Supersets Explained

Supersets

• Antagonist supersets involve two exercises working opposite muscle groups without rest in between; chest and back or biceps and triceps for example
  • Antagonist supersets save time while still accumulating volume
  • Leads to more calories burned and ultimately increased strength
  • Creates muscular balance and are safe on machines
• Agonist-agonist supersets combine a primary muscle exercise with an assisting exercise challenging the same muscle, hack squats and leg extensions for example
  • Agonist-agonist supersets saves time and burns more calories
  • Increases strength, and creates muscular balance
  • This leads to a dramatic pump and enhances muscular endurance
  • Agonist-agonist supersets tend to decrease performance
• Agonist-peripheral supersets involve two or more exercises that work unrelated muscle groups whilst being aware that peripheral fatigue may be present; bench press and squat for example
  • Agonist-peripheral supersets saves time and burns more calories
  • Can sneak in a non-competing body part, since compound lifts with warm-up could take 20-30 min
• Drop sets means performing sets until failure, reducing the weight and continuing the exercise without rest until failure with leg press or leg extensions for example
  • Drop sets saves time whilst triggering muscle growth and enhancing muscular endurance
  • Boosts work capacity in a workout and is generally safe on machines

Short Rest Periods

• Short rest periods are between 1-3 minutes
• Have the primary goal of muscle endurance, hypertrophy and moderate strength
• The energy system being used during short rest periods is glycolytic (anaerobic)
• During short rest periods moderate to high muscle fatigue will be achieved
• Due to the short rest times, there is an increased growth hormone and testosterone response
• Strength gains are moderate and effective for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (muscle size)
• Power and explosiveness are less effective as fatigue builds up
• Workout density is higher as more sets are being completed in less time
• Suited for bodybuilding, moderate-strength training, and fat loss
• It is harder to sustain heavy loads, and is ideal for time efficient workouts

Long Rest Periods

• Long rest periods are between 3-5 minutes
• The primary goal is maximum strength, power, and full recovery
• The energy system being used is ATP-PC (phosphagen)
• With long rest periods, lower muscle fatigue is achieved for a full recovery
• These longer rest periods allow for a moderate hormonal response
• They increase CNS recovery and cause maximum strength gains
• Effective for myofibrillar hypertrophy (muscle density)
• Great for explosive movement such as Olympic lifts and sprints
• Lowers the workout density due to fewer sets, but higher intensity
• Best for powerlifting, Olympic lifting, and maximal strength training
• It is easier to sustain heavy loads, but requires longer training sessions

Double Progression

• In double progression, reps are increased first, then weight, weight is added after hitting the rep goal
• It is best for beginners and intermediates and helps to build muscle and strength
• A weeks plan may look like Week 1: 3x8 @ 100 lbs, Week 4: 3x12 @100 lbs, Week 5: 3x8 @105 lbs

Linear Periodization

• Gradual increase in intensity combined with a decrease in volume using added weight as reps decreases
• Steady progress for beginners, one weeks workout could look like Wk 1: 3x12 @ 65% 1RM and week 2 could look like Wk 2: 3x5 @85% 1RM

Non-Linear Undulating

• It involves changing intensity and reps daily or weekly using varied weight/reps each session
• Ideal for intermediates to avoid plateaus and is more recovery-friendly
• Can increase strength, hypertrophy, and power simultaneously
• Daily workouts could be: Mon: 5x5 heavy, Wed: 4x8 Moderate and Fri: 3x12 Light

Block Periodization

• Separate training phases split into hypertrophy, strength, and power with each block focusing on one quality and is best for athletes
• Structured improvements and allows for avoiding overtraining
• A training week could include 4 weeks of hypertrophy, 4 weeks of strength, and 4 weeks of power

Conjugate Periodization

• It trains multiple qualities at once, rotating exercises, that includes maximum effort and dynamic effort with resistance bands/chains
• Used by power lifters and is ideal for advanced athletes
• Monday could be max effort squat, Wednesday max effort bench, Friday speed squats and Sunday speed benches

Autoregulation Periodization

• Adjusts workout intensity, volume, or load based on how the athlete feels, this means that the training is adjusted based on readiness
• This is ideal for advanced athletes to specifically avoid overtraining

Fitness and Training for Longevity Enhancements

• Fitness and training for longevity enhances quality of life through sleep, mental health, intelligence, and allows one to expend more calories
• It also develops personal skills like hard work, commitment, grit, and delayed gratification
• Improves Heart Health, Body Composition, Strength and Muscle Size, Bone Health and Strength and Cognitive Function
  • Mid-term benefits show Improvements start after 4-8 weeks
• Reduces chronic diseases like heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes,
  • the long-term benefits take months or even years to see
• It increases life span and is the best tool to fight issues associated with aging and reduces biological age by 12 years after 75mins

Preventable Diseases

• Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, and depression are the leading causes of preventable death
• Only 1/4 of adults meet the minimum recommended physical activity requirements
• There is a significant rise of breast and colorectal cancer in younger populations
• Even at a healthy weight, people can have metabolic syndrome
• Excess body weight between 18-40 is associated with a greater risk of up to 18 cancers
• Modifiable risk factors like Sleep, diet, smoking and chronic conditions) for 40% of dementia cases.
• Strengthening the brain with reading, puzzles, learning new skills, and social engagement) are also protective factors
• Alzheimer’s is a specific brain disease that causes 60-80% of dementia, which is a general name for declines in memory, reasoning, or thinking

Foundational Pillars of Health

• Foundational Pillars of Health requires small changes and consistency
• Adults require at least 150 minutes/week of exercises and 2x resistance training while the teens require 60 minutes/day and 3x resistance training per week.
• To walk as much as possible is important. Aim for 8,000-10,000 steps per day and walk around a little every 2 hours of sitting using non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)
• Protein helps with recovery, satiety, growth and development, strength, muscle gain, and fat loss, and improving metabolic health by distributing protein intake evenly throughout the day at a rate ranging from 20-40g 3/4x per day. -Intake for most is 0.7–1g/lb of body weight, and 1.2g/lb of body weight for strength/power athletes
• Healthy eating habits should be practiced, like prioritising protein, eat fruits and veggies, minimise processed foods eat fibre rich diet and distribute protein everyday
  • Eating a high-fiber diet can lower your risk of developing diabetes by 20% and dying from heart disease by 30%.
• Get sunlight and fresh air; sunlight improves sleep by improving the circadian rhythm and immune function
• Prioritize sleep to allows the body to recover, conserve energy, repair and build muscles; it also helps with stress management, lowers chance of injuries, and affects concentration and mood

Health Strategies

• Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per night, teens need 8-10, 5.5 hours of sleep or less increases risk of mortality/death from all causes
• Should go to bed within the same 1-hour window for a predictable schedule
• Unpredictable sleep upsets circadian rhythm that can lead to increased inflammation, impaired metabolic health and reduced immune function and can take at least 24+ hours to fix
• Chronotypes are natural preferences of the body for wakefulness and sleep influenced by genetics and driven by circadian rhythm.
• Younger/older people's chronotype is to go to bed early and wake up early whilst that of adolescents/middle-aged adults is to wake up a little bit late and stay up a little bit later
• Social jetlag is when a person's natural chronotype conflicts with the demands of their schedule
• Adapting to one's natural chronotype can improve your sleep quality, energy, and mood
• Chronic stress elevates cortisol, promoting belly fat and increasing risk for type 2 diabetes
• Poor sleep changes the appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin
• Exercise improves how the body reacts to stress and assists in coping with psychological stressors

Chronotype Animals & Their Routines

• Lions are described as the most diligent and productive in morning and wake up 6AM, most productive 9 AM – 2 PM and sleeps at 10 AM - 15% of people
• Bears are described as naturally social and wake up 7AM, most productive 10 AM -2 PM and sleep about 11 PM - 55% of people
• Wolves are described as creative thinkers that are most productive in the afternoon waking up at 7:30 AM, most productive 1 PM – 5 PM and sleep by approx. 12 AM - 15% of people
• Dolphins are sensitive sleepers who do not keep a regular sleep schedule waking up at 6 AM, most productive 3 PM – 7 PM sleeping around 11 PM - 10% of people

Training Progression Foundational Phase

• Building a foundation of learning for exercise technique requires a mesocycle of 3-4 weeks
• This phase does not have a high amount of volume, light load but requires possibly circuit training or full-body routine using 1 -3 sets of 8-12 reps
• Goal is to become strong in all positions (full range of motion (ROM), training the central nervous system (CNS))

Training Progression Optimization Phase

• Optimization requires increasing volume and intensity of training with good form
• Increases recoverability (time to recover) whilst maintaining quality of movement and focus.

Training Progression Performance and Sustainability Phase

• Performance phase Requires specializing training for sport, muscle building, and fat loss,
  • increase or decrease calories as needed and use training as a stimulus with different reps/sets
• The goal for Sustainability phase is long-term adherence to training for lifelong health
• Muscle growth can happen in all 3 phases!

High and Low Value Lifts

• High-Value Lifts should be bilateral compound, multi-joint exercises like squats, deadlifts, and presses
  • These lifts involve large muscle groups and focus on movement, leading to lower body strength and increased caloric expenditure
• Low-Value Lifts are unilateral, single-joint exercises that are easier and require higher rep schemes that do not tax the central nervous system (CNS)
  • These lifts support high-value lifts, focus on muscles that lead to upper body hypertrophy, may help connect with target muscles, decrease caloric expenditure and connect with target muscles
• Focus on 3-4 week mesocycles with different goals (exercises, reps, sets, rest intervals)
• If progressing and enjoying, no need to switch, adaptation targets include , muscle fiber growth,and even muscle endurance

Definitions

• Periodization refers to dividing training into periods that allow for optimal adaptations and performance
• Hypertrophy is muscle growth
• External focus involves concentrating on the weight being lifted to increase strength
• Internal focus involves concentrating on the muscle to be worked to increase hypertrophy
• Macrocycles are the big picture plan that sets overall goal over a session or year
• Mesocycles are focused phases typically lasting a few weeks to a few months, targeting specific goals such as building endurance or speed
• Microcycles are day-to-day workouts that fine-tune the process and adjust for recovery and performance
• Antagonist and Agonist Supersets, are two exercises performed back-to-back with no rest
• Mindset: is the story one tells themselves
• Dopamine: reward/pleasure chemical that drives behavior
• Discipline: willpower to get things done

Empowerment vs Victimhood

• Choosing empowerment over victimhood is vital for long-term success
• Your thoughts control your actions: View life's experiences as a result of choices and action, reframe challenges and begin each day with “I get to”
• Do not become a victim as that mentality can foster the belief of failing because one is not talented or worthy enough instead of learning
• Take on personal responsibility as everyone has a choice with how they respond to experiences
• Begin by living your best life and controlling everything you can control and ensuring the goals align with the sacrifices being made
• Start with realistic goals and do not cross the line by separating life distractions and goals

Common Reasons People Fail

• People start & set goals when motivated, when motivation is low, just show up
• Exercising because one hates their body, but rather consider exercise / diet as self-care due to loving your body
• They hyper-focus on diet, making eating stressful; instead, focus on one aspect with big returns such as avoiding heavily processed foods
• Avoiding the sole focus on weightloss via cardio by building muscle (which burns more calories at rest)
• Take things out of the diet to feel in control, instead, add to the diet ex.prioritize protein or do 800 g challenge of fruits and vegetables
• Utilising just the scale/mirror to gauge success, instead focusing on the benefits like mood, energy, sleep, & strength

Behavioral Model for Adherence

• Inspiration gets someone to start (short feeling)
• Motivation pulls towards a goal state that aligns with values and promotes realistic adherence to challenges
• Goal directed behaviour includes process (most important behaviour goal), which is performance, and outcome
• Intention is the application of inspiration and motivation to create a plan with realistic goals/discipline to build small habits and gains
• Passion becomes something you do as part of your identity

Life Balance

• You must be unbalanced at any moment to achieve anything like making a sports team, going to college or training to achieve fitness goals
• Success is the commitment to the pursuit of your ultimate potential and failure teaches resilience
• Confidence is gained by doing things (progressive overload), being aware that overplanning (analysis) ruins dreams and people protect their ego by ending their passions
• Dopamine spikes when there is prediction of reward, and not when actually rewarded

Strategic Training

• Working out is a random approach to health without any specific plan
• To train effectively: select a training program with specific goals (every mesocycle you progress movement selection and exercise to match the intended adaptation) and ensure a process-focused approach
• When done effectively results is fun and progress

Why Train?

• To achieve short, medium, and long-term goals like:
  • Improving appearance
  • Improving strength and/or endurance
  • Improving mental health
  • Improving health
  • Improving sport performance