Are Barbell Squats Necessary for Athletes?

For most strength and conditioning experts, the answer is yes, but there is another point of view worth understanding.  The purpose of all strength training for athletes is to improve athletic performance and building lower body and core strength is key for almost all athletes.      Conventional practice is that the barbell back squat is THE way to develop lower body strength.

However, if you think about it a second athletes do very little with both feet evenly spaced out beneath them.  All running is about landing and pushing off on one leg and most jumping happens off one foot not both feet.  One of the few exceptions is the sport of rowing where you always push off with both feet evenly spaced.

According to Mike Boyle, one of the best sport conditioning experts in the world, the back squat is an exercise that does not translate well to sport, carries a high risk of injury (particularly for the low back), and is hard for many athletes to perform properly based on the length of their torsos, lower leg, and upper leg.

So, what does he recommend?   Split squats with rear foot elevated aka Bulgarian split squats.  Boyle feels they translate better to athletic performance and are also much safer than back squats.  He points out that muscular failure occurs because of lower body muscle fatigue instead of low back strength being the limiting factor like the back squat.

Critics of Boyle maintain that the loads utilized in split squats are too low for athletes to gain the strength they need, but is that true?   Boyle’s answer is that you can lift MORE weight with split squats, and he has the evidence to prove it.   If you work at Split Squats and increase load over time as you become stronger you will find that if you add the loads you are capable of using on each side together the combination is usually significantly higher than what you can barbell back squat!

In addition, when you train one side of the body the other side is also stimulated. Indirect stimulation of the non-working side of the body via working the opposite side improves strength in the injured area. This is called cross-education of muscles and is a neural event. The brain pathways that are used for the primary unilateral exercise stimulate the same muscles on the opposite side of the body.

Split squats have several other key advantages:

They require higher levels of core stabilization because of the unbalanced loading

They require better balance.   

   

They allow a greater range of motion at the hip with higher levels of hip flexion and extension.

They provide a great emphasis on the eccentric strength both in hip extensors AND hip flexors.

Click here for a great article and video tutorial from Mike Boyle himself:  https://complementarytraining.net/split-squats-with-mike-boyle/ 

Breath Training for Improved Physical and Mental Performance

 

Breathing involves the exchange of oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2). When you inhale you get oxygen, and when you exhale you blow off excess carbon dioxide. Inhalation is triggered by rising levels of CO2.   Therefore, if you are overly sensitive to CO2 you will breathe harder and faster than someone who is not.

By reducing your sensitivity to CO2, you can increase tissue oxygenation, breathing efficiency and athletic performance. One of the best ways to do this is by practicing controlled breath holding and nose breathing.

Done properly these exercise change levels of O2 and CO2 in the blood which creates hypoxia and hypercapnia.

What is Hypoxia?

Hypoxia refers to lower oxygen levels in the tissues of the body.  Severe and/or prolonged hypoxia is obviously dangerous.  However controlled levels of hypoxia actually drive improved tissue oxygenation in an adaptive response to this challenge!

What is Hypercapnia?

Hypercapnia refers to excess carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood. This can happen for several reasons, including:

Breathing disorders such as sleep apnea

Severe asthma attacks

Heart problems causing reduced blood flow to the lungs

Poor liver function

Kidney failure

When hypercapnia occurs, the body compensates by increasing heart rate and breathing rate. If hypercapnia is severe and prolonged it can lead to serious issues including coma and death.   However controlled and short-term levels of hypercapnia can actual drive improved tissue oxygenation along with Hypoxia.

Benefits of controlled and short-term Hypoxia and Hypercapnia

Both hypoxia and hypercapnia training can improve endurance, increase the amount of oxygen your body can use, and help protect muscles from damage. In addition, hypercapnia training can improve your strength, power, and sprint performance.

Both forms of training have been shown to be safe and effective in several sports when done properly.

How does this work?

All physical training produces a physiological challenge which drives an adaptive response during recovery from the training challenge, and this definitely includes Hypoxic and Hypercapnia Training!   

Mechanism of Action

Oxygen is primarily carried by hemoglobin in red blood cells which transports it to the tissues of the body, and transports CO2 to the lungs to be exhaled.   The affinity of hemoglobin for 02 changes based on pH (acidity), temperature, and CO2 levels and is described as the Oxy-Hemoglobin Disassociation Curve as pictured below.

During ANY Type of exercise, the muscle get more acidic, temperature increases and there is increased CO2 production - which means that higher levels of 02 are automatically off-loaded to those tissues!   

Because athletes and regular exercises go through this process over and over again they have a much greater tolerance for CO2 levels.   In fact, a study found that athletes have significantly higher tolerance for CO2 levels and for any given amount of exercise athletes experienced 50 – 60% less breathlessness than untrained people did!

In addition, increasing levels of CO2 in the body (including the brain) cause increased production of Nitric Oxide (NO) which opens blood vessels to allow higher circulation.

How to Incorporate Breath Training into your Workouts

The easiest way to start this process is by deliberately making an effort to breath through the nose – starting at rest and then during exercise.   By breathing through the nose you will train your breathing muscles to become stronger.  In addition your nose helps filter impurities out of the air so they do not reach the lungs – including viruses!   Nasal breathing also reduces incoming O2 levels and results in higher levels of CO2.     This provides a very real conditioning effect and over time you will become more and more accustomed to higher levels of CO2 which can actually boost O2 levels in the tissues.

CAUTION:  use common sense – start slow and low with nasal breathing and if you have a nasal obstruction do NOT use nasal breathing.    

The other exercise is controlled breath holding exercise.   Start at rest and note how many seconds you can go until you experience a strong urge to breath – then BREATH!    Over time gradually increase your time as you notice you can do so without experiencing a strong urge to breath.    

Once you get comfortable and experienced you can graduate to doing the same type of breathing exercise during light exercise.  

CAUTION:   Anyone with any breathing issues including but not limited to Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, high blood pressure, heart disease or other disease process should NOT perform these exercises!  We also always recommend you speak to your physician before starting this or any other new exercise program.

For a complete guide to incorporating Hypoxic and Hypercapnic Training into your program go to www.oxygenadvantage.com

Swimming = Big Benefits for the Brain!

 

It’s no secret that cardiovascular exercise can help slow down some of the worst aspects of aging, but research suggests that swimming provides a unique boost to brain health.

Regular swimming improves cognitive function, memory, mood, and immune response. Swimming may also help mitigate damage from stress and create new neural connections in the brain.

Aerobic Exercise and New and improved brain cells and connections

There is research proving that aerobic exercise improve neurogenesis (creation of new neurons aka brain cells) and help reverse and repair damage to brain neurons and their connection in both mammals and fish.

These benefits come in large part through higher levels of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor or BDNF for short. The neural plasticity, or ability of the brain to adapt is stimulated by BDNF.     BDNF acts like Miracle Grow for the brain and is proven to boost cognitive function including memory and learning.

Research in humans shows a strong relationship between BDNF levels and increases in the size of the hippocampus area of the brain which is responsible for learning and memory.   BDNF has also been shown to help alleviate anxiety and depression.  In contrast, research has shown that lower BDNF levels are linked to mood disorders in humans.

But what’s special about swimming?

Researchers are not sure what swimming’s secret sauce might be. But they’re getting closer to understanding it.  Because swimming involves all of the major muscle groups, the cardiovascular system increases blood flow which leads to many benefits including the creation of new blood vessels known as angiogenesis.  The greater blood flow can also lead to a big boost of endorphins that act as a natural pain reducer throughout the body.  This surge is one factor linked to the sense of euphoria that often follows exercise.

In addition, by its very nature swimming involves breathing stress and increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) tolerance as you hold your breath between strokes.    This creates mild hypoxia (lower blood oxygen) and hypercapnia (higher levels of CO2).   This gentle stressor results in positive adaptations in the circulatory system including increase oxygen carrying capacity.   In addition improved tolerance of CO2 is very helpful for anxiety.

Although most studies on swimming and brain function have been done in animals, research in people shows similar results suggesting a clear cognitive benefit from swimming at all ages.  For instance, in one study looking at the impact of swimming on mental acuity in the elderly, researchers concluded that swimmers had improved mental speed and attention compared to non-swimmers.

Kids Also Benefit!

The brain-enhancing benefits from swimming boost learning in children. Researchers found that children’s accuracy was much higher for words learned following swimming compared with coloring and CrossFit, which resulted in the same level of recall. This shows a clear cognitive benefit from swimming versus anaerobic exercise, though the study does not compare swimming with other aerobic exercises. These findings imply that swimming for even short periods of time is highly beneficial to young, developing brains.

Choline - The Most Important Nutrient You Never Hear About!

 

Choline is a nutrient needed for the brain to produce a key neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.  Acetylcholine is synthesized from choline and involved in memory, circadian rhythm and muscle control. Each of these specific functions contribute to the impact it has on cardiovascular health, liver diseases, neural tube defects and cognitive health.

There are synapses between nerves throughout the brain that rely on acetylcholine to communicate.     Scientists have found using drugs that inhibit levels of enzymes that break down acetylcholine increases acetylcholine in the brain, and this has proven useful in the treatment of Alzheimer’s dementia.

Further many drugs, including most over the counter allergy medications, have an anticholinergic action meaning they cause decreases in acetylcholine.   Research has proven that regular intake of these medications increases the risk of dementia in people 55 years and older.  

To make matters worse studies have show that up to 90% of US Citizens have a choline deficiency.   When you combine deficient choline intake from diet with commonly used drugs that deplete acetylcholine you set-up the perfect storm for dementia!   The good news is that with targeted eating or supplementation it is easy to take in adequate choline levels to help prevent dementia!

There are several foods with high levels of choline.   The food with the highest level of choline is liver with a whopping 356mg per 3 ounces.   Another food with high levels is egg yolks.    Beef, seafood, and poultry are also good sources of choline.  Unfortunately, many of these foods, such as egg yolks, have been unfairly demonized and incorrectly connected with causing high blood cholesterol.    This is NOT the case! One egg yolk contains about 130mg of choline which is 25% - 30% of your daily requirement. 

For adults the daily requirement is 400mg for female and 545mg for males.

Choline Supplements

Another way to ensure adequate choline intake is to supplement.    There are four types of choline supplements.    Plain choline and choline bitartrate are the least expensive but does not support production of acetylcholine as well as DFP-choline aka citicoline or Alpha GPC choline.

How Many Repetitions per Set?

 

Many hours are spent in heated debate on this topic, but the truth is that the number of reps per set and number of sets per workout are secondary measures.   A review of the scientific research shows that the weight of evidence does NOT support the idea that different numbers of repetitions have differential effects on muscular strength and endurance.  

Furthermore, a review on this subject concluded that “all these studies strongly suggest that within a reasonable range of repetitions, approximately 3 to 20, there does not appear to be a specific number of repetitions that will elicit more favorable gains in muscular strength, power or hypertrophy.”

What does matter then?  It is ALL about reaching momentary muscular failure - meaning that you cannot complete another repetition of an exercise in good form.  If you do not reach muscular failure or come very close the reps and sets will not produce results.  Perfect form is part of this equation because perfect form means keeping tension in the targeted muscle/s throughout the entire repetition and not using momentum.     

For example, allowing the weights being lifted to settle on the top of the weight stack means you are unloading the muscle – NOT what we want to do!  Throwing weight using momentum is another way you can deload the muscle.   The key is performing smooth, steady repetitions throughout the range of motion for an exercise with no deloading until you reach momentary muscular failure.   

For beginners one set to failure between 8 – 15 repetitions is plenty for each muscle group.   Over the longer haul repetitive sets become necessary to make progress – but never sacrifice reaching muscular failure and perfect form to do extra sets!