The Quick and the Dead
Page 11
Sweet Spot in Time
The critical CP capacity, below which a high rate of ATP resynthesis is impossible, is about a third of the total alactic capacity. (Volkov et al., 2000)
Women, trained or untrained, produce less lactic acid than men in the same category. (Kotz, 1998) After supramaximal exercise women exhibit lower peak blood ammonia than men. (Itoh & Ohkuwa, 1993) Women junior rowers produced significantly less ammonia than men. No correlation was found between the active muscle mass and blood ammonia levels. Two explanations were suggested: a lower ratio of fast-twitch fibers or a lower AMPD activity in women than in men. (Lutoslawska et al., 1992)
Myokinase in white fibers is more active than in slow fibers (Kleine & Chlond, 1966; Raggi et al., 1969) and so is AMPD (Raggi et al., 1969). Muscles with a low mitochondria count produce more ammonia than mitochondria rich muscles. (Gerez & Kirsten, 1965) Not surprisingly, sprinters produce significantly more ammonia in supramaximal exercise than ong-distance runners. (Itoh & Ohkuwa, 1990) Well-trained male judoka exhibited peak ammonia value in blood after just 15 seconds of all-out veloergometer exercise. (Itoh & Ohkuwa, 1991)
After a 75-meter sprint, 14-to 16-year-old prospective male sprinters registered significantly higher levels of blood ammonia than prospective middle-distance runners of the same age and gender. (Hageloch et al., 1990)
Based on the available research, we conclude that the magnitude of AMP accumulation is determined by the difference between the rate of ATP hydrolysis and ATP rephosphorylation, minus the AMP removed through deamination and propose a formula:
[AMP] = ((∆ ATP hydrolysis – ∆ ATP rephosphorylation) : ∆ t) – [AMP] removed through deamination
10x10, Reloaded
Rest intervals of no less than two-and-a-half to three minutes are needed between 10-to 15-second bouts of maximal intensity dynamic exercise repeats. Typically, eight to 10 such bouts may be done with such rest periods before the CP concentration reaches its critical value and the power sharply declines. (Volkov et al., 2000)
CP recovery is biphasic, with a steep initial phase about three minutes long that is followed by a slow phase. (Sahlin et al., 1979) Full CP recovery after intense exercise typically takes five to eight minutes. (Volkov et al., 2000)
In the Soviet weightlifting methodology a maximal training volume per exercise per training session was about 100 repetitions for experienced lifters. (Tsatsouline, 2014, based on many sources. See Plan Strong™ for references.)
Quotes. (Vorobyev, 1989)
The Melody is in the Rests
In addition to the AMP/ATP ratio, the CP/Cr ratio is another important AMPK regulator, with the higher ratios inhibiting AMPK in a dose-dependent manner and lower ratios activating it. (Ponticos et al., 1998) Viollet et al. (2010) even proposed that in brief intense exercise, the dropping [CP], rather than an increase in [AMP], may be the key regulator of AMPK.
It may be the rate, rather than the magnitude, of fuel depletion that increases AMPK activity. (Clark et al., 2004) Most likely, both have an effect: “AMPK is activated in…human muscle during cycle exercise in a time and exercise-intensity-dependent manner.” (Jørgensen et al., 2006)
Rest intervals classification. (Matveev, 1991)
A Rugby Lesson
Repeat sprint ability research. (Balsom et al., 1992a, b; Dawson et al., 1996; Dawson, 1998; Volkov et al., 2000)
After five six-second velo sprints done every 30 seconds, the peak power is down by only eight to 10 percent. (Morin et al., 2011) Contrast: The same 30 seconds of velo sprinting done all at once reduces the power five times more—by 40–50 percent. (Nevill et al., 1996)
Dawson et al. (1996) proposed five six-second sprints done every 30 seconds with active recovery between sprints as an effective training series for athletes whose sports demand repeated sprinting. They point out that if the athlete did more, he would be starting the sixth sprint with less than half of the pre-exercise level CP (45 percent). They argue that the subsequent sets would unavoidably be relying less on the CP pathway and more on glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation.
The argument to limit a series of short sprints to around 30 seconds of total work is also supported by the results of Gaitanos et al. (1993) and Mendez-Villanueva et al. (2012). Both studied 10 six-second sprints with 30 seconds rest. In the former study, the PPO decreased by 15.9 percent after five sprints and by 33.4 percent after 10. The MPO decreased by 12.6 percent and 26.6 percent, respectively. Mendez-Villanueva et al. (2012) recorded similar dynamics.
There is a linear relationship between the exercise intensity and the rate of CP depletion. (Volkov et al., 2000)
After five six-second sprints done every 30 seconds, the CP was down to 27.4 percent of the base level. (Dawson et al., 1996) Since these measurements were taken 10 seconds post-exercise and the CK reaction is most rapid in the beginning of CP recovery, one could speculate that the magnitude of CP depletion was greater than 75 percent.
In addition, 10 seconds after five six-second sprints done every 30 seconds, ATP was down to 66.2 percent of the base level (Dawson et al., 1996), which is a high magnitude of depletion for this substrate, based on the fact that ATP is very well protected and after all-out sprints or repeated sprints the ATP concentration decreases only by around 20–40 percent below its resting level. (Bogdanis et al., 1996; Hargreaves et al., 1998; Jones et al., 1985; Parolin et al., 1999; Spriet et al., 1989) Therefore, additional sprints are not likely to deplete ATP any more.
Advanced Iranian wrestlers’ study. (Farzad et al., 2011)
The Finishing Touches
The work-to-rest ratio for alactic interval training. (Fox & Matthews, 1974)
Recommendations in literature on the volume of exercise targeting the phosphagen system vary greatly, e.g., from below two-and-a-half minutes per session (Tabarchouk et al., 2014) to greater than 10 minutes (Matveev, 1991). We chose the number of two-and-a-half minutes, which happens to correspond to Volkov’s maximal volume for about 15-second alactic capacity repeats.
Rest between series of RSA sprints must be greater than three minutes. (Volkov et al., 2000). Dawson et al. (1996) found three minutes insufficient to fully replenish the CP stores and suggested resting longer between such series, “perhaps for four to six minutes.”
PART III: THE POWER DRILLS
The Power Drills of Choice
Quote about “actively accelerated ballistics.” (Verkhoshansky & Siff, 2009)
The Pushup: A Classic, Remastered
Quote. (Zatsiorsky, 1966)
Power is typically trained with 40–70 percent of maximal resistance. (Volkov et al., 2000)
PART IV: HAPPY HUNTING!
Where Is the Cardio?
Quote. (Yakovlev, 1974)
The cardiac output of an untrained adult is sufficient to supply oxygen for running long distance at a Master of Sport level. The bottleneck is the lack of mitochondrial development in skeletal muscles. As a result, the forming H+ causes muscular fatigue and stresses the cardiorespiratory system with nonmetabolic CO2. (Antonov, 2013)
“Perfecting endurance was seen primarily as increasing the VO2 max, since it was believed that this criterion offers a generalized assessment of the development level of the physiological functions responsible for intake, transport, and utilization of oxygen in the organism. And in spite of the appearance of extensive experimental data witnessing that in the competition season the VO2 max decreases, as a rule, and that athletes with different (and even rather modest) VO2 max can post high results, and that, finally, in the last decades the growth of athletic achievements has not been accompanied by a VO2 max increase in top athletes (Verkhoshansky, 1985), the faith in vegetative preparedness as the main factor determining endurance has not been shaken.” (Verkhoshansky, 1988)
“…data indicate that an increase in endurance is related not so much with getting more oxygen in the blood and improving its transport to the working muscle as with an increase in these muscles’ ability to utilize a higher
percentage of oxygen. Therefore it is not the VO2max value but the intramuscular factors governed by the adaptation of the muscular apparatus to prolonged strenuous work that determine the athlete’s endurance level.
“Thus endurance development is related not only to perfecting the “respiratory” abilities but also to…an increase in the skeletal muscles’ strength and oxidizing properties. Therefore, the main direction in endurance development must not be a ‘habituation’ to a high level of lactate in blood but a pursuit to lower the share of glycolysis in supplying work and perfecting the muscles’ capability to oxidize lactate in the course of exercise. In other words, endurance development must be oriented primarily at the elimination of the discrepancy between the muscles’ glycolytic and oxidizing capabilities, which happens to be the main cause of high lactate concentration, and at a maximal utilization of the aerobic energy pathway.” (Verkhoshansky, 1985)
The Delta 20 Principle
Quote. (Vorobyev, 1977)
Quote. (Vorobyev, 1989)
Stable structural constants. (Chernyak, 1978)
Built to Last
In detraining, the first adaptations lost are those related to the functional condition of the vegetative systems (VO2 max, stroke volume, etc.). (Yakovlev, 1974)
The higher the athlete’s VO2 max, the steeper the detraining curve. (Platonov et al., 2004)
The cardiac adaptations to interval training are not stable—in contrast with the steady effort method. (Platonov et al., 2004)
Morphological adaptations are more stable than biochemical adaptations. (Yakovlev, 1974)
While cytoplasm-based enzymes are unstable (Yakovlev, 1974), dehydrogenases’ activity stays up at a trained level for a long time (Yakovlev, 1950).
The longer the training, the deeper the adaptation caused by it and the longer it remains in detraining. For example, if the training lasted 30 days, 30 days after stopping training, the glycogen and CP content and the phosphorylation activity of muscle tissues reduce to pre-training levels. If the training lasted 90 days, 30 days after cessation of training glycogen and phosphorylation activity did not decrease at all and CP content, while it went down, it did not return to pre-training levels. (Yampolskaya & Yakovlev, 1951)
The greater the speed component in low-volume maintenance loads, the more pronounced their detraining prevention effects. (Yampolskaya & Yakovlev, 1951)
Quote. (Yakovlev, 1974)
The greater the training frequency, the more rapid the detraining and vice versa. (Hettinger, 1961)
While after exhausting running, myofibrillar protein synthesis is depressed for several days, sarcoplasmic protein synthesis accelerates right after training. (Nekrasov, 1982; Séne, 1987) This suggests that one can effectively train the mitochondria daily. (Myakinchenko & Selouyanov, 2005)
The Schedule
A correct warm-up significantly increases performance in power exercises. (Verkhoshansky, 1977) “A warm-up does not have a statistically significant positive effect on strength.” (Kotz, 1998)
Quote. (Verkhoshansky and Siff, 2009)
Each Chooses for Oneself
High load variability postpones plateaus. (Vorobyev, 1977)
Training on the far right of the force-velocity curve (speed) has a carryover to the middle of the curve (power). (Khokhmut, 1962)
Quickness and frequency of unloaded movements are developed with 15–20 percent of maximal resistance. (Verkhoshansky, 1988)
Early Soviet coaching was driven by Pavlov’s teaching that one adapts best “when certain stimuli are repeated in a strict order and with strict intervals between them.” (Pavlov, 1949) In the 1960s, high regularity of training was still considered an asset. (Luchkin, 1962) Later, it was concluded that while a “Monday/Wednesday/Friday” type rhythm is appropriate for beginners, it is suboptimal for experienced athletes who need more variability, at least outside the competition period. (Vorobyev, 1977)
Quote. (Roman, 1986)
In developing aerobic endurance and muscle mass, load variability is limited. When training goals are speed-strength or strength without increasing mass, variability is greater. (Zakharov et al., 1994)
STRONG ENDURANCE™ Seminar
Learn how to build a race car—with a hybrid’s fuel economy
Russian coach Andrey Kozhurkin made a 50,000-foot observation on the two diametrically opposed philosophies of stimulating adaptation.
The traditional one is pushing to the limit: “What does not kill me, makes me stronger.”
The alternative is to train to “avoid (or at least delay) the unfavorable internal conditions… that lead to failure” or reduced performance.
Let us use strength training as an example. The majority of bodybuilders and recreational athletes use the first approach. They train to failure.
In contrast, strength athletes such as Olympic weightlifters and powerlifters follow the second approach. 1,000-pound squatter Dr. Fred Hatfield famously proclaimed that one ought to “train to success,” as opposed to failure. The differences between the American and Russian powerlifting methodologies notwithstanding, both countries’ strength elites share the same conviction that failure is not an option.
In endurance training the first philosophy represents the consensus. Coaches expose athletes to acid baths to improve buffering. This is what Arthur Jones from Nautilus called “metabolic conditioning” back in 1975.
We shall go the other way: anti-glycolytic training.
This revolutionary method has delivered performance breakthroughs on a number of Russian national teams in a mind numbingly diverse array of sports: judo, cross country skiing, rowing, bicycle racing, full contact karate…
The Quick and the Dead protocol is just the tip of the anti-glycolytic training iceberg—and only one of the eighteen state of the art training templates you will learn at the Strong Endurance™ seminar:
Templates #1-7: Fast and Intermediate Fibers’ Aerobic Training
Make your fast fibers aerobic—without sacrificing power and strength—for games and combat sports.
Templates #8-11: Intermediate Fibers’ Aerobic Training
For military, law enforcement, first responders.
Templates #12-13: Intermediate & Slow Fibers’ Aerobic Training
March or die. Lose fat.
Templates #14-16: Fast and Intermediate Fibers’ Hypertrophy
Build more muscle—while improving your acid buffering.
Templates #17-18: Slow Fibers’ Hypertrophy
A game changer for wrestling and for training around injuries.
To give you an idea of what else you will learn, here is the table of contents of the dense, heavily referenced Strong Endurance™ seminar manual:
The seminar is taught both in plain English and in biochemistry terms.
Learn how to build a race car—with a hybrid’s fuel economy.
StrongFirst.com/special-events/strong-endurance/
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[1] Breathing behind the shield” is taught in Kettlebell Simple & Sinister.
[2] “Maximal strength” is not always synonymous with “1RM.” It may be true in the bench press but not the squat. Factor in the system mass: everything you are lifting, including your own carcass. In many exercises, such as kettlebell swings or sprint accelerations, max strength cannot be measured at all.
[3] The StrongFirst Experimental Protocol 044 is the snatch version of Q&D.
[4] For specifics, go to all-around lifting federations’ sites usawa.com/about-us and iawa.uk/about.
[5] To learn more about the Tactical Strength Challenge go to strongfirst.com/achieve/tactical-strength-challenge/.
[6] As an example, the day calls for 60 reps per exercise. Do SW (5/4), P (5/4), SW (10/2), P (10/2), SW (5/4), P (5/4).
[7] (5L/4), (5R/4); (10L/2), (10R/2). Note that on days with three and five series, the load for your left and right arms will not be identical.
[8] “A+A” or “alactic plus aerobic” training is a classic form of So
viet anti-glycolytic training. Read about it in the articles section on StrongFirst.com.
A very effective strategy to take after the first 12-week run of Q&D is alternating six-week phases of Q&D and A+A. Both develop the fast-fiber mitochondria, albeit in different ways. Both train the power and net many WTHEs. If combined with other types of variability listed in this chapter, this strategy is likely to be sustainable for years.