HITuni goes to the US
The first 30 minutes of the drive required much focus as my brain’s default mode network (DMN) was unable do all the work required to safely drive on the right side of the road. Which was now indeed the right side of the road, and not the left. It hit home that months of planning were now a reality as we drove from Newark airport, New Jersey, toward Cranbury. We were headed to Optimal Exercise, the facility owned by Bill DeSimone. Those who don’t know Bill’s work yet need to catch up, he has already written two hugely valuable and …
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The Rough Guide to Testosterone
This post is all about testosterone (T), we’ll look at what it is, what it does and where it comes from. We’ll cover the reasons that it is an important hormone for women as well as men and how low testosterone levels negatively impacts both sexes. We will detail some of the symptoms of low testosterone and what you can do about them. Then we will look at what the latest research reveals about the impact of exercise, both resistance training and aerobic, on acute and long-term levels of testosterone. By the end of the article, you’ll know a lot …
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17 Myokines You Need to Know About Today
Skeletal muscle tissue is made up of muscle fibers, connective tissue, blood vessels and nerves. Under the control of the somatic nervous system (SNS), skeletal muscle produces force, creates movement. Muscles get bigger and stronger if you exercise, smaller and weaker if you don’t…simple. This is the basic understanding of muscle that most of us have. There is however more benefit to exercising muscle tissue which we are not able to directly observe, and which science is only just beginning to reveal. It was my recent conversation with Doug McGuff, MD, that lit a fire under my desire to understand …
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Doctor Doug McGuff Talks Fitness and High Intensity Training For The Over-40s
Doug McGuff MD, is a family man who successfully combines a highly intense career as an emergency physician, with a passion for high intensity exercise. A long-time strength training enthusiast and advocate, he has written four books on exercise including co-authoring the best-selling Body by Science. A fifth book, The Primal Prescription details how to navigate the modern healthcare system and when possible, how to avoid it altogether. For over 20 years Dr. McGuff has also operated Ultimate Exercise a personal training facility in Seneca, helping to keep South Carolinians and enthusiasts from all over the globe in peak physical …
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The Long Read on Muscle Fibers: Types, Strength, Hypertrophy and Training Optimization
Have you ever thought about your muscles? Have you considered how muscle contracts, how some people can lift an impressive amount of weight but only a few times, others unable to lift as much are able to endure a moderate load for much longer? Some have muscles that appear to rapidly grow in response to training, for others there is less obvious external change (yet still much of benefit happening internally). The different types of muscle fiber and their proportional representation in your muscles play a crucial role in your physical expression. To get the most out of exercise: Do …
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HIT and Running: An in-depth conversation with Skyler Tanner about Resistance Training and Cardio
Skyler Tanner is an exercise physiologist based in Austin, Texas where he operates Smart Strength, a HIT-focused, evidence-based, strength training studio. Skyler also regularly brings a fascinating perspective to all things exercise, through insights on his blog, skylertanner.com. I have been intrigued by his recent writing on combining resistance training or HIT with running, an interest that he has developed over the last 5 years. Before any die-hard HITers choke on their coffee at the mere mention of running, Skyler still communicates that by far the most important thing that you can do for your physiology exercise-wise, is to apply …
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Say hello to HITuni
HITuni has been helping people learn how to succeed with High Intensity Training for 4 years and in that time, we’ve grown significantly. There are now HITuni students and graduates spread across 4 continents and in 18 countries around the world. We have always provided an education designed to nurture and enhance the success of our students. Our primary goal is to help you become one of the best-of-the-best in the industry, and that remains our guiding purpose. Today’s world is changing rapidly and at the same time some things are still the same; we are all looking …
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Attentional Focus: Internal vs external Visualization during Resistance Training
Today I want to look at where attention should be placed during resistance training: is it best to focus on simply lifting the weight or is it better to focus on the contraction of the targeted muscle tissue? A research paper was recently published covering this very topic so we will delve into this paper as well. What is attentional focus? This term simply refers to what is it that are you focused on or thinking about, whilst you are engaged in an activity. During High Intensity Resistance Training (HIT) you can perform exercises with an external attentional focus …
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Do multi-joint exercises alone provide enough of a stimulus for optimal strength and hypertrophy?
In this post, I want to look at the two types of exercises that make up all resistance training workouts: multi-joint (MJ) and single-joint (SJ) exercises. What is the difference between them, is one type superior to the other, and when should we be doing both? Let’s begin by defining our terms and giving examples. Definition and example of a single-joint exercise A single joint is exposed to a resistance that provides a significant stimulus intended for the muscles responsible for one joint action. For example, there are four possible joint actions at the knee: flexion, extension, internal rotation …
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HIT vs HIIT, Sprints vs Resistance Training: What’s the Difference?
Is there a physiological difference in response between sprinting all-out (on a bike, treadmill, rowing machine etc) until you are unable to maintain a peak cadence level versus performing a high effort resistance training (RT) exercise? Due to a perceived dichotomy between cardiovascular exercise and resistance training, this is not a question that has been significantly explored in the scientific literature. A recent research paper published in PeerJ, titled “Similar acute physiological responses from effort and duration matched leg press and recumbent cycling tasks” and authored by James Steele, Andrew Butler, Zoe Comerford, Jason Dyer, Nathan Lloyd, Joshua Ward, James …
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