Exercise Changes Your DNA?

While it is widely known that regular physical exercise decreases the risk of virtually all chronic illnesses, the mechanisms at play are not fully known. Now scientists at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that the beneficial effects of physical exercise may in part result from changes to the structure of our DNA. These changes are referred as 'epigenetic'.

In the study, six weeks of physical exercise led to changes in the epigenetic information of skeletal muscle cells in young men. These changes took place in areas of the genome that have been linked to disease. Scientists say their research shows how exercise remodels DNA in skeletal muscle, so that new signals are established to keep the body healthy.

My take? This makes total sense and emphasizes that as we age, it is critical to continue activities to preserve muscle mass. The idea, “If you don’t use it, you lose it,” is showing to be extremely accurate when it comes to preserving muscle mass. In addition this shows that it isn’t just your genes that dictate your body composition, but the signals your body receives that will ultimately matter. If you haven’t strength trained before, and want to put on lean muscle mass, then you must strength train!

The time is now to get a strength routine started, and I’m here to help. Click the link below to get started today!

Sets, Reps, Rest, and Tempo...

One of the fundamentals of both strength training and conditioning work is knowing how to manipulate the sets, reps, rest, and tempo of various exercises in order to get a desired affect. For instance, if told you to do 5 sets of 10 squats at your own pace versus 10 sets of 10 squats done at a 4 second negative and 3 second pause at the bottom resting only 20 seconds between sets, you are going to have a much different workout.

To master these variables, it takes years of educating yourself with data, research, and proven techniques blended with self discovery. One of the most challenging workouts I have ever performed is 10 sets of 10 reps with a 4 second eccentric (with gravity) and 2 second positive (against gravity) along with 60-120seconds rest between sets. This type of work was popularized by Charles Poliquin and he termed it “German Volume Training.” These workouts are designed to produce tons of lactic acid and muscle breakdown which could lead (under the right conditions) to fat loss and muscle gain. If you are looking to give this a try, pick a movement that you are comfortable with and possess good technique (you can use machines in the gym as well like a lat pulldown or leg extension machine). Let’s use the bench press. Perform 10 repetitions with a weight that you can do 20 times for a maximum (so if you 20 rep max is 100lbs., use that). Each rep should take 4 seconds to get down to your chest before you start pushing back up and take 2 seconds to lock out. There should not be any pauses at the top or bottom. After 10 reps, rest exactly 2 minutes, and go again, repeating until you get to 10 sets (100 reps). If you start to fail in the sets, that’s fine. Stop, rest 2 minutes, then start the next set. Do not force reps. Do not repeat sets. Over time (from week to week) you will be able to complete the entire workout. When you do, increase the weight by 5% and then try to complete it again. You can do this for weeks on end and see some serious improvements in body composition as a result. I will warn you though, these works are really hard. Like, you may need a nap after the workout hard. You can also try this from home with bodyweight movements as well (e.g. push-up, body rows, and squats). Give it a shot for your next workout!

To learn more about sets, reps, tempo, and rest, list to Scott Hagnas and I’s most recent podcast!

Do you workouts need work? I’m here to help! Book a free assessment today!

Build Muscle...NOW

A majority of clients that I work with are looking to lean out and tone up (terms that drive me up the wall, but I will leave it alone for now).  However, I do have clients who’d like to put on weight by increasing their lean muscle mass.  This scenario requires different training, nutrition and lifestyle changes.  Let’s break down a few considerations:

1. Increasing Calories-To increase lean body mass, the body needs a caloric surplus.  I usually shoot for a 300-500 calorie per day surplus over a client’s baseline with a focus on protein and carbohydrates.  

2. Increase training intensity by building load, volume, or both-If you want to out on muscle, you have to train hard.  That doesn’t mean maximum intensity every day, but it does mean that training should be uncomfortable most of the time.  Increasing the load, adding more sets, or going for more reps are a few simple ways to increase the difficulty of your workouts.  As a bonus, I wouldn’t vary the exercise selection too much as it takes time for the body to adapt to any exercise.  Choose 10 exercises total, and work through those on any given day.

3. SLEEP-I can’t emphasize this one enough.  Sleep is integral to putting on lean body mass as sleep is where recovery takes place and growth hormone is released (growth hormone aids in muscle synthesis). 

This is only a small chunk of the many considerations I make when working with a client who wants to add muscle to their body.  For a more in depth look, you’ll want to listen to my most recent podcast with Scott Hagnas (link in my bio).

If you like the podcast please subscribe, rate, review, and share it with a friend!

If you have any questions you'd like Scott and I to answer, write an email to sean@flochfitness.com.