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In some ways, Canadian athlete Rory van Ulft might be one of the strongest competitors for her age that weightlifting and powerlifting have seen in some time. At just 9 years old, van Ulft has developed a reputation, particularly with her deadlift, for having impeccable pulling power and an “iron will” with a barbell in her hands (literally and figuratively). The athlete’s latest official addition to her weightlifting rap sheet, featuring a noteworthy overhead lift, might be another entry in the growing lore of her budding career.

On Jan. 21, 2023, van Ulft captured a 66-kilogram (145.5-pound) clean & jerk during the 2023 Variety Village Open in Toronto, Canada. According to the caption in a video of the feat from van Ulft’s Instagram, facilitated by a parent/manager, van Ulft had a body weight of 32.8 kilograms (72.4 pounds) on contest day. In turn, that makes van Ulft the youngest person ever, regardless of gender, to successfully finish a clean & jerk that was double their body weight during a sanctioned competition. Not to be outdone, a final total of 254.39 Sinclair — the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) primary tool for contextualizing an athlete’s strength by weight class — van Ulft officially notched the best-ever performance by a 40-kilogram female competitor.

A mind-bending achievement for someone of her young age aside, van Ulft’s clean & jerk wasn’t her only major accomplishment from the Toronto contest. Per the same Instagram caption, the athlete broke six Canadian provincial 15U and 17U records on previous lifts during the competition. The final double-body weight clean & jerk appeared to act more like gravy layered over an already prolific day for the youthful elite competitor.

The parent/manager of van Ulft’s Instagram credited a few people for training van Ulft to enjoy such a productive day while simultaneously making history. They included the athlete’s coach, Spencer Moorman, who can be seen in the background of the clip of van Ulft’s milestone encouraging the lifter. Others receiving praise included trainers like “Cierra” (last name undisclosed) and the CANAM Strength and Conditioning team from van Ulft’s native Ottawa, Canada. The Ontario Weightlifting Association (ONWA) also earned a shoutout.

“An enormous thank you to Coach [Moorman] (who deserves to win Coach of the Year in at least one country for this!), [Cierra], and the entire [CANAM Strength and Conditioning] team for their incredible support at this event, as well as to the [Ontario Weightlifting Association] for putting on such a fun and welcoming event!”

For context on an American scale regarding van Ulft’s new achievements and results, the athlete’s 66-kilogram (145.5-pound) clean & jerk is eight kilograms (17.6 pounds) more than the USA Weighlifting (USAW) Youth Women’s record for the 40-kilogram weight class. Kendra Hoover holds the mark with a clean & jerk of 58 kilograms (127.8 pounds). However, Hoover notched her lift when she was 12, roughly three years older than van Ulft.

The year 2023 has only just begun, and van Ulft is already acting as a lifting pioneer for her age group and beyond. If this is how the athlete starts a fresh new calendar, time will only tell as to what other sparkling heights she might achieve through the ensuing 11 months.

Featured image: @roryvanulft on Instagram

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After years of competing at the highest level of bodybuilding, and coming so close to capturing a Mr. Olympia title, Hadi Choopan finally claimed the throne as the vaunted Mr. Olympia in December 2022. Leading up to the most recent iteration of bodybuilding’s flagship competition, the Iranian athlete had notched several top-level finishes, standing on the podium twice (2019, 2021) but never quite finished the job. Now, as Choopan looks to defend his first career Olympia title and enter rare air as a repeat winner, he seems to be wasting no time preparing for continued glory.

On Jan. 21, 2023, Choopan posted a pic to his Instagram showing off a pumped chest and piston-like arms worth every bit the profile of a defending Mr. Olympia. Given an appropriate written caption of “repeat everything to repeat,” it appears clear that Choopan is dead set on training and eating well to add another Mr. Olympia trophy to his mantel.

With his long journey to the top in account, and the reflective status of his peers like ousted two-time Mr. Olympia Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay, Choopan undoubtedly understands how tenuous an Olympia defense can be. In a sport with various mammoth-like titans seemingly always gunning for the top and keeping their eyes on the prize, if one is the defending champion, they might as well have a giant target on their back.

At the time of this writing, it’s unclear precisely how Choopan plans to attack his off-season and preparation for the 2023 Mr. Olympia with roughly nine months to go. Nevertheless, one of his first public physique updates of the 2023 calendar is a potentially illuminating insight into an athlete that will likely not rest on his laurels.

In the weeks and months ahead, a spate of challengers for Choopan’s crown will, in all probability, continue to make their presence known. For one, the 2022 Olympia runner-up in Derek Lunsford, is planning on skipping the upcoming 2023 Arnold Classic (AC), so he can be prepared to topple Choopan on Nov. 3-5, 2023, in Orlando, FL. There’s also the third-place 2022 Olympia finisher, Nick Walker, who, though participating in the 2023 AC in early March, seems to believe he didn’t leave his best on stage in Las Vegas, NV, in December.

When considering recent changes to the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League’s qualification for the 2023 Olympia — which eliminates a past comprehensive points system — a new battle-tested challenger might even emerge who more than pushes Choopan. It’s clear this edition of the contest could, unsurprisingly, present itself as a gauntlet.

By the time the 2023 Olympia rolls around, it seems apparent Choopan will be primed to take the best shots from any contenders for his title. After all of his hard work and dedication over the years, this doesn’t seem to be a competitor ready to release his grasp on greatness any time soon.

Featured image: @hadi_choopan on Instagram

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The health world is fixated on fiber, constantly telling us how important fiber is and how we should all be eating more of it. Back in the day, our cultural obsession with fiber was all about being “regular.” You had to load up on fiber to keep things moving, so to speak. Nothing was more important. So we started our days with bland, tooth-cracking breakfast cereal that tasted like tree bark and sparked no joy. But hey, it was loaded with fiber and therefore good for us, right? 

I’ve long been skeptical of that particular story, mostly because every major health agency that recommends higher fiber intake also says that we should get much of that fiber from whole grains. And you know how I feel about that. If whole grains aren’t essential (or even healthy, if you ask me), then how could the fiber they provide be essential? It doesn’t add up. 

Now, though, as we learn ever more about the emerging science of the microbiome, the fiber story is starting to shift. It’s become less about pushing “roughage” through our colons to create bulkier, more impressive bowel movements (although some people still promote this supposed benefit). Certain types of fiber, it turns out, are essentially food for the microbes living in our guts. 

The health (and composition) of the gut flora helps determine the health of the human host (that’s you). It’s not clear what exactly constitutes “healthy gut flora,” and we’re still teasing out exactly how it affects the various physiological functions, but we know we need them and we know they need to eat something to even have a chance at helping us. Not all fiber is created equal in this respect. 

Thus, when it comes to fiber, it’s important to understand what it does, what you want it to do, and what types are likely to be helpful or harmful. 

Understanding the Types of Dietary Fiber

The tricky thing about fiber is it’s not a monolith. There are dozens of varieties. Some of them perform similar functions in the body, but others have extremely unique effects. We can’t talk about fiber without understanding that the word describes a variety of compounds, and this leads to a lot of confusion. People make blanket statements that might be true for some types of fibers and incorrect for others. 

Broadly speaking, fiber is any plant component that we eat but do not metabolize directly. Since we can’t digest these materials, they pass through our small intestine without being broken down and absorbed—which means they make it to the lower reaches of the GI tract more or less intact. And this is important for reasons we’ll discuss shortly. 

There are various ways of classifying the different types of fiber, the most common one being insoluble versus soluble fiber. Insoluble fiber is a bulking agent, increasing the mass of the stool, which actually moves the stool more quickly through the intestines. Except for perhaps relieving constipation (“perhaps” because it doesn’t work for everyone and may even have the opposite effect), I’m unconvinced that insoluble fiber has much to offer in terms of health benefits. 

Soluble fiber, on the other hand, is interesting. Soluble fiber can absorb water, which enhances the thickness of the stomach’s contents. This slows stomach emptying, which can give the body more time to absorb nutrients. More importantly, most types of soluble fiber are fermentable by gut microbes (psyllium and methylcellulose are exceptions). In other words, they act as food for the trillions of microorganisms that inhabit your GI tract, especially in your colon. Insoluble fiber doesn’t ferment very well, so it does little to support your gut bugs.

Fermentable fibers are also called prebiotic fibers, a term you’re probably familiar with, or microbiota-accessible carbohydrates (aka MACs). There are lots of different types of soluble, fermentable fibers including

• Fructo-oligosaccharides
• Galacto-oligosaccharides
• Pectins
• Inulin
• Beta-glucan
• Gums (such as xanthan gum, carrageenan, guar gum)
• Type IV resistant starch

Each has a unique effect on the composition of your microbiome, promoting some beneficial species while suppressing others. 

When gut microbes ferment these types of fibers, they produce a variety of end products, or postbiotics. These include certain vitamins and neurotransmitters and, notably, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate, propionate, and acetate. SCFAs, it turns out, do all sorts of interesting things in the body. Many of the benefits attributed to “fiber” are probably more accurately characterized as benefits due to the effects of SCFAs.

What Are the Benefits of Fiber Consumption?

The biggest benefit of fiber, based on what we know now, is that fermentable fiber in particular supports a healthy and diverse microbiome.It’s difficult to name a physiological function or health parameter that is not impacted by the gut microbiome, including but not limited to digestive,¹ cognitive and neurological,^{2 3} immune,⁴ psychological,⁵ metabolic,⁶ and liver⁷ health.  

By feeding and bolstering the populations of “good bacteria,” we reduce the amount of available real estate for “bad bacteria” to set up shop. Beyond that, the SCFAs that are byproducts of fiber fermentation, including butyrate, propionate, and acetate, improve our health in many ways. I’ve covered the health benefits of prebiotics and postbiotics in depth in other posts, and many, if not most, of those can be chalked up to SCFAs. 

Butyrate in particular has been shown to have beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity⁸ and inflammation,⁹ both of which contribute to all manner of modern, non-communicable disease. It’s also the preferred fuel source for our native colonic cells. Basically, without enough butyrate (and, by extension, fermentable prebiotic fiber to make it), our colons don’t work as well as they should. This can lead to digestive impairments and perhaps even cancer. Mucin-degrading bacteria predominate in colorectal cancer patients,¹⁰ for example, while butyrate-producing bacteria rule the roost in healthy patients without cancer. Populations with lower rates of colorectal cancer also tend to have higher levels of butyrate.¹¹ Propionate is helpful, too, though not to the extent of butyrate.¹²

Ok, But What About Poop?

But fiber does help with, ahem, performance in the bathroom, right? 

This one’s a mixed bag. A recent meta-analysis concluded that while increasing insoluble dietary fiber does increase the frequency of bowel movements, it does nothing for stool consistency, treatment success, laxative use, and painful defecation.¹³ So it will make you poop more often, sure, but if you’re experiencing pain, each bowel movement is still going to hurt, and you’re still going to need laxatives to do it. Galacto-oligosaccharides, guar gum, and inulin, all prebiotic fibers, also appear to improve constipation.^{14 15 16} However, other research finds that stopping or dialing back dietary fiber intake reduces constipation.¹⁷

Folks with gastrointestinal disorders like IBS and IBD that can cause constipation or diarrhea should proceed with caution, as the evidence for fiber’s benefits is inconsistent in these populations.¹⁸ One survey of Crohn’s patients found that those eating more fiber (23 grams/day) had fewer flare-ups than those eating less (10 grams/day), while colitis patients reported no difference in symptoms based on fiber intake. On the other hand, studies indicate that a low-FODMAP diet, which eliminates most sources of fiber, especially fermentable prebiotic fiber, is an effective treatment for IBS and IBD.^{19 20}  Low-FODMAP diets have been shown to reduce bloating, abdominal pain, quality of life, and overall symptoms in intestinal disorders.²¹

How Much Fiber Do You Need?

The official recommendations from the Institute of Medicine are 25 grams per day for women under 50 and 38 grams per day for men under 50 (21 grams and 30 grams, respectively, once you enter your sixth decade). The USDA says you should aim for 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories you consume.

However, I have a real problem with those recommendations because they lump all types of fiber together. They make no distinction between the types that serve only to create impressive poops and those that your gut microbes can ferment. It’s all just “fiber” according to these guys. But fiber isn’t fiber isn’t fiber.

And we can’t ignore the elephant in the room: the loud chorus coming from the direction of the carnivore movement proclaiming that dietary fiber is largely or wholly unnecessary. I’m open to the possibility that a properly constructed carnivorous diet (which may, remember, include gristly animal fiber) obviates the need for plant fiber, prebiotic or otherwise. We don’t have strong data to support that claim yet, but it might be true. A person’s microbiome composition shifts in response to dietary changes.²² It’s possible that people who eat lots of plants need lots of fiber to feed the microbes that are there because they eat a lot of plants. And people who eat mostly meat have a microbiome tailored to a low-plant diet; thus, they don’t need a lot of plant fiber to thrive. Like begets like, as it were. 

That’s possible. The problem is that most humans throughout history and prehistory probably consumed diets that by today’s standards would be considered very high-fiber, perhaps averaging 100 grams or more of fiber per day. Coprolite (read: ancient fossilized stool) studies indicate that our ancestors may have consumed a significant amount of prebiotics.²³ That means our bodies have come to expect the metabolites that gut bacteria produce by fermenting that fiber. We can get butyrate from collagen and gelatin, but is it enough?^{24 25} I’m not sure. 

How to Increase Fiber Consumption and Stay Primal

Let’s say you want to experiment with increasing your fiber consumption, perhaps as an experiment to see how it will affect gut health and digestion. You certainly don’t need to increase your grain intake to do so. As you’d expect, I explicitly do not recommend you do that. 

Setting aside the obvious downsides of grain consumption, whole or otherwise, grains contain predominantly insoluble, non-fermentable fiber (oats being the notable exception). The better way to increase your consumption of soluble, fermentable fiber is to eat plenty of vegetables, the more variety the better. You can throw in some legumes if they’re part of your repertoire (watch your total carb intake), but it’s not necessary. Top it off with some fermented dairy like full-fat kefir or yogurt. That provides galacto-oligosaccharides plus beneficial probiotics to further seed the microbiome. 

Especially if you have digestive issues, constipation, or chronic diarrhea, go slowly and pay attention to how fiber affects your symptoms. Allow time for your gut flora to adjust to the new food source. Expect flatulence.

Bottom Line

As you can see, the fiber story isn’t simple. At all. While I don’t think all the pro-fiber furor stands up to scrutiny, I’m also not ready to write it off as immaterial to human health. Heck, the only food that’s actually expressly “designed” to feed humans—breast milk—contains prebiotic compounds whose main purpose is to feed and cultivate healthy gut flora in infants, which suggests that the need for prebiotics is innate.²⁶ 

Overall, because the health of our gut community is inextricably tied to the health of our minds and bodies, I think attaining fermentable fiber through the fruits and vegetables we eat is important. Do I think everyone should be supplementing with prebiotic fiber? No. I add inulin to my Primal Fuel protein powder, mostly to improve mouth-feel but also to feed beneficial microbes and increase butyrate production. Sometimes I use raw potato starch for its considerable resistant starch content, often just mixing it into sparkling water and drinking it straight. 

But for the most part, the fiber I eat is incidental to the foods I consume. Berries, non-starchy vegetables, jicama, garlic, onions, mushrooms, green bananas, nuts and seeds—these are all foods rich in fiber, particularly prebiotic fiber. If you’re eating varied and diverse Primal foods, your bases are probably adequately covered when it comes to fiber too. 

What do you think, folks? How has fiber helped or harmed you? I’d love to hear from everyone.

Take care and be well.

The post What Does Fiber Do, And Do You Need More? appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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As various prominent names in the bodybuilding sphere begin mapping out their plans for the 2023 calendar year, former 1983 Mr. Olympia Samir Bannout has been dispensing his thoughts on the current landscape of the sport. For example, in early January 2023, the living legend seemed to appreciate the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League’s changes to its Olympia qualification system. In fact, he asserted that some of the changes, like nixing a previous points-based system, didn’t go far enough in being more selective. During a recent media appearance, the icon centered some of his specific thoughts on the future of a Classic Physique star.

On Jan. 20, 2023, Bannout appeared in an episode of The Muscle Maturity podcast. While breaking down some of the latest news in the bodybuilding world, Bannout touched on the status of one Chris Bumstead. Fresh off a fourth consecutive Classic Physique Olympia title, where the athlete competed with a partially torn biceps, Bannout believes Bumstead should be making the jump to the Men’s Open division at the upcoming 2023 Arnold Classic (AC). It could be an interesting prospect for one of the sport’s current figureheads.

Bannout was evidently aware of the adversity Bumstead had to overcome to continue his Classic Physique reign. That didn’t seem to stop him from maintaining Bumstead should still be working to shine at the 2023 AC in Columbus, OH.

“Talking about Bumstead, he pulled his biceps muscle, and was in pain,” Bannout said. “In my opinion, Bumstead could be competing in the [2023] Arnold Classic in the Open. He should. Why not? Bumstead: do it.”

At the same time, Bannout understood that Bumstead would want to take time off to recuperate after such a significant ailment. After all, jumping right back into training and ideal competition nutrition might not be the best idea until Bumstead is fully healed after his health setback.

Such an immediate decision, division change or not, could translate to longer-term issues in Bumstead’s overall career if the competitor isn’t careful. While he stood by his initial Open sentiment for the young athlete, Bannout didn’t take it a step further.

“I think in Bumstead’s case, he had a partial tear,” Bannout noted. “It would be smart to pull down, it don’t matter a little bit, pull it down completely, because it might serve his career better. He knows. Him and his doctors know. But yeah, clearly it was visible to me something was going on with that bicep.”

In late September 2022, Bumstead had alluded to a potential place in the Men’s Open division in the future while speaking on a Muscular Development podcast. However, Bumstead maintained that 2023 wouldn’t be the right time for a shift. Factor in the current recovery from his biceps tear, and it appears improbable Bumstead will go full throttle with any ideas to enter the 2023 AC on Mar. 3-5, 2023.

While some of his potential peers in the Open division, such as Nick Walker and Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay, gear up for the monumental AC, Bumstead will likely stay on the sidelines for the time being. Even with a new lucrative cash prize and Bannout’s initial suggestion in the account, asking an elite competitor to shift divisions as he heals might not be feasible in such a short amount of time.

Nonetheless, Bumstead’s progress in and outside the gym will assuredly be something noteworthy to track in the coming months.

Featured image: @cbum on Instagram

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Mitchell Hooper has already been steadily plugging away in what might be a monumental year in his young professional strongman career. The athlete who burst onto the scene with an early blitz at the 2022 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) and subsequently became a dominant force on the major circuit seems prepared to continue his climb to the top of the strongman summit. However, before he started his ascent up the mountain again, the superstar recently traveled to “the land of the long weekend” for an essential first stop in his 2023 journey to become the best. He was joined by someone who might be the next elite strongwoman.

On Jan. 21, 2023, Hooper won the 2023 Australia’s Strongest International (ASI) competition in Yapeen, Australia. In a contest featuring various other elite strongmen and strongwomen like Master’s deadlift World Record holder Rauno Heinla and 2018 World’s Strongest Woman (WSW) champion Andrea Thompson, respectively, Hooper arguably stood tall as the headliner. New Zealand’s Shayna Wirihana won the strongwoman half of the 2023 ASI. Heinla (second place) and Fadi El Masri (third place) joined the Canadian Hooper on the strongman podium. In contrast, Thompson (second place) and Megan Clark (third place) flanked Wirihana for the strongwomen.

Here are the final standings for the strongmen who competed at the 2023 ASI:

2023 Australia’s Strongest International | Strongman Final Standings

1. Mitchell Hooper (Canada) — 31 points
2. Rauno Heinla (Estonia) — 28 points
3. Fadi El Masri (Australia) — 20 points
4. Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf (Australia) — 18.5 points
5. Tiano Faapoi (New Zealand) — 13 points
6. Tyler Helm (Australia) — 13 points
7. Sean Gillen (Australia) — 11.5 points

Here are the final standings for the strongwomen who competed at the 2023 ASI:

2023 Australia’s Strongest International | Strongwoman Final Standings

1. Shayna Wirihana (New Zealand) — 28.5 points
2. Andrea Thompson (Great Britain) — 26 points
3. Megan Clark (Australia) — 24.5 points
4. Donna Moore (Great Britain) — 24.5 points
5. Nicole Genrich (Australia) — 13.5 points
6. Joe Kimitaunga (Australia) — 11.5 points
7. Camilla Fogagnolo (Australia) — 10.5 points

Hooper won four of five events to seal his first career ASI title. With this decisive victory, the strongman more or less picked up where he left off in 2022, as Hooper has now won three of his last four contests in a hot streak that also features wins at the 2022 Giants Live World Tour Finals and the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic UK. To date, per Strongman Archives, the only competition Hooper has fallen short of reaching the podium was when he notched an eighth-place result during the 2022 WSM Final.

Meanwhile, Wirihana did not win any events outright at the 2023 ASI but attained a solid top-three result in each of them. Such consistency allowed the New Zealand competitor to eventually topple Thompson by a 2.5-point margin. This was Wirihana’s first victory since capturing the 2022 New Zealand’s Strongest Woman championship.

Hooper has already successfully morphed into one of the most prominent names in strongman. All that’s likely left for him to truly accomplish is overcoming his elite peers at the 2023 WSM on Apr. 18-23, 2023, in Myrtle Beach, SC. For Wirihana, the strongwoman might only just be getting started. After overcoming a perennial WSW contender and garnering recognition among some of the world’s most elite strongpeople, the 2023 ASI might be a fantastic next step on a path to her own greatness.

Featured image: @mitchellhooper on Instagram

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Rhianon Lovelace’s pound-for-pound prowess might be unmatched in the current catalog of dynamic strongwomen. The British powerhouse relies on a foundation of apparent pure strength and makes it a habit to achieve great things any time she has a barbell, Atlas stone, or general heavy implement within her grasp. In one of the first significant competitive appearances the strength community has seen from Lovelace in 2023, she continued her established precedent to amaze.

On Jan. 22, 2023, Lovelace captured a 101-kilogram (222.6-pound) Axle Press during the 2023 Kaos New Year Push/Pull 2023 contest at the Kaos Strength Gym in Preston, England. The astonishing feat is an all-time U64 (64-kilogram weight class) World Record. Even more so, it demonstrates that after a 2022 calendar year where Lovelace sprinkled in noteworthy achievements throughout several competitions, the athlete is still pushing full steam ahead to etch her name at the top of a record list anywhere possible.

Lovelace seemingly understands her status in the modern strongwoman sphere. As she gears up for another productive year of competitions, the athlete had a succinct summary of her Axle Press record in a post of the lift on her Instagram profile.

“Three weeks into 2023, and we’re already one world record in,” Lovelace wrote. “Big plans this year, just the beginning.” 

A two-time U64 World’s Strongest Woman (WSW) champion (2018, 2022), Lovelace has been no slouch regarding full-slate, major strongwoman contests of late. According to Strongman Archives, the athlete can boast three out of four podium finishes in the tentpole WSW main event. The only instance in which Lovelace fell short of a top-two result was during her WSW debut in December 2017.

Outside of the WSW parameters, Lovelace made 2022 rather prolific with all circumstances considered. Last May, the athlete broke the British raw deadlift World Record with a pull of 241 kilograms (530 pounds) from the 2022 British Powerlifting Union (BPU) contest. She followed that accomplishment by breaking the all-time strongwoman deadlift World Record (282.5 kilograms/623 pounds) at the 2022 Berkshire’s Strongest competition. Finally, in September 2022 — roughly a month and a half before Lovelace captured her second career WSW championship — the competitor broke the Axle Deadlift World Record with a pull of 261.5 kilograms (576.5 pounds) during the 2022 Arnold Strongman (AS) UK.

With this latest Axle Press notch in her lifting belt, it seems Lovelace is picking up where she left off in 2022.

Few of Lovelace’s peers could likely match what she executes in the gym and in sanctioned competitions. In the months ahead in 2023, it seems inevitable she’ll continue to climb mind-bending heights when it comes to showcasing impeccable displays of power and will.

Featured image: @rhianon.lovelace.kaosstrength on Instagram

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The ever-popular bench press has built its reputation over the last few decades as a rite of passage, a trial by fire, and a founding member of the powerlifting “big three.” This exercise is all that, and more. The bench press is so popular that it even has its own day of the week — “International bench day” has become synonymous with Monday in many gyms.

The bench press is a go-to exercise when you’re looking to increase the size and strength of your chest, shoulders, and triceps. The stability of the bench and the fixed range of motion of the barbell allows you to use more weight. And moving more weight means building more size and strength.

If you’re looking for a standalone bench-focused workout to increase strength and muscle in your upper body, you have come to the right place. Let’s dive in below.

Best Bench Press Workout For Muscle and Strength

To gain absolute strength, you must focus on moving heavier weights, working around 85-90% of your one-repetition maximum. (1) The cluster set technique will give you all you can handle in this regard — performing multiple “mini-sets” of low repetitions with heavy weights to accumulate significant volume. This helps set the table for more muscle because a stronger muscle has the potential for more size. After the heavy work, two different supersets concentrate on exercises that efficiently increase your chest size and strength.

The Size and Strength Routine

Perform this workout once weekly as part of your upper/lower body split. To progress with the first exercise, start at three complete cluster sets, do four the next week, and then five. When you’re able to do five cluster sets, add weight. The other three bench exercises start at the lower end of the rep range and add one repetition each week. When you have reached the upper range, increase the weight by five to 10 pounds and start the process again.

Bench Press Cluster Set

The flat barbell bench press should be a staple in your routine and your go-to for more size and strength whenever you want to move the most weight. This benching variation focuses equally on your upper and lower chest for better overall muscle development.

How to Do it: Lay supine on the flat bench, arch your lower back slightly, and plant your feet on the floor. Pull your shoulder blades together to enhance stability and upper back strength. Grab the bar and squeeze your hands hard to flex your arm and grip muscles maximally before unracking the load. Lower the bar to your sternum/base of your chest. Press the weight up, keep your back tight and your shoulder blades pulled together.

Sets and Reps: 3-5 x (4×2) — Perform four mini-sets of two reps, repeated a total of three to five times.

Rest time: Rest 10 seconds between each mini-set. Rest three minutes after each full set.

Close-Grip Bench Press

The close-grip bench press has your hands set shoulder-width apart and shift the load to your triceps and inner chest. (2) You may not be able to lift as much weight, but you’ll be training your chest and triceps from a different angle for improved muscle development.

How to Do it: Set up as you would for the flat bench press, but position your hands inside shoulder-width with your elbows tucked into your body. Pull the bar out of the rack and get tight. Pull keep your elbows close to your ribs while lowering the bar to your chest. Once you have reached your desired depth, press back up until lockout.

Sets and Reps: 3-4 x 4-6

Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Seated Band Pull-Apart

After two pressing exercises, you’ll get a break with this simple pulling exercise to strengthen your upper back and keep up the health of your shoulders. This seated band pull-apart will increase your upper back engagement (because of the stability of being seated) without you leaving the bench.

How to Do it: Sit upright, holding a looped band at shoulder height with your hands shoulder-width apart. Pull the band apart, keeping your arms nearly straight. Keep your shoulders down and your chest up. Pull until your shoulder blades are together and your arms are extended to either side of your body. Return to the starting position and repeat.

Sets and Reps: 3 x 15-25

Rest time: Rest two minutes before repeating previous exercise.

Single-Arm Dumbbell Bench Press

This single-arm (unilateral) exercise won’t allow you to go as heavy as you could with the barbell bench press, but there is still a lot to like about this pressing variation. First, you’ll address any imbalances between sides of your body, leading to better muscle development and improved joint health. Second, you’ll have more freedom of movement, because the dumbbell bench press allows you to adjust your grip and arm angle to find a pressing path that is comfortable for your wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints.

How to Do it:  Place one dumbbell on your knee while sitting on a flat bench. Lean back and drive the dumbbell toward your shoulder using your knee, while pressing the dumbbell up. Lower the dumbbell, keeping your elbow at roughly 45-degrees from your body. Press the dumbbells up to lockout and repeat. 

Sets and Reps: 3-4 x 8-12 reps per arm.

Rest time: Rest 60 to 90 seconds before moving to the next exercise. 

Dumbbell Chest Flye

The dumbbell chest flye is as close to a chest isolation exercise as it gets. This exercise takes the triceps out of the movement and stretches the pecs for a more extensive range of motion, which gives you better muscle-building potential. (3)

How to do it: Lie supine on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Begin with both arms locked out above your chest. Create a slight bend in your elbows and keep this bend throughout the movement. Lower your arms out to your sides in line with your shoulders. When you feel a stretch in the pecs, reverse the motion and squeeze the chest muscles to return to the top position.

Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-15

Rest time: Rest 60-90 seconds before repeating the previous exercise.

Chest Anatomy

The chest is a large superficial fan-like muscle, and the two chest muscles are the pectoralis major and the pec minor. It has two attachment points — the clavicular head on the upper chest and the sternal head attachment on the mid-to-lower chest. The pec major is on your anterior (front) ribcage, while the pectoralis minor is a small muscle underneath the pec major.

The pec major’s clavicular head originates, as expected, on your clavicle’s (collarbone) anterior or front surface. The pec major’s sternal head originates at the sternum’s anterior surface. Both muscle heads insert on the humerus (upper arm) and are involved in most upper body movements. The two primary chest functions that the training above focuses on are:

• Shoulder flexion — Raising your arms up by pushing or lifting in front of your body.
• Horizontal adduction — Bringing your hands (and joints) together in front of your pecs, as you do during a chest flye, bench press, or push-up.

Besides creating a big and muscular chest, the pecs are the primary “hugging” muscle. Pec size and strength help tackle, grab, and fend off opponents in the sporting arena, as well as throw and swing harder and faster if you play sports like football, baseball, or tennis. 

How to Warm-Up for Your Bench Workout

Have you ever seen someone walk off the street under the barbell and start pressing away to their heart’s content? Don’t be that person, they’re asking for injuries and poor performance. Although not warming up may not a huge issue on rare occasions, over time, it may lead to a decrease in performance and increased injury risk.

It’s better to take the time to warm-up and get the blood moving through your working muscles, while get your shoulder and elbow joints ready for action.

Because your upper back and rotator cuffs are involved in the bench press, be sure to perform any upper back movement that is effective for engaging your scapula and rotators — face pulls with external rotation or band pull-parts.

After that, a few light ramp-up sets on the bench press (low rep, light weight sets getting progressively heavier), focusing hard on engaging your chest muscles, will have you ready to roll.

If you decide to take more time for a thorough warm-up, take this upper-body prep for a spin. There are a couple of upper back-focused exercises here because your lats and upper back stabilize your chest during benching. You’ll need to get your back ready for chest day to fully protect and prepare your shoulders and rotator cuff.

• Face Pull with External Rotation: Secure a resistance band to a stable object at eye-level. Take an overhand grip and step back until your arms are extended straight ahead. Drive your elbows back in line with your shoulders while pulling your hands to the top of your head. In the peak contraction, your thumbs should point behind you and your palms should be near your ears. Return to the arms-extended position. Perform two sets of 15 reps.
• Scapular Push-up: Begin in a push-up position, with your hands and toes on the ground and your body straight. Keep your arms stiff and locked as you pinch your shoulder blades together while reaching your chest toward the ground. Drive your hands “through the ground” as you extend your shoulder blades down and push your chest away from your hands. Perform two sets of 10 reps.
• Rear Delt Fly: Take a pair of light dumbbells in each hand, or stand in the middle of a light resistance band and hold each end. Bend forward at the waist, nearly parallel to the ground, and let your arms hang toward the ground with a slight bend in your arms. Drive your arms up in line with your shoulders. Don’t allow your arm angle to change throughout the exercise. Pause briefly before returning to the stretched position. Perform two sets of 12 reps.
• Spiderman With Rotation: Begin in a push-up position, with your hands and toes on the ground and your body straight. Step forward with your left leg, aiming to get your foot near the pinky of your left hand if mobility allows. Keep your right leg straight. Without bending your right arm, lift your left arm to the ceiling, turning your upper body to allow a full rotation. When your arm is perpendicular to the ground, feel a total-body stretch before returning to a push-up position. Alternate sides with each repetition. Perform two sets of five reps per side.
• Incline Plyo Push-up: Setup near a stable flat bench or box, in a push-up position with your hands on the bench, your toes on the ground, and your body straight. Lower your chest toward the bench and explosively drive upwards, letting your hands leave contact with the bench. Catch yourself with slightly bent arms and brace your core. Take a breath and reset quickly before performing the next repetition. Perform two sets of eight reps.

Happy Benching

There are many different ways to target your chest, shoulder, and triceps, but the bench press is the most popular and, potentially, the most effective tool. You can build muscle and strength by focusing on a handful of the most effective movements to complement the bench press. Always warm-up your chest and shoulders, and then attack the muscles using the in-depth, ultimate bench workout laid out above. Your Mondays will never be the same.

References

1. Schoenfeld, B. J., Grgic, J., Van Every, D. W., & Plotkin, D. L. (2021). Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 9(2), 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9020032
2. Lockie, Robert & Moreno, Matthew. (2017). The Close-Grip Bench Press. Strength and Conditioning Journal. 39. 1. 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000307.
3. Baroni, B. M., Pompermayer, M. G., Cini, A., Peruzzolo, A. S., Radaelli, R., Brusco, C. M., & Pinto, R. S. (2017). Full Range of Motion Induces Greater Muscle Damage Than Partial Range of Motion in Elbow Flexion Exercise With Free Weights. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 31(8), 2223–2230. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001562

Featured Image: YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV / Shutterstock

The post The Ultimate Bench Press Workout to Increase Strength and Muscle appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

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Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay entered the 2022 Mr. Olympia with aspirations of becoming only the eighth athlete to win the contest on three consecutive occasions. He had the hype behind him, endorsements from living legends, and appeared “destined” to enter exclusive bodybuilding lore. Then the Las Vegas, NV, contest occurred, Hadi Choopan successfully toppled the Egyptian dynamo for the victory, and Elssbiay fell short with a fifth-place finish that surprised many bodybuilding fans.

Now, after an earnest early January 2023 reflection on what’s next, and with a fresh bodybuilding season ahead of him, it appears Elssbiay is aiming for a massive rebound before he even considers trying to win the Olympia again.

On Jan. 20, 2023, the Arnold Sports Festival announced that Elssbiay would take the stage in the upcoming 2023 Arnold Classic (AC) on Mar. 2-5, 2023.

“Making his first on-stage appearance in Columbus since 2020, ‘Ramy’ will be looking to re-establish his position as the most dominant competitor in the world of bodybuilding!”

The Columbus, OH, contest will mark the former two-time Mr. Olympia’s second appearance in the AC as he seeks a significant notch to add to his resume. In 2020, Elssbiay placed third at his first and only appearance at the show.

To some, Elssbiay’s AC reveal might come as a surprise. The superstar had spent most of his recent years training and preparing almost exclusively for his Olympia appearances throughout an approximate calendar year, only appearing occasionally in other contests. It’s a calculated approach that many elite bodybuilders, particularly in the Men’s Open division, often elect to have in the interest of maximizing their performance at the biggest contest in the sport.

For Elssbiay, seeing as how he’s no longer the defending Mr. Olympia, he might now be seeking a boost of momentum before diving back full throttle into Olympia prep. At the same time, a new lucrative cash prize could have also motivated the athlete to finally compete in the AC. In mid-January 2023, the Arnold Sports Festival announced the first-place prize for winning the Men’s Open at the 2023 AC would be $300,000. That is a $100,000 increase from the 2022 iteration of the competition. Notably, also in January 2023, former AC champion (2021) Nick Walker maintained this high financial incentive was part of his own decision to return to the AC.

Elssbiay will join other established stars at the 2023 AC as he tries to defeat past winners like Walker and William Bonac (2018, 2020), and two-time 212 Olympia champion (2020, 2022) Shaun Clarida. Other confirmed names include Samson Dauda, Kamal Elgargni, Justin Rodriguez, and Akim Williams. Elssbiay might be a newcomer to the contest, but given his Olympia precedent, this field will likely be ready for anything he brings to the stage in Columbus.

The 2023 AC is shaping up to be a barnburner of a bodybuilding contest. If top-level competitors like Elssbiay and Walker elect to participate before tackling any loftier Olympia plans, it could be an incredibly fascinating show to watch in early March.

Featured Image: @arnoldsports / Instagram

The post Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay Will Compete at 2023 Arnold Classic appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

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Every year, the best bodybuilders in the world prepare with one central goal: to win the legendary Mr. Olympia contest. Sure, there are other tentpole events like the annual (and now rather lucrative) Arnold Classic. Still, arguably nothing holds as much prestige for the world’s ripped fitness elite as competing during an iconic Olympia show. It is the biggest stage in bodybuilding for a good reason. With the 2023 professional competitive season already well off and rolling, the athletes can now prepare and train for potentially the most significant moment of their respective careers with a definite date and location in their sights.

The International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League has revealed that the 2023 Olympia would officially take place on Nov. 3-5, 2023, in Orlando, FL. The schedule note was illuminated in a recent release of the 2023 contest calendar on the IFBB website. It is unclear precisely when the full schedule was disclosed. As has recently been the standard, the 11 primary divisions of bodybuilding will be featured during the contest. The Mr. Olympia category serves as the event’s headline, and Iranian athlete Hadi Choopan is the reigning champion after capturing his first career Mr. Olympia title in 2022.

With the Olympia contest formally returning to Orlando, the competition will now have been in Central Florida for three of the last four years. The 2022 edition in Las Vegas, NV, served as the lone exception during that span. For decades, the contest had almost always been in “Sin City,” but the extreme, unprecedented circumstances of the early throes of the COVID-19 pandemic led the IFBB to move the Olympia to Orlando in 2020 in accordance with safety regulations. Before he fell short of a three-peat with a disappointing fifth-place result in 2022, Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay captured the first of his two career Olympia titles during that initial Florida competition. Elssbiay successfully defended his title in the Orlando-based 2021 Olympia contest.

In the interest of looking ahead and preparing athletes for a new reality, the IFBB announced changes to its qualification system for the 2023 Olympia in early January 2023. A points system that opened the door for athletes who hadn’t won a contest in that calendar year will no longer be viable. Any competitor who wishes to earn a spot on the Orlando, FL, stage this early November must either win a 2023 IFBB Pro League contest, have won any Olympia in the past, or have finished in the top five of their category during the 2022 Olympia contest.

Notable athletes to whom some of these distinctions apply in the Men’s Open division include Choopan, Elssbiay, 2019 Mr. Olympia Brandon Curry, third-place 2022 Olympia competitor Nick Walker, and 2022 Mr. Olympia runner-up Derek Lunsford.

The 2022 Olympia served up its fair share of unexpected surprises and success stories. Knowing how meticulous and dedicated to their craft all of these top athletes are, the 2023 edition should be no different.

Featured image: @hadi_choopan on Instagram

The post 2023 Olympia to Take Place in Early November 2023 in Orlando, Florida appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

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Research of the Week

NAC protects against COVID infection.

Donating blood might be one way to lessen the risk of Parkinson’s.

The effects of cousin marriage bans in the US.

Is impulsivity ever adaptive?

Heart rate during competition predicts athletic success.

Muscles control liver circadian rhythm.

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts

Primal Kitchen Podcast: The Link Between Dairy Intolerance and Dairy Genes with Alexandre Family Farm Founders Blake and Stephanie

Primal Health Coach Radio: The Truth about Vitamin E with Dr. Barrie Tan

Media, Schmedia

A hypothesis about fairy circles.

Not a great idea.

Interesting Blog Posts

When you need high dose biotin.

On ancestral diets, hydration, and salt.

Reading bubbles.

Social Notes

Something new is coming.

“But animal fat is making you fat!”

Everything Else

Suicides increased when kids went back to in-person school.

Disguising solar panels as ancient Roman tiles.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

Interesting podcast: Regarding PUFA and child neurological development.

One of my favorite studies: Two eggs a day keeps the short stature away.

Interesting tool: “Google search” for the contents of books.

Of course: Animal foods are very important for sustainable and healthy diets.

Bronze Age Spanish island diet: Meat and vegetables.

Question I’m Asking

How’s the new year going so far?

Recipe Corner

• Great way to eat more mushrooms (and shrimp).
• Homemade salt-packed anchovies.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Jan 1 – Jan 20)

• 10 Productivity Hacks That Really Work—What are they?
• Dear Mark: Should Teens Take Creatine—Probably.

Comment of the Week

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.“

-Pretty good heuristic from Jerry.

The post New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 205 appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.