Mass Issue Free

SPECIAL EDITION

2018

MASS MONTHLY MONTHLY A PPLICATIONS IN STRENGTH SPORT

ERIC HELMS | GREG NUCKOLS | MICHAEL ZOURDOS

The Reviewers Eric Helms Eric Helms is a coach, athlete, author, and educator. He is a coach for drug-free strength and physique competitors at all levels as a part of team 3D Muscle Journey. Eric regularly publishes peer-reviewed articles in exercise science and nutrition journals on physique and strength sport, in addition to writing for commercial tness publications. He’s taught undergraduate- and graduatelevel nutrition and exercise science and speaks internationally at academic and commercial conferences. He has a B.S. B.S . in tness and wellness, an M.S. in exercise science, a second Master’s in sports nutrition, a Ph.D. in strength and conditioning, and is a research fellow for the Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand at Auckland University of Technology. Eric earned pro status as a natural bodybuilder with the PNBA in 2011 and competes in the IPF at international-level events as an unequipped powerlifter.

Greg Nuckols Greg Nuckols has over a decade of experience under the bar and a B.S. in exercise and sports science. Greg is currently enrolled in the e xercise science M.A. program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He’s held three all-time world records in powerlifting in the 220lb and 242lb classes. He’s trained hundreds of athletes and regular folks, both online and in-person. He’s He’s written for many of the major magazines and websites in the tness industry, industry, including Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Bodybuilding.com, T-Nation, and Schwarzenegger.com. Furthermore, he’s had the opportunity to work with and learn from numerous record holders, champion athletes, and collegiate and professional strength and conditioning coaches through his previous job as Chief Content Director for Juggernaut Training Systems and current full-time work on StrongerByScience.com.

Michael C. Zourdos Michael (Mike) C. Zourdos, Ph.D, CSCS, is an associate professor in exercise science at Florida  Atlantic University University (FAU) (FAU) in Boca Raton, FL., USA, with a specialization in strength and conditioning conditioning and skeletal muscle physiology. physiology. He earned his Ph.D. in exercise physiology from The Florida State University (FSU) in 2012 under the guidance of Dr. Jeong-Su Kim. Prior to attending FSU, Mike received his B.S. in exercise science from Marietta College and M.S. in applied health physiology from Salisbury University. Mike served as the head powerlifting coach of FSU’s 2011 and 2012 state championship teams. As an associate professor at FAU, Mike is the director of the FAU Muscle Physiology Research Laboratory. He also competes as a powerlifter in the USAPL, and among his best competition lifts is a 230kg (507lbs) raw squat at a body weight of 76kg. Mike owns the company Training Revolution, LLC., where he has coached more than 100 lifters, including a USAPL open division national champion.

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Note from Ben Pollack  W 

hen Greg reached out to me about MASS, I was pretty excited, because as  you guys probably know, know, I put a lot of faith in the scientific process myself.  Tat said, I also understand that it takes a lot of time time to pour pour over academic publications; that interpreting that research requires a specific skill set; and that the research itself itse lf is far from infallible. With MASS, Greg, Eric, and Mike have done most of the work for you.  Te MASS library is pretty extensive, so to help you get started, I’ve I’ve hand-picked a few articles ar ticles that I believe are the most directly relevant to the programs at phdeadlift.com lift. com and packaged them together in a special issue. ( Well – I picked them. Greg packaged them.) Te first half of the issue covers periodization, and the three variables we focus on the most in the Unf*ck Your Program course: volume, intensity, and frequency. frequency. Having a bit of a better grasp on the research supporting supporting the methods will, I hope, give you all that much more confidence in them, especially if you’re  just starting out.  Te second half deals with some some of the extras from the “Bonuses” section of UYP: finding the right mindset, improving the quality of your recovery, and incorporating cardio. I think you might be surprised by these! You probably already know the importance of getting the little stuff, right, but the evidence of that can really help drive the point home and give you that extra bit of motivation you need to give 100%, inside and outside of the gym. I hope you enjoy this special issue, and that you find MASS helpful in improving  your own training and understanding understanding of your body. body. I’m pretty pretty sure you will.

– Ben Pollack

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Table of Contents 6

B Y

G R E G

N U C K O L S

Does Periodization Lead to Faster Strength Gains?  A recent meta-analysis showed that periodized training leads to bigger strength gains than non-periodized training. However, the abstract doesn’t tell the whole story.

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B Y

E R I C

H E L M S

Recovery from Training: High Intensity vs. High Volume Depending on who you talk to, they might tell you that their recovery is hindered by heavy training or by performing a lot of volume. Which type of training causes more muscle damage, inammation, and force production suppression? Read here to nd out.

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B Y

M I C H A E L

C .

Z O U R D O S

More Frequency is Not Always Better We know that more volume is not always better. This study shows us that, similarly, more frequency is not always better. But is it really that simple? Sometimes a critical analysis of a study’s methods is necessary to establish true takeaways from a single study.

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B Y

G R E G

N U C K O L S

Mind Over Matter: Mental Training Increases Strength Gains Everyone focuses on physical training, but mental training is a powerful, oft-overlooked tool that can boost your strength gains.

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50

B Y

G R E G

N U C K O L S

Which Sleep Interventions Help the Most with Recovery and Performance? Everyone pays lip service to the importance of sleep, but what sorts of interventions actually improve sleep and performance the most?

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B Y

G R E G

N U C K O L S

Is It Better to Combine Lifting With High Intensity or Traditional Cardio? If you need to add cardio to your lifting, is it better to stick with high intensity intervals (which some have called “anabolic cardio”), or to opt for traditional moderate intensity cardio? This was the rst study designed to actually answer that question.

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Study Reviewed: Comparison of Periodized and Non-Periodized Resistance Training on Maximal Strength: A Meta-Analysis. Williams et al. (2017)

Does Periodization Lead to Faster Strength Gains? B Y

G R E G

N U C K O L S

A recent meta-analysis showed that periodized training leads to bigger strength gains than non-periodized training. However, the abstract doesn’t tell the whole story.

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 KEY POINTS 1. A quantitative analysis of the entirety of the literature showed that periodized training leads to larger strength gains than non-periodized training. 2. However, there were marked dierences in study results, with some evidence of publication bias in favor of periodized training. When accounting for those issues, the relative benets of periodization was nearly halved, though they remained signicant. 3. While periodization isn’t a more important factor than simply training hard (training volume and intensity), periodizing your training will likely increase your rate of strength gains.

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eriodization is defined as “a logi- change over time. cal method of organizing training  Tis meta-analysis (a quantitative cominto sequential phases and cyclical parison of all the studies on the topic) time periods in order to increase the po- set out to determine whether periodized tential for achieving specific performance training was truly superior for strength goals while minimizing the potential for gains compared to non-periodized trainovertraining” (1). In layman’s terms, pe- ing, as is often claimed. Based on the 18 riodized training involves manipulating studies that met the inclusion criteria, petraining variables over time instead of riodized training is superior to non-periholding all variables constant. For exam- odized training, though the relative beneple, if you simply do 5 sets of 5 reps on fit is likely minor, at least over the average the bench press twice per week, just add- study duration in this meta (15 weeks). ing weight as you’re able, your program However, this relatively minor effect may  would be non-periodized, as volume, rel- undersell the benefits of periodization, as ative intensity, and frequency would be most studies don’t systematically progunchanged every week. However, if you ress training volume over time, which is did 5 sets of 8 reps on week 1 with 70% one of the strongest tools periodization of your 1RM, 5 sets of 5 reps on week 2 equips you with.  with 75% of your 1RM, 5 sets of 3 reps on week 3 with 80% of your 1RM, and then start over with 5 sets of 8 reps on Purpose and Research  week 4 with a slightly heavier load than  you used on week 1, that would be a very Questions simple periodized program as volume  he purpose of this meta-analysis (volume load) and relative intensity did  was to see whether periodized train-

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ing is truly superior to non-periodized training for increasing strength by analyzing the entirety of the literature on the subject.

Subjects and Methods Subjects  Tis meta-analysis drew from all studies comparing periodized and non-periodized training, regardless of subjects.  As such, it included studies on both men and women, people of all age ranges, and people of all training statuses.

Once the eligible studies were identified and coded (the key features of the subjects and training plans were identified), the authors calculated the effect sizes for each study and the mean effect size for all effects, adjusted for nested effects, assessed heterogeneity and potential bias, and identified potential moderators. Don’t worry if this sentence sounds a bit overwhelming; it’ll all make sense in the next section.

Findings

 Te big, bottom line finding of this meta-analysis was that periodized training  Methods  was superior to non-periodized train Te inclusion criteria for this me- ing for increasing maximal strength; the ta-analysis (the rules to determine which mean effect was small (0.43±0.08) and significant (p