Ask Me Anything: Muscle Cannabalism?

Hey Doug, I was wondering what “Muscle Cannibalism” is and what I should do to avoid it.  Thanks.

If you want to avoid “muscle cannibalism” then avoid trekking in the Sierras with a group of people, get lost, sleep in a cave and then run out of food while waiting to be rescued.  I think what you are referring to is Muscle “Catabolism” which is simply that breakdown of muscle tissue.

I’m going to keep this simple; you cannot avoid muscle catabolism because you need a little bit of it for muscle anabolism (the growing of muscle).  Every time you train you will have some muscle catabolism going on and then upon proper recovery with nutrition and rest an anabolic state will occur and hopefully that process balances or slightly exceeds the catabolic process so you can maintain and/or increase your muscle mass.

The two athletic populations that are most concerned about the negative effects of catabolism are bodybuilders and endurance athletes. The primary goal of bodybuilding is to put on as much muscle mass as possible so that is why they eat a ton, take supplements and sleep as much as they can to keep catabolism to a minimum.  Endurance athletes push their bodies to the limit in terms of exercise volume.  They go for hours running, climbing, and riding.  The amount of energy needed to maintain these tasks is huge so naturally when they run out of nutrients they consume, the proteins in the muscles are used and muscle breakdown occurs.  This is why you see riders looking emaciated at the end of the Tour de France than when they started.  Yes, they lost body fat too but there is some good muscle breakdown going on.

So if you are not a bodybuilder or an endurance athlete and you eat correctly, stay hydrated and get plenty of sleep, you should not have to worry about anything unless you go hiking in the Sierras in the winter, like I mentioned.

Thanks for the question

Tags: anabolics, Nutrition

Ask Me Anything: The Prowler

Q: Hello I have seen your images and videos and I have a few questions about that sled device that you guys push around during training.

• What is your primary objective for using the sled? Single leg strength, improved speed or just to kick their asses?
• Whatever your prime purpose is, how do you make your decisions about how much to load the sled? Do you want them to be able to just keep it moving (more strength) or almost sprint with it (more speed)?
• Also, for a group, I would assume any weight would be too much for some and not enough for others. How do you manage that or do you not care that much about it?
• Can they be used on grass or just the blacktop?  If you do use it on the blacktop does it wear out fast?

A: Thanks for the great questions.  The sled, that I believe you are referring to, is called The Prowler and it is made by Elite Fitness Systems. Check it out here.

Primary objectives of The Prowler can be a few things. General Preparation Work (GPP) which gets the people using it “in shape” without a ton of running or other activities that can put more stress on the joints. Also, it is a great posterior chain (all the muscles of the back of the legs; glutes, hamstrings etc.) training tool. When they use The Prowler they are generally in the “athletic position” which trains hip extension via the muscles mentioned. The Prowler helps to properly coordinate those muscles and makes them stronger. Therefore, you have a stronger, faster and potentially, “less-of-a-chance-of getting-an-injury” kid. Most sports require great strength in the hip extending muscles.

Weight or speed? I am from the school that you should only move the amount of weight that allows you to maintain decent speed of movement and one that does not technically break down. If the weight is too heavy then they will be moving at a snail’s pace and most likely have to alter their body position to accommodate for the heavy weight. Generally speaking, if you want to focus on strength, load it up within the parameters mentioned above and if you want to work out their GPP and cardio keep it lighter and have them go longer.

For bigger groups with different weight pushing abilities you can have the strong kids move faster, within their technique, and have the weaker kids move it slower, but the weight should be something everyone can do. You may also have the stronger kids push on the lower handles in front and the weaker kids push on the higher ones. The low bars are a nightmare for anyone at any weight. If you want to feel the quads blasted and have a sick stomach at the end of your workout, the low bars are where it’s at.

One protocol I like to do is set a group of 4 people about 75ft.apart (2 on each side) and have them take turns going for 5-10 min in relay fashion. The weight is considered light but their conditioning will be trained like no other.

I have used the Prowler on grass. It works ok if the grass is short and dry.  The grass makes gaining traction to push the Prowler harder, especially if you plan on using the low handles.  Obviously the blacktop is better and I have not worn my skid plates out yet, but they do sell replacement pads.

Thanks for the questions, hope it helped.

Tags: Prowler, sled dragging

Ask Me Anything: Cardio Confusion

Dear Doug

Q:  When doing cardio I have been putting time in on the treadmill. I try to do at least 45 minutes or an hour on a progressive incline because I figure the longer I spend on the machine, the more calories I’ll burn. Someone suggested I’m wasting a good portion of that time and could actually get a more effective workout in a shorter amount of time by applying interval training techniques. Is this accurate? What is interval training? How does it work and I can apply to more than one type of exercise?

Cardio Confused-

A:  Thanks for your question.  First off interval training is performing cardio vascular exercise at various speeds, intensities and even environments (incline, decline etc.) during your session.  Compare 40 min. of treadmill running where the speed and the incline stay the same during the entire session (steady-state cardio) versus the same 40 min. of treadmill running where the speed and/or incline is changed frequently fast/slow and high/low during the session (interval training).  Both sessions were the same amount of time but chances are the interval training will seem much more difficult to complete because of the way it shifts your heart rate and the speed your muscles perform at.

Which is better to do?  I know I say this a lot but it depends on your goals.  If you are training to be the next Lance Armstrong then you have to put your time doing long duration cardio.  If you fall in under the blanket of “most of us” where you want to keep or build muscle and loose a little body fat then the long cardio bouts are probably not the best for you.

I use this analogy quite often; think of two types of runners, the 100m sprinter and the Marathon Runner; which one would you rather look like?  If you want the minimal muscle, skinny look then train more like a marathoner.  If you want more muscle then be more like a sprinter.  The sprinter never spends 30min. on a treadmill yet they have a ton of muscle and very low body fat.

Would you burn more calories and potentially more body fat if you just sat on a treadmill for 1 hour non-stop versus doing 5 x 60 meter sprints?  The answer is no and it is due to EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption).

Without getting too nerdy, EPOC is an increased rate of oxygen intake following strenuous activity intended to erase the body’s “oxygen debt.” Oxygen (EPOC) is used to restore the body to a resting state and adapt it to the exercise just performed. These restoration processes include: hormone balancing, replenishment of fuel stores, cellular repair, and anabolism (muscle growth).

During these restoration processes EPOC is accompanied by an elevated consumption of fuel.  After strenuous exercise, fat stores are broken down and free fatty acids (FFA) are released into the blood for fuel to aid in recovery.

In short, with interval training being more strenuous in a shorter amount of time, you may burn fewer calories during the workout but you will burn more fat AFTER the workout when the body is recovering.  If you want more muscle, less body fat, and you don’t need to run marathons; then interval training is the way to go.

Tags: interval training