Updates on some recent experiments

Apologies for not posting in awhile. Somehow I've actually gotten a number of emails asking for clarification on certain points, or just outright advice on implementing a HIT program. So it seems people are actually reading, and I should be more motivated. I think the issue lately has been that HIT theory and practice is so simple to me at this point, that I forget how counterintuitive and downright weird for most people. Furthermore, my own personal experiments have been more focused on diet and nutrition than on actual strength-training. So there are a couple of updates to cover in this post that I think are illustrative of HIT principles, but also of some nutritional truths.

1. Within the past month I have gone reverted back to a whole-body split. For several months I had focused on a two-way split which helped me accrue more recovery time. I found the experiment beneficial and, despite going 10 days between working out each muscle group, I found no loss of muscle mass or strength. However, I will say that I seemed to have stalled significantly. There are a number of variables though that may have been more responsible for the lack of progress than the increased recovery time.

Initially I actually saw some decent gains with the two-way split. However, I experienced a number of meaningful changes in my life that created some (mostly positive) stress, which in turn lead to difficulties sleeping. I think the stress and lack of sleep are probably the more likely culprits in the lack of progress. There were a couple of weeks where my psychological state and my quality of sleep were healthier, and I actually saw some good progress in those weeks, only to stall or even regress slightly in later, more stressful weeks.

The other variable was that I reduced my protein and fat intake rather appreciably. I actually took my aforementioned experiment with a more vegetarian-based diet to new horizons, which I will discuss during the second update in this post. So this may also have had an impact, but I'm highly doubtful for a couple of reasons that I will cover below.

With all that said, at some point I will revert back to a two-way split and will have to be more mindful about conducting the protocol. Most probably in the winter, when I tend to sleep better and would therefore hope to minimize the impact of such a variable on results.

2. Since returning to a whole-body split, I have also began alternating between doing traditional, dynamic, isotonic, rep-based training and an isometric routine. So, last week I did a tradition whole-body split consisting of dong reps of a particular exercise (such as pull-ups) over a targeted time under load. This week, however, instead of doing reps, I help the exercise at it's most difficult point for the targeted time under load. So instead of doing regular pullups, I, for example, held my chin above the bar, one-handed, for a targeted amount of time. If I felt I did not induce enough inroad into the muscles, then I did the same thing with a lighter weight or an easier movement. You can check the facebook page for details of the protocol.

It is still much too early in the experiment to assess the influence of such a routine, but I will keep the blog posted (pun intended). My reasoning for incorporating an isometric routine is basically just an experiment. Many people, including John Lewis and Drew Baye have either experienced good progress or witnessed it through their own clients. Other people, such as strongman, Steve Justa, claim that isometrics are the key to their tremendous strength. So I figured why not give it a shot. One of the nice things about HIT training is that because we haven't been ingrained in the mistaken idea that we need to train exceedingly hard every few days, it's possible to conduct these little experiments with little risk of feeling like we're regressing in our progress. Even if the isometric workouts are garbage, at worst we're simply giving ourselves a few more days to recover.

Anyway, here's one thing I can honestly give myself credit for as a trainer: I'm a self-experimenter. I'll try things myself so I have some frame of reference for how it works or doesn't work. I'm not the type of person to buy into a nice marketing campaign and refuse to try other methods of working out. If it seems to make sense, I'll try it. And I'll be as honest in my self-assessment as is possible.

In all, I'm excited about the experiment. I've been toying with advanced isometric holds like a modified planche, a human flag and front lever. So this will be a chance to see if I can actually nail some of the advanced forms of these holds successfully.

3. As I mentioned above, my curiosity lately has been overwhelmingly in the realm of food and nutrition. I had reported in my last post years ago that I was going toward a diet consisting of less meat. I read a couple of books that convinced me to take it farther and actually limit the amount of meat and animal products I ingest to less than 10-percent of my intake.

This has been a difficult experiment not because I find it difficult to not eat meat. I've honestly always preferred fruits and veggies It's just that meat and other animal proteins are so ubiquitous (I've been waiting to use that word for literal years) that it's often just difficult to find food that is low protein. If I were single, it would probably be a lot easier, but, as it is, half the time I get home and my wife has already made some dish with turkey hamburger or cheese or eggs or whatever.

Still, most weeks I have been able to keep my meat intake limited to 2-3 meals for the week, and general animal protein down to less than half my meals.

This was an exciting experiment for me because I have been leaning toward going vegetarian since I was a teenager, but had always been afraid that the lack of protein would have a negative influence over my own muscle mass.

Here's another one of these "truths" that have been ingrained in us through the fitness community: that high amounts of protein are necessary for muscle growth and maintenance.

Like the events that lead to me giving HIT methods a shot (i.e. not getting the results I was promised from other exercise methods) it took a lack of results for me to go ahead and reduce my animal protein intake. Basically, my own experiments with high protein diets didn't turn me into a muscle mass of human flesh. I did gain weight, and even some muscle, but my body composition was not all that impressive. I was around 17-19 percent bodyfat, when I had basically been promised a six pack if I ate a bunch of chicken. I wasn't even trying to gain weight, but the effort to get the suggested 170-190 grams of protein each day meant I had to eat a whole bunch of calories to get it.

Anyhow, the point is I went low-fat and low-protein and experienced no ill-effects that I could tell. In fact, as much as I am loathe to sound like the stereotypical asshole on some new diet, I do have to admit that overall I felt more energized on the diet and experienced no discernible loss of muscle mass. In fact, I have continued to maintain (and slightly lose some weight) despite not counting calories. All I do is eat as much fruits and veggies as I see fit and keep my animal protein intake to a minimum. Body composition seems to be improving, as well, despite eating a bunch of carbs and eating less than 50 grams of protein on most days.

I understand that this is a diet that will not appeal to most people. My goal is not to convert anybody. I'm just presenting the information. The main point being that I think the importance of protein intake is highly overstated. And, once again, that the vilification of carbohydrates is downright nonsense.

During my experiment on this kind of diet, I will say that the only times I had trouble with my weight was combining significant amounts of fat with the carbs. I don't know if I'll take that aspect of the experiment any farther, but I think a diet high in carbs and fat has the potential to be a detrimental diet. But carbs in and of themselves, even in as high as 90-percent of caloric intake, seems to produce no discernible negative effects on physique.

I will probably stick to this diet for the foreseeable future, as it seems to work well for me. My biggest question at this point is how it would work on a bulking diet. After the summer, as the weather gets colder and I am forced to cover more of my body, I will definitely experiment with bulking while on a high carb, low-fat, low-protein diet. Results to be determined....