"Stretching Before Workouts Makes You Weak!" Mostly True, But Your Workout Volume Will Decline Even More. Plus: Stretching vs. Doms & Stretching for Couch Potatoes

Image 1:Avoid performing stretches before your workout; if you don't do them at all, things like this are out of reach and for the avg. 'no stretcher', 'all bencher', the hunched over look is just right around the corner.

Stretching is one of those topics most trainees are not really interested in. In that most of you are probably happy that most researchers agree that passive stretches, as they may have been prescribed 50 years ago, are counter-indicated before workouts. And though the experts still disagree on whether or not certain active stretching regimen may be useful, most trainees read the headline "Stretching Before Your Workout Reduces Your Strength" once and gave up the in their eyes bothersome, unnecessary ("I've never hurt myself, although I never stretch, bro!") and with the said headline "officially" detrimental pre-workout routine and spend the they otherwise have invested in a couple of stretches either guzzling a caffeine-laden pre-workout product (which is by the way to be consumed 30-45min before a workout) or doing another three to five sets of bench presses, biceps curls and crunches, before, during or after their workout. Even if we discard the fact that neither of those practices will be largely beneficial, this does still raise the question...

Is stretching actually detrimental? And if so, how detrimental is it?

When Renato Barosso and his colleagues from from the Laboratory of Neuromuscular Adaptations to Strength Training at the School of Physical Education and Sport of the University of Sao Paulo recruited the 12 young strength-trained men (20.4 years, 67.9, 173.3cm), they probably had a very similar question on their minds.

Figure 1: Graphical outline of the time-course of the 2 x 4 (1RM or maximal repetition) testing sessions (Barosso. 2013)

As you can see in figure 1 this was a trial in which all participants ,who had been familiarized with the respective protocols on 3 familiarization sessions on separate days, underwent every of the three stretching sessions which consisted of three sets of the supine knee flex, side quadriceps stretch, the sitting toe touch which were performed in the form of

• static stretches (SS) This is probably what you would call "the classic stretch", where you hold each stretch for 30s, make a 30s pause and continue
• proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching (PNF) You perform a passive stretch and hold the stretching position for approximately 5 seconds; then, you perform a 5s near-maximal isometric contraction (Sheard . 2010), relax and passively hold the stretching position for another 20s
• ballistic-stretching (BS) Same procedures as in the static stretch session, but instead of holding the stretching positions for 30 seconds, the subjects had to bob in 1:1-second cycles for 1 minute

and the non-stretched control workouts with subsequent 1RM or maximal number of repetition tests. With the 3 + 1 conditions and the two measuring outcomes being tested on different occasions, this sums up to a total of 8 testing sessions of either 1-RM max leg presses or 80%RM leg presses to failure.

Figure 2: Absolute changes in ROM during the "sit and reach test" (in cm) and rel. changes compared to no-stretching condition in 1-RM strength and maximal number of reps during 80%RM leg presses (data based on Barroso. 2013)

As you can see in figure 2 this is not one of the many SuppVersity posts that's going to bust a myth. Stretches, no matter how you perform them, will negatively effect your strength on the subsequent workout; only the PNF protocol with its short bursts of maximal contractions, however, lead to statistically significant, yet still relatively small (-5.4%) reductions in 1RM strength. What will suffer much more than your strength, though, is your ability to endure longer workouts, or I should say, longer sets: With reductions of

• -8.2 reps (-23%) after the "classic" static stretching routine
• -7.5 reps (-21%) subsequent to the PMF stretching routine, and
• -6.4 reps (-18%) in the maximal rep test after the ballistic stretch

it seems counter-indicated to perform any of these before your training session (the mean number of reps in the control condition was 36).

But doesn't stretching help against soreness? No! Neither pre- nor post-workout stretching offer a significant protection against muscle soreness, a Cochraine Review by Herbert et al. from July 2011 found "improvements" of 0.5 or 1pt, respectively, on a 1-100pts soreness scale after reviewing 12 relevant randomized controlled studies, of which one had more than 2,000 subjects (Herbert. 2011).

So, aside from preventing shortening of the muscles and increasing flexibility is there another reason to stretch? Yes! One surprising finding is that if you are a total couch-potato and don't train at all,  40min of stretching performed 3x / week over the course of 10-weeks will not just increase your flexibility (18.1%), they will also bump your standing long jump (2.3%), vertical jump (6.7%), 20-m sprint (1.3%), knee flexion 1RM (15.3%), knee extension 1RM (32.4%), knee flexion endurance (30.4%) and knee extension endurance (28.5%) performance... what? You are no couch-potato? Great, but these results do still tell you that part of the detrimental effects of stretching on your training performance may well be mitigated by the "training effect" - it's a stressin mini "workout" for your muscles and you would not do 100 body weight squats before your 80% 1RM max-rep test, either - would you?

Despite the fact that the most-heard science based argument against stretching before a workout does in fact involve its well-established negative effects on maximal strength performance, Nelson et al., Franco et al. and Marques et al. reported similar results for knee flexor exercises performed with 40, 50 and 60% of the body weight (Nelson. 2005), 1-3 sets of 20 reps of bench presses (Franco; 2009) and rep-max tests at 40, 60 and 80% knee extensions and bench presses on non-trained individuals (Marques. 2011) as Barroso et al. in the study at hand. The real "news" is thus...

"[...] that not only SS and PNF but also BS impaired the number of repetitions and the total volume (i.e., number of repetitions x external load) performed after stretching when compared with NS [and] that in strength-trained individuals, only the PNF stretching mode impaired the maximal strength production." (Barroso. 2013)

In a more general context, the latter finding, i.e. the influence of the exercise status on the strength declines subsequent to static stretches before a workout, is probably of even greater significance than the notion that you will hamper your strength endurance (note: I stick to this term here, although I am aware that most of you won't think of training at a 80% RM as "strength endurance" training): the questionable significance of data that was generated in an experiment with strength training rookies for the average physical culturist.

In the case of the effects of classic static stretching and ballistic stretches before a workout on the performance during a subsequent 1-RM max strength test, it is now clear that the results from rookies, whose performance drops compared to the no stretch condition, regardless of the protocol, the rookie data is of little to no value for anyone with a coupe of months, let alone years of weight lifting experience.

Bottom line: Irrespective of the last-mentioned problems, the take home message from this and previous studies would be the same for all strength athletes who don't just walk into the gym, crank out a single max set and head home again - Refrain from performing any kind of quasi-static stretching protocol before your workout - and don't forget to look at the study population the next time you see one of the rare studies on resistance training ;-)

References:

• Franco BL, Signorelli GR, Trajano GS, de Oliveira CG. Acute effects of different stretching exercises on muscular endurance. J Strength Cond Res. 2008 Nov;22(6):1832-7. 
• Herbert RD, de Noronha M, Kamper SJ. Stretching to prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011 Jul 6;(7):CD004577.
• Marques MC, Costa PB, da Silva Novaes J. Acute effects of two different stretching methods on local muscular endurance performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Mar;25(3):745-52. 
• Nelson AG, Kokkonen J, Arnall DA. Acute muscle stretching inhibits muscle strength endurance performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2005 May;19(2):338-43.
• Sheard PW, Paine TJ. Optimal contraction intensity during proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation for maximal increase of range of motion. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Feb;24(2):416-21.

Adelfo Cerame: Wendler 5, 3, 1 for Wheelchair Bodybuilders, Eating for Size, 6lbs More + Photos '11 vs. '12 Off-Season

Image 1: A major problem with all comparison shots is that lighting and tanning make it difficult to judge appropriately even if you strike your poses as perfectly as Adelfo does...check out image 2 & 3 as well and judge for yourself - where have those 6lbs gone?

It's Thursday, my friends, and today neither Adelfo nor I have been slacking or busy, which means that it's about time for another thursdaily guest lecture from "your's truly", as he would probably write, Adelfo Cerame Jr. whose latest "6lbs heavier than during my last prep"-pictures look - as usual - pretty amazing...; and that despite the fact that he has got to turn around so that you can see where he has put those three kilograms of lean mass. I guess, you will remember that in one of his latest posts he wrote he always hated training his back - now, he can't train his legs, but I know most of you can, so be honest: Do you like training your legs? No!? Well do it anyway, when you feel them and see them grow you will love it! ... just like Adelfo learned to love training his back... but enough of the wise-assing for today, let's see what Adelfo has in stock for us :-)

Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 + bulking update

As much as I love my 5x5 training, I’m getting a bit bored - which is causing me to be complacent with my training, plus it’s time that I give my body something different. I already made some changes to my hypertrophy split by adding supersets to some core exercise, so now I need to make some new changes for my strength training split.

In light of the fact that I am still willing to get involved in powerlifting this coming fall, I decided to take the opportunity and experiment with Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 strength training protocol. I’ve heard a lot of positive things about the protocol, especially for rather physique-/bodybuilding oriented powerlifting rookies like taking aim at the biggest weights insteod of the biggest muscles.

5/3/1? What's that supposed to be? The rep scheme?

Tip! Go to StrStd.com to calculate & generate your own 5, 3, 1 routinr

The 5/3/1 protocol is based on core lifts such as bench, squats, deads, and military presses – all the main compound lifts you would need in a strength routine, so to say. Other than classic O-lifting regimen, however, the 5/3/1 protocol has a decent amount of assistance exercises to perform after your core lifts – the assistance exercises are optional but is recommended to add a hypertrophy style element to the protocol (and this does not just make sense if you want to get bigger, but also if you want to get stronger, 'cause let's be honest: without more muscle your strength will  necessarily plateau sooner or later / just as vice-versa, by the way - so no "I just want to get a decent pump" workouts any longer, folks ;-).

As usual all, sets and reps are prescribed as percentages of your 1-RM on the core lifts. You use 90% of your 1RM as the base of your calculations, for me who obviously cannot do deads or squats these are

• Bench presses max: 295lbs

• Military press (hammer strength) max: 360lbs

If you take those and plug them into a plan with appropriate periodization (see table 1), which consists of a 4-week cycle n the course of which you add 10lbs to your 1RM (note the "+" means that you got to try to set a PR and do as many reps as you can after the mandatory reps).

Table 1: Standard periodization scheme for my interpretation of the Jim Wendler 3,2,1 regimen (* denotes a deload week)

As you can see in table 1, I will be building up the weights slowly max out and do a deload week. In order to give you a better idea of how this will look like in practice, here is my written out plan for the first week:

Monday/ Bench press day (core + assistance exercise) Core Exercise Bench press - warm up: 3 sets of 5 reps (5 x 106, 133, 159) Bench press - working sets: 3 sets of 5 reps (5 x 172, 199, 225+) Assistance Exercise Pull – hammer strength rows: 5x10-15 Push – DB incline press: 5x10-15 Pull – lat pulls: 5x10-15 Push – dips: 5x20 Tuesday: Rest	Friday/ hypertrophy day – Chest + Shoulders + Triceps DB flat press (superset) + BB flat press - 4 x 12/ 6-8 DB incline press (superset) + BB incline press: 4 x 12/ 6-8 Decline press (hammer str.): 4 x 12 Pec deck flys: 3 x 12 -15 DB shoulder press (superset) + DB lateral raise: 4 x 12/ 8-12 DB front raise: 4 x 12 Champagne tilts: 3 x failure Triceps pull down: 3 x 12
Wednesday/ Military press day (core + assistance exercise) Core Exercise Hammer Strength Military press warm up: 3 sets of 5 reps (5 x 130, 162, 194) Hammer Strength working sets: 3 sets of 5 reps (5 x 211, 243, 275+) Assistance Exercise Pull - Chin-ups: 5x10 Push - DB shoulder press: 5x10 Pull - DB curls: 5x10 Push – dips: 5x20	Saturday/ hypertrophy day  Back + Rear delts + Biceps Seated rows (hammer str.): 4 x 12 High rows (hammer strength)/ or DB rows: 4 x 8-12 Seated deadlifts: 4 x 8-12 Lat pulls: 4 x 8-12 Lat pulls (close neutr. grip): 4 x 8-12 Shrugs: 4 x 12 Straight-arm overh. rope lifts: 3x15 Face pulls: 3x15 DB curls: 4 x 8-10
Thursday: Rest	Sunday: Rest

Monday/ Bench press day
(core + assistance exercise)

Core Exercise
Bench press - warm up: 3 sets of 5 reps
(5 x 106, 133, 159)
Bench press - working sets: 3 sets of 5 reps
(5 x 172, 199, 225+)

Assistance Exercise
Pull – hammer strength rows: 5x10-15
Push – DB incline press: 5x10-15
Pull – lat pulls: 5x10-15
Push – dips: 5x20

Tuesday: Rest

Friday/ hypertrophy day –
Chest + Shoulders + Triceps

DB flat press (superset)
+ BB flat press - 4 x 12/ 6-8
DB incline press (superset)
+ BB incline press: 4 x 12/ 6-8

Decline press (hammer str.): 4 x 12
Pec deck flys: 3 x 12 -15

DB shoulder press (superset)
+ DB lateral raise: 4 x 12/ 8-12

DB front raise: 4 x 12
Champagne tilts: 3 x failure
Triceps pull down: 3 x 12

Wednesday/ Military press day
(core + assistance exercise)

Core Exercise
Hammer Strength Military press
warm up: 3 sets of 5 reps
(5 x 130, 162, 194)

Hammer Strength
working sets: 3 sets of 5 reps
(5 x 211, 243, 275+)

Assistance Exercise
Pull - Chin-ups: 5x10
Push - DB shoulder press: 5x10
Pull - DB curls: 5x10
Push – dips: 5x20

Saturday/ hypertrophy day 
Back + Rear delts + Biceps

Seated rows (hammer str.): 4 x 12
High rows (hammer strength)/
or DB rows: 4 x 8-12

Seated deadlifts: 4 x 8-12
Lat pulls: 4 x 8-12
Lat pulls (close neutr. grip): 4 x 8-12

Shrugs: 4 x 12
Straight-arm overh. rope lifts: 3x15
Face pulls: 3x15
DB curls: 4 x 8-10

Thursday: Rest

Sunday: Rest

Table 2: Complete program of the first week - call it "based on" or "inspired by Jim Wendler", if you will ;-)

So far, I like the fact that the sets and reps for the core lifts are based on percentages. That takes the guesswork out of figuring out the weight you should lif,t when you are gradually trying to increase your strength. It makes things so nicely calculable and by simply plotting the respective graphs in Excel or whichever other application you like, you can immediately see if you are still on track or already lagging behind. With the less stringent programming of 5x5, where you’re just adding and deducting or "guestimating" how much your lifts should increase from week to week. You got a road-map right from the start and if you won't arrive at where you planned to be, four weeks before you know that you messed up ;-)

Latest bulking update: Comparison last vs. this year off-season

It’s been a while since I weighed myself. The last time I remember I weighed in at 138 lb. in March at the WC Nationals and at the WC Championships in New Orleans they didn’t even weigh us! They just assumed I was 140 lb. So the only accurate weight reading I’ve had was back in October before I started my prep, where I weighed 149 lb. and then 138 lb. in March and now 155 lbs., when I weighed myself a couple days ago.

Image 2: Comparison between last years off season Vs. This year’s off-season, with 1 more solid month still left to go before I start my prep again in October (front shot)

As you can see from the small date + weight overlays I added to the pictures, I put on 6 pounds from last years off-season, but can't honestly say that I see any significant difference between the two comparison picture other than my tan, but what I do notice is that I do look a lot leaner than last years picture, but I weigh more!?

Image 3: Image 2: Comparison between last years off season Vs. This year’s off-season, with 1 more solid month still left to go before I start my prep again in October (back shot)

When I emailed Adel aka Dr. Andro the initial comparison photos (which were the two from the front), he could not differentiate either or notice where that extra 6 pounds went, so I decided to compare my back pictures, and I guess you can say that’s where the 6 pounds went. I feel that I do look a lot meatier from the back. My lower trunk is a lot thicker and my lats look a tad wider… Hmmm… So I guess that’s what happens when you don't just prioritize, but actually start enjoying your back days!

Eating for size does not equal overeating until you achieve waist size XXXL

While I originally set out to go for the 3,000kcal mark, I am currently hovering around at 2,500-2,600kcal per day and am not just happy with the way I feel, look and train, but also with the number on the scale, I saw the other day. Overall, I figure I’m making pretty decent progress. I’m managing not to put on too much body fat, so why not just stick to it, I really don’t see the point to try to push to hit 3,000kcal -  especially with only a month left, until I will begin cutting back again.

That said my energy intake tends to be higher on the weekends, anyway. I use do go eat out and socialize, so that it probably balances out pretty well for the time that's still left to the start of my slow cut in October... I know that Dr. Andro and probably one or another of you will say:

"WTF, Adelfo, you will shed that little additional fat anyway, try adding in another 200kcal this and if that does not harm you, which it is guarantee not to do, go further up, as you planned to..."  

Hitherto, my gut tells me it will be better to stay where I am now, but I am always open for good arguments, so feel free to let me know your thoughts and who knows, maybe I'll be singing a different tune next week, already! Lol. I suppose you will just have to come back next Thursday and check ;-)

Adelfo Cerame: Training Day - Chest + Shoulders + Triceps! Includes Complete Workout Video + Exercise Descriptions

Image 1: You've waited long enough, now it's there Adelfo's latest training video!

I guess after seeing the "Meat-Ology: A Brief Glance at the Latest Data on The Link Between Red Meat, Cooking Techniques & Prostate Cancer" post you will have thought that you will never get to see how Adelfo Cerame Jr tears down the gym, right? Well, take today's earlier news as a SuppVersity Special and this as the promised regular post for today, Friday August 17, 2013. You probably won't mind that there is not so much text in today's installment of Adelfo's otherwise Thursdaily blogposts. After all the details on why Adelfo, who is as you all know a huge proponent of red meat may after all still get away without prostate cancer - even if he prepares his lean pork in a pan... but hey, you've been waiting for more than 2 weeks now, so let's finally get into this workout.

Training Day! Chest + Shoulders + Triceps

It’s a little delayed but here are the training videos I promised two weeks ago. I know I mentioned showing you guys 2-3 videos of some new exercises I learned from fellow Myotropics teammate Eric Minor when picking his brain at the USA’s (cf. "Back From Vegas"), but I decided What the heck! Why not take them through my whole workout.  The downside to that is that I wasn’t able to get video footage of each and every set, because I do have 2 other guys I train with, so I don’t want all the video taking to cut into our training but I was able to get footage of at least one set of every exercise that I did yesterday. Here’s how a Thursday workout plan for me looks like:

Exercise	Sets x Reps
DB flat press + (superset) BB flat press	4 x 12 / 6-8
DB incline press + (superset) BB incline press	4 x 12 / 6-8
Decline press (hammer strength)	4 x 12
Pec deck flys	3 x 12-15
DB shoulder press + (superset) DB lateral raise	4 x 12/ 8-12
DB front raise	4 x 12 / 8-12
Champagne tilts	3 x 12+ / 8-12
Triceps pull down	3 x 12-15

Table 1: Adelfo Cerame Jr's high volume Chest workout (includes Shoulders + Tris)

My Thursday and Friday training are my higher volume days, so yesterday was my high volume day for chest, shoulders and triceps. Here is video footage (click on the image to watch) of each individual exercise, just so you guys can get an idea of how a days training looks like for me ;-)

DB to BB Superset Flat Presses 4 sets of 12 on DB presses + 4 sets of 6-8 on BB presses This is an exercise that I started applying into my training after talking to Eric Minor, when I was picking his brain and asking for a couple tips and pointers. It’s very hard for me to get a good pump in my chest especially on a BB bench press. The only time I really use the BB flat press is on my heavy days just for strength, but I never use it on my higher volume days, because it just feels like I’m working my shoulders – but ever since I started super setting flat DB presses to flat BB presses, I’ve been really feeling my chest blowing up during the workouts.	DB to BB Superset Incline Presses 4 sets of 12 on DB presses + 4 sets of 6-8 on BB presses Same protocol as the flat presses, yet with a minor twist in the way I hold the dumbbells. Rather than your typical DB incline press grip, I prefer the incline close grip presses with a neutral grip; I feel that it stimulates my upper chest much better, and I get a real good pump.
Decline Presses on Hammer Strength Machine 4 sets of 12   No supersets here. *Lol* I couldn’t think of anything creative where I can quickly transition over to another exercise.	Pec Dec Flys   3 sets of 12-15 Last chest exercise before I start on my shoulders. After all the compound movements, I usually like to end my chest work outs with flys.
DB Shoulder Press Superset With DB Lateral Raises 4 sets of 12 on DB shoulder presses + 4 sets of 8-12 on DB lateral raises Aside from BB jammer presses, this is another one of my favorite exercise for shoulders. Champagne Tilts followed by Triceps pull downs 3 sets of 12 and 3 sets of 12-15 Like most, I like to end my chest and shoulder workouts with triceps – the reason is obvious, it's the synergy with chest and shoulders.	DB Front Raises 3 set of 10-12 I wasn’t really much of a fan of doing isolated front delt exercises – to be honest; I felt that my front delts got enough stimulation when I do my chest and shoulder compound movements, so I didn’t really bother much with front raises. When talking to Eric at the USA’s I mentioned this to him and he showed me a different variation of front raises that really stimulated my front delts – the secret is the slight bend in the elbows while you re doing a slightly inverted raise - at least for me this exercise hits my front delts real nice.

Well that’s all I got for today SuppVersity readers, I hope you enjoyed the videos. I have back day today, so I’ll try to get footage of my whole workout just like I did, yesterday.

Also, feel free to send requests if you’d like to see how I adapt and adjust to other exercises that you may be curious about and don't forget to come back next week for an update on my upcoming experiment with 5/3/1 training – I’m actually going to have to max out this Saturday in order to figure out my lifting percentages, so I will be trading in my 5x5 training as I try to play with the 5/3/1 training for a couple weeks.

Before, After or In-Between? Study Puts Another '?' Behind the Widely Accepted 'Cardio After Weights' Paradigm.

Image 1 (rippedfitness.com): As of late everyone picks on gals who believe they would get bulky, when they train with weights... I wonder, when people finally start picking on big, but chubby guys who still try to justify their laziness with the "conditioning work induces muscle loss" myth, when they are guzzling their sugary weight gainers.

I know that I am probably one of the few people with a bias towards lifting weight and high intensity interval training who does not discard the merits of steady state aerobics (LISS) as a third pillar of the exercise part of physical culture. In that I am however well aware that we all have only so much time to spare for exercise - although I believe each and everyone of us would be able to carve out another hour everyday, if we just streamlined our schedules and threw out some useless Internet surfing or TV watching, but this is another issue... it may thus be necessary or at least desirable for many of us, if we could combine strength and LISS sessions into a single session. Personally, I have been doing that for years and after some initial experimentation I have, for the most time, relied on the broscientific recommendation to do LISS after workouts (when I could not do it separately).

Cardio? Ok... but when? Before, after or in-between?

The recent publication of a study on the post-exercise response to concurrent endurance and resistance training published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine does yet make me question if there may not be better ways to combine weight lifting and light intensity steady state cardio training. To elicit whether you'd better walk on the treadmill at 60% of your HRmax before or after your weight lifting workout and whether there may not be an even better third protocol that would involve jumping back ond forth from the treadmill to the bench Andrea Di Blasio and her colleagues from the G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara in Italy recruited 13 young previously untrained women (mean age 24.40y; BMI 21.28 kg/m²).

Figure 1: Outline of the 3 training protocols that were performed by all subjects (Di Blasio. 2013)

On three different occasions, each of the participants, who underwent an extensive initial fitness test and had been required to follow identical nutrition protocols before each of the three testing sessions, performed all three of the endurance / resistance training protocols, i.e.

• ERT - 30 min endurance training, first + 3x resistance training circuit*, 2nd
• RET - 3x resistance training circuit, first + 30min endurance training, 2nd
• AERT - [10min endurance training + 1x resistance training circuit] x3

note: the circuit training was performed in sissy mode, i.e. at 55% of the 1RM because "it allows working for 30-second consecutively" (Di Blasio. 2013)

...in random order. Resting energy expenditure, VO2, ventialtion, respiratory frequency, proportion of oxygen in the expired air were collected for 30 minutes via continuous indirect calorimetry (FitMate Pro, Cosmed, Roma, Italy) with the subjects in total rest and in a reclined position in a standardized and quiet room (please keep that in mind! We are NOT looking at intra-exercise energy expenditure, but what happens, when you head home or shower!) according to a standardized experimentally validated protocol (Compher. 2006).

Conventional wisdom fails, both alternatives useful - pick whatever suits your goals

The results, of this trial were - to say the least - more than surprising. Or ... well, honestly they were not. If you take a closer look at the plotted data in figure 2, you will realize that the RPE value, i.e. the rate of perceived exertion, Di Blasio et al. had elucidated visual analogue scale questionnaires, as well as the cardiovascular turned out to be the crucial parameters:

Figure 2: Resting energy expenditure (total and rel. to RPE, left) and changes in oxgyen consumption (VO2), ventilation and oxygen fraction in exhaled air relative to mean changes after ERT, RET and AERT training (based on Di Blasio. 2013)

Interestingly, the long-stading"resistance training first" principle (RET) turned out to be the least useful protocol current experimental setting (see implications, below). Rather, the study found

"[...] that AERT, compared with the other protocols, induced a higher metabolic rate by in- creasing EE, VO2, Ve and RPE during recovery from training, and independently of their pre-test values." (Di Blasio. 2013)

This is an interesting result, because it suggests that the hitherto certainly unappreciated alternation of strength and LISS training within one exercise session appears to elicit those post-exercise increases in EE, VO2 and ventilation, that are necessary to support the re-synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) / creatine phosphate (PCr), to replenish glycogen and oxygen stores, to propel lactate removal and circulation (Børsheim. 2003).

It stands do reason that all these processes are energy intensive. To (1) quantify all of them in kcal (I wonder how long you could survive if you ate kcal instead of foods and how your mitochondria would function if they burned kcal instead of nutrients) and (2) subsume them under the misleading term  "excess post-exercise oxygen consumption" (EPOC) and judge the "optimal" training regimen by its effect on EPOC is yet short-sighted, not just because "EPOC comprises only 6-15% of the net total oxygen cost of the exercise" (LaForgia. 2006), but also because this practice implies that the total or relative (as fat) amount of energy you expend in the immediate vicinity of  a workout was the main determinant of its effects on your metabolic health and physique.

F*** EPOC, the fat burning zone and the calories in vs. calories out hypothesis!

Figure 3: Figure 3: Changes of key enzymes envolved in the phosphorylation of key enzymes in the protein synthetic cascade in response to endurance (E) and combined endurance and resistance (E+R) training (calculated based on Sahlin. 2011; originally posted in "Resistance After Endurance Training Increases Mitochondrial Biogenesis & Protein Synthesis and Ramps Up Fat Metabolism").

That the results of the study at hand do yet still speak in favor of the mixed-mode AERT protocol - at least as long as your main intention is to perform a relatively light full-body conditioning workout at least 3x times a week - is thus not that it yielded the highest post-exercise energy expenditure, but that it did that at the (relatively) lowest rate of perceived exertion (see figure 2, left) and provided the greatest VO2 stimulus to initiate those beneficial metabolic adaptation which won't just reduce the huffing and puffing on subsequent training sessions, but will also help you build a bigger metabolic engine, that's going to keep you lean and help you shed more fat in the future. Apropos "metabolic engine", those of you who have been around for more than a couple of weeks, should actually remember my a post from November 15, 2011, in which I already discussed that adding strength to endurance training can turn even a 60-min cycling workout into a tree-trunk leg builder (see figure 3).

In conjunction with the study at hand, which is the first I know of that compared "cardio first", "cardio second" and "cardio in-between", directly, the results of the 2011 Sahlin study, which employed a true hypertrophy specific pyramid-style leg training after 60min of cycling (without a "hypertrophy first" control, though) do suggest that it may be about time to re-evaluate the bro-scientific standard protocol of "strength, first", "cardio, second" without the long overcome mantra of "you got to work out in the fat burning zone" in the back of your head.

Interestingly, enough, Yardley et al. have only recently reported that "doing cardio first" can make type I diabetics go hypo (Yardley. 2013). Though this may sound scary at first, it would suggest that, in healthy people, the expression of the energy sensor AMPK, as well as the the mitochondria building, fat browning protein PGC-alpha (cf. "If a High Fat Diet was a Pill, the Lay Press Would Celebrate it as Exercise in a Pill!") is probably higher and all the beneficial downstream effects on metabolic health and body composition more pronounced (as always you can of course also argue otherwise - if you want to get hightened leptin levels down, you'd better do it the exact other way around; cf. "Greater Reduction in Leptin With Cardio After Weights").

Suggestion for combining strength and cardio training in one session for,...

• strength - 15 min LISS before*
• hypertrophy - max. 25 min LISS before*
• fat loss (classic) - max. 40min LISS before
• fat loss (alternative) - 10min HIIT + 5min LISS + body part 1, 10min HIIT + 5min LISS + body part 2

* if you feel like it add a 10min HIIT session to the end

You may certainly argue that you would gain more strength without doing any cardio... still, the average O-lifting heavy weight look is probably not what many of you are training for, right? And when you think about it from a physiological perspective it would only appear logical that you better do your cardio first, lift second and add a ~5min cool-down to leave the gym before your protein synthesis peaks / begins to decline, than experience just that during a 45min LISS session after your workouts.

In this respect, even the "equipment hopping" of the AERT sessions, may have it's merit for advanced trainees. While it may certainly not be optimal to "bulk", switching back and forth from cardio to strength training could be a viable alternative for people whose main goal is to maintain the muscle mass while improving their conditioning - particularly when it is combined with short HIIT sessions 5-10min, followed by a short cool-down done twice before say chest and arms (e.g. HIIT > Chest > HIIT > Arms).

References:

• Børsheim E, Bahr R. Effect of exercise intensity, duration and mode on post-exercise oxygen consumption. Sports Med. 2003;33(14):1037-60.
• Compher C, Frankenfield D, Keim N, Roth-Yousey L; Evidence Analysis Working Group. Best practice methods to apply to measurement of resting metabolic rate in adults: a systematic review. J Am Diet Assoc. 2006 Jun;106(6):881-903.
• Di Blasio A, Gemello E, Di Iorio A, Di Giacinto G, Celso T, Di Renzo D, Sablone A., Ripari P. Order effects of concurrent endurance and resistance training on post-exercise response of non-trained women. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2013 Aug; 11:393-39.
• LaForgia J, Withers RT, Gore CJ. Effects of exercise intensity and duration on the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. J Sports Sci. 2006 Dec;24(12):1247-64. 

The Iranian HIIT Solution: Three 200m Sprint Sessions per Week Double Insulin Sensitivity & Normalize Leptin Levels

Image 1 (iransportspress): Maryam Tousi Iran's first female Iranian athlete to compete in the IAAF World Championships in South Korea in 2011 was certainly not one of the 30 overweight study participants.

You will certainly remember the HIIT training video study, I mentioned in last Saturday's installment of the On Short Notice series, right (cf. "Insanity vs. TurboFire")? Now, despite the fact that at least some women seem to prefer hopping around like crazy with a bunch of other crazy "bunnies" in a gym and I will always stick to the recommendation that you will have to pick a type of exercise you actually enjoy doing in order not to fall off the wagon, when the initial success begins to slow down, a recently published study from the Islamic Azad University in Tehran, Iran, clearly suggest that "cheerleading" is not the only way and probably not even the most effective way to HIIT your metabolic syndrome with full intensity.

The Iranian success formula: 12 weeks, constant progression, 1,600 - 3,200m, thrice weekly

Sohaily Shahram and her colleagues from the Department of Physical Education and Sport Science at the University of Teheran handpicked  30 female overweight volunteer students from the university campus, who did not have any confounding health issues aside from their weight and ensuing metabolic problems and randomly assigned 15 of them to the HIIT exercise group.

Figure 1: Outline of progressive HIIT protocol that was used in the Shahram study (based on Shahram. 2013)

While the subjects in the control group did do nothing but continue on their regular, lazy lifestyle, the young women in the HIIT group performed the above HIIT sprint workout (cf figure 1) three times per week, with a work to rest ratio of 1:3 and a 10min warm-up (incl. light stretching) + 5 min cool down.

Would you really prefer taking medication and keeping your insulin sensitivity from further deteriorating over 21-42min of sprinting per week to increase your insulin sensitivity by 100%?

If we assume for simplicity that the women needed ~45s for the 200m (average for 8th graders is ~25-27s, but we don't want rise the bar too high, do we ;-) this would yield a total workout time (including warm up and cool-down) of 39-63min, increasing from week 1 to week 12, respectively.

Figure 2: BMI, body fat percentage, VO2Max (marker for cardiorespiratory fitness), insulin, glucose and leptin levels, as well as insulin resistance index  (calculated via HOMA model) after 12-weeks on the HIIT protocol from figure 1; data expressed relative to baseline (calculated based on Sharam. 2013)

If you take a look at the results in figure 2, you will obviously see right away that those two to three hours on the track per week had an immensely beneficial effect on the overall metabolic health of the subjects, who were, just as their sedentary peers advised to follow their "regular eating habits" over the course of the 12-week intervention.

Obesity and the Westernization of the East

Image 2: According to Esteghamati et al. the risk to become obese has increased from 13.6% to 22.3% for normal weight and from 32.2% to 36.3% from 1999 - 2007, alone (Esteghamati.2010). Yet despite the rise in overall and childhood obesity, Iran is still the country with the slimmest children (14%) in the Middle East, where Bahrain is the inglorious  leader with childhood obesity rates of 35% among the girls and 21% among the boys (Mirmiran. 2010)

Against that background it is not unusual and by no means lamentable that their weight stabilized (which probably is what not so educated physical culturists as you are would immediately have complained about). Rather than making a fuss about the minor loss of body weight (-2.29kg on average), the women should rather celebrate that they lost a total of 2% body fat (equiv. to a -9% reduction in body fat percentage, see figure 2) and primed their bodies to actually be able and willing to lose fat in the future by

• improving their aerobic workout capacity by 26% and thus lying the foundation for more intense fat loss workouts on a future diet
• improving their glucose metabolism and reducing their insulin resistance by >50% and thus being able to fuel their future workouts with the necessary amount of carbohydrates without totally negating their weight loss efforts while dieting

The one thing that would be missing now was a ~20% reduction in caloric intake and a switch away from energetically dense convenient and fast food, which has lead to a drastic incline in obesity in Iran over the last two decades (see caption of image 2) and towards a healthier more "oriental diet". The latter is, just like the infamous "Mediterranean diet", which has countless times being mislabeled as a "low fat diet", particularly rich in MUFAs (oils with 70%+ MUFA content: olive oil, macadamia oil, avocado oil) - and as you are going to learn in tomorrow's installment of On Short Notice these monounsaturated fatty acids have only recently been shown to be just as, if not more effective in keeping diet induced weight gain in check via their epigenetic effects on the expression of the growth hormone stimulating "hunger hormone" ghrelin as fish oils (Saidpour. 2013).

A word of caution The 16 x 200m variety of these HIIT workouts is nothing you'd perform after a strength workout. These workouts are about as taxing a leg workout and will require their own training day. If your current routine has three ore more strength days, don't do more than one of the long HIIT workouts per week. Depending on your goals you can incorporate max. 8x200m sprints after shorter workouts, or do HIIT (8x200m) in the AM and weights in the PM. Check out the Step By Step to Your Own Workout Guide to learn how set up your own workout routine and how to combine weights, HIIT & LISS.

Implications: Aside from the protocol, itself, which is unquestionably equally (I'd say even more) suitable for advanced trainees (women and men), the Shahram study has two major take home messages:

• Change and challenge have more in common than the initial three letters - If you don't challenge your body you cannot expect change to happen; just like your muscles won't grow if you always train with the same weight, HIIT workouts at least when are they supposed to increase your cardiorespiratory fitness need progression (the HRMax programing will automatize that, as you will simply have to work out harder to get your heart rate up, when your fitness has improved)
• Workouts prime your metabolism for fat loss, diets pull the trigger - If you have been lying on the couch for the last two or three years, your body will change even without any dietary intervention, but to really transform your physique you must make appropriate changes to your diet.

I guess, you could say that it's funny how many scientists (and certain science writers), usually with a bias to one or the other, still propagate that diet and exercise would be different means to one and the same end, if their messages would not lead millions of "dieters" and "1h-per-day-on-the-treadmill-walkers" into disaster ... you see, on their own, both can in fact become means to the same disastrous end.

Image 3: Leave the cheerleading to the boys, ladies and HIIT it hard! Fast paced and glycolytic sports will reduce / minimize your need to "diet" and help to avoid the dreaded YoYo Effect

Can you lose weight by simply eating less? Yes, you can. Can you lose weight by working out like a mad(wo-)man? Yes you can! ... but did you even notice that the word "lose" was in each of this questions? You don't want to join the Biggest Losers, do you? So lets start with a better question, then!

Can you improve your health, extend your life and look like a cover model? Yes, you can! All you got to do is build your success on both, not just one pillar of physical culture: Diet and exercise, exercise and diet!

So what are you waiting for? All you'll need is your daily dose of SuppVersity news and a pair of running shoes!

And eventually, even the shoes are obsolete. If you sprint on the beach you will get a greater training effect, anyways: Binnie et al. report 4% faster 3-km running times, when subjects performed their conditioning workouts on the beach (Binnie. 2013)

References:

• Binnie MJ, Peeling P, Pinnington H, Landers G, Dawson B. Effect of training surface on acute physiological responses following interval training. J Strength Cond Res. 2013 Jun 26.
• Esteghamati A, Khalilzadeh O, Mohammad K, Meysamie A, Rashidi A, Kamgar M, Abbasi M, Asgari F, Haghazali M. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders. June 2010, 8(3): 209-213. 
• Mirmiran P, Sherafat-Kazemzadeh R, Jalali-Farahani S, Azizi F. Childhood obesity in the Middle East: a review. East Mediterr Health J. 2010 Sep;16(9):1009-17. Review. 
• Saidpour A, Kimiagar M, Zahediasl S, Ghasemi A, Vafa M, Abadi A, Daneshpour M, Zarkesh M. The modifying effects of fish oil on fasting ghrelin mRNA expression in weaned rats. Gene. 2013 Jul 25.
• Shahram S, Elham Y, Heshmatolah P, Abdolali Baneifar. The effect of intermittent aerobic exercise on serum leptin and insulin resistance index in overweight female students.Annals of Biological Research, 2013, 3 (6):2636-2641

Impingement No More: Study Outlines 6 Week Protocol That Reduces, in 15% of the Cases Even Resolves Shoulder Pain

Image 1: A 1990 study by Lo et al. reports that 43.8% of athletes who are competing in sports with upper arm involvement complain about shoulder problems, 29% with constant pain (Lo. 1990)!

If you are thinking about sex, lies, ex-presidents and obese interns at the White House, when you hear the word "impingement" your language proficiency is not the best and / or you are one of those guys (or girls) who prefers his gossip weekly over the latest issue of a fitness, let alone a bodybuilding magazine (unlikely for SuppVersity students, but who knows?). If you don't belong to this group and / or have just begun to massage your aching shoulder, however, the results of a recently published study on the effectiveness of a 6-week scapular muscle rehabiliation exercise regimen that was specifically designed to alleviate the pain and improve the limited flexibility of athletes with mild to moderate shoulder impingement could be of great interest to you.

The scientifically proven 6-week anti-impingement protocol

For their trial, K. De May and his colleagues from the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University Hospital in Ghent, Belgium, recruited 47 athletes (25 men and 22 women; mean 24.6 years); BMI 22.70kg/m²) who had been spending 6+ hours a week playing competitive overhead sports [volleyball (17), tennis (10), canoe polo (2), baseball (2), swimming (11), and badminton (5)] and had been suffering from recurrent or constant shoulder impingement symptoms for at least 3 months. After an initial screening in the course of which the impingement was diagnosed by experienced practitioners, the subjects were assigned to a pretty simple, daily exercise program that consisted of four exercises

• 

  Image 2 (De May. 2013): Images of the exercises in the same order as in the description to the left: Prone extensions, forward flexion, external rotation, horizontal abduction + external  rotation from 90° position of flexion

  Prone extension (view) - The subject is prone with the shoulders resting in 90° of forward flexion. From this position, the subject performs bilateral extension to a neutral position with the shoulder in neutral rotation. 
• Forward flexion in side lying (similar, but lying on the side)- The subject is in a side-lying position, with the shoulder in neutral. The subject performs 90° of unilateral forward flexion in a sagittal plane.
• External rotation in side lying (view) - The subject is side lying with the shoulder in neutral position and the elbow flexed 90°. From this position, the subject performs 90° of external rotation of the shoulder with a towel between the elbow and trunk to avoid compensatory movements.
• Prone horizontal abduction with external rotation (like this, but with arms in position shown in image 2) - The subject is prone with the shoulders resting in 90° of forward flexion. From this position, the subject performs bilateral horizontal abduction to a horizontal position, with an additional external rotation of the shoulder at the end of the movement.

à 3 sets of 10 repetitions each, with 1 minute rest between sets and a weekly randomized exercise order (to ensure you train all muscle parts equally and don't just replace one imbalance with another one). Before and after the 6-week intervention period, the participants had to answer a standardized questionnaire (the Aside from a questionnaire, the so-called "Shoulder Pain and Disability Index" (SPADI; cf. Brechenridge. 2011) and were hooked up to an EMG apparatus to measure their specific muscular activation patterns.

Figure 1: Pre- and post maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) in manual muscle test positions specific to each muscle of interest (value expressed relative to mean EMG activity for all 4 muscles; left) and absolute changes in EMG activity during arm elevation (right) from pre- to post intervention (De Mey. 2013)

The MVC data in figure 1 (left) was obtained in manual muscle test positions specific to each muscle of interest and in 5-sec MVIC intervals with 5 seconds breaks in between the activation. And yielded the following insights (De Mey. 2013):

• all 3 trapezius muscle parts exhibited increased maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) values after the exercise program (figure 1, left)
• all 3 trapezius muscle did contract less forcefully during arm elevation, while no change was seen for the serratus anterior (figure 1, right)
• the upper trapezius to serratus anterior (UT/SA) ratio significantly decreased after the training program, whereas the UT/ MT and UT/LT ratios did not change (data not shown).

Image 3: Illustration of the anatomy of the subacromial space

The significantly improved Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) score (29.86 to 11.70 after 6 weeks; .60% reduction on average; 7 patients were basically pain-free after 6 weeks!) has therefore to be considered a result of a combined reduction of trapezius activation (not strength!) during the scapular plane elevation and the concomittant increase in the UT / SA ratio, which probably left more space for the impinged tendons to pass through the narrow subacromial space (see image 3).

Judged based on the results of other studies and what is generally described as a significant improvement in SPADI scores (8-13.2pts) in the literature, the researchers point out that

...[i]n our study, this was the case in 23 athletes. In 7 players, full recovery was attained based on a SPADI score of 0 during postmeasurements. The results of this study are very promising since limiting shoulder symptoms in active overhead athletes suffering from persistent mild symptoms might serve as a secondary injury prevention measure, limiting continued low-grade shoulder pain, fear avoidance, and ultimately surgical management requirement. (De Mey. 2013)

If the prospect of surgery-free total pain relief is not enough to invest a couple of minutes into rehab everyday, you are either the laziest slacker, I know, or don't know how f*** bad that hurts and how debilitating a chronic injury like this can be!

Implications: So, regardless of whether your shoulder does already hurt or you are smart and willing enough to spend a couple of extra minutes on "prehab" exercises I highly suggest that you

• don't be stupid and take 2-3 weeks off from all your regular upper body exercises and focus on working on the muscular imbalances which are the underlying reason of existing shoulder pain in 90% of the cases to then gradually resume your regular training with light weights and low(er) volume on all those pushing movement the average gymbro loves to do
• be smart and incorporate 2 of the exercises into every other workout to make sure that you can preserve your presently pain-free state and don't end up ruining your progress, just because your ego told you that it would look better to do another 5 sets of bench presses than a couple of prone extensions and external rotations

And don't forget to revise your complete training regimen - are you doing the same number of sets for your upper chest and front delts as you do for your whole back? If so, it's about time for a more balanced regimen, one that will not only help you prevent muscular imbalances in the first place, but also facilitate constant progress towards a symmetrical and aesthetic physique.

You Want to Learn About the 'Best' Exercises for Shoulders & Co? Look No Further!

Chest	Biceps	Back	Core	Legs	Triceps	Shoulders
The SuppVersity EMG Series can help you in deciding which exercises should be part of your next workout routine.

References:

• Breckenridge JD, McAuley JH. Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI). J Physiother. 2011;57(3):197.
• De Mey K, Danneels L, Cagnie B, Cools AM. Scapular Muscle Rehabilitation Exercises in Overhead Athletes With Impingement Symptoms: Effect of a 6-Week Training Program on Muscle Recruitment and Functional Outcome. Am J Sports Med. 2013 Jul 11.
• Lo YP, Hsu YC, Chan KM. Epidemiology of shoulder impingement in upper arm sports events. Br J Sports Med. 1990 Sep;24(3):173-7.

Want to Cut 12% Body Fat in 12 Weeks, Get Stronger, Bigger or Better Conditioned? Periodize Appropriately!

Image 1 (hitchfit.com): I know I am repeating myself, here, but 12% less body fat mass in 12 weeks without dieting should be a reason to pick up those dumbbells, ladies, right?

If you have read Adelfo's blogpost, yesterday, you will have noticed the versatility of his routine. The combination of volume, 5x5 and EDT training, which may appear somewhat chaotic at first, is yet well-planned, clearly structured and has little of the "cookie-cutter" approach to training people follow who will tell you in the locker room, whenever you meet them: "Ah, I better train biceps today, my legs don't feel right, bro" ;-) In the end, Adelfo's approach is just an unconventional twist on undulating periodization; in other words, a training split where you switch your rep and set numbers in relatively short (but regular!) intervals - often from one training to the next. But is this really the optimal way to train? I mean HST = hypertrophy specific training looks different and that is "hypertrophy specific", right? And in fact, if analyzed on its own, a recently published study from Brazil appears to suggest that what Adelfo feels is the best way to train could in fact be inferior to a less sophisticated linear periodization program  (de Lima. 2013). - and you know what? At least for his sedentary cousin that may in fact be right!

Lifting weights works! Regardless of how you periodize, but...

The 28 healthy, normal-weight, formerly sedentary women (age 20–35; body fat ~25%) from the de Lima study had been randomly assigned to follow 2-day body split routines which differed only with respect to the means of periodization, i.e. the sequence of lower vs. higher rep work (see illustration 1 for an outline of the training regimen) for 12 weeks (no dietary changes or other inventions).

Illustration 1: Outline of the workout (left) and periodization regimen (right) the 28 young women followed over the course of the 12-week intervention period (de Lima. 2013)

If we based our predictions on previous data in 28 recreationally trained college-aged men (Buford. 2007), 40 young men (21.5y) with a minimum 1-year strength training experience (Prestes. 2009a) and 20 resistance trained men (26y; 4-5 years of training experience; Miranda.. 2007) both conducted with linear vs. undulating periodization schemes in the strength-to-hypertrophy rep ranges of 4-8 and 4-14 reps, respectively, we would expect either no difference (Buford. 2007) or a slight advantage for the undulating periodization protocol with respect to its effects on maximal strength (Prestes. 2009 a,b).

Figure 1: Rel. changes in body composition, maximal strength and strength endurance (de Lima 2013)

As the data in figure 1 shows, neither of those predictions is accurate. Contrary to Buford et al. de Lima et al. did observe statistically significant differences between the study arms, yet other than Prestes et al. those changes were not in the maximal strength, but rather in the strength endurance domain. And while the latter showed significantly greater improvement in the women who trained according to the undulating periodization protocol, the classic, some people would probably say "boring", linear periodization protocol elicited a substantially more pronounced decreases in body fat and increases in strength.

Periodicize according to your training level & goals

As boring as those highly structured linear periodization protocols may be, the results from the de Lima study would suggest that there is a reason why Brian Haycock's HST (=Hypertrophy Specific Training) periodization prescriptions are downright anal. It is also reasonable to assume that for beginners and (early) advanced trainees, long(er) cycles will allow for optimal structural adaptations to the individual loading patterns, with the "growths" phases in the medium (8-12) rep ranges and facilitative strength gains and endurance gains in the lower-rep (4-6) respectively higher rep (15-20) weeks. It is also interesting to note that in these early days, when trainees makes the transition from undermuscled couch potato to "recreationally active" muscle gains and fat loss are coupled and can, as the data from the de Lima study shows, be influenced not just by modulating the total number of sets (volume) or the rep range, but also by changing the sequence of phases of training at the upper, medium and lower range of a given set x rep continuum (here 3x15-3x30) - that the latter was somewhat higher than normal (here "normal" indicates 6-15), may have exerted confounding effects, but it does not take away from the constantly overlooked, yet non-negligible effects different means of periodization exert on both your performance and your body composition!

Chest	Biceps	Back	Core	Legs	Triceps	Shoulders
Navigate the SuppVersity EMG Series and learn about the best exercises for a given body part (incl. example workouts).

The studies by Buford Miranda and Prestes on the other hand, suggest that those facilitative strength and strength endurance gains, without which no strength trainee, rookie, advanced or veteran will be able to generate the necessary overload to cause structural adaptations, or put simply, skeletal muscle hypertrophy, may require a slightly more creative, yet by no means chaotic workout organization, once you have a couple of years of weight lifting under your belt.

Daily vs. weekly undulation? I am with Dr. Hatfield and prefer the former!

Personally I prefer the intra-workout or as Miranda et al. call it "daily undulatory" periodization à la Dr. Squat (Hatfield): It makes training more fun and allows me to perform every exercise and train for every body part in a rep range of which I feel that it suits it best:

• lower rep work and a focus on continuously increasing the poundage on compound exercises, such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, military press, pull ups and bend over rows at the beginning of my workouts or as the first exercise for a given body part
• medium and sometimes high(er) rep work and a focus on maximal muscle tension on auxiliary exercises such as biceps curls, triceps extensions, flys, cable cross, pullovers, seated rows, dumbbell rows, reverse DB/cable flys, side laterals, upright rows and shrugs in the latter part of my workouts or as follow up exercises for a given body part

And though Miranda et al. may not have found statistically significant differences in any of the individual tests the 20 strength training veterans in their study had to perform, the greater effect sizes in the undulating periodization group (1.54 = large for daily undulating periodization vs. 1.04  = moderate for linear periodization) appear to prove my instincts and training experience right ... but to be honest, even if it didn't I would rather train "suboptimal" than bore myself to death during another HST (=linear periodization) cycle.

Ressources:

1. Buford TW, Rossi SJ, Smith DB, Warren AJ. A comparison of periodization models  during nine weeks with equated volume and intensity for strength. J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Nov;21(4):1245-50. 
2. de Lima C, Boullosa DA, Frollini AB, Donatto FF, Leite RD, Gonelli PR, Montebello MI, Prestes J, Cesar MC. Linear and Daily Undulating Resistance Training Periodizations Have Differential Beneficial Effects in Young Sedentary Women. Int J Sports Med. 2013 May 4
3. Miranda F, Simão R, Rhea M, Bunker D, Prestes J, Leite RD, Miranda H, de Salles BF, Novaes J. Effects of linear vs. daily undulatory periodized resistance training on maximal and submaximal strength gains. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Jul;25(7):1824-30.
4. Prestes J, Frollini AB, de Lima C, Donatto FF, Foschini D, de Cássia Marqueti R, Figueira A Jr, Fleck SJ. Comparison between linear and daily undulating periodized resistance training to increase strength. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Dec;23(9):2437-42.
5. Prestes J, De Lima C, Frollini AB, Donatto FF, Conte M. Comparison of linear and reverse linear periodization effects on maximal strength and body composition. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Jan;23(1):266-74.