Re: Benefits of no rest interval

[Guest guest]

The extreme version of Matt Kahl's interesting proposal is known as

the Prinicple of Reciprocal Inhibition. For example, with a max of

about 3 seconds rest between sets of opposing muscles, ie; working

bi's and then tri's (agonist/antagonist) illicits a greater increase

in strength than traditional BB training of mutliple high rep sets of

the same muscle before moving on to a different exercise or muscle

group.

When my athletes are in a muscle hypertrophy phase, we usually take a

2 min. rest between sets of 8-12 reps for each exercise. Example: 8-

12 reps heavy curls with ez curl bar followed immediately by a set of

8-12 reps heavy skull crushers. This scheme can only be used for a

month or two, but utilized with an athlete with a good strength base,

always generates major increases in strength and stimulates muscle

hypertrophy.

Intuitively one would think that the greater intensity of

agonist/antagonist training, done synergistically, would stimulate

greater hormone release. And although none of my young athletes can

afford expensive hormone tests, my experience has been that it is an

extremely effective method to grow a bigger, stronger athlete in a

relatively short time.

W.G.

Ubermensch Sports

San Diego, Ca.

> >

> > My question is can you have the best of both worlds by doing

> contrasting

> > exercise pairings (ie. Bench & Rows). If you do a set of bench,

> rest 60

> > seconds, set of rows, rest 60 s, set of bench, etc. Will you

still

> get

> > the acute growth hormone response from the shorter rest periods by

> > alternating exercises or does it have to be the same exercise

> > stimulating the same fibers with a short rest period to get this

> > response? If not, than you sacrifice the gh response for a

strength

> > training rest period that maximizes recruitment, correct?

>

> Do read the following:

>

> Varying Weight Training Intensity Increases Growth Hormone In Women

> http://www.the-aps.org/press/journal/06/25.htm

>

> Possible explanation for changes in muscle tone and metabolic

> function found

>

> BETHESDA, Md (Dec. 1, 2006) – Women who undertake a long-term

weight

> training program produce more biologically active growth hormone, a

> finding that allows physiologists to understand why weight training

> improves muscle tone and optimizes metabolic function.

> A study published in the December issue of the American Journal of

> Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism looked at different forms

of

> growth hormone, used different testing methods, and varied weight

> training regimens. The research found that the role of growth

hormone

> in women's muscle development may be more complicated than

previously

> thought.

> " We found that growth hormone was responsive to moderate and heavy

> exercise regimens having 3-12 repetitions with varying weight

> loading, " said the study's principal author, J.

> Kraemer. " Women need to have heavy loading cycle or workout in

their

> resistance training routines, as it helps to build muscle and

bone. "

> The study, " Chronic resistance training in women potentiates growth

> hormone in vivo bioactivity: characterization of molecular mass

> variants, " was carried out by Kraemer, Jeff S. Volek, Barry A.

> Spiering and Carl M. Maresh of the University of Connecticut,

Storrs;

> Bradley C. Nindl, U.S Army Research Institute of Environmental

> Medicine, Natick, Mass.; O. Marx, The University of

> Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Lincoln A. Gotshalk, University of

Hawaii

> at Hilo; Jill A. Bush, University of Houston, Texas; and Jill R.

> Welsch, M. Mastro and Wesley C. Hymer, The Pennsylvania

State

> University, University Park, Penn. The The American Physiological

> Society published the study.

> Hormone comes in different forms

> Growth hormone, produced in the pituitary, plays an important role

in

> bone and muscle development, particularly in women. Men, on the

other

> hand, rely to a greater extent on muscle-building testosterone.

Since

> women rely on growth hormone to increase muscle and bone strength,

> the more growth hormone stimulated by a type of exercise, the

better

> its outcome. Growth hormone also plays a role in fighting tissue

> breakdown, staving off stress fractures and improving metabolic

> function.

> The growth hormone molecule is composed of 191 amino acids, but

> sometimes the molecules break apart to form smaller pieces. Other

> times these smaller pieces join together into larger pieces,

> including pieces that are larger than the original molecule. In

> addition, growth hormone can attach to binding proteins. It has

been

> shown that there are more than 100 variants of the growth hormone

> molecule.

> This study looked at growth hormone variants using two different

> tests that measured an immune response, known as immunoassays.

> Immunoassays are the tests physiologists have traditionally used in

> such studies. The researchers added a third test, the tibia line

rat

> growth assay, to detect the biological action of the hormones, a

> novel approach to the study of growth hormones in exercise.

> Type of growth hormone varies with exercise

> The researchers divided the participants into two groups: an upper

> body training group and a total body training group. The two groups

> were then subdivided: Half used heavier weights with fewer

> repetitions (up to eight) while the other half used lighter weights

> with a greater number of repetitions (up to 12).

> The researchers took blood samples before and after the initial

> training (acute exercise) session that all participants did as the

> start of the study. They also obtained blood samples before and

after

> the final training session 24 weeks later (chronic exercise). One

of

> the unique aspects of the study was that it continued over a

> relatively long time.

> The researchers made these findings:

>

> · The presence of growth hormone varied with the training regimen.

> · The presence of growth hormone varied with the test used to

detect

> it. This suggests that pituitary function and the release of

> different sizes of growth hormone is altered with weight training.

> · The body can adapt and produce more or less of certain sizes of

> growth hormone with weight training. In this study, the larger

sized

> growth hormone variants appear to increase with heavy resistance

> training.

>

> " This study shows that not every form of growth hormone responds in

> the same way, but is dependent upon the exercise protocol, " Kraemer

> explained. " This may forever change the way we look at growth

hormone

> in the circulation with exercise and training. "

>

> ===========

> Carruthers

> Wakefield, UK

>