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Many lifters want to follow programs that deliver results without wasting time in the gym. One of the most effective ways to achieve that is to train with exercises that work multiple muscles at once. Many exercises can the bill and the simple chin-up is at the top of the list.

This bodyweight basic provides an excellent stimulus to build strength and muscle in your back, biceps, and forearms. Whether you’re working toward your first pull-up or just want to build a more muscular upper body, the chin-up can offer serious gains to any lifter who masters it. Here’s how to get there.

• How to Do the Chin-Up
• Chin-Up Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Chin-Up
• Muscles Worked by the Chin-Up
• Who Should Do the Chin-Up
• How to Program the Chin-Up
• Chin-Up Variations
• Chin-Up Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Chin-Up

Step 1 — Find Your Perfect Grip

Stand directly under a pull-up bar with your arms at your sides and your thumbs pointing forward. Raise your arms straight overhead as naturally as possible. Once your hands are in line with the bar, supinate your hands (turn them palms-up) and grip the bar. This is your individualized, ideal grip-width that should suit your arm length and shoulder mobility.

Pull your shoulder blades back and lift your feet off the ground. Cross one foot over the other to engage your abs and prevent your legs from swaying. Lower your body to a complete dead hang with your weight supported by straight arms. Your head should be between your biceps, and your elbows should be fully extended.

Form Tip: Raising your arms overhead and supinating your hands is a useful and reasonably accurate guideline to set your grip. However, you may need to fine-tune your grip width slightly closer or wider if keeping your arms overhead is uncomfortable.

Step 2 — Pull Your Chin to the Bar

Take a short breath while keeping your chest tall. Externally rotate your shoulders to ensure your shoulder blades are pulled back. Pull your body towards the bar by squeezing your grip and driving your elbows back and down.

As you pull yourself up, your biceps and back musculature will be working overtime, so think about these muscles contracting as you lift. This has been shown to help improve exercise technique and muscle growth. (1) Exhale slowly as you pull yourself up and stop once your chin is at the top of the bar. Your arms should be fully contracted with your elbows near your ribs.

Form Tip: At the top of each rep, hold yourself in an isometric contraction for one to two seconds. If you can see a mirror without turning your head, take a glance to see if your elbows are pointed straight down to the ground or angled in towards your body’s centerline. If they’re pointed straight down, your shoulders are likely externally rotated, which is ideal for joint health and muscle recruitment. If they’re angled in, your shoulders are more internally rotated, and your joints are being strained.

Step 3 — Lower Under Control

Maintain a strong position through your core to mitigate any swaying. Think about your muscles lengthening as you descend until both your biceps and back musculature are fully stretched at the bottom position. Don’t allow your body to swing in the dead hang. Squeeze the bar tightly and flex your abs to keep control.

Form Tip: Movements like the chin-up should be about quality over quantity. If needed, allow yourself a few seconds to reset between each rep so that you are performing them with a high rate of work. Five perfect reps are a better goal than 10 sloppy reps.

Chin-Up Mistakes to Avoid

The chin-up can be a simple bodyweight exercise, but there are a few technical errors to avoid if you want to build muscle, get stronger, and be as efficient as possible when performing each rep.

Excessive Swinging

Just like its arguably more popular sibling, the pull-up chin-ups require you to stabilize your entire body to minimize stress on the shoulder joint. However, there is a slight difference in the outcome of excessively swinging in the chin-up.

CrossFit has popularized kipping pull-ups, which use significant total-body swinging to complete very high-rep sets. Still, any swinging during chin-ups leaves the shoulders internally rotated, which increases strain on the shoulder and elbow joints and drastically reduces any muscular tension in the back muscles.

Whether you are trying to build muscle or strength, allowing any swinging is not going to get you closer to your goals.

Avoid It: Focus on a one to two-second pause at the top of each rep and make any necessary adjustments to keep your shoulders externally rotated — get your chest up and shoulder blades back.

Not Using a Full Range of Motion

Some gym-goers fall into the half-rep trap with chin-ups, performing a minimal range of motion from the top of the rep to almost halfway down and back up again.

This rushed approach is extremely ineffective. This short range of motion will reduce the time under tension of the working muscles, which means each rep provides less training stimulus, and you’re preventing yourself from getting stronger or building muscle.

Avoid it: Always remember to focus on quality over quantity. Don’t fall into ego lifting, and don’t be concerned with how many reps another lifter may be performing.

Benefits of the Chin-Up

When executed correctly, the chin-up can be one of the most complete upper-body exercises with minimal equipment.

It can increase strength and muscle development in your back, chest, and shoulders; support postural development, and improve shoulder mobility.

More Muscle for Your Biceps and Forearms

Using a supinated grip changes muscle activation and emphasis. This grip places a higher load on the biceps while also recruiting the forearm muscles. (2) Chin-ups allow lifters to train their biceps using relatively heavier loads (their body weight) compared to many other biceps exercises, while the back muscles act secondarily to assist the movement. This makes it an ideal exercise choice for the overall development of the forearms and biceps and for building grip strength.

Functional Hypertrophy and Strength

The functional nature of the chin-up means by becoming better at it; you will also improve your general physical performance. (3) This can easily translate to several contact sports like football, rugby, combat sports, rock climbing, or even swimming. Functional training can also help in your day-to-day lifestyle. A strong back, shoulders, and arms will benefit everything from carrying groceries to carrying kids.

Easy to Progressively Overload

To get stronger and build muscle, you need to provide some progressive overload — consistently more challenging weight or reps. With the chin-up, all you need is your body weight. Not a stack of plates, just you. When you can achieve 12 controlled reps for three or four sets, you have mastered the bodyweight chin-up.

Lifters can take many months or years depending on their training plan, to get there. At that point, you can hold a one or two-kilogram (two or five-pound) dumbbell between your legs and work your way back up to sets of 12 reps. Rinse and repeat this process, taking small jumps in weight each time as you say hello to your new gains.

Muscles Worked by the Chin-Up

The chin-up is an upper body exercise that works most of the muscles in your upper body. The biceps are worked significantly, while the back and shoulders contribute to the movement.

Biceps

The biceps are composed of two heads — the long head on the outside of the upper arm and the short head on the inner portion. Both parts of the muscle originate at the scapulae (shoulder blades) and attach near the elbow, with the long head also crossing the shoulder joint. The biceps are significantly recruited during the chin-up because the supinated (underhand) grip places the arm at a mechanical disadvantage.

Forearms

The forearms, including the flexors on the palm side and the extensors on the top side, work to support your body weight during chin-ups. The flexors, in particular, are heavily activated when pulling towards the top portion of each repetition.

Latissimus Dorsi

The lats are the largest muscles on the back. They attach to the upper arm and the spine near the lower back. They work to bring the arm closer to the body’s centerline from above the head as well as from out to the side. The arm goes through both of these motions during a chin-up, which is why it’s an effective way to activate the lats.

Upper Back

The upper back includes several similar-functioning muscles such as the trapezius, rhomboids, and rear deltoids. Each work to control various movements of the scapulae (shoulder blades) and to support the shoulder joints under muscular stress, particularly in the bottom portion of the chin-up.

Who Should Do the Chin-Up

To develop a strong and muscular back, most lifters over-focus on the pull-up. However, chin-ups can be more of a fundamental movement and more effective for gaining in size and strength.

The chin-up is especially useful due to its versatility and carries over to many pulling movements in sports and daily activities.

Training for Bodyweight Strength

To get stronger, especially with any bodyweight exercise, you must treat strength as a skill. So if you want to improve your chin-ups, you need to get better at performing the exercise itself. Reinforcing perfect technique is all about performing rep after rep while emphasizing quality over quantity.

Training for Functional Hypertrophy

Functional hypertrophy is a strategic and balanced approach to muscle growth that also improves physical performance. The long range of motion and recruitment of multiple muscles makes it a highly effective movement. Working the scapular muscles through a strong contraction and deep stretched position also builds shoulder joint health.

How to Program the Chin-Up

The chin-up can be programmed with a variety of sets and reps. Performing the exercise at the beginning of your workouts, while you are full of energy, can help to build strength and ensure quality technique.

Here are some effective ways to start implementing chin-ups into your workouts, depending on your training goal and current abilities.

Added Weight, Low Repetition

To build upper body strength with the chin-up, complete four to six sets in the three to six rep range. Avoid muscular failure, which could compromise technique, by keeping at least two reps left “in the tank”. Because this is a relatively advanced option, only add weight when you can successfully perform multiple sets of moderate to high-reps with your bodyweight.

Bodyweight-Only, Moderate Repetition

To ensure growth in the working muscles, work with three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range. This will increase overall training volume, which is beneficial for building muscle. (4) If needed, use assistance from resistance bands or a pull-up machine to achieve the target rep range.

Modified Cluster Sets

Cluster sets are a specialized training method that can allow you to build strength by performing more total repetitions without muscular failure. It’s more commonly programmed for weight training exercises using heavy loads and low reps, but it can be applied to challenging bodyweight movements like chin-ups.

For example, if you can only perform two repetitions, you would perform cluster sets or “mini-sets” of one rep. Perform one rep, rest for 15 to 30 seconds, perform another rep, rest for 15 to 30 seconds, and perform a final rep. That entire series is one set. Take two minutes rest before repeating two more full sets.

Because one set of three cluster reps is comparable to performing three reps in a single set, you can get stronger and increase total working volume, which can lead to more muscle. Adapt the method depending on the total number of reps you can currently perform. For example, if you can do five reps of chin-ups, use three clusters of three reps (nine total reps per set) for three sets.

Chin-Up Variations

There are a few simple variations for the chin-up that you can rotate into your phases of programming even once you have mastered the execution of this exercise.

Weighted Chin-Up

The weighted chin-up is the next step in advancing your development. You can use a weight vest, a weighted belt, or you can just place a single dumbbell between your legs.

Just when you think you may have reached your growth potential, add in these bad boys and you will start to make even more impressive gains in size and strength.

Semi-Supinated Chin-Up

This variation of the chin-up adjusts your grip, ever so slightly, by rotating your thumbs roughly 45-degrees towards your face. Your hands should be angled with your pinkies slightly closer to each other and your thumbs slightly farther apart.

This grip can a smoother pulling motion because strain on the wrist and elbow joints is reduced and muscular stress on the forearm muscles is increased. This allows for a more powerful and more comfortable movement for the biceps, scapulae, and back muscles.

Sternum Chin-Up

This advanced exercise variation has a greater emphasis on your scapulae. As you pull yourself up, aim to open your chest as much as possible and finish with the middle of your chest at the bar instead of your chin.

Essentially, you will be trying to overarch through your thoracic region and adjusting your body’s leverage to better allow the force of gravity to work the scapulae and achieve a greater workload through the middle of your back.

Chin-Up Alternatives

Maybe the variations above aren’t what you need or or maybe you don’t even have a bar to use at home or in the gym. Either way, there are a few alternatives that can still help you strengthen the pulling muscles involved with a chin-up.

Underhand Pulldown

The lat pulldown machine can be a great asset in mirroring the pulling motion of the chin-up. This should be used as a primary exercise if you are unable to perform bodyweight chin-ups.

Even once you have mastered the chin-up, this exercise still has its place by allowing you to fully fatigue your back, biceps, and forearms with a variety of weights and rep ranges.

Single-Arm Kneeling Pulldown

This alternative uses the cable pulley to take the muscles through a long range of motion by kneeling on the ground, setting the pulley at its highest point, and performing the movement with a significant stretch in one side at a time.

This single arm alternative can help you in strengthening any muscular imbalances that can occur when only performing bilateral movements. A key tip for this exercise is to always start each set with your non-dominant side first so you can put as much effort as possible in developing the lagging muscles.

FAQs

What is the difference between the pull-up and chin-up?

The key point of difference between these two exercises is the hand grip used on the bar. During a pull-up, your hands are pronated (palms facing down) and your hands are supinated (palms facing up) during a chin-up.

This simple different increases the recruitment of the biceps during chin-ups, while pull-ups more predominantly activate the back muscles, with the biceps in a more secondary role with limited contribution due to leverages.

How many times per week should I perform pull-ups?

If your priority is to get stronger and build muscle, start performing chin-ups twice per week with at least 48 to 72 hours rest in between each session. (5) This will give all muscles recruited enough time to recover and be ready to tackle your next session with maximal effort.

You can however, frequently perform low-rep sets of bodyweight chin-ups as a way to practice your technique. This works well during your general warm-up for upper body workouts or workouts where your back is utilized in other exercises, such as the deadlift. Performing three to four reps will be enough to assist in mobilizing and activating the muscles that are going to be worked in that session, while also preventing any significant fatigue from occurring in those muscles.

Keep Your Chin Up

The chin-up doesn’t deserve to be stuck in second-fiddle status behind the pull-up. Chin-ups are a bodyweight staple that delivers upper body functional strength and muscular coordination. And bigger biceps are a nice perk, too. It’s time to get on the bar, flip your grip, and start chinning.

References

1. Schoenfeld, Brad J. PhD, CSCS, FNSCA; Contreras, Bret MA, CSCS Attentional Focus for Maximizing Muscle Development, Strength and Conditioning Journal: February 2016 – Volume 38 – Issue 1 – p 27-29 doi: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000190
2. Youdas, J. W., Amundson, C. L., Cicero, K. S., Hahn, J. J., Harezlak, D. T., & Hollman, J. H. (2010). Surface electromyographic activation patterns and elbow joint motion during a pull-up, chin-up, or perfect-pullup rotational exercise. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(12), 3404–3414. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181f1598c
3. Harrison, Jeffrey. (2010). Bodyweight Training: A Return To Basics. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 32. 52-55. 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3181d5575c.
4. Schoenfeld BJ, Contreras B, Krieger J, et al. Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019;51(1):94-103. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764
5. Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 46(11), 1689–1697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8

Featured Image: Drazen Zigic / Shutterstock

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After a bodybuilding career that took him around the globe, International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League athlete Hadi Choopan has had one competitive goal of late. With two podium finishes in the last three Mr. Olympia contests — the only contest Choopan has participated in since December 2019 — the Iranian athlete appears ready to finally break through on the biggest stage.

On June 21, 2022, Choopan showed off a massive, ripped physique as his training for the 2022 Mr. Olympia starts to ramp up in earnest. His evident combination of raw strength, impressive muscles, and top-notch conditioning could help take him across the finish line this time around. The 2022 Mr. Olympia will take place on December 16-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV.

 

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[Related: Everything You Need To Know About How To Burn Fat]

The 34-year-old Choopan has been a professional bodybuilder in some capacity for nearly a decade. He began his career by winning a silver medal at the 2012 World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Federation (WBPF) World Championships. Choopan followed that with a gold medal at the 2013 WBPF Asia Championships. That same year he started an eventual three-peat at the WBPF Worlds (2013-2015).

Since Choopan’s initial stellar flourishes in posing trunks, it’s been full steam ahead for one of men’s bodybuilding’s top athletes. Here’s a rundown of some of his more noteworthy career results, according to NPC News Online:

Hadi Choopan | Noteworthy Career Results

• 2017 Mr. Olympia Amateur (Open) — First place
• 2017 IFBB Asia Grand Prix (212) — Second place
• 2017 IFBB San Marino Pro (Open) — Second place
• 2018 IFBB Portugal Pro (212) — First place
• 2019 IFBB Vancouver Pro (Open) — First place
• 2019 Mr. Olympia (Open) — Third place
• 2020 Mr. Olympia (Open) — Fourth place
• 2021 Mr. Olympia (Open) — Third place

 

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[Related: Mapping Out Muscle Gain]

A Contested Moment

While Choopan looks poised to finish his long climb to the top of the Mr. Olympia mountain, it’ll be a tall order in the Men’s Open division. At the time of this writing, the pool of competitors includes two-time reigning champion Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay (2020-2021) as well as former winner Brandon Curry (2019). Choopan probably shouldn’t discount rising stars such as Hunter Labrada (2021 fourth place) and Nick Walker (2021 fifth place), either.

With each of these athletes attempting to put their best physique forward, a second consecutive podium finish would likely still be a noteworthy achievement. Given Choopan’s recent results, that doesn’t appear to be where the Iranian athlete wants to settle.

 

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[Related: Deloading 101: What Is A Deload And How Do You Do It?]

Notably, if the 34-year-old Choopan comes out victorious, he would fall relatively in line age-wise with two of his primary peers in Elssbiay and Curry.

Elssbiay won his first Mr. Olympia in 2020 at the age of 35. Meanwhile, Curry captured his first Olympia title in 2019 at age 36. If anything, a title for Choopan now could be slightly ahead of contemporary history. For this elite bodybuilder, it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

The 2022 Mr. Olympia will occur on December 16-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV.

Featured image: @hadi_choopan on Instagram

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On June 18, 2022, powerlifter Mahailya Reeves (+84kg) completed a bench press of 165 kilograms (363.8 pounds) during the 2022 Powerlifting America (AMP) Classic (Raw) Sub-Junior, Junior, and Master Nationals in Orlando, FL. Reeves’ bench press figure is an unofficial International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Open World Record. It helped her eventually attain the AMP Sub-Junior National Title in the 84-kilogram-plus division.

Reeves wore just a lifting belt on both her top squat and deadlift reps. She wore no additional equipment for her top bench press. Here are the athlete’s top stats on those lifts from the contest:

Mahailya Reeves (+84KG) | 2022 AMP Classic (Raw) Sub-Junior Nationals Top Stats

• Squat — 225 kilograms (496 pounds)
• Bench Press — 165 kilograms (363.8 pounds) | Unofficial +84KG IPF Open World Record
• Deadlift — 220 kilograms (485 pounds)
• Total — 610 kilograms (1,344.8 pounds)

 

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[Related: How To Build Muscle: The Training And Diet Guide For Beginners And Advanced Lifters]

While the AMP has an association with the IPF, it isn’t an international contest. That explains why Reeves — with her 165-kilogram (363.8-pound) bench press — doesn’t possess the official 84-kilogram-plus World Record. That mark still belongs to France’s Amélie Mierger.

Among a litany of noteworthy performances from other athletes at the 2022 IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships, Mierger broke the 84-kilogram-plus World Record with a bench press of 163 kilograms (359.3 pounds)

Notably, in the past, Reeves has achieved better numbers on her squat, bench press, and total, respectively. Here are the athlete’s top all-time competition personal records (PR):

Mahailya Reeves | All-Time Competition PRs

• Squat — 245 kilograms (540.1 pounds) | 2019 USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Raw Nationals
• Bench Press — 172.3 kilograms (380 pounds) | 2022 Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Class 1A Region 2 Meet
• Deadlift — 220 kilograms (485 pounds) | 2022 AMP Classic (Raw) Sub-Junior Nationals
• Total — 612.5 kilograms (1,350.3 pounds) | 2019 USAPL Raw Nationals

 

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[Related: Learn How To Build Strength With Three Key Principles]

Reeves at a Glance

The final result at the 2022 Powerlifting America (AMP) Classic (Raw) Sub-Junior, Junior, and Master Nationals gave Reeves her first win in a Nationals competition since 2019. Throughout her competitive career that began in January 2018, the American athlete has missed the podium just once.

Here’s a rundown of some of Reeves’ more noteworthy competition results to date:

Mahailya Reeves | Noteworthy Career Results

• 2019 FHSAA Florida State Finals (Raw) — First place
• 2019 USAPL Southeast Regionals (Raw) — First place
• *2019 USAPL Raw Nationals (Raw; Teenager) — First place
• 2020 FHSAA Girls Weightlifting State Championships (Raw) — First place
• 2021 USAPL 3rd Annual Ocala Open Super Total X3 Championships (Raw) — First place
• 2022 FHSAA Class 1A Region 2 Meet (Raw) — First place
• 2022 FHSAA Girls Weightlifting State Championships (Raw) — First place
• 2022 AMP Classic Sub-Junior Nationals (Raw) — First place

*Reeves also competed in the Open at the 2019 USAPL Raw Nationals, where she attained third place. 

 

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[Related: Why You Should Be Greasing The Groove During Your Workouts]

At the time of this writing, Reeves has not confirmed her next competition. Much of her recent posts on her social media have understandably centered around the 2022 AMP Sub-Junior Nationals contest. With Reeves exceeding the bench press World Record twice now, she could next plan to feature on an international sanctioned lifting platform to make the figure official.

Given her overall strength and bench press prowess, it’s likely only a matter of time before Reeves makes waves again.

Featured image: @powerlifting_america on Instagram

The post 18-Year-Old Mahailya Reeves (+84KG) Wins 2022 AMP Sub-Junior Nationals appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

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Black seed oil is the perfect example of a medicinal whole food. It’s the cold pressed oil of the black cumin seed nigella sativa, which grows widely across Southern Europe, Western Asia and South Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. In the majority of those regions, black seed oil has extensive traditional use as a medicine or “cure-all.”

In ancient Egypt, the black cumin seed was a primary first-line medicine against an entire host of maladies. When archaeologists unearthed King Tut’s tomb, they found traces of black seed and black seed oil—ostensibly placed there to protect him as he made his way to the underworld. The Prophet Muhammad was reported to have said that “the black seed can heal every disease, except death.”¹ For thousands of years, Indian Ayurvedic medicine prescribed black seed oil to treat hypertension, high blood sugar, eczema, asthma, and general diseases of inflammation.

I’m not saying these are fully accurate statements or beliefs, but they do show the reverence these cultures had for black seed oil and indicate its prowess as a medicine. Luckily, we don’t have to rely on ancient texts as the only evidence we have. There are hundreds of studies showing the efficacy of black seed oil in humans against a wide range of health conditions. Taken as a whole, it’s an impressive body of literature.

This is the Primal way: taking heed of traditional wisdom and confirming its accuracy with modern science.

Around here, we generally prefer medicinal whole foods—herbs, seeds, spices, and the like—to isolated or synthetic pharmacological compounds for several reasons:

1. The synergistic compounds that exist in the whole food medicine are more likely to enhance the effects and be missing from the synthetic version.
2. The synthetic compound will be geared toward a specific task, a one-trick pony, while the whole food medicine will be more likely to encompass other effects both up and down the line of causality.
3. Whole food medicines are also foods—they contain vitamins and minerals and macronutrients that nourish us. They aren’t just medicine; they’re much more. If nothing else, this is a more efficient way to obtain medicinal effects.

Health Benefits of Black Seed Oil

Let’s explore the health effects of black seed oil. To begin with, let’s dispel some notions and prejudices we have about “seed oils.” Industrial seed oils, like corn or canola oil, are stripped of nutrients that prevent lipid degradation, undergo high-heat and chemical processing, and have no redeeming qualities to make up for the high level of omega-6 linoleic acid present in the fat. In the Primal eating plan, we eliminate these industrial seed oils.

Black seed oil is a different kind of seed oil.

• It’s unrefined, so that it contains all the protective components that help the fragile fatty acids resist oxidation and prevent rancidity. ²
• It’s a medical oil, not a food, so we’re not using it to make salad dressings, fry potatoes, or incorporate in processed junk food. We aren’t eating enough of it to worry about it as a major source of omega-6 fatty acids in our diet.
• Unlike the industrial seed oils, black seed oil has proven benefits that justify its inclusion in our diet.

Black Seed Oil for Diabetes

In patients with pre-diabetes—bad blood glucose numbers that don’t yet qualify for full-blown diabetes—black seed oil performed as well as or better than metformin, the “gold standard” pharmaceutical for diabetes. While both metformin and black seed oil groups saw improved glucose parameters, only black seed oil patients who took 450 mg of black seed oil twice a day (less than a teaspoon) saw better lipids and lower inflammation.³

In patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (full blown), 1350 mg/day of black seed oil helped against but wasn’t as effective as metformin in improving fasting blood glucose or HbA1c. However, once again black seed oil patients enjoyed uniquely improved lipid numbers, lower fasting insulin, and lower inflammatory markers. Furthermore, metformin patients had higher liver enzymes and slightly elevated creatinine levels, while black seed oil patients did not.⁴ Both groups saw better body composition, including the all-important and extremely revealing waist circumference.

Seeing as how metformin has growing prominence as an all-around health-promoting prophylactic medicine for otherwise healthy people who want to live longer, black seed oil might be a more effective alternative with added benefits.

The post Black Seed Oil Benefits: The Healthy Seed Oil appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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If there’s one way most lifters can improve their training plan, it’s not about fixing their time spent training. It’s about fixing their time spent not training. Rest between sets is an extremely undervalued variable in program design.

Many lifters know that resting for a few minutes allows better recovery and lets them move heavier weights with greater intensity. On the flip, cutting the rest time short amps up the demand on the heart to test their conditioning. But what about resting briefly while also moving pretty heavy weights? That type of workout can redefine what training intensity means.

One of the most effective ways to do this is to work against the clock with a programming method known as EMOM — every minute on the minute. Here’s how this high-intensity approach to training can be the key to building strength, improving technique, packing on size, and burning fat. Yep, one technique can do all that.

• EMOM Training: Every Minute on the Minute
• EMOM Variations
• Programming EMOM for Your Goals
• Sample EMOM Workouts

EMOM Training: Every Minute on the Minute

An EMOM workout requires you to forget what you think you know about sets, reps, and rest periods, because it builds a whole new perspective. Instead of performing one set, resting for a certain amount of time, and performing the next set, EMOM training has you performing one set every minute on the minute. Re-read that. Every minute on the minute. E.M.O.M.

Whether you download one of the countless apps that track EMOM workouts (SmartWod Timer and Interval Timer — HIIT Workouts are two you can try) or simply monitor a clock with a second hand, when the time hits 0:00, you begin your set and perform your target number of reps, whether it’s a single repetition or a set of 20. When you finish your set, you put the weights down and rest.

When the second hand hits 0:00 again, you begin your next set. Continue this sequence for the duration of the workout, typically eight to 20 minutes total. It’s essential that every set starts right on the minute.

You don’t start setting your grip and stance at 0:00 and begin your rep at 0:06. You start the lift moving at 0:00, whether you want to or not. Spoiler alert: Just a few minutes into any session, you’re not going to want to.

The genius and brutality of this method is that the clock is the most unforgiving training partner you’ll ever have. It’s going to tick-tick-tick no matter how hard you’re breathing. It’s going to say, “Get up and move” whether or not your muscles are still burning. It will keep you on track and accountable.

Also, your specific rest times will change depending on the duration of your previous set. As the workout progresses and you fatigue, each set may take slightly longer as your rest periods become shorter.

For example, a set of five reps might take 20 seconds at the start of the workout, so you get 40 seconds of rest. After several minutes, however, cumulative fatigue sets in and those five reps may end up taking 25 or 30 seconds, whether the individual reps are moving slower or you’re sneaking extra breaths between reps. This means you get less rest for the next set and the workout gets more challenging as you progress.

One key, however, is to not rush through with fast, sloppy reps just to end the set sooner and sneak in more rest time. That’s counterproductive. Perform your reps properly and with control, and appreciate that the short rest periods are integral to results.

This innovative approach to training was first implemented by Olympic weightlifters as a way to build strength in technical lifts, and more recently popularized by CrossFit athletes as a way to get serious conditioning in minimal time.

EMOM training builds strength, power, and strength-endurance — the ability to maintain power output for an extended period of time. (1) Because of this endurance-related benefit, it’s often used as a conditioning or fat loss method, rather than strictly for strength-building. It also has muscle-building applications, as a way to increase training volume and stimulate growth.

Typically, EMOM sets are performed with movements like squats, deadlifts, Olympic lift variations, presses, and other multi-joint exercises for low-rep sets. One crucial programming principle is to avoid muscular failure during the workout.

Because the rest ends up being insufficient for full recovery, taking any set to failure will lead you right into a brick wall. Begin the workout with sets two or more reps shy of failure and allow the short rests to provide the difficulty. Toward the end of the workout, you’ll realize the weight was plenty.

EMOM Variations

EMOM is typically performed with one to three reps per minute for 10 to 15 minutes, but there are several very effective variations that can provide different stimuli for a variety of goals. The specific programming can be adapted to various goals. Think of EMOM as a sandbox — there are a lot of different ways to play within this protocol.

Longer workouts with heavier weights and lower reps are well-suited for building strength. Manipulating the total workout time and reps per minute will determine the results.

Varying Rep Ranges

Instead of low-rep strength building, EMOM can be used for a muscle-building workout. (2) This works well with single-joint (isolation) exercises performed for eight to 10 reps EMOM for five to 10 minutes.

Isolation exercises can be performed more quickly than heavier compound exercises, so a set of eight to 10 should take less than 30 seconds to complete. This approach keeps the pace quick and the intensity high.

 

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Moderate to higher reps can also be used with multi-joint exercises as long as the reps don’t end up taking too long to perform. If the duration of work is too high to begin with (more than 30 seconds or so), the already precious rest time will have nowhere to go but down and your overall performance will suffer.

For example, if a set of 12 squats takes 40 seconds (which allows 20 seconds rest), after only a few minutes fatigue will naturally extend the training closer to 50 seconds and the rest drops to 10 seconds. This shifts the workout focus away from muscle-building and more towards cardiovascular conditioning.

Every 30 Seconds

Performing reps every 30 seconds may not flow as easily off the tongue — E30O30 or E30S— but it’s still an effective variation of EMOM training, particularly for drilling technique on an exercise. Performing one or two reps every 30 seconds for six to 12 minutes allows you to focus on picture-perfect form, engrain good lifting habits, and build skill as well as strength.

E30S also works well as a transition from your general warm-up into your work sets because you can achieve high-quality reps and directly prepare your joints and muscles in minimum time.

This method can also be adapted as a high-intensity conditioning drill with low to moderate reps. Performing four to six reps every 30 seconds for five to 10 minutes at the end of a workout can improve anaerobic endurance and fat-burning.

For this to be most effective, the reps must be completed quickly with enough time for rest. Explosive exercises like kettlebell swings or simple bodyweight exercises like push-ups or burpees are ideal for this type of workout.

EMOM with Different Exercises

While EMOM typically uses one exercise for the duration of the workout, you can use a different exercise each minute depending on your goals. This is an extremely efficient way to train the upper body, lower body, or even your entire body with a fast workout. Choose one exercise per body part and perform four to eight reps EMOM for 15-25 minutes.

This method allows greater recovery between each repeated exercise, more in line with traditional training, because the training stress is dispersed between multiple movements. You may get two to four minutes between sets of a single exercise, so you can attack that movement with higher intensity, but you’re still performing an exercise every minute, which keeps the overall training intensity high as well.

Because this approach requires using more equipment simultaneously, choose exercises that require little to no transition time. Free weights or cable stations can be more useful than specialized machines. If you want to use the leg press, but it’s a 15-second walk from your previous exercise, you’re spending precious time getting there.

Full-Body Workout

• Minute One: Deadlift
• Minute Two: Overhead Press
• Minute Three: Front Squat
• Minute Four: Barbell Row
• Minute Five: Deadlift
• Minute Six: Overhead Press

Upper Body Workout

• Minute One: Dip
• Minute Two: Pull-up
• Minute Three: Seated Dumbbell Press
• Minute Four: Dip
• Minute Five: Pull-up
• Minute Six: Seated Dumbbell Press

Lower Body Workout

• Minute One: Goblet Squat
• Minute Two: Romanian Deadlift
• Minute Three: Reverse Lunge, Right Leg
• Minute Four: Reverse Lunge, Left Leg
• Minute Five: Goblet Squat
• Minute Six: Romanian Deadlift

Splitting a workout into two exercises and alternating even minutes/odd minutes is another simple and effective way to fit even more total training volume into a 10 to 20-minute workout. For example, performing squats on minutes one, three, five, seven and nine while performing push-ups on minutes two, four, six, eight, and ten.

Combining any of these EMOM variations with bodyweight exercises is a reliable go-to whenever you can’t get to a gym, you’re traveling, want a mid-day exercise break, or need a quick lunch-hour workout.

Programming EMOM for Your Goals

EMOM workouts are ideal for lifters with tight schedules because of the finite start and end time. Instead of going to the gym and hoping to be done in less than 90 minutes, you walk in knowing that you’ll be working in eight, 10, or 12-minute chunks — whatever your training plan calls for.

All you need to do is follow the clock and you’ll get a productive session done in that given timeframe. However, EMOM training is a versatile method that can be applied to any goal.

EMOM for Strength

EMOM is also perfect for beginners or competitive strength athletes who want to drill exercise technique. Beginners benefit from repeated performance without excessive fatigue, while more experienced lifters can get acclimated to moving heavy weights under near-contest conditions, performing repeated near-maximal attempts over a given time period, while also refining technique.

This is one reason why the EMOM method was initially used by competitive weightlifters. They were able to perform explosive lifts one or two reps at a time, minute after minute after minute, while building strength, power, and crucial technique.

EMOM for Muscle

Lifters focused on increasing muscular size will benefit from EMOM workouts using moderate rep ranges, as explained above, as a way to increase training volume and trigger more muscle growth in a shorter workout. (3)

For example, doing a bench press for five sets of eight reps might take seven or eight minutes total. Doing the bench press for 8 reps EMOM for five minutes takes five minutes. Multiply that extra time across several exercises in a workout and the efficiency of EMOM becomes more clear.

EMOM for Conditioning

EMOM gained more recent popularity due to its frequent appearances in CrossFit workouts. Because EMOM may be seen as a type of interval training, it can be beneficial for cardiovascular health as well as fat loss. (4)(5)

EMOM is, fundamentally, alternating relatively short periods of high-intensity exercise with relatively short periods of rest. If you were running on a track or pedaling a bike, you’d consider that an interval workout. The stimuli and effects don’t change drastically just because you’re doing 10 kettlebell clean & presses or 15 burpees instead.

Sample EMOM Workouts

EMOM may sound like a cure-all technique that can deliver results for any lifter with any goal. That claim is a little hyperbolic, but not too far off.

Implementing EMOM sessions into your program, either as standalone workouts or incorporated into more traditional training, can be a game-changer. Here are a few effective ways to start using EMOM now.

Strength-Building EMOM

• Power Clean: Two reps EMOM x 10 minutes.
• Squat: One rep EMOM x 12 minutes.
• Flat Bench Press: Two reps EMOM x eight minutes.

Muscle-Building EMOM

• Incline Dumbbell Press: Six reps EMOM x eight minutes.
• Pec-Deck Flye: 12 reps EMOM x five minutes.
• Push-Up: 5 reps E30S x five minutes.

Fat-Burning EMOM

15 total minutes of:

• Minute One: Goblet squat 10 reps
• Minute Two: Overhead press 15 reps
• Minute Three: Mountain climbers 20 reps

Just One Minute

The rule used to be “do a set, rest 90 seconds, do another set.” By flipping that on its head and removing a specific rest period, EMOM training takes you from resting passively to being actively involved for the entire workout, walking the line between uncomfortable fatigue and high-performance lifting. If you were ever curious how much self-discipline you really have, go find out how you handle yourself 14 minutes and 55 seconds into a 15-minute squat EMOM workout.

References

1. Tufano JJ, Conlon JA, Nimphius S, Brown LE, Seitz LB, Williamson BD, Haff GG. Maintenance of Velocity and Power With Cluster Sets During High-Volume Back Squats. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2016 Oct;11(7):885-892. doi: 10.1123/ijspp.2015-0602. Epub 2016 Aug 24. PMID: 26791936.
2. González-Hernández JM, García-Ramos A, Castaño-Zambudio A, Capelo-Ramírez F, Marquez G, Boullosa D, Jiménez-Reyes P. Mechanical, Metabolic, and Perceptual Acute Responses to Different Set Configurations in Full Squat. J Strength Cond Res. 2020 Jun;34(6):1581-1590. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002117. PMID: 28700515.
3. Schoenfeld, Brad J et al. “Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men.” Medicine and science in sports and exercise vol. 51,1 (2019): 94-103. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764
4. Ito, Shigenori. “High-intensity interval training for health benefits and care of cardiac diseases – The key to an efficient exercise protocol.” World journal of cardiology vol. 11,7 (2019): 171-188. doi:10.4330/wjc.v11.i7.171
5. Boutcher, Stephen H. “High-intensity intermittent exercise and fat loss.” Journal of obesity vol. 2011 (2011): 868305. doi:10.1155/2011/868305

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As the bodybuilding world starts to ramp up toward the 2022 Mr. Olympia this December, every individual step on the way will likely begin to carry more weight. The latest stop in that Mr. Olympia journey was the 2022 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Puerto Rico Pro League contest, which took place on June 17-19, 2022, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Some of the more notable winners — across 10 different divisions between the men’s and women’s athletes — included Hassan Mostafa (Men’s Open) and Reshanna Boswell (Women’s Bodybuilding). With the Puerto Rico Pro being an official IFBB Pro League contest, Mostafa, Boswell, and each of the other eight winners earned automatic spots in the upcoming respective Mr. and Ms. Olympia competitions. Both will take place on December 16-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV.

Here’s a rundown of the Men’s Open results from the 2022 IFBB Puerto Rico Pro:

2022 Puerto Rico Pro Results | Men’s Open

1. Hassan Mostafa
2. Theo Leguerrier
3. Jonas Giatras
4. Andrea Muzi
5. Maxx Charles
6. Fabiony Sylvain
7. Marc Arthur Dautruchee

 

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[Related: Deloading 101: What Is A Deload And How Do You Do It?]

Mostafa’s victory comes on the heels of a 13th place finish at the 2021 Mr. Olympia. The Egyptian bodybuilder took some time off after that contest to return to full capacity. After showcasing his latest stellar combination of strength, muscle, and body conditioning at the Puerto Rico Pro, Mostatafa will officially make his return to bodybuilding’s most prestigious competition.

Other Men’s Winners

While each of the 10 division winners is heading to their respective Olympia competition, some other higher-finishing athletes still earned valuable Tier 4 points toward their season totals. A Tier 4 contest is the most weighted points-wise under the IFBB’s standards. Those could pay off down the line for eventual qualification to the 2022 Mr. Olympia.

Here are the results for the other men’s divisions at the 2022 Puerto Rico Pro:

212 Division

1. Oswaldo Gonzalez
2. Dectric Bo Lewis
3. Emmanuel Rodriguez
4. Abdullah Alsaif
5. Ryan Walters
6. Fernando Noronha de Almeida
7. Felipe Dierro Lobos
8. Joan Cangieter
9. Rachid Souki
10. James Ortiz

Classic Physique

1. Emanuele Ricotti
2. Carlos Dommar
3. Kelvin Hinde
4. Camilo Diaz
5. Ruben Stouth
6. Luis Colon
7. Miguel G. Sanchez Lopez
8. Giovanni Randazzo
9. Carlos S. Marchand
10. Stephen Thames

 

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Men’s Physique

1. Clarence McSpadden
2. Anthony Gilkes
3. Andrea Mosti
4. Daniel Leone
5. Rhyan Clark
6. Chevy Phillips
7. Luis Alonzo Leon
8. Daniele D’onofrio
9. Xavier Jaime
10. Alex Hessam

Women’s Division Winners

In one of the more jam-packed contests of the year, many women athletes put themselves in excellent positions to be able to focus on the 2022 Ms. Olympia.

Here are the complete results for all of the women’s divisions at the 2022 Puerto Rico Pro:

Women’s Bodybuilding

1. Reshanna Boswell
2. Julia Foery
3. Erika Dankova

 

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[Related: A Sustainable Approach To Gaining Muscle]

Following a 15th place result at the 2021 Ms. Olympia, Boswell is undoubtedly on the hunt for a better finish at this year’s competition. With her Women’s Bodybuilding win in San Juan, Boswell now has a guarantee at a chance to put herself amongst the women’s bodybuilding elite this coming American holiday season.

Women’s Physique

1. Claudia Gabriela de Leon Pardo
2. Ann Gruber
3. Takeela Redrick
4. Marysel Cruz
5. Marianne Von Glerke
6. Tamara Gourley

Fitness

1. Tamara Vahn
2. Cong Mou

Figure

1. Samantha Jerring
2. Danielle Rose
3. Sh’Nere Mattise Deas
4. Melissa Brodsky
5. Kim Clark
6. Roberta Visintainer
7. Katlyn O’Neil

Bikini

1. Gabriella Mohammad
2. Francesca Stoico
3. Liana Martinez
4. Jessica Miller
5. Jodie Yuncker
6. Anna Setlak
7. Pamela Vega
8. Janine Herrera
9. Kim Gutierrez
10. Giuss Abbate

 

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[Related: Everything You Need To Know About How To Burn Fat]

Wellness

1. Giselle Machado
2. Jasmine Payne
3. Nerilde Garcia Strey
4. Sheila Martins
5. Alejandra LaFonseca
6. Leslie Reyes
7. Jossiemar Rosado Galindo
8. Zelma Santos
9. Julia Rene
10. Andrea Hrenko

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Bodybuilder and International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League member Nathan Epler doesn’t shy away from being an apparent underdog. Epler — who calls himself the “Dark Horse,” per his Instagram profile — is one of the sport’s up-and-coming names. After a fifth-place result at last year’s 212 Mr. Olympia, it seems like the bodybuilder is ready for more glory judging by the latest peek at his training progress.

On June 20, 2022, Epler shared an update on where his physique stands as the 2022 Mr. Olympia starts to come around the bend. That competition will take place on December 16-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV.

 

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Epler began his competitive bodybuilding career in 2015. He got off to a fast start with a victory at the 2015 National Physique Committee (NPC) Fort Wayne Flex in the middleweight division. Years later, the American athlete might have really burst onto the scene with a first-place finish at the 2019 NPC USA Championships for the heavyweight category.

Throughout his career, Epler has maintained a mostly sparkling resume. Aside from his fifth-place finish at the 2021 Mr. Olympia (212), the peaks of his career to this stage are undoubtedly his second-place result at the 2021 IFBB Indy Pro and a win in the 2021 IFBB New York Pro. Epler competed in the 212 division at both contests.

Here’s a complete rundown of Epler’s most notable career results to date, according to NPC News Online:

Nathan Epler | Complete Career Results

• 2015 NPC Fort Wayne Flex (Middleweight) — First place
• 2015 NPC Fort Wayne Flex (Light Heavyweight) — Second place
• 2018 NPC Indiana Muscle (Heavyweight) — First place
• 2019 NPC Junior Nationals (Heavyweight) — First place
• 2019 NPC USA Championships (Heavyweight) — First place
• 2021 IFBB Indy Pro (212) — Second place
• 2021 IFBB New York Pro (212) — First place
• 2021 IFBB Mr. Olympia (212) — Fifth place

 

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[Related: How To Build Muscle: The Training And Diet Guide For Beginners And Advanced Lifters]

Epler’s Near Future

While Epler has notched some stellar results over the last approximate calendar year thanks to his physique, strength, and conditioning, he faces a stacked 212 field at the 2022 Mr. Olympia.

At the time of this writing, some of the biggest names in the 212 division — including Derek Lunsford (2021 Olympia Champion) Shaun Clarida (2021 second place), and Kamal Elgargni (2021 third place) — are all set for another go-around at the 212 Olympia title in December. If that weren’t enough, both Clarida and Elgargni are former 212 Olympia Champions (2020 and 2019, respectively). Plus, in four appearances, Elgargni has never failed to make the 212 Olympia podium.

If Epler is to qualify for the podium, let alone win the 212 Olympia title, he’ll undoubtedly have overcome some of bodybuilding’s elite. To his credit, given his “Dark Horse” nickname, the rising Epler seems to relish the potential opportunity.

The 2022 Mr. Olympia will take place on December 16-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV.

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Most people probably assume that the problem with a sedentary lifestyle is that you aren’t moving. (Yes, I see the tautology there.) Every minute, every hour, spent sitting at your desk or lounging on the couch is time you aren’t walking, lifting heavy things, or sprinting. That’s part of the problem with being sedentary, to be sure, and I’ll touch on that in this post. There’s more to it than that, though.

Sedentary behavior is defined as waking activities that generate less than 1.5 METs—sitting and lying down, basically. Experts recognize that even controlling for how much exercise a person gets, sedentary behavior per se is bad for physical and mental health. In other words, even if you hit the gym and walk the dog regularly, being sedentary is harmful.

Sedentary behavior isn’t just the absence of movement; it is the presence of something more insidious.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that sedentary behavior is more prevalent now than at any point in human history. Our grandparents’ generation was three times more likely to have moderately active jobs,¹ in ye olden days before so many of us sat in front of computers to work (I say as I type away on my laptop). Even though our ancestors probably enjoyed considerably more leisure time than the average adult today, their non-work time didn’t resemble modern repose. When hanging out in the shade of a tree or sitting around the campfire swapping tall tales, they adopted rest postures like the once-ubiquitous deep squat. Their bodies weren’t cushioned and held in a static position by a comfy sofa or La-Z-Boy. Muscles throughout their bodies were activated, tissues statically stretched. They shifted their posture often for comfort and balance.

In short, our ancestors rested, they enjoyed plenty of downtime, but they weren’t sedentary in the way we modern humans are. Sedentary behavior is an individual health problem, a public health problem, and an economic problem. The cost of medical care and lost productivity due to overly sedentary modern lives reaches the tens of billions of dollars every year. Today I’m going to outline some of the specific ways being sedentary hurts us and what we can do about it.

Being Sedentary Increases Disease and Mortality Risk

The data from large, long-term epidemiological studies tell a clear and consistent story: folks who are more sedentary in their day-to-day lives are at greater risk for just about every chronic disease. They also die sooner. It’s as simple as that… mostly. Some analyses do suggest that among the most active folks, those who get at least an hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day, the risks of being sedentary are attenuated.² I’ll return to that provocative finding later. For everyone else, there is a clear relationship between sedentary behavior, chronic disease, and shorter lifespan.

For example, a 2012 meta-analysis of studies with almost 800,000 combined participants found that the more sedentary you are, the greater your risk for suffering a cardiovascular event, succumbing to a cardiovascular event, or dying, period.³ The researchers went on to say that “the reported associations were largely independent of physical activity, adding further weight to the concept of sedentary behaviour [sic] being a distinct behaviour in its own right.”

That same meta-analysis found a particularly strong relationship between being sedentary and developing type 2 diabetes, as did a 2015 meta-analysis of studies that likewise controlled for physical activity level.⁴

The Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II) Nutrition Cohort study followed over 127,000 adults for two decades and tracked all manner of health outcomes.⁵ To understand the effect of being sedentary, the researchers compared people who sat for less than three hours a day at the beginning of the study to those who admitted to sitting for six or more hours per day. Controlling for variables such as alcohol use, smoking, diet, and chronic health issues, the more sedentary group had higher rates of, in the researchers’ own words:

“…mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease (including coronary heart disease and stroke-specific mortality), cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, suicide, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonitis due to solids and liquids, liver, peptic ulcer and other digestive disease, Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, nervous disorders, and musculoskeletal disorders.”

That’s quite a list. And once again, those findings remained after controlling for how much moderate to vigorous physical activity participants were getting.

Being Sedentary Creates Energy Surplus

One of the proposed mechanisms by which sedentary behavior increases disease risk is that it can lead to an energy surplus—eating more calories than you expend—which in turn leads to hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and insulin resistance.

Of course, not everyone who is sedentary also overeats. Researchers have tested whether folks who don’t overeat are protected against some of the negative consequences of being sedentary. At least in the short term, the answer seems to be yes.⁶ Being sedentary still carries risks, but being sedentary plus overeating is particularly dangerous. Possibly, this is why watching television is particularly detrimental. Researchers have long known that TV time is even more strongly associated with chronic disease and mortality than other types of sedentary behavior. The running theory is that people are also more likely to mindlessly snack in front of the television than, say, driving or sitting and reading a book.

There’s another issue to consider here. When you’re in an energy surplus, you’re also missing out on the benefits of being in a caloric deficit. In a new paper, scientists from Howard University coined the term “cellular exercise” to describe the cellular adaptations that result from hormetic stressors like, you guessed it, caloric restriction.⁷ Sitting plus overeating equals not getting the cellular exercise you need to thrive.

It Means You’re Not Walking

I won’t belabor this point because I’ve extolled the benefits of walking so often on the blog. Suffice it to say you should be walking as much as possible, as often as possible, on different surfaces. Walking is our birthright, and an imperative, as bipedal primates.

If walking isn’t already part of your daily repertoire, that’s priority number one. Start with this beginner’s walking routine.

Sitting Changes Your Biomechanics

My friend Katy Bowman has been hammering this home for years. Sitting and lying down put prolonged and undesirable loads on certain parts of the body, while others are underused. This leads to all manner of dysfunction. I’ll let Katy take it from here:

I’d break the problem of sitting into two categories. On one hand, there is the stillness. You are not moving so all of the systems in your body that depend on movement and the gravitational load to get things flowing aren’t happening.

But then there is the second piece that I like to call the geometrical problem. So it is not just that you are still; it is that when you are still, you are always assuming exactly the same position. You adapt to what you do most frequently and so you have all these changes in your physical structure like the length of your muscles, some getting longer, some getting shorter. You have lower input of what your weight is as far as your bones are concerned, so your bone density adjusts accordingly.

You (Might) Miss Out on the Benefits of Exercise

As I mentioned, exercise and sedentary behavior are separate constructs. You can be high on both, low on both, or any combination in between. That’s why many studies attempt to control for physical activity and take it out of the equation.

As I also mentioned, high levels of exercise seem to negate, or perhaps balance out, some of the harm of being sedentary. Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies (ranging from 2 to 18 years of follow-up) covering more than a million adult subjects looking at the impact of sedentary behavior on all-cause mortality.⁸ Here’s what they found:

• For individuals who got physical activity in excess of 35.5 MET hours per week (about 60 to 75 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per day or more), it didn’t seem to matter how much they sat during the day. Sitting for 8 hours per day was no different than sitting for less than 4 hours. Everyone’s mortality risk was relatively low in this group.
• The less exercise people got, the more being sedentary hurt in an almost linear fashion. By far, the worst combination was low exercise (only a few minutes of moderate exercise per day) and excessive sitting (more than 8 hours per day). Not surprising.
• When they looked at TV time specifically, watching more than 5 hours per day was associated with higher mortality no matter how much a person exercised. As expected, though, the combination of inactivity plus more television watching was especially pernicious.

I’m not going to lie, I was surprised to dig into these findings. This high exercise-high sedentary group is the epitome of the “active couch potato” I’ve long warned against. These are your hardcore gym goers and endurance athletes who train hard then rest hard—maybe too hard, I believed. These newer data would suggest that at least where all-cause mortality is concerned, that pattern might not be as bad as once thought.

I’m willing to be wrong, but I’m not entirely swayed yet. At the end of the day, I always look at everything through a Primal, evolutionary lens, and that pattern still seems to represent an evolutionary mismatch. It may be that the effects take longer to show up or that they show up in ways other than mortality.

I also wonder about the possibility of healthy user bias here. If you’re doing 90 minutes of exercise and sitting for 8 hours, that still leaves 14.5 hours of time for sleeping and “other.” What happens during that other time matters. I’d venture to say that people who are this dedicated to exercise are, on average, probably more dedicated to other healthy practices.

Still, these findings suggest that if you’re going to sit on your butt for a third of your life, you’d better make sure you’re getting plenty of exercise too.

The Solution

You know what I’m going to say here: sit less, move more.

To be clear, I’m still not advocating for a lifestyle where you hit the gym for 90 minutes and then lie on the couch for the rest of the day. That’s not the way we are designed to live, period. Lift heavy things, yes. Sprint sometimes. Walk a lot. When you do sit or lie down, get up and switch positions frequently. Sprinkle microworkouts throughout the day.

Make a concerted effort to move during your workday. Create an active workstation. Give yourself various sitting, leaning, and standing options. Sitting on different surfaces—tall stools, backless benches, exercise balls—imparts different biomechanical stress. Go all in and invest in an underdesk treadmill or cycler.

I’m not saying don’t rest. Most people probably need more time to disconnect and recover from the stresses of the modern world than they’re currently getting. I’m saying don’t sit or lie for hours at a time unmoving. Instead of flopping on the couch after a long day of sitting at your desk and in your car, make your rest nurturing and restorative, and you’ll be much better off for it.

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On June 17, 2022, the Giants Live organization revealed that Georgian strongman Konstantine Janashia would be withdrawing from the 2022 Strongman Classic.

Fresh off a top-five finish at the 2022 World’s Strongest Man (WSM), Canada’s Maxime Boudreault will take his place on the 12-person roster. That competition will occur on July 9, 2022, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England.

At the time of this writing, Giants Live hasn’t said why Janashia withdrew from the contest. Nor has he disclosed a reason on his public platforms either.

 

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[Related: How to Build Muscle: The Training and Diet Guide for Beginners and Advanced Lifters]

With Janashia’s withdrawal and Boudreault’s addition, here is where the current full lineup for the 2022 Strongman Classic stands for early July in London:

2022 Strongman Classic Roster

• Oleksii Novikov (Ukraine) — Defending Champion
• Evan Singleton (United States) — 2021 second place
• Chieck “Iron Biby” Sanou (Burkina Faso) — 2021 third place
• Paul Smith (United Kingdom)
• Ken McClelland (United States)
• Maxime Boudreault (Canada)
• Rob Kearney (United States)
• Andy Black (United Kingdom)
• Mark Felix (United Kingdom)
• Spenser Remick (United States)
• Adam Bishop (United Kingdom)
• Mitchell Hooper (Canada)

 

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According to Strongman Archives, the 31-year-old Janashia has competed as a professional strongman in some capacity since September 2011. Some of the more notable highlights of his career include six Georgia’s Strongest Man (GSM)championships (2009-2014), a second-place finish to Hafthor Björnsson during the 2018 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM), and a fourth-place result at the 2016 WSM.

While this year’s Strongman Classic is out of the picture for him, Janashia is still currently slated to compete at the 2022 Shaw Classic. That contest will take place the Budweiser Events Center on August 13-14, 2022, in Loveland, CO.

Boudreault At a Glance

Boudreault’s inclusion in the 2022 Strongman Classic comes on the heels of a few solid performances in recent years. The year 2021 was of particular note for the Canadian strongman.

That competitive season saw Boudreault notch a third-place podium finish at the WSM to Oleksii Novikov (second) and Tom Stoltman (first) in May 2021. Later, in November 2021, Boudreault won the inaugural Magnús Ver Magnússon Strongman Classic in various locales across Iceland. The latter was the first victory of the athlete’s professional career.

As far as what Boudreault can expect to face at the Strongman Classic, here is the complete list of events at the contest:

2022 Giants Live Strongman Classic Events

• Dumbbell Medley
• The Pillars of Hercules
• Farmer’s Carry for Distance
• Axle Deadlift
• Castle Stones

 

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The Castle Stones — a variation of the strongman staple Atlas Stones — might be where Boudreault stakes a claim on a potential overall victory. The Canadian athlete captured a second-place finish in the Atlas Stones event during the 2022 WSM Final by slotting five stones onto their respective podiums in 28.04 seconds.

The 2022 Strongman Classic will mark Boudreault’s first appearance at the event. Only time will tell in seeing how he fares in London on July 9.

Featured image: @konstantine_janashia on Instagram

The post Strongman Konstantine Janashia Withdraws From 2022 Strongman Classic, Maxime Boudreault Takes His Place appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

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While Rauno Heinla is one of strongman’s biggest names, he built much of his career profile on the back of his tremendous deadlift prowess. With the 2022 World Deadlift Championships (WDC) on the horizon later this summer, the Estonian athlete recently once again showed why he’s known as one of the globe’s top deadlifters.

On June 16, 2022, Heinla deadlifted 420 kilograms (926 pounds) for four reps during a training session. It appears to be part of his preparation for the WDC on August 6, 2022, in Cardiff, Wales. The strongman completed the lift in his socks while wearing a lifting belt and lifting straps.

 

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It’s no surprise that Heinla makes this deadlift routine look relatively easy. The athlete has a history of astounding strength feats as a puller.

Heinla is one of the few people to have ever deadlifted at least 453.6 kilograms (1,000 pounds). Other notable names with that achievement include former World’s Strongest Man (WSM) Champions Eddie Hall (2017) and Hafthor Björnsson (2018), as well as powerlifter Krzysztof Wierzbicki.

Heinla possesses two noteworthy deadlift/deadlift-related World Records. He set the all-time 400-kilogram (881.8-pound) deadlift for reps World Record with six at the 2020 World’s Ultimate Strongman Feats of Strength series. In early June 2022, he broke the Silver Dollar deadlift World Record with a pull of 579.7 kilograms (1,278 pounds). Heinla accomplished this after withdrawing from the 2022 WSM in late April following an injury connected to a Silver Dollar deadlift pull.

After a tied-for-eighth-place finish at the 2021 WDC, it seems fair to assume Heinla would like a far better, more impressive result at this year’s upcoming prestigious contest.

A Lofty Proposition

In addition to Heinla, here’s the complete roster for the 2022 WDC, which is a segment of the annual Giants Live Open World Open:

2022 World Deadlift Championships Roster

• Ivan Makarov (Russia) — 2021 WDC Champion
• Evan Singleton (United States)
• Adam Bishop (United Kingdom)
• Oleksii Novikov (Ukraine)
• Mitchell Hooper (Canada)
• Gabriel Peña (Mexico)
• Rauno Heinla (Estonia)
• Gavin Bilton (United Kingdom)
• Asko Karu (Estonia)
• Pavlo Nakonechnyy (Ukraine)
• Peiman Maheripourehir (Iran)
• Wild card — Announced at a later date

 

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The Giants Live organization has issued a noteworthy ante on a challenge to the participating athletes at the 2022 WDC. Should any of the competitors lift 505 kilograms (1,113 pounds) during the contest, Giants Live will reward them with a $55,000 cash prize.

Björnsson possesses the World Record deadlift with a pull of 501 kilograms (1,104.5 pounds) from the 2020 World’s Ultimate Strongman “Feats of Strength” series. Meanwhile, Wierzbicki owns the heaviest filmed deadlift in history when he pulled 502.5 kilograms (1,107 pounds) during an April 2022 training session. Though that lift would not have counted in a sanctioned strongman competition because Wierzbicki used a sumo stance, and it wouldn’t count in powerlifting because he used straps.

According to Strongman Archives, Heinla’s heaviest-ever traditional deadlift was a pull of 455 kilograms (1,003 pounds) from the 2019 Giants Live Wembley. In a competition like the WDC that seems to bring out the best in the strongmen involved, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Heinla soon breaks a record and finds himself $55,000 richer.

Featured image: @rauno_heinla on Instagram

The post Strongman Rauno Heinla Deadlifts 420 Kilograms (926 Pounds) for 4 Reps in Preparation for 2022 World Deadlift Championships appeared first on Breaking Muscle.