Protein studies close amount per serving debate?

Ingested protein dose response of muscle and albumin protein synthesis after resistance exercise in young men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009.

  

A moderate serving of high-quality protein maximally stimulates skeletal muscle protein synthesis in young and elderly subjects. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2009.

Much has been made of these two studies this year. Basically they recommend that 20-30g is all that is needed in a single sitting to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis. Im always asked howmuch protein should I consume the best answer I can give is "it depends" or usually 30-40g per meal or 1.4-1.8 grams per kg of BW. People worry to much about much they should take, the confusing messages from the supplement industry does'nt help either. Are you going to believe a press release with stupid graphs or studies.

Alot of flak is given to the supplement industry marketing and hype machine that ineffect they're trying to make gym rats and athletes protein obsessed even to the point of trying to make you feel "protein" guilt for not having eaten enough. The supplement industry itself is a big enough issue to warrant an entire article.

Hell back when I started training I remember getting anxious if I thought I was'nt getting enough protein. But thats not to say protein does'nt have an effect, it does to deny that would be fucking stupid. Insert research I can't be arsed to cite but read anything by John Berardi, Lyle McDonald, Anita Bean. Problem is I can see vegetarians and anti-protein advocates (ouch my kidney types, yes they do bloody exsist) jumping all over this research as a valid reason to consume less protein. I can see them now tell me all I need is legumes or 500ml serving of milk for my PWO nutrition (Don't get me started on milk). Thing is protein plays a huge role in a number of other bodily function. Metabolic function, Immune function, increased IGF-1, positive nitrogen balance, improved body comp due to increased protein consumption and reduced carbs. Anothering thing is research looks at "what is bare minimum" we can get away with the same is true of weight lifting  8-12 reps ACSM anyone?

"Do eight to 10 strength-training exercises, eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise twice a week."

This is not optimal its what is neccisary be it muscle synthesis or muscular response to resistance training, keep this in mind when reading research.

Point is protein has benefits beyond muscle synthesis. Why limit it to the bare minimum?

You can read the studies here

http://www.eclips.consult.com/eclips/article/Sports%20Medicine/S0162-0908%2809%2979472-3

http://www.find-health-articles.com/rec_pub_19699838-a-moderate-serving-high-quality-protein-maximally-stimulates-skeletal.htm Abstract

On Vibram Five fingers

Vibram five fingers have gained alot of interest in the mainstream media, I recently had Someone email with some problems associated with wearing the trains they asked. Ankle and gait Biomechanics are by no means my speciality so if you have an opinion feel free to add.

Hi Will,
 
My name is Jason B. I am a graduate student in 
biomechanics at the University of Florida and I am hoping to go to 
physical therapy school.  I recently started training in parkour, 
though I have been trying to condition for it for some time now.  
I have seen your articles on Urban Freeflow and you very obviously 
know what you're talking about.  So, I was hoping I could ask you 
a few questions.  First, what are your opinions on the Vibram 
Fivefingers?  I like them, but I only recently got them and I 
apparently got a little over-zealous with them the first few times 
I trained in them.  After a few sessions, I've noticed that I have 
some swelling at the calcaneal insertion of the Achilles Tendon.  
Which leads me to my next question.  Do you know of any strength 
training protocols to treat and prevent this from happening again. 
 I know recent research seems to suggest that eccentric training 
of the calves may increase microvascularity to the hypovascular 
regions of the Achilles and there's some stuff on sonic vibration, 
but I was curious if you have run into the type of training 
problem or know someone who has had this training problem and if 
you know how they fixed it?
 
Thank you very much for your time,
Jason

I responded with

Hi Jason,

Ive not used the five fingers myself, but ive heard good things, but it sound slike you have made the classic mistake of jumping from conventional footwear into wearing five fingers, which has lead to possible achilles problems. The sudden change from heeled shoes to non heeled shoes loads to increased rom in the calf and a sudden increase in work load has load to your problem. In terms of dealing with the problem typical tendonitis protocal is needed if that is the case. Stretching the tendon and calf when the tendon is healthy is a must, calves of freerunners and traceurs can end up very tight. Unilateral work is a must, pistol squats, bulgarian split squats, lunges and other single leg work is key, especially with deep Rom in the lower limb because strength reinforces good range of motion especially in the calves, and tight inflexible calves plus strong calves can lead to a world of hurt and are plantar flexing happy, but when sudden passive dorsiflexion occurs ie landing from a jump it'll tear an inflexible achilles tendon to bits! 

A heeled shoe decreases the amount of dorsiflexion on running and jumping activities. Massage can help loosen you up too. Just be sure to keep training sessions with five fingers breif and light, until you become more accustomed to them.

If anyone has any feedback about five finger or switching to barefoot training I would like to hear about your experiances.

Get Ready For The Workout Of Your Life!

Get Ready For The Workout Of Your Life!

John Paul Catanzaro with some cracking workout advice, the ones that stood out for me were....

Ultimate Workout Tip #4

Soft tissue work before exercise can improve performance. Prior to lower body training, roll the bottom of the foot with a tennis ball or a FootWheel and the outside part of the leg with a foam roller. Before upper body training, roll the upper back and perform thoracic extensions using a foam roller.

Ultimate Workout Tip #7

Depending on your level, there are several neural tricks to improve strength and performance. Beginners can start with oversize grips for their warm-ups and then use regular handles for their work sets. Advanced trainees can take it a step further by employing plyometrics and overshooting the working load with eccentrics, heavy supports, and chains during their warm-ups.

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/bigger_better_faster_longer

Bigger, Better, Faster, Longer40 Minutes With Dan John

Dan John is the Yoda of strength training. He's not quite as wrinkly, but the wisdom, man, the wisdom!

Of Politics & Idiocy, Part 2 Strength & Conditioning at the Collegiate Level

I loved part 1 of this article by the anonymous strength and conditioning coach because it resonated with me and my experiances with the strength and conditioning community, before you call me a whiner for bitching about an industry that has nepotism and morons coming out its whoha, give these peices a read first, I blogged the originial here http://williamwayland.blogspot.com/2009/10/of-politics-idiocy-part-1-strength.html

Of Politics & Idiocy, Part 2
Strength & Conditioning at the Collegiate Level

By The Anonymous Strength Coach

For www.EliteFTS.com

This is part two of a two-part series.

If you don’t know how to play the political game in collegiate strength and conditioning, you will have a very stressful, frustrating, and potentially short career as a strength coach. There are five groups of people in athletics that a strength coach has to work with—other strength coaches, athletes, sport coaches, administrators, and athletic trainers. If you’re looking to further your career, you had better know how to approach each one of these groups.

Strength coaches
Let’s start with the strength coaches. This is arguably, along with the athletes, the easiest group to work with. For the most part, any problems that develop among a staff of strength coaches are from a lack of communication. These problems are easily fixed. For the most part, politics are not a real issue here, except for an assistant/graduate assistant who may be making some concessions in program design to please the head strength coach. This can be a learning opportunity for the assistant if he keeps his mind open.
Athletes
Next are the athletes, and like the strength coaches, this could be one of the easiest groups to work with. This is where you get to coach and help athletes. Yes, there are athletes who will push the limits of what they can get away with, but for the most part, athletes want to get better. You may just have to push them a little.
Where this group will get difficult is when you have to treat the athletes in a manner that the sport coaches want. Some coaches want their athletes disciplined to the extreme, some want them babied, and some want them pushed to their physical limits. And there is always someone watching whether you think they are or not. So don’t try to treat the athletes in a manner that is not approved by their head sport coach.
 
Sport coaches
Sport coaches tend to be very sensitive and don’t like people who disagree with them. They also don’t like to change. So if they did something thirty years ago when they were playing, then that is how it has to be now. It doesn’t matter that we now know that what they were doing back then is actually counterproductive. It only matters what they like.
The strength coach’s job is to find a way to get done what needs to get done while also keeping the sport coach happy. If you don’t do what they want, they will throw a fit. So you will have to compromise your own philosophies. Over time, if you get results, you should get to do more of what should be done and less of what the sport coach wants. However, each coach will be different, and some may not ever acknowledge that you know what you’re doing. Others will be more open. Some will give you a clean slate after they’ve worked with you for a while. A few will give you a clean slate from the beginning, but this is rare.
The key here is finding out what the sport coach wants. This seems like an obvious answer, but it isn’t. Having the athletes in good shape and able to perform isn’t always what’s important to a sport coach.
Here are three real life examples of coaches who I’ve dealt with in the past.

Coach #1: She wants her athletes to be disciplined. It doesn’t matter how fast or strong they are but rather that they never get out of line.

Coach #2: He wants his athletes to run. And when they are done running, run them some more. Speed work and strength training aren’t important. These aspects can be replaced with a distance run.

Coach #3: He wants the program to be well designed to ensure optimal results. He likes the scientific aspect of strength and conditioning.

If you’re working with football or basketball, you have got to learn how to play the social game as well. Many of these coaches judge your performance not only by results but also by how much they like you. Guess what—if they don’t like you, you aren’t getting results. If they do like you, you’re getting results. This sounds completely absurd, but it’s the truth. Just like other sport coaches, these coaches are very finicky. The difference is they hold your job in the palm of their hands.
Like it or not, you’d better learn to suck up to the sport coaches if you want to be successful. I know this isn’t right, but it’s the truth. So if the head football coach wants you to do the 225-lb rep test at the end of every upper body workout, you might want to think about doing it even if it’s not a very smart thing to do.

Administrators
Administrators are a good group to make friends with. Like football and basketball coaches, this group can determine the future of your career. Even though most of the time you don’t work directly with them, they do talk to the sport coaches on a regular basis. If the sport coaches like you, chances are the administrators will at least know who you are. Of course, an occasional chat at a game or around the athletic department will be in your favor when it comes to getting recommendations.

Athletic trainers
In my experience, athletic trainers aren’t too hard to work with if you’re willing to go with the flow. I’ve worked with trainers who like to do all the rehabilitation themselves and then send the athlete to the strength coach when he is completely healthy. Other trainers progress the athlete to a certain point and then let the strength coach continue rehabilitation more aggressively. For the most part, I don’t see that this is a big deal. And from my point of view, I would rather keep the athletes away from the training room and in the weight room. So I don’t mind finishing up someone’s rehabilitation. A strength coach should be knowledgeable enough to do this without any problems.
Athletic trainers suffer a lot of the same stresses coming from the sport coaches as strength coaches suffer. So these two groups tend to relate very well and can be a good source to vent about subjects that can’t be discussed with others or that others may not understand.
Well, there you have it. Being a strength coach entails much more than just your job. It consists of dealing with the idiots in your own profession and playing the political/social card with the other groups that you’re working with. You’re all on the same team, but it doesn’t always seem that way.

Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.

Elliot Hulse gives a great insight into the common mistakes on the deadlift

New "shake weight" for men!

Hot on the heels of http://williamwayland.blogspot.com/2009/08/shake-weight.html

Parkour/Freerun: Anti-Social? Is It F**k!!

Many of us expected it to happen one day. Well now it has…..Council officials have taken a general view that Parkour/Freerun activity is anti-social and have subsequently slapped a ban on it.  The town of Moreton in the UK, which has a flourishing scene, has been hit hard by this decision and for those choosing to ignore the ban, they will be faced with being on the receiving end of an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Disorder). Anyone involved in the sport/art/discipline will already be aware of the positives that can be drawn from PK/FR and will see this as ill informed officials being a tad heavy handed, but with their decision being passed, surely it’s only a matter of time before other areas follow suit? Click the ‘read more’ link to see an ITV news piece about this….



Its the sad cycle of things, but skateboarding went through the same cycle until councils gave in and built skateparks. This news his the pk/fr community riled.

Orginally posted on http://www.urbanfreeflow.com/2009/10/14/parkourfreerun-anti-social-is-it-fk/

Of Politics & Idiocy, Part 1 Strength & Conditioning at the Collegiate Level

This article really struck a cord with me, as many of you know as well as working for myself and having various strength and conditioning roles either Voluntary, parttime or some a little longer, Im yet to find that full time posistion I desire. A collegiate job would be amazing, Ive been for so many interviews and met so many budding strength coaches. But what is so so sooooo demoralising is when you meet the types described in this article. A person who appears to be the antithesis of a strength coach sitting in a well paid strength and conditioning job. It boils my blood especially when you work so hard to train experiance and be the best you can be and the moron gets the job. C'est l'vie

Heres the peice, enjoy!

Of Politics & Idiocy, Part 1 Strength & Conditioning at the Collegiate Level

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37 Tips and Tales from Dave Tate

37 Tips and Tales from the always brilliant Dave Tate of EliteFTS

37 Tips and Tales from Dave Tate

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