My job at SST has exposed me to a lot of different mass and strength training methods that I have never tried before. On November 1st I picked three things to try so I can see what happens to my body.
Decreased cardio. After about 45 minutes of intense exercise the body begins to release cortisol. Cortisol has a wasting effect on muscle because it breaks down protein. When I was riding 12-15 hours a week in the summer, my body spent a lot of time in a catabolic state. I’m hoping to change that by doing one hour of cardio a week in the form of my Wednesday evening RPM class.
Taking branch chain amino acids BCAA’s. Most strength coaches recommend taking BCAA’s because of their ability to stimulate protein synthesis. Poliquin recommends taking 20-40 grams of them during a workout so I’ve bought a big bottle and started taking them before and during my workouts.
Trying German Volume Training GVT. Another Poliquin theory being tested. 10 sets of 10 reps done super-setted with two antagonistic movements. E.g. 10 reps of narrow grip pull-ups then 10 reps of decline press then 90 seconds rest. Repeat 9 times. It takes about 30 -35 minutes and it is brutal. Really hard mentally because it is hard and boring.
Last November I did my first bulking phase and of the three things I’m doing now, the only one that I am repeating is to cut back on the amount of cardio because of the amount of evidence there is that it dramatically impairs muscles development.