, you shouldn't have any problems.

I think it's a key aspect. It is also a good exercise for being in the moment, to be concentrated and focused.

 

[Scottie]

I think it's a key aspect. It is also a good exercise for being in the moment, to be concentrated and focused.

Yeah, the primary benefit of the slowness is the way it works all the muscle fibers, and the second big benefit (IMO) is that force = mass x acceleration, so moving slowly instead of jerking the weights around is WAAAAY less likely to lead to injury. He talks about that in the book, and how they had elderly folks in wheelchairs doing the workout and eventually becoming mobile again.

Good form obviously still helps a lot, but then that varies person to person - especially considering past injuries. Sometimes, the "right way" is really bad.

 

[hesperides]

Considering this, I'm not sure the rubber thingies can do the trick - because they progressively increase the load, i.e. at the beginning of the movement, there is hardly any resistance, and only at the very end does it get really heavy. So you don't get muscle exhaustion during the full (slow) movement, OSIT?

That´s what I understand too after having read the book.

Now, maybe the rubbers could also be an excellent idea for all those of us who have more serious ailments so that we could sort of testing first how the body responds when exercising with them, and then strengthen progressively the muscles before risking further harm while lifting fixed weights from the get-go? With the carpial tunnel injury I got, even if it doesn´t bother me much, I´m rather skeptical at the idea of lifting free weights from the very beginning. Maybe others think otherwise? I

 

[A Jay]

One issue with resistance bands is the mismatch between strength profiles for different muscle groups and the resistance provided by the bands. A resistance band increases in force requirements as it gets stretched, but your back muscles, for example, get weaker the closer you are to full retraction. So on a row machine, you are at your strongest at the beginning of the movement and weakest at the end. Which is the opposite of the resistance a band would provide. Hope this makes sense.

 

[ApotheosisMMC.]

the key is to always execute the movement correctly.
when you have mastered the technique you begin to add weight always taking care of the position, if this is not good, you drop kilos ... if you do this the risk of lesson is practically null and I add that statistically the risk of lesson in exercises in ranges of force it is quite minor to those that use high repetitions ... regarding the use of assistants for squats that guide the movement seems contrapludent and less beneficial than with free bar because if you are always helping the muscles responsible for the stabilization do not develop and this generates an imbalance that in the long run will bring more lessons ... with respect to the bands, YES, they serve well and that is much more than doing nothing, personally I use them to do exercises for the back like "pull overs" or I do "pallof press" for the core area ... generally the bands have the desbentaja of not being very precise and quantifiable as the weights (although there are tables and methods to know the resistance ), also to say that between the bands of mark generally while more dark they provide greater resistance ... this exercise is very well for the ischiosural and quadriceps or you can also make bridges of gluteus with the band at the level of the knees.

 

[Zadius Sky]

I have resistance bands and last time I tried (a month or so ago), I was unable to move even a 1/4 centimeter in the next to last strongest band . Although I'm a weakling, I tell you, there are pretty good resistance bands out there. They take practically no space and you can take them anywhere you go.

Yeah, they certainly take up no space. I used the bands in the barre classes couple of years ago. It was hard for me to move it all the way. My muscles were weak, still does. I will try them again.

 

[Mark]

Thank you all for the discussion. This looks much more intense than we did as a part of Keto( I think Jack Kruse thread). I got the book and will need to read and try to do it. It looks this needs some body to encourage it. App is a good option when nobody is around. I got the android app mentioned "Time Under Load", but the app interface response looks very slow. I will check whether any other app much better. I am looking forward to doing it, as i lost touch with physical exercise for a while.

The app is definitely slow, I don't know why. When using it I keep in mind that I must be patient

 

[luc]

I have resistance bands and last time I tried (a month or so ago), I was unable to move even a 1/4 centimeter in the next to last strongest band . Although I'm a weakling, I tell you, there are pretty good resistance bands out there. They take practically no space and you can take them anywhere you go.

Okay, here are some words of encouragement for those reading this who are still sitting on the fence about this whole thing. Do yourself a favor, get the book, and take it seriously! Then go online and order a barbell and a bunch of weights and try it! They are really cheap (I payed 18 Euro for the barbell and 30 Euros for some weights, plus again 30 Euro for some more weights that you may or may not need), and they don't take that much space - just put it upright next to or behind a cupboard or something. No excuse!

Thing is, you don't get the benefits of this training if you don't do it pretty much exactly as the book suggests, and this means either using machines or free weights. And the benefits are plentiful - it might well be THE most important thing you can do for your health and wellbeing, right up there with diet. It keeps your IQ from declining, prevents all kinds of diseases, gives you more confidence, strength, better mood and the list goes on and on.

According to the authors, by doing this kind of training you'll reach your genetic potential in terms of strength etc. in about 2 years. Who knows how the world looks in 2 years? Better start now!

And a word for the women: I think many women are reluctant to train with free weights because it's kinda "male" and you would rather do yoga or cardio or use rubber bands etc., but this is a mistake! As the authors of the book point out specifically for women: you will not end up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger if you do this training! You will "just" become more lean, more healthy, more confident, smarter and so on. Don't stop yourself just because the free weight section in a gym is often populated by idiot gorilla-males.

And yes, training with free weights is totally safe - just start slowly with small weights (or even no weights at all, using just the barbell) - it may sound daunting, but once you try it, you will get the hang of it in no time. There are also lots of youtube videos out there.

So - if you don't have access to machines and if you don't have any specific issue that really prevents you from doing this training, order the book and the barbell and get started!

 

[Gaby]

I started to read the book and it does seem worth getting at least the barbell and gym bench.

I'll set up the time for starting this after my annual Martial Arts seminar. Usually I train one hour at the most, but this upcoming seminar runs for several consecutive hours. Although it might not be the most practical sport for health purposes, I just absolutely love it. It keeps my elephant (Haidt's analogy in the Righteous Mind) disciplined and cooperative. I'm looking forward to feeling less sore in next year's seminar after training HIIT though.

Here's another interesting fact that seems to highlight the importance of HIIT. From "In an Unspoken Voice" by Peter Levine, footnote in page 174:

...slow (intrinsic) movements, when done mindfully, operate through the gamma efferent system. This system is intimately connected to the brain stem-autonomic nervous system and involves the extra pyramidal motor system... Gamma-mediated movements tend to "re-set" the nervous system away from extremes of activation.

I immediately thought about HIIT and how it can help your brain stem get a hold of hyperarousal energies via the strengthening of grounding pathways in the brain stem. Other voluntary and fast movements run though alpha pathways that don't involve this grounding (extra pyramidal motor system) pathway in the brain stem. For me, this is the fact that makes HIIT worth it, even if it has nothing to do with Martial Arts.

 

[Keyhole]

I was looking forward to starting this protocol, but I have been told by my osteopath that I am not allowed to do any weight training for the foreseeable future .

I started seeing her last week, because I have developed red/purple hands this past year, which have gotten significantly worse these past few months. My GP diagnosed it as "idiopathic acrocyanosis", but I had the feeling it may have been structural because it gets worse when I play the piano or am sitting in specific positions.

So when I saw the osteopath, she diagnosed the problem as "Thoracic Outlet Syndrome", which is basically when the muscles around the neck/chest pinch on the nerves/veins and can impinge on the venous return. It can be common in males my age who only work on their chest during workouts. Funnily enough, the only thing that has changed in my life since my hands have gotten worse is that I have been working out solely on my biceps/triceps and chest (via the bench pressing). So, it seems that this can go a long way in explaining why my hands are consistently red or purple, and my veins are bulging when the arms are down.

She says that my body is just completely knotted up, and that my neck muscles are NOT what they should be. But also, that there are some systemic issues because the blood flow to my feet and knees is also poor.

Based on this, she has said NO more weight training. So overall, I am a bit upset about that!

 

[Laura]

Keyhole, I have one word: pentoxifylline. It's a freaking miracle for circulation.