Body by Science - Slow burn

(Sandra Watson) #21

I am working on the breathing, that is hard for me because years of hearing "breath though your nose: SO HARD to get that part down. Pretty sure something to do with needing salt and or tad bit of carbs before workout but advice taken. I will write my Doctor and ask him…der, not sure why I did not think of that as he knows this stuff. (I don’t think most of them would understand the keto part) Thank you.

(Jamie Hayes) #22

I’d say that any good doctor would insist on seeing you face to face.

#23

This is exactly why I would experience headaches doing BBS; I had to concentrate very hard to breathe regularly, especially during those last 10-15 seconds because I was trying sooo hard to push the weight.

(Jamie Hayes) #24

One more thought…

Some people doing BBS use a very heavy weight where a set lasts around 30 seconds or less. (Muscles can’t count reps.)

I prefer to use a weight that is light enough to enable me to do a set that lasts at least 60 seconds. With 10 second reps (5 secs lifting and 5 secs lowering) that’s about 6 reps. I actually do 20 second reps (10 secs up and 10 secs down) and so I only get out 3-5 reps. The slower the speed, and the longer the set, the lower the weight that’s needed to produce inroad (adaptive response). This adds a safety factor as well.

This puts me in the time until fatigue sweet spot (high inroad + high safety) of between 60 and 100 seconds. It’s academic if this should be 50 - 70 seconds, as that would vary with one’s genetic response that would only concern the coaches of olympic and professional athletes. But, for most, their genes and their body’s talents choose their sport, rather than their sport delivering their bodies.

At 63 years I am training to maintain good muscular strength and metabolic fitness, not train for a power lifting competition (with its risks). Plus I want to be able to do a whole body routine inside 30 minutes. 30 minutes in the gym once or twice a week is plenty for me.

(Jamie Hayes) #25

Need a spotter or not?

You can do high intensity super slow routines like BBS on selectorised (pin-loaded) machines (Nautilus, medX), plate-loaded machines (Hammer), free weights (dumbells etc), and even with your own body weight.

With pin-loaded machines the machine keeps you training in a restricted plane of motion. This adds a safety factor and virtually eliminates the safety need for a spotter. (Some machines do have less plane of motion restriction.)

Some machines (like MedX and Xfactor) are low friction and low momentum, and are superior (in my view) for BBS.

There’s little argument today, that choosing compound (2 joint) exercises (eg chest press) are superior to isolation (single-joint) exercises (tricep extension). Compound exercises work muscles in unison.

It’s a common statement “free weights are best”. I think that’s simplistic. There’s no doubt that free weights require greater skill and work the supporting muscles required to control the weight.

And so, for those who do not have good training skill, an educated spotter or good personal trainer, using machine weights may be a safer option.

PS Mirrors in a gym can be a good safety aid to keep your eye on your form. Any sharp pain and you’re doing something wrong.

(Sandra Watson) #26

Here was some of the best information I found - then I was able to find more details. I believe this will help me for my needs:

Understanding How To Avoid Exercise Induced Headache (EIH)

taken from Exercise Protocol Magazine.

If, during an exercise, you ever feel as though you are beginning to
get a headache, stop the exercise immediately. Relax for a few minutes,
close your eyes and breathe deeply. Then, if you can no longer sense
any trace of the headache, continue. If, however, you still feel even
a slight head pain, then do not finish the workout. Take a few days
off before attempting to train again. If you attempt to work through
this head pain, it may develop into an exercise induced headache (EIH).

EIH can be twice as severe as a migraine, and can last anywhere from
a few days to two weeks. It was previously believed that EIH was
related to tension in the muscles of the neck, similar to tension
headaches, and was often addressed by performing a neck extension
and/or flexion exercise at the beginning of the workout, to produce
fatigue induced relaxation of the neck muscles. This was done to
minimize tension in the neck muscles during the more intense
exercises involving greater body masses, such as the leg press.

Recent observations by Doug McGuff, MD suggest that EIH may be caused
by stretching of the dura mater (outermost of the three membranes
covering the brain and spinal cord) as a result of increased BP in
the cerebral veins caused by retrograde venous flow towards the brain.
the onset of EIH is usually experienced during intense exercises for
the legs, hips, and trunk, during which there is a large amount of
venous congestion in the pelvis and abdomen. In an article entitled
The Mystery of Exercise Induced Headache, in Vol. 5, Issue 3 of The
super Slow Exercise Standard, Dr. McGuff writes,

“This congestion is a result of soft tissue compression, Val Salva
and massive venous return from the legs stimulated by intense
muscular contraction. This massive venous congestion can create a
strong enough force to drive venous flow in a cephalad direction
(towards the head). Perhaps, in some subjects, the force is great
enough to reverse the gradient of cerebral venous drainage so that
venous blood is pushed up through the jugular veins into the
confluence of sinuses…
…Theoretically, a threshold level of venodilation and pressure
transmission would have to occur before the dura could be stimulated.
Once this threshold is reached, look out! Dural stimulation produces
severe, sudden onset pain that can persist for days.”

In other words, during exercises for the lower body, increased
pressure in the abdomen may cause venous blood to be forced back into
the cerebral veins, increasing BP in the brain to the point where the
dura mater is stretched. If this happens, it’s going to feel like a
bolt of lightening shot through the back of your skull, cracked it
wide open, and exited through one or both of your eyes.

If this theory is correct, the reason that performing exercises
for the neck at the beginning of a workout tends to reduce or prevent
the onset of EIH would not be due to fatigue induced relaxation of
those muscles, and the resulting decrease in tension. Instead, it
appears that the increased pressure exerted on the jugular veins
caused by edema (the “pump” ) in the surrounding neck muscles
decreases retrograde blood flow. This would reduce BP in the
cerebral veins, which would reduce the pressure exerted on the
dura mater.

It is best not to develop EIH in the first place, but if you do
there are measures which can be taken to minimize the possibility
of it recurring.

  1. Do not hold or force your breath during an exercise. As
    previously stated, this causes BP to quickly increase to
    dangerously high levels.

  2. Perform neck extension and flexion exercises at the beginning of
    the workout. Always move extremely slowly when performing neck
    exercises. A 10/10 movement speed is recommended.

  3. If you are performing a full body workout, perform it in reverse
    order, with exercises for the trunk and lower body last.