An Updated Cardio Regime

As I mentioned in my recent interview on Natty Talk Radio (see post below), I have reconfigured my cardio routine during my contest prep this year. Most of the changes I made are based on research presented at Layne Norton's fantasy camp, namely several studies by Jacob Wilson at the University of Tampa. In prior years, I have incorporated mostly steady-state cardio during my contest prep, walking for 15-20 minutes on an incline treadmill (making sure not to hold the handles! - that is a pet peeve of mine). I did some high-intensity interval training (HIIT), but typically only when I felt fat loss had stagnated. After reviewing the research presented by Dr. Wilson, however, I am incorporating more HIIT cardio this year, and doing a version of it I never had before - on the stationary bicycle.

The studies on concurrent (cardio + weightlifting) vs. resistance (only weightlifting) training have some basic and expected findings: Dolozel et al. (1998) found that concurrent training significantly reduced bodyfat compared to a resistance only group, while Wilson et al. (2011) performed a meta-analysis of 21 studies to demonstrate that concurrent training leads to decreases in strength, power, and hypertrophy. To try to minimize this loss, the Wilson et al. study compared hypertrophy, strength, and power changes among three distrinct groups of athletes: 1) those who performed running as their cardio (and also lifted), 2) those who performed cycling as their cardio (and also lifted), and 3) those who only lifted (no cardio). As expected, the resistance training only group had the largest gains in strength, power, and hypertrophy, ...BUT those performing cycling as their cardio outgained those that performed running. This same Wilson study also demonstrated that the biggest "bump" for fat loss occurs when heart rate reaches 81 - 90% of its max, which does not happen with steady state cardio but does occur under HIIT. Similar results were found in Balibinis et al. (2003) study on NCAA basketball players who trained with a variety of cardio workouts.

So, what am I doing this time around?

• 2x a week: Cycling HIIT
• 15 minute session: 6 30s all-out sprints, followed by 2.5 minutes slow pedaling
• 1 x a week: Car pushes
• 6 30s pushes, 4-5 min rest in between

I'm also doing SOME low-intensity cardio, as well as some blood flow restricted cardio (which is pretty fun!)

I'll touch on my current diet in a later post

Interview on Natty Talk Radio

I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed on Natty Talk Radio by co-hosts Zakary Walizadeh and Brett Freeman. We talked about quite a bit - from my contest plans for the year, to who I think are the "best of the best" natural bodybuilders in both the WNBF and IFPA, to my experience at Layne Norton's fantasy camp (and the changes to my contest prep that I made based on what I learned there), to how my prep has changed now that I have a daughter. Thanks guys for the awesome interview! It's fantastic that people are going the extra mile to get natural bodybuilding some exposure - great job Zak and Brett. You can check the full episode out here.

An Updated Workout Split based on Science

After participating in Layne Norton's Natural Bodybuilding and Figure camp last month, I was inspired to develop a new workout split based on some of the research that was discussed. In particular, Dr. Mike Zourdos gave a great talk on "Optimizing Periodization and Program Design for Hypertrophic Adaptations." He discussed the idea of Daily Undulating Periodization, which basically focuses on a different rep scheme incorporated for a particular bodypart multiple times a week. Some of the research he referenced was Willoughby (1993) who found that a linear periodization program resulted in significant increases in strength compared to non-periodized programs, and Peterson (2008) who used 14 well-trained firefighters to demonstrate that undulated training resulted in significant improvements in strength and power output versus linear periodization. Dr. Zourdas actually proposed a 6-day per week split, focusing on 2 primary bodyparts, each of which was hit 3x per week. One workout would focus on hypertrophy (maybe 4 sets of 12 reps), one would focus on strength (maybe 5 sets of 8 reps) and one would focus on power (6 sets of 4 reps). This was a dramatic change from the typical one-body-part per day, each body part one time per week bodybuilding split that I had been following variations of for the past 8-9 years. The thought of squatting 3x per week was somewhat intimidating!

After thinking it over for quite a while and tweaking the proposed split to have more of a bodybuilding focus, here is what I came up with:

• Monday: Upper Hypertrophy
• Tuesday: Lower Power
• Wednesday: OFF
• Thursday: Upper Strength
• Friday: Lower Hypertrophy
• Saturday: Upper Hypertrophy
• Sunday: OFF

With this split, I'm squatting twice a week and hitting most upper body muscle groups 3x per week. It was tough the first week or two, but as Dr. Zourdas made clear, the body quickly adjusts and my strength has been surprisingly good. Below are some example lifts that I would do on each day:

• Monday
• Incline Dumbell Press: 4 sets of 15
• Lying Tricep Extensions: 3 sets of 15
• Pull-ups: 3 sets of 15
• Bicep curls: 3 sets of 15
• Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 15
• Tuesday
• Squats: 5 sets of 6
• Leg Press: 4 sets of 8
• Stiff-legged Deads: 4 sets of 8
• Lying leg curls: 3 sets of 8
• Calf raises (2 exercises): 3 sets of 8 each
• Thursday
• Incline Dumbell Press: 5 sets of 8
• Seated rows: 3 sets of 8
• Tricep pushdowns: 3 sets of 8
• Upright rows: 3 sets of 8
• Barbell curls: 3 sets of 8
• Friday
• Squats: 5 sets of 15
• Leg Press: 4 sets of 15
• Lying leg curls: 3 sets of 15
• Glute-ham raise: 3 sets of 12
• Calf raises (2 exercises): 3 sets of 15 each
• Saturday
• Similar to Monday but different exercises

The following Monday would begin with a strength-oriented workout for the upper body. Thus, my hypertrophy / power / strength ratio for the upper body is 2:1:1. The idea is to incorporate more hypertrophy workouts in an effort to focus a bit more on muscle growth while allowing for training specific to power and strength. So far I have to say I am a pretty big fan of this split. I look forward to every leg day and feel like I am making good progress on upper days as well. I will re-assess this split in another month or so, but for now I am pleased with the results.