In many gyms, the hyperextension has a bit of a therapeutic image. If you do this exercise, it is because your physical therapist has advised you to. But real members of the iron tribe who do not need a physiotherapist, of course, do not do the hyperextension. They are going to deadlift. Yes right? Thought wrong, Norwegian sports scientists discovered.
More sleep can double your testosterone
Strength Training works better than Cardio for fat loss
Positive emotions extend life expectancy by ten years
The more positive your attitude to life is - the more optimistic, upbeat, content and happy you are - the longer you are likely to live. According to researchers on the aging process at the University of Kentucky, a positive attitude to life can add more than a decade to your life expectancy. The researchers base this bold assertion on research done on 180 nuns.
Intense Workouts 2xWeek Reduce Burnout from Office Work
Employees, freelance workers and entrepreneurs are less likely to succumb to a burnout if they do an intensive training session twice a week. Psychologists at the University of New England in Australia discovered that both strength training and cardio training reduce the chances of having a burnout.
Hack your Endurance with Rhodiola & Ginkgo
Rhodiola and ginkgo combination boosts endurance (no training required)
Supplementation with extracts of Ginkgo biloba and Rhodiola crenulata increases the stamina of young men. This is shown in a human study published in 2009 in the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine.
Study
The researchers, at the University of Hong Kong, divided 67 young men into 2 groups. For 7 weeks, they gave the men in one group placebo capsules and the men in the other group capsules containing extracts of Ginkgo biloba and Rhodiola crenulata in a ratio of 1: 9.
The men took 4 capsules each day, each containing 270 milligrams of extract mixture. They took 2 capsules with breakfast and 2 capsules with dinner.
Results
The supplement increased the men's stamina. The subjects in the experimental group managed to cycle longer, and that may have been due to the increase in their bodies' ability to absorb oxygen. [VO2max]
Supplementation did not affect the test subjects' testosterone levels, but it did prevent cortisol levels from rising after exercise. That may mean that the men recovered faster.
Conclusion
"The present findings have provided evidence supporting the use of Rhodiola crenulata and Ginkgo biloba combined supplement for improving the endurance performance by increasing oxygen consumption and protecting against fatigue", summarize the researchers.
According to Russian animal study, extracts from both plants improve endurance, albeit in different ways. [Bull Exp Biol Med. 2003 Dec;136(6):585-7.]
Women and Men respond similarly to strength trianing
Women's upper body muscles respond to strength training just as well as men's
The extent to which women can strengthen the muscles in their upper body through strength training is the same as the extent to which men can do this. However, this does not imply that women can easily reach the strength level of men who work out.
Study
In 2016, Brazilian sports scientist Paulo Gentil published a study in which he got 44 male and 47 female students to do a full-body workout twice a week for 10 weeks.
The workout consisted of basic exercises such as leg press, leg curl, chest press and lat pulldown. The subjects did 3 sets of each exercise with a weight that allowed for 8-12 repetitions. The subjects rested for 2 minutes between sets.
Before and after the training period, the researchers determined the torque that the test subjects could develop during a biceps curl. 'Torque' is what athletes in the gym often refer to as 'force'.
Results
In absolute terms, the men gained more strength than the women [left in the figure below]. But in relative terms, in terms of progression over the strength already present before the training program began, the progression of the men was similar to that of the women [bottom right].
Conclusion
"Despite the physiological and hormonal differences between sexes, women demonstrated the same relative strength gains compared to men [...]", writes Gentil.
"It appears there is presently no evidence of a need to design different resistance training protocols to men and women. [...] One should not expect to find limitations in upper body strength development in women."
Reference: PeerJ. 2016 Feb 11;4:e1627.
Glutathione Info and Supplementation Tips
Glutathione is critical in the management of your voltage. When an electron donor gives up its electrons, the donor can become a stealer. Glutathione readily supplies the electrons to restore your electron donor to its donor status so it can help again.
Glutathione is not significantly absorbed from the gut, so taking it doesn’t help. However, it is made in every cell in the body by assembling the amino acids cysteine, glycine, and glutamine. Thus the key is for you to be sure to consume those amino acids.
Glutathione has multiple functions:
It is the major antioxidant produced by the cells, participating directly in the neutralization of free radicals and reactive oxygen compounds, as well as maintaining exogenous antioxidants such as vitamins C and E in their reduced (electron donor) forms.
It detoxifies many foreign compounds and carcinogens, both organic and inorganic.
It is essential for the immune system to exert its full potential, e.g.:
Modulating antigen presentation to lymphocytes, thereby influencing cytokine production and type of response (cellular or humoral) that develops
Enhancing proliferation of lymphocytes thereby increasing magnitude of response
Enhancing killing activity of cytotoxic T cells and NK cells
Regulating apoptosis, thereby maintaining control of the immune response
It plays a fundamental role in numerous metabolic and biochemical reactions such as DNA synthesis and repair, protein synthesis, prostaglandin synthesis, amino acid transport, and enzyme activation. Thus every system in the body can be affected by the state of the glutathione system, especially the immune system, the nervous system, the gastrointestinal system, and the lungs.
It is necessary for converting T4 to T3 (thyroid hormones). It is also necessary to transfer electrons from the cell membrane to the mitochondria.
Supplementing has been difficult, as research suggests that glutathione taken orally is not well absorbed across the gastrointestinal tract. In a study of acute oral administration of a very large dose (3 grams) of oral glutathione, Witschi and coworkers found that “it is not possible to increase circulating glutathione to a clinically beneficial extent by the oral administration of a single dose of 3g of glutathione.”
However, plasma and liver glutathione concentrations can be raised by oral administration of S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), glutathione precursors rich in cysteine include N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and whey protein, and these supplements have been shown to increase glutathione content within the cell.
N-acetylcysteine is available both as a drug and as a generic supplement. Alpha lipoic acid has also been shown to restore intracellular glutathione. Melatonin has been shown to stimulate a related enzyme, glutathione peroxidase, and silymarin, an extract of the seeds of the milk thistle plant (Silybum marianum) has also demonstrated an ability to replenish glutathione levels.