3 Things for Thursday: Adaptation to Strength Training, Iron Radio and the Winner Is….

Adaptation:  How Much Do We Need to Train?

Adaptation happens. I don’t think we can even stop it.

As my buddy Frankie says “adaptation has no off switch”

The Adam T Glass corallary is “………but we can slow it way the F down”

End stage heart failure patients that sleep with 4 pillows at night because their heart is so bad and their lungs are filling with fluid still show acute adaptations (but with a long term consequence).  It is a horrible disease and my uncle actually died from it years ago.  Even in this patients, the heart is still adapting, despite all the other stuff in their body has gone awry.  The body is still trying to adapt as best it can.

Injury your right ankle (as I have done from a snowboarding incident several years ago) and watch it swell up to the size of a large grapefruit  (no joke) and you WILL walk funny for several months (even when the cast comes off and you ditch the crutches).   The body is adapting.  Long term you don’t want to walk funny, but you can still walk.

The key questions is

“How much do we need to do to trigger adaptation?”

I think it is only 5-10% more each session. This is an educated guess and I am interested in your feedback on that number.

Adaptation results from overload.

In general, overload in the gym is from 3 things

1) % 1RM (intensity, wt on the bar)

2) volume (sets x reps)

3) density (volume /time).

Add 5-10% to any one of these (the one that is best for your body on that day via Gym Movements biofeedback) and adaptation WILL happen.
It HAS to happen.

Thoughts?  What has worked for you?  Let me know in the comments

Iron Radio this Friday: Supplement Insider Blows the Whistle

Dr Lonnie Lowery gave me a heads up that this Friday’s show is going to be a good one.

I have had Brad Pilon of Intermittent Fasting fame on the blog here about supplements in the past and how most are not useful.

The show below will give us another insider look.

Event: Iron Radio With Guest Jeff McCarrell

Start Time: Friday July 9 at 2:00pm
More info at http://www.ironradio.org/

I  listen to Iron Radio all the time and you should too!  Good stuff each week and it is FREE!

And the Winner Is………

Thanks for all the feedback!  I was hoping to get to the comments by now, but I may not get to them tomorrow.  Awesome feedback!!

And the winner of the 30 min phone consultation to solve your fitness problems is…………

darius sohei

You should have an email from me in your inbox and if your spam filter ate it, email me at the contact page above!

Thanks again to everyone!

Comments!

Any comments, let me know!

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

PS

Just a heads up that some time next week I will have a super special deal on the Grip n Rip DVDs.  This is your advance notice, so stay tuned here for the details coming soon!

Nutrition Chat : Cholesterol, Protein, Muscle Growth and More!

Here I talk about the latest research on how to maximize muscle growth through nutrition based on a phone chat I had with Dr. Lonnie Lowery.

You probably know Dr. Lowery from his writings at TMuscle.com (may not be uber work friendly and also Iron Radio.  I encourage you to check out both.

Here we go!

Here I yap about

• Cholesterol -  Is it that Evil?

• mTOR – What the heck is that?  Why do I give a crap?

• Calories Are King!

• How Much Protein?

• Diabetics and Carbs

• Metabolic Flexibility

Let me know what you think and what questions you have!  Post away in the comments!

Rock on
Mike T Nelson