High-intensity exercise can results in an increase of mitochondria if supported by the diet. In order to make new mitochondria the body needs Mg as a co-factor. If your Mg levels are low, you are going to have a difficult time benefiting for the high-intensity training and increasing your total mitochondria count. If your goals are to improve your fitness levels you need to seriously be looking at your diet.
“Athletic performance isn’t about who is stronger, although most coaches incorrecly belive this to be the case. The key to improvd sport performance is producing more force in less time. The results when an athlete can absorb more force eccentrically, allowing him, in turn, to apply higher levels of force concentrically in less time. In other words, the athlete who can narrow the “V” (see graph below) wins every time.”
Team Sustains last strength training block was more of an accumulation phase with some solid volume in the wave loading sets. As the weeks unfolded we gradually lowered the volume and increase the intensity (load). This was in preparation for the maximal and repeatable strength sets in this new block, say hello to Cluster Training.
The Cluster training method is probably one of the best methods to build strength without putting on too much size. This method of training was popularised by Carl Miller in The Sport of Olympic-Style Weightlifting, Training for Connoisseur.
The science of breathing stands on quite ancient foundations. Centuries of wisdom instructs us to pay closer attention to our breathing, the most basic of things we do each day. The first functional movement you perform when you come out of your mother's womb… breath. And yet, maybe because breathing is so basic, it’s also easy to ignore. A growing number of studies have revealed that diaphragmatic breathing may trigger body relaxation responses and benefit both physical and mental health.
Breathing exercises, or the focus on slow regular and sometimes deep breathing, are helpful to manage stress and improve health. In this blog, we are going to talk about the 4-7-8 breathing method (also known as the Relaxing Breath) and why it is a great way to end a training session. The principles of 4-7-8 breathing come from ancient yogic breathing techniques known as Pranayama. Yoga breathing has been scientifically shown decrease stress, lower heart rate and blood pressure [5], improve immunity, and help us sleep.
With all the misinformation of BS media reports regarding workout supplements, it’s hard to know what to believe. We all know that protein is an essential macronutrient in the diet, especially for highly active individuals. The amino acids found in protein serve as building blocks for tissue, skin, hair, bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscle. Protein is found in foods like meat, dairy, eggs, nuts, and beans. It’s also present in plant foods in small quantities such as vegetables and grains
Lately, some of my clients have been asking me if they can have a juice for breakfast. I appreciate that they are looking for something quick and easy to make, but their laziness to prepare a real breakfast is linked to the many reasons why they are unsuccessful in reaching their goals. Making you breakfast is just like making your bed, if you can start the day on the right foot, then the choices you make in the rest of your day are more likely to be positive ones.
Today our diets are full of processed foods containing sugar, flour, and vegetable oil (honest, how the f**k do you get oils from a vegetable?). Its estimated that up to 50% of the calories we eat come from these nutrient-void sources. Our large intake of highly processed foods has decreased the number of beneficial nutrients in our diet, we are deprived of nutrients and this is impacting our health. We are eating more crap food because it is easily accessible and most of us have become a guinea pig to the food industries sick, fat and unhealthy experiment. Not only are these foods low in bioavailable nutrients, but they are high in anti-nutrients such as phytate which block the absorption of other valuable nutrients in the body like zinc, copper, iron, magnesium, niacin and calcium, just to name a few.
Gluten is the devil! "I call gluten a "silent germ" because it can inflict lasting damage without you knowing it" [Brain Maker, David Permimutter]. Gluten is everywhere today, despite the gluten-free movement taking place even among food manufacturers, gluten lurks in everything from wheat products to ice cream to hand cream. It’s even used as an additive in seemingly “healthy,” wheat-free products. Common foods that contain gluten are pasta, noodles, bread and pastries, crackers, baked goods, cereals and granola, sauces and gravies (many use flour as a thickener), beer and malt beverages, and brewers yeast.
Who doesn’t want to be stronger? As a coach, we are always looking for ways to improve the strength and performance of ourselves and our athletes. We hunt for training principles that elicit greater muscular development, neuromuscular responses and improve athletic performance. The Wave Loading Method is a system often seen in advanced strength and power cycles to prepare an athlete for maximal attempts.
The concept of wave loading is based on the principle of Post-Titanic Potentiation (PTP), where one goes and primes the motor unit recruitment to facilitates the recruitment of higher threshold motor unties. Put simply this means we trick the mind and body into lifting heavier loads, or being able to perform more reps at a given load, or being able to lift faster at an given load. The mind-body connection has numerous automatic protective mechanisms intended to prevent us from hurting ourselves, which can put the breaks on high-intensity strength training. Wave loading, used correctly, helps the athlete to push back the inhibitions and open the door to a whole new world of opportunities.
