SHR

Exercise is a core component of blood glucose management for individuals with type-2 diabetes (T2D). Of course, two questions anyone embarking on an exercise routine must ask are what type and what time. Recently, Terada et al compared several answers to these questions to determine if one answer may be more favorable than another. Specifically, 10 middle-aged adults with diagnosed T2D but no history of T2D-related complications were recruited to undergo a randomized, controlled crossover trial in which they completed five separate experimental conditions: fasted high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE), post-breakfast HIIE, fasted moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE), post-breakfast MICE, and no exercise (control). Each exercise session lasted 60 minutes on a treadmill. The HIIE consisted of 15 bouts of 3 minutes working at 40% VO2peak followed by 1 minute working at 100% VO2peak (average intensity over the 60 minutes was 55% VO2peak). The MICE consisted of continuous running at 55% VO2peak. The...

There is a tremendous base of literature investigating the effects exercise and the effects of being active throughout the day on health.  Less well-researched is how these two forms of activity interact. Consider your own training program – how do you feel on the days you train and the days you don’t, and how does this translate into your activity levels outside the gym? Do you observe different effects with different types of exercise? These questions are what made Drenowatz et al’s recent pilot study catch my attention. It was a very small pilot study, so any results are going to be limited in scope. But that is the point of a pilot experiment – to venture into new territory and see if there is anything worth pursuing for subsequent, full-scale research. The researchers utilized a randomized, crossover design to observe the energy expenditure and physical activity levels of 5 White...

Despite the well-established benefits of exercise for improving health, the largest and most stubborn barrier for individuals to overcome is adherence. Because lack of time is a common excuse, increasing attention has been given to modes of training that require relatively little time. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) describes exercise characterized by brief intermittent bursts of vigorous activity, interspersed by periods of rest or low-intensity exercise. Considerable evidence currently exists to support a role for HIIT as a time-efficient training method for inducing cardiovascular and muscular adaptations that are linked with improved health outcomes. Thus, HIIT may be a reasonable solution for time-constrained inactive individuals. Two recent studies support this view. The first study involved 23 sedentary, overweight-obese young men from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and randomized them to complete a 6-week HIIT or moderate-intensity continuous training (MIT) program with no other dietary or physical activity guidelines. The HIIT protocol...

My recent lumbar spine compression has me thinking about a new era of training. I've proven that I can be strong. At 57 years old I'm hungry for some new challenges. So while I was training today I thought hard about how I would like to see my new style of training shape me as a Physical Culturist. What person could I look to for a model of physique but more importantly performance that I want to epitomize?  We all remember that opening scene of the movie Troy. The Greeks invade the country of Thessaly. The two kings, King Agamemnon of the Greeks and King Triopas of the Thessalayians decide to let the victory be decided by a battle between their best men. Triopas calls for his best warrior, a near 7 foot beast made of muscle and scars named Boagrius. The Thessalayian army cheers as they part like the Red...

If you are a lean, healthy, resistance-training individual interested in building muscle and maximizing body composition, then you are part of a unique and understudied population when it comes to the ideal amount of protein you should be eating. Owed in no small part to the current health state of the world, most research investigating the effects dietary protein on body composition and health is done in unhealthy individuals. From what limited evidence does exist, it has been suggested that protein intakes beyond 2.2 g/kg bodyweight have no additional advantages with regard to body composition or performance. Yet, there is a distinct lack of research looking at intakes beyond this amount. This is what makes research such as the recent study by Antonio et al so exciting – it does investigate the effects of a high-protein diet in a resistance-trained population. The Diet In total, 48 otherwise healthy, resistance-trained men and...