5 Science-Proven Rules of 21st Century Training

1. To lose fat, do intense cardio

It used to be thought that quiet cardio at 60–70% of your maximum heart rate (HR) - about 115–135 beats per minute - was ideal for getting rid of excess fat. This zone of the pulse is still called fat burning, since the body uses mainly fats as an energy source in it.

It is often forgotten, however, that fats and carbohydrates are interchangeable in terms of energy and the total calories burned is important, not their source.

High-intensity training burns far more calories than quiet cardio in the same amount of time. Moreover, after them, fat metabolism is accelerated, which has a positive effect on body composition.

A review of scientific papers has shown that high-intensity interval training can help you lose 28.5% more fat than long-term, calm cardio.

2. Take your time with your post-workout meal

It used to be thought that immediately after a workout, a “protein-carbohydrate window of opportunity” begins - a short time during which the body is especially sensitive to the intake of nutrients. During this time, bodybuilders tried to eat something protein-carbohydrate, or at least drink a protein shake, in order to increase muscle protein synthesis and reduce its breakdown.

Scientists today argue that a protein-carbohydrate window exists, but rather resembles a garage door. For example, a meta-analysis of scientific papers found that protein intake less than 1 hour before or after exercise has the same effect on hypertrophy as intake 2 hours before and after.

The total amount of protein per day, along with sufficient exercise volume, is much more important than meal time.

Ideally, it is advised to divide the total amount of protein into equal parts (20-40 g each) and consume it every 4 hours - this strategy gives the best results in increasing performance and improving body composition.

Plus, with enough protein and no strenuous exercise, taking extra carbs after exercise will not provide any additional muscle-building benefits.

So you don't have to bother with meals right after your workout. If you ate an hour before class and worked out 45-60 minutes, you will have at least 2 more hours to close the garage door of opportunity and get the full benefit of your meal.

3. Replace the abs crease with other exercises

In the last century, the abs were pumped mainly with the help of a fold - with legs pressed, legs raised, with a pancake or dumbbells for weight. This movement is familiar to us since school physical education lessons, therefore it is often perceived as the most correct option for getting the cherished cubes.

At the same time, people often forget that the press is needed not only for beautiful photographs. Together with other muscles of the body, it stabilizes the body during any movements, transfers efforts from the limbs and is directly involved in maintaining balance.

Weak core muscles increase the risk of injury and back pain for both inactive people and athletes. Therefore, it is worth strengthening them not so much for cubes as for the health of the entire musculoskeletal system and an increase in performance in sports.

The fold, of course, pumps the press, but it does not do it as efficiently as other exercises, and does little to use the deep layers of the muscles.

In order to pump not only the rectus abdominis muscle, but also the external and internal oblique, multipartite, large and middle gluteal muscles, as well as increase the stability of the body and reduce the risk of injury, in addition to twisting on the press, include in your workout a regular and side plank, various types of gluteal bridge., exercises "bird-dog" and "dead beetle".

Photo: Alexander Starostin

Gluteal bridge

One-legged glute bridge

"Bird-dog"

"Dead Beetle"

As for the movements for pumping the rectus abdominis muscle, the fold, again, is not among the best. If your goal is to build cubes, use the following movements: "bike", raise the knees on a chair, twist on the press with raised legs and reverse crunches on the floor.

Exercise "bike"

Hanging knee raises (as in the "captain's chair")

Twisting on the press with raised legs

Reverse crunches on the floor

By the way, the plank loads the rectus and oblique muscles of the abdomen better than the traditional fold on the abs. So it makes sense to remove this movement from your workout altogether so as not to waste time.

4. Choose the workout frequency that suits you

There is no consensus among coaches and bodybuilders on how often to exercise to build muscle.

Some people believe that you need to train all muscle groups in every workout in order to constantly stimulate growth. Others are of the opinion that it is enough to properly load the muscles once a week, and then give them more time to recover and grow.

Scientific evidence shows that it makes no difference how many times a week you train a muscle group as long as you perform the same volume - sets × reps × working weight.

For example, in Brad Schoenfeld's study of the high (three times per week) and low (once per week) training frequency group after eight weeks of the experiment, the only significant difference was in the thickness of the forearm muscles.

The rest of the metrics - triceps and quadriceps thickness, 1RM in the bench press and back squats - did not differ significantly. The same has been shown by other,,,, studies on people of different sex and age, absolute beginners and advanced athletes.

With the same amount of training, muscles grow equally well regardless of whether you exercise them once, twice, or three times a week.

Thus, when choosing a training method (different types of splits or full body), focus only on your capabilities and preferences.

5. Do all rep ranges regardless of purpose

It is believed that working with heavy weights of 2-5 repetitions per set increases strength, 6-12 times with medium weights help build muscle, and more than 12 repetitions with light apparatus are only suitable for strength endurance.

And therefore, to train for strength, you need to work only with heavy weights, and to build muscle, forget about shells easier than 70-80% of your one-rep maximum (1RM).

There is some truth in this, but you should not simplify everything so much by throwing out any repetition range from your program. Regardless of the purpose, all of them will be useful to you.

Few repetitions (2-5 times)

Working with submaximal weights for a small number of repetitions is most effective,,, for the development of strength, and this quality is useful not only for powerlifters and weightlifters. Even if your only goal is to build muscle, heavy sets will help you get stronger, which means increase the load in your main sets, tire your muscles more and give them a good incentive to grow.

Average number of repetitions (6-12 times)

This range is most effective for building muscle. It takes less time than multi-repetitions with light weights, and at the same time does not load the nervous system as much as working with a heavy barbell for 1-5 repetitions.

Muscle building will benefit not only bodybuilders but strength athletes as well. First of all, this concerns additional work on the development of muscle groups that do not directly participate in competitive movements.

For example, if you are going to set a record in the bench press, in addition to working on the chest and triceps muscles, you also need to strengthen the latissimus dorsi, biceps, middle and rear delts.

More repetitions (from 12)

For muscles to grow, they must be subjected to mechanical stress. In other words, work until you get tired. And you can tire muscles equally well with large weights, and with medium and small weights. The main thing is to work exactly to the point of fatigue, almost to the point of failure.

This is supported by scientific research. A meta-analysis of 21 scientific studies found that training with more than 60% of 1RM develops strength significantly better than exercises with lighter weights. But no difference was found in the growth of muscle mass.

You can build muscle by working with light weights by doing the exercises to failure or 1-2 reps before.

In addition, working with light weights can have a positive effect on muscle growth due to the pumping effect. Sets of 15–20 reps provide fluid accumulation in the working muscle, which shifts the protein balance towards anabolism, stretches the connective tissue around the muscles and forms additional capillaries due to the increased demand for blood delivery.

All of this has a positive effect on muscle development, so you should definitely include long sets from time to time, especially in isolated exercises for small muscle groups, such as curls for biceps or extensions for triceps.