RippedZilla's thread of knowledge

[Megatron28]

I've been slacking off on this thread for a while - been busy with clients but will be writing something up this week.

Since its contest prep season for a lot of people, I've decided to focus on dieting - specifically the psychological aspect and how to overcome certain barriers.
This should be useful for a lot of people since everyone who's attempted to diet for any significant amount of time knows how much of a mind fuck it can be - contest prep individuals in particular will know what I'm referring to here.

Stay tuned

I saw that MacDonald has a book on using a Dopamine Agonist (bromocriptine) while dieting to help with the psychological effects. I have not had a chance to read it yet but I would be interested in your thoughts on the subject if you have time.

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

I saw that MacDonald has a book on using a Dopamine Agonist (bromocriptine) while dieting to help with the psychological effects. I have not had a chance to read it yet but I would be interested in your thoughts on the subject if you have time.

It is indeed one part that I will be covering - along with why not all DAs accomplish this (as I found out through experience) so I've got you covered on this

 

[hiram1st]

Muscle Specific Training Part 3

Time to finish this topic off...


Back

The back contains many different muscles that would take up way too much time and, frankly, I don't think many people are interested all of them.
So I'm going to split this section into the main muscle groups that can be trained, namely the lats, traps & lower back.

Latissimus Dorsi aka Lats

The main function of the lats is shoulder adduction & extension.
The lower part of the lats perform the adduction with the upper part involved in extension - so you need to incorporate both movements to maximise growth.
For shoulder adduction you need your shoulders to be externally rotated while for extension you want the shoulders to be in a neutral **********

An easy way to see if your externally rotating your shoulders is to ensure that your thumb is facing upwards, not down, while doing any type of rowing movement.
For example on straight arm pulldowns, you want to use a V bar rather than a straight bar to maximise growth by having the right shoulder rotation & hand positioning.

In terms of exercises:
Wide grip pullups/pulldowns are a good choice to maximise the growth of your lower lats through shoulder adduction.
For shoulder extension, pretty much any type of row will do provided you take into account the hand positioning I mentioned.

The lats have an equal amount of fast/slow twitch fibers so medium reps of 10-12 are the best choice.

Using the V bar with thumbs up has definitley made a difference in the definition of my Lats. I switched form straight bar to V bar alternating weeks and I get a way better pump off of the V bar.

Thanks for the info

 

[Fullgoldcrown]

I know having a ton of stickys may be a bad thing but once again this info is very detailed. Please please please make this thread more easily accessible.

 

[carverelli]

I recommend both leg curls and Romanians/straight leg deads in the article - the leg curl is the only exercise where knee flexion is ok because your lying down on your front.
Both moves are good choices

Lunges & high foot leg press are poor choices for hams due to the knee flexion - your glutes will benefit from lunges in particular though.

Of course, remember to keep the reps low with explosive concentric and slow eccentric portions - hamstrings respond very well to this due to the high fast twitch muscle dominance.

I like lunges fof glutes, taking a big stride. Although my teardropx feel these as well. Really about thd only exercise I do currently that makes my ass sore

 

[blackjack]

Muscle Specific Training Part 2


So how do we train the lateral delt with no involvement from the front?

Its all about doing the side lateral raise with good form:
- Do not do the move from the front in order to avoid shoulder flexion, which turns it into a front raise.
- Fully extend your elbow, I know its easier on the elbow to not do this but to keep maximum tension on the muscle you need full extension here.
- The weight needs to be in line with the lateral delt, this means doing the movement on an incline bench. An angle of around 30-60 degrees is sufficient but remember the lower the angle, the more the rear delts become involved.
- Range of motion: the first 30 degrees of the move is done primarily by the supraspinatus, then the lateral delt takes over. This means you need to maintain control of the move throughout the upper portion of the move - SO NO YANKING THE WEIGHT UP & DUCKING UNDERNEATH IT!

^^This is exactly what I need. I'll be implementing this advice ASAP.

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Lol...good to see my thread hasn't lost its popularity

I know I promised you guys another article a few weeks ago but, as we all know, sometimes life has other plans for us.
I will be adding more to this thread once I get enough time, so don't worry - your patience will be rewarded.

 

[bigben66]

So how do we train the lateral delt with no involvement from the front?

Its all about doing the side lateral raise with good form:

- The weight needs to be in line with the lateral delt, this means doing the movement on an incline bench. An angle of around 30-60 degrees is sufficient but remember the lower the angle, the more the rear delts become involved.

Is this lying face down on the bench? Or on your back face up?

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Is this lying face down on the bench? Or on your back face up?

Back face up with weight being raised in line with your lat delts.

The main key with the technique changes on this move is to eliminate front delt involvement since, for most people, side delts are a weak point and front delts are overdeveloped anyway.

 

[bigben66]

Shoulders tomorrow, I'll give this a go...

Cheers buddy

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Do you need to add insulin to get more out of your cycle?

This topic comes from an interesting review that everyone has access to read:

MECHANISMS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY: Exogenous insulin does not increase muscle protein synthesis rate when administrated systemically: a systematic review

The review assessed all the available data to see if exogenous insulin had the ability to promote protein synthesis and therefore be considered "anabolic".

The findings of the review were as follows:
- Exogenous insulin along side an excess of amino acids (hyperaminoacidemia) lead to protein synthesis but this was attributed more to the amino acids (protein intake) than the insulin.
- Exogenous insulin administered systemically actually resulted in lower blood amino acid levels (hypoaminoacidemia), which eliminated any insulin-induced effect on protein synthesis.
- Exogenous insulin resulting in levels above 50,000 pmol/l improves protein synthesis.
- Exogenous insulin isn't effective for protein synthesis in older adults due to anabolic resistance.
- Exogenous insulin, by itself, does not induce protein synthesis in healthy adults.


My interpretation

The basic takeaway from this study is that you need to have a good level of protein intake combined with dosing insulin to a point that results in levels above 50,000 pmol/l in order to for it to be worthwhile.

The study doesn't really let us know the dosing & duration of insulin use required to gain this benefit. I suspect the dose will be high enough to increase possible side effects such as hypoglycaemia, insulin resistance, etc & timing it around workouts would be the best route since an excess of amino acids is required to maximise its use.
This makes me question those who use very low doses (below 5ius per day) since this will add close to nothing unless combined with something else (GH).

Now, though insulin's benefits to protein synthesis appear to be pretty minimal, let's not forget that its main role is to prevent protein breakdown and therefore enhance overall net protein balance (this is what matters for muscle growth). So though insulin shouldn't be called "anabolic", it certainly can be classified as "anti-catabolic".
Here the question becomes can exogenous insulin help prevent protein breakdown MORE than normal levels achieved through diet? IMO, you need to dose insulin very, very high (40ius per day) in order to maximise this effect - how many guys actually do this? Very, very few.


So, in summary, if you want to gain the maximum benefit from insulin on cycle you need to use it in this manner:

- Overall dosing would need to be very high, around 30-50ius per day, so attention needs to be given to the possibly dangerous side effects.
- Protein intake should be high in order to provide the body with plenty of amino acids to utilize.
- It should be timed to go around your workouts.
- Low doses (below 5ius) are a complete waste of time and should be avoided at all costs.

 

[cybrsage]

I have to know - who is that in your picture, Zilla? And does she like middle aged married men who are just starting their journey into fitness?

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

How to accurately identify liver damage from oral steroids

I'm making this topic after doing a little bit of reading that explained why the usual liver function test that most guys take is NOT effective at spotting liver damage from oral steroids.

Lets start with the data...


Muscular exercise can cause highly pathological liver function tests in healthy men

AIM:
To investigate the effect of intensive muscular exercise (weightlifting) on clinical chemistry parameters reflecting liver function in healthy men.

RESULTS:
Five out of eight studied clinical chemistry parameters (AST, ALT, LD, CK and myoglobin) increased significantly after exercise (P < 0.01) and remained increased for at least 7 days postexercise. Bilirubin, gamma GT and ALP remained within the normal range.

CONCLUSION:
The liver function parameters, AST and ALT, were significantly increased for at least 7 days after the exercise.
In addition, LD and, in particular, CK and myoglobin showed highly elevated levels. These findings highlight the importance of imposing restrictions on weightlifting prior to and during clinical studies. Intensive muscular exercise, e.g. weightlifting, should also be considered as a cause of asymptomatic elevations of liver function tests in daily clinical practice.


There was also a very enlightening commentary on this study that shows us EXACTLY how to determine liver damage from oral steroids:

Enzyme elevations with muscle injury: know what to look for!

"We reported almost 10 years ago on the severe elevations that may be seen in competitive bodybuilders both on and off anabolic steroids [2]...
Most significantly we found the most simplistic laboratory value that should be included when examining resistance-exercise athletes is to include gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). We found none of our exercise subjects had elevations of GGT while patients with any form of hepatitis, who were analyzed retrospectively, all had GGT elevations [2]."



My interpretation

The first study shows that resistance training alone will cause an asymptomatic increase in ALT & AST values, which is what most people look at to determine whether or not orals are causing any harm to their liver.
The second commentary illustrates that GGT would only increase if their was actually any damage, not simply as a response to resistance training.

The main levels people see when taking a basic liver function profile are ALT, AST & Bilirubin.
ALT & AST levels can be elevated simply as a result of training induced muscle damage and therefore is not an accurate method of determining what's really going on.
Serum Bilirubin is accurate in showing potential liver damage but not as a measurement on its own (unless your levels are really high, twice the reference limit for example).

The solution is to measure GGT levels.
GGT levels will only be elevated to show direct liver damage from the orals and any high value should be taken very seriously. Of course the damage can be caused by other factors such as excess alcohol intake, diabetes, etc so its a good idea to get a pre-cycle test to eliminate other potential factors outside of the oral steroids.
At the same time, normal GGT levels will indicate that there is nothing to worry about - so it ticks all the boxes as a method to be used to determine liver health.



Summary

Considering both the liver function profile and the GGT bloodwork cost around the same amount, I strongly recommend going for the GGT if you cannot afford both.
It will give you a much more reliable measure of monitoring your liver and taking action to protect it from future harm

 

[hiram1st]

How to accurately identify liver damage from oral steroids

I'm making this topic after doing a little bit of reading that explained why the usual liver function test that most guys take is NOT effective at spotting liver damage from oral steroids.

Lets start with the data...


Muscular exercise can cause highly pathological liver function tests in healthy men

AIM:
To investigate the effect of intensive muscular exercise (weightlifting) on clinical chemistry parameters reflecting liver function in healthy men.

RESULTS:
Five out of eight studied clinical chemistry parameters (AST, ALT, LD, CK and myoglobin) increased significantly after exercise (P < 0.01) and remained increased for at least 7 days postexercise. Bilirubin, gamma GT and ALP remained within the normal range.

CONCLUSION:
The liver function parameters, AST and ALT, were significantly increased for at least 7 days after the exercise.
In addition, LD and, in particular, CK and myoglobin showed highly elevated levels. These findings highlight the importance of imposing restrictions on weightlifting prior to and during clinical studies. Intensive muscular exercise, e.g. weightlifting, should also be considered as a cause of asymptomatic elevations of liver function tests in daily clinical practice.


There was also a very enlightening commentary on this study that shows us EXACTLY how to determine liver damage from oral steroids:

Enzyme elevations with muscle injury: know what to look for!

"We reported almost 10 years ago on the severe elevations that may be seen in competitive bodybuilders both on and off anabolic steroids [2]...
Most significantly we found the most simplistic laboratory value that should be included when examining resistance-exercise athletes is to include gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). We found none of our exercise subjects had elevations of GGT while patients with any form of hepatitis, who were analyzed retrospectively, all had GGT elevations [2]."



My interpretation

The first study shows that resistance training alone will cause an asymptomatic increase in ALT & AST values, which is what most people look at to determine whether or not orals are causing any harm to their liver.
The second commentary illustrates that GGT would only increase if their was actually any damage, not simply as a response to resistance training.

The main levels people see when taking a basic liver function profile are ALT, AST & Bilirubin.
ALT & AST levels can be elevated simply as a result of training induced muscle damage and therefore is not an accurate method of determining what's really going on.
Serum Bilirubin is accurate in showing potential liver damage but not as a measurement on its own (unless your levels are really high, twice the reference limit for example).

The solution is to measure GGT levels.
GGT levels will only be elevated to show direct liver damage from the orals and any high value should be taken very seriously. Of course the damage can be caused by other factors such as excess alcohol intake, diabetes, etc so its a good idea to get a pre-cycle test to eliminate other potential factors outside of the oral steroids.
At the same time, normal GGT levels will indicate that there is nothing to worry about - so it ticks all the boxes as a method to be used to determine liver health.



Summary

Considering both the liver function profile and the GGT bloodwork cost around the same amount, I strongly recommend going for the GGT if you cannot afford both.
It will give you a much more reliable measure of monitoring your liver and taking action to protect it from future harm

Well I'll add another test to my bloodwork Instead of going into panic mode when my ALT and AST are elavated.

Increased knowledge base as always!

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

I'm going to be more active in this thread (for a few days at least) since I've got severe writer's block on another project I should be working on....


High Intensity Interval Resistance Training

All of this comes from my search for a training protocol that allows for muscle gain/maintenance but also significant fat loss benefits.

Plenty of you are aware of HIIT cardio and its potential benefits for fat loss, but the problem is that its not great at building muscle and tends to eat too much into recovery, especially when dieting to get extremely lean such as during contest prep.
Then you have traditional resistance training sessions that are great at building/maintaining muscle mass but its impact on fat oxidation is extremely minimal - to the point where no intelligent bodybuilder lifts weights just to burn some fat...unless your one of those yoga type girls who loves random circuit training stuff to waste a few minutes (P90X with baby weights, etc).

So I was looking for some sort of balance between the fat loss benefits of HIIT cardio and the hypertrophy benefits of traditional resistance training.

And here it is...


Intro

I wont be going too into the science behind this approach (shocker!) but for those interested in the more minor details, it all stems from this free to read study:

High-Intensity Interval Resistance Training (HIRT) influences resting energy expenditure and respiratory ratio in non-dieting individuals

The authors did a comparison between a group using high intensity interval resistance training (HIIRT) and one using more traditional resistance training (8 exercises, 4 sets of 8-12 each).
To show just how impressive the effect of HIIRT on meta-bolic rate was, check this table out:

PubMed Central, Table 3: J Transl Med. 2012; 10: 237. Published online 2012 Nov 24. doi:* 10.1186/1479-5876-10-237

The traditional resistance training group saw an average meta-bolic increase of 98cals over 22 hours.
The HIIRT group saw an average meta-bolic increase of 452cals over 22 hours DESPITE doing less overall work (volume).

This is better than HIIT cardio and with the added benefit of having the ingredients required (intensity, tension, damage & fatigue)to build muscle.
Very impressive.

I suspect that the main reasons for the impressive results were twofold:
1) The glucose meta-bolic pathways being directed to replenish glycogen stores first due to the excessive glycogen depletion that this sort of training causes. This allows lipids (fat) to become the preferred energy source.
2) Higher levels of AMPK & ANP leading to overall increase in fat oxidation.

And that's it for the science stuff, time to check out the routine:

HIIRT Programme

1x8RM
Rest 20-30 secs
1X2-3 reps
Rest 20-30secs
1x2-3 reps
Rest 20-30 secs
1x2-3 reps
Rest 2-3 minutes

That is 1 total set using the SAME weight throughout (your 8RM).

You will do:
- 3 total sets for legs
- 2 total sets for chest
- 2 total sets for back
An overall total of 7 rest-pause sets on 3 exercises - 1 for legs, 1 for chest & 1 for back.


A few supplementary notes

- I strongly advice warming up before attempting a high intensity programme like this.
In the study they did 5 reps using 10RM but I personally prefer 2 x 2-3 explosive reps - both methods work.

- You need to pick leg, push and pull compound moves BUT avoid movements that increase the risk of injury due to poor form when training to failure, such as deadlifts.
- I personally prefer bench, rows and leg press but pick whatever your comfortable with.

- Do NOT be idiotic when it comes to tempo.
Controlled eccentrics with explosive concentric - this type of training is far too intense to be messing around with "focus on the muscle" slow tension type of stuff.

- Do NOT underestimate the volume in this programme.
The intensity is so high here that there is no need whatsoever to add a bunch of extra sets - in fact, you will get less quality results if you do.

- Do not do this routine more than 1-2x week and it should REPLACE one of your current sessions, not be added on top because this will be complete overkill when it comes to volume and you will suffer if dieting.


Summary

This programme combines a progressive tension overload with muscle damage and fatigue - all the ingredients needed for muscle growth.
The study also shows that it produces extremely impressive increases in fat oxidation and meta-bolic rate - to the point where HIIT cardio looks like a relatively poor choice.

I have slightly modified the protocol from that seen in the study based on the results my clients saw, so it should be more effective than the original.
I will add that I've added a few touches here and there to make it even more effective but I'm saving that for another project.

If there is any confusion then please don't hesitate to PM me

 

[3J]

I'm going to be more active in this thread (for a few days at least) since I've got severe writer's block on another project I should be working on....


High Intensity Interval Resistance Training

All of this comes from my search for a training protocol that allows for muscle gain/maintenance but also significant fat loss benefits.

Plenty of you are aware of HIIT cardio and its potential benefits for fat loss, but the problem is that its not great at building muscle and tends to eat too much into recovery, especially when dieting to get extremely lean such as during contest prep.
Then you have traditional resistance training sessions that are great at building/maintaining muscle mass but its impact on fat oxidation is extremely minimal - to the point where no intelligent bodybuilder lifts weights just to burn some fat...unless your one of those yoga type girls who loves random circuit training stuff to waste a few minutes (P90X with baby weights, etc).

So I was looking for some sort of balance between the fat loss benefits of HIIT cardio and the hypertrophy benefits of traditional resistance training.

And here it is...


Intro

I wont be going too into the science behind this approach (shocker!) but for those interested in the more minor details, it all stems from this free to read study:

High-Intensity Interval Resistance Training (HIRT) influences resting energy expenditure and respiratory ratio in non-dieting individuals

The authors did a comparison between a group using high intensity interval resistance training (HIIRT) and one using more traditional resistance training (8 exercises, 4 sets of 8-12 each).
To show just how impressive the effect of HIIRT on meta-bolic rate was, check this table out:

PubMed Central, Table 3: J Transl Med. 2012; 10: 237. Published online 2012 Nov 24. doi:* 10.1186/1479-5876-10-237

The traditional resistance training group saw an average ********* increase of 98cals over 22 hours.
The HIIRT group saw an average meta-bolic increase of 452cals over 22 hours DESPITE doing less overall work (volume).

This is better than HIIT cardio and with the added benefit of having the ingredients required (intensity, tension, damage & fatigue)to build muscle.
Very impressive.

I suspect that the main reasons for the impressive results were twofold:
1) The glucose meta-bolic pathways being directed to replenish glycogen stores first due to the excessive glycogen depletion that this sort of training causes. This allows lipids (fat) to become the preferred energy source.
2) Higher levels of AMPK & ANP leading to overall increase in fat oxidation.

And that's it for the science stuff, time to check out the routine:

HIIRT Programme

1x8RM
Rest 20-30 secs
1X2-3 reps
Rest 20-30secs
1x2-3 reps
Rest 20-30 secs
1x2-3 reps
Rest 2-3 minutes

That is 1 total set using the SAME weight throughout (your 8RM).

You will do:
- 3 total sets for legs
- 2 total sets for chest
- 2 total sets for back
An overall total of 7 rest-pause sets.


A few supplementary notes

- I strongly advice warming up before attempting a high intensity programme like this.
In the study they did 5 reps using 10RM but I personally prefer 2 x 2-3 explosive reps - both methods work.

- You need to pick leg, push and pull compound moves BUT avoid movements that increase the risk of injury due to poor form when training to failure, such as deadlifts.
- I personally prefer bench, rows and leg press but pick whatever your comfortable with.

- Do NOT be idiotic when it comes to tempo.
Controlled eccentrics with explosive concentric - this type of training is far too intense to be messing around with "focus on the muscle" slow tension type of stuff.

- Do NOT underestimate the volume in this programme.
The intensity is so high here that there is no need whatsoever to add a bunch of extra sets - in fact, you will get less quality results if you do.

- Do not do this routine more than 1-2x week and it should REPLACE one of your current sessions, not be added on top because this will be complete overkill when it comes to volume and you will suffer if dieting.


Summary

This programme combines a progressive tension overload (using heavy weights) with muscle damage and fatigue (low rest periods) - all the ingredients needed for muscle growth.
The study also shows that it produces extremely impressive increases in fat oxidation and meta-bolic rate - to the point where HIIT cardio looks like a relatively poor choice.

I have slightly modified the protocol from that seen in the study based on the results my clients saw, so it should be more effective than the original.
I will add that I've added a few touches here and there to make it even more effective but I'm saving that for another project.

If there is any confusion then please don't hesitate to PM me

this is actually excellent.. i have used a similar routine in the past to get my strength up while cutting.. and am about to implement that similar routine to my current blast

nice write up rip

 

[halfwit]

Ya know, I've never been a big fan of HIIT even though the science is there. After this bulk, I may give it a shot over switching to a low resistance/high volume approach.

Zilla, do you think that this can replace a steady state 60-80% max heart rate cardio session combined with moderate hypertrophic exercise? I had pretty good success doing 45 minutes of cardio combined with the high volume resistance training, but that required two trips to the gym. If I can kill it in one shot - that would be fantastic!

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Ya know, I've never been a big fan of HIIT even though the science is there. After this bulk, I may give it a shot over switching to a low resistance/high volume approach.

Zilla, do you think that this can replace a steady state 60-80% max heart rate cardio session combined with moderate hypertrophic exercise? I had pretty good success doing 45 minutes of cardio combined with the high volume resistance training, but that required two trips to the gym. If I can kill it in one shot - that would be fantastic!

I'm not a fan of HIIT cardio either (one of the reasons I decided to adopt the HIIRT approach).
IME it does more harm than good when dieting especially when you consider that typical 20 min HIIT session, at best, equals a moderate 45 min session. Plus all the other stuff about impacting recovery, etc.

To answer your question - yes it can be replace SOME of your cardio/lifting hybrid days.
You have to remember that, due to the high intensity nature of HIIRT, it cant be performed on a daily basis - 1-2x week is my recommendation.
So if your used to do doing moderate cardio 4-5x a week then add 2 HIIRT sessions to replace 2 cardio/lifting days or something along these lines.

 

[bigben66]

Hmmm... I had planned to incorporate 2 or 3 x outdoor sprint sessions per week starting in a few weeks time...
Short sharp stuff to go alongside my normal weights routine. I figured this would be a less time consuming and more beneficial way of doing my cardio... I mean, who doesn't want to look like a sprinter!?

I've always steered clear of HIIRT because I want to give my muscles ample time to recover from the hard time I give them in the gym.

Surely for bodybuilders who have a mind to compete and step on stage, HIIRT would place too much demand on the body alongside the bodybuilding training?

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Hmmm... I had planned to incorporate 2 or 3 x outdoor sprint sessions per week starting in a few weeks time...
Short sharp stuff to go alongside my normal weights routine. I figured this would be a less time consuming and more beneficial way of doing my cardio... I mean, who doesn't want to look like a sprinter!?

I've always steered clear of HIIRT because I want to give my muscles ample time to recover from the hard time I give them in the gym.

Surely for bodybuilders who have a mind to compete and step on stage, HIIRT would place too much demand on the body alongside the bodybuilding training?

I would argue that HIIRT is more efficient than HIIT in every single way: more calories burnt, higher meta-bolic increase, higher post session fat oxidation AND it helps build muscle - something HIIT doesn't.

So the demand that both HIIT and HIIRT place on the body are the same from a recovery perspective.
The difference is that your only doing HIIT to burn some calories - the same calories that can be burnt by moderate/LISS.
HIIRT on the other hand burns calories and builds muscle - something you cannot get from traditional lifting sessions, or any type of cardio.

Busting your ass to do burn some calories doesn't make sense for a bodybuilder - busting your ass to burn calories AND build mass does