Listen Up!

My taste in electronica has slowly but surely been refining itself over the past year or so (thank god!).  Here's a few tracks with that delicious complexity and haunting quality that I'm currently craving.

Press Play

I love the gym!  Why?  Because it's a great excuse to zone out to some excessively loud music!  Here's what I've been mainlining lately: a few throwbacks, some old stand-by's, and some new finds from Pandora.

Back 2 Basics

For the last few weeks I've been trying something a little different with my training.  I've changed up my split a bit and I'm now using a five day rotation, where shoulders are trained with chest and biceps, hamstrings are trained with quadriceps, and triceps are trained with back.  This split also includes two full rest days, and the increased recovery between training sessions has really paid off.  This type of grouping in the split minimizes shoulder and elbow stress, as those bodyparts with overlapping stress zones have generally been grouped together, or on opposite ends of the rotation.  I'm also sort of going back to basics with this recent change, and really trying to perfect some of the more traditional compound movements that I've neglected in the past.  For example: decline bench, traditional squats, one-arm row, and even french press.  Time to dust off those old favorites!

This N' That

This song is definitely about getting huge, just listen to the lyrics!

A custom print I did just the other day...

And my new chest training video!

I never get sick of that mix I keep using ;)

See how my shoulders are a bit uneven on crossovers though?  That's why filming yourself has more than just the obvious narcissistic uses.

Drink Your Protein-Infused Cocoa, Peter!

As you might expect, all calories are not created equal--it really does matter which of your favorite neverfoods you're eating--yams, mamee apples, banana squash?  In the same way, protein is not protein "no matter where it comes from."  The "trace" proteins in starches, nuts and dairy are not exactly the same as the proteins from chicken, eggs, beef, pork, and seafood.  While avoiding these proteins is not necessary, or even advisable, it should still be noted that they are not direct substitutes for "real" protein. So while some attention to detail is necessary in ensuring that inordinate amounts of trace proteins are not consumed, thereby altering the total daily intake value, trace proteins can still be a balancing force in the diet and help maintain a positive nitrogen balance, when not relied on for protein alone.

Under Pressure

Funny thing about jargon, you only understand it if it's your jargon.  I realize that I throw some phrases out there that are self-explanatory to me, but may be completely indecipherable to everyone else.  Like when a DJ friend asks me about uptempo and I'm like, "Wtf is uptempo?"  Or when my training partner is talking computer stuff with another nerd and all I can hear is, "My computer is really fast and cool--literally!"  It happens in the gym too.  "Mind-muscle connection," "positive nitrogen balance," "working weight."  We all throw these kinds of terms out there and expect others to understand them without explanation.  Maybe we bodybuilders, as a community, are just trying to make it sound more complicated than "Me lift heavy thing!  Me grow strong!"  At any rate, today I will be explaining the time-under-tension principle.

You Tune In To FM, I Tune In To This

Pump It Up

I've kinda talked about pumps before, but let's go into a little more detail this time.  

Firstly, what is a "pump"?  Many individuals can train for months or years before experiencing one.  Seasoned lifters can grow so accustomed to them that the pumps themselves go largely unnoticed.  But what the hell is it?  Mechanically, the "pump" is a profusion of blood in the target muscle caused by the body's natural reaction to muscular contractions.  In addition to cleaning up the cell damage caused by catabolism, your body is also constantly replenishing ATP stores in order to power your muscles.  This causes a major influx of blood to the target muscle, creating mild congestion, e.g. swelling, slight numbness and tingling, as well as a slightly engorged appearance.

Muscular contractions (such as those performed during weight training) originate as conscious effort from the brain.  Basically, an electrical charge innervates the muscle fibers, causing a cascade of effects which ultimately leads to a contraction.  Within each innervated muscle fiber are myofibrils surrounded by sarcoplasm--a calcium rich plasma--within each myofibril are thin filaments formed by actin and myosin.  The electrical impulse from your brain depolarizes the inner portion of the muscle fiber, activating voltage-gated calcium channels which react with calcium-release channels.  These channels react with the sarcoplasmic reticulum (an organelle regulating calcium concentrations in the muscle), allowing the release of calcium, which binds to the actin containing filaments.  This in turn allows a modulation of proteins along the actin chain, allowing the previously blocked myosin filaments to bind to the actin filaments.  In the absence of calcium, this is not possible.  This binding pulls the bands together, resulting in contractile force.  Then, ATP (remember this guy?) binds to the myosin, weakening its binding state to actin and thereby releasing it--resulting in a relaxation of the muscle fibers.

So during muscular contractions, your body is required to replenish oxygen and ATP, as well as remove waste--all of which are done through the bloodstream.  So why have some people not experienced a "pump"?  Muscular contractions are not all equal.  The complete activation of all muscle fibers will require more bloodflow than a contraction where only some fibers are activated.  In a muscle where overload is not being experienced, there will also be less demand for blood.  This is why people who train light or people who don't train well will often go pump-less.  Once again, this is why isolation, overload, and proper form are absolutely necessary.  

How important is a pump in muscular hypertrophy?  There is absolutely no evidence to indicate that muscular pumps in any way correlate directly with growth.  Meaning, just because your quads got hella pumped,  you may not have initiated hella adaptive response (on a strictly acute basis).  Ya feel me?  However, muscular pumps are an excellent indicator of isolation and should definitely be sought in each workout, and are highly effective as a long-term benchmarking tool as well.  It goes without saying that fully activating each muscle--each fiber--will absolutely net you greater gains.  In many cases, this will result in a ridiculous pump as well.  In my personal experience, pumps are a thing of practice and effort; recognizing the sensation aids in isolation and also acts as a reminder to continually improve form.  I also find that those who do not use a HIT approach will have a harder time getting and maintaining pumps (this was me when I first started). 

Additionally, there are some who feel the stretching aspect of a pump to be a desired effect in and of itself.  These folks argue that the fascia (the sheath surrounding your muscle) becomes stretched as the muscle becomes more and more pumped, or engorged with blood.  This is the basis for Fascia Stretch Training-7 (FST-7).  This program involves doing 7 sets per exercise, usually 2-3 sets performed progressively heavier, followed by the remaining sets performed progressively lighter and also in a more rapid succession.  Arguably, this maximizes the pump in the target muscle, literally stretching the fascia by packing more and more blood into the muscle.  The argued benefit from FST-7 is basically that by stretching the fascia out, you are allowing for additional muscle volume to be present.  I've used this in the past as a sort of modified "drop-set," but it's a take-it-with-a-grain-of-salt type thing like everything else.

Muscular pumps can be enhanced by nitric oxide products, i.e. SuperPump, Jack3d, etc.  For my review of NO products, read this.

Kick Out the Epic Pt. 2

The worst thing possible happened to me at the gym today.  My iPod ran out of battery and my backup was sitting innocently on my desk at home.  Nooo!  The experience reminded me that I don't actually need music to push hard or focus in the gym, which is good.  But I do really love it.  So, in no particular order:

And you can't talk about EDM without at least mentioning this, because I haven't heard the end of it since we watched this episode (and I explained it).

Kick Out the Epic

This is what's been getting me going lately.  In the gym, I mean!  Gees...

And also this sexy mix chopped into a few pieces with Audacity. 13:40 through 20:40 is particularly epic, it is quite LITERALLY the best version of Bromance I have EVER heard.  Watch Parks and Recreation, Rob Lowe is hilarious.