High Fat Diets: Just Another Fad

Are high fat diets really the best way to lose weight that the world has seemingly just discussed? The answer is a resounding NO! Trends come and go. There was a big anti-fat movement years ago. Now it has changed to the anti-carbohydrate movement. Both movements (or trends, rather) promised better health and weight loss. Before you jump on the anti-carbohydrate bandwagon, consider a few of the points below/

Carbohydrates are macro nutrients

There are 9 calories in 1 gram of fat, 4 calories in one gram of carbohydrates and 4 calories in one gram of protein. For those of you who would like to know, there are 7 calories in 1 gram of alcohol (and no, this is NOT a macro nutrient, wink wink).

Carbohydrates are good for you

Carbohydrates are good for you and should not be banned from our diets. This excludes sugar (the simplest carbohydrate), which should be brought to an absolute minimum except for fruits and vegetables or used to spike blood sugar before or after exercise. Our bodies break carbohydrates down for energy faster than fats and proteins. They are a great way to fuel up before exercise and refuel straight afterwards to put the body in recovery (muscle building) mode as soon as possible. Carbohydrates are also broken down into glycogen which is stored (along with other places like the liver) in the muscle, which attributes to their size. The more glycogen a muscle contains, the larger it is. Carbohydrates are not bad, but western diets almost always contain too much of them. The problem is therefore not carbohydrates, but the proportion in which they are consumed.

Fats are good for you

Fats are not bad for you either, except for plant oils used in extreme heat like deep frying. When plant oils are super-heated (like they are when they are used to fry things), they become very unhealthy for the human body. They contribute to unhealthy cholesterol levels, create unhealthy heart environments, increase risk of diabetes and can lead to obesity. Fats are more calorie-dense than carbohydrates but take longer to be broken down in the body for energy. Fats also keep you fuller for longer than carbohydrates. Fats are great in the morning because they take longer to break down so that you feel fuller and it therefore takes longer before the body starts to hunger for more calories. Because the body craves less for longer as a result of a fatty breakfast, it learns to break down its own fat for energy instead of relying on the quicker energy release from carbohydrates.

Protein is good for you

At the risk of being doctor obvious; protein is good for you, too. It cannot be stored in the body (except for in muscle mass, a storage we do NOT want to tuck into) and therefore should be accompanied by fats in the morning, when your body has not had any protein for hours of sleep. Your body needs protein to grow and build your body and muscles. Protein is also beneficial straight after your workout so that your body can recover and start the recovery/rebuilding process. High protein, low fat and low carbohydrate diets are okay for short periods of time to drop fat quickly, but can't be sustained for long periods of time because your body will start to break down muscle for energy.

Proportion

As you should be able to see from the three points above, the key to a healthy diet which supports your goals is proportion. There should be a healthy balance between all three macro nutrients. Focus on eating fats and protein in the morning, protein and carbohydrates around (before and after) exercise and a balance of all throughout the day, depending on your goals.

Price

This is my personal guess as to why trends are often swaying between high carbohydrate and high fat diets. Unfortunately, protein is more expensive than both carbohydrates and fats. Furthermore, the healthier foods are more expensive than the less healthy foods. This makes sense when you look at how well carbohydrates that trick the body into thinking that it is a protein are sold. Examples of these are beef and chicken flavored chips and noodles. People might be satisfying their cravings for more protein with cheaper versions which are actually carbohydrates or fats.

Calories

The best way to drop weight is to drop total calories consumed to levels below expenditure (the bodybuilding industry has been saying this for years). You can do this by increasing caloric expenditure, decreasing calories consumed (through diet) or a combination of both. It is important for optimum health to keep a good balance between carbohydrates, fats and proteins without completely avoiding any of them.

The real culprits to avoid are sugars, super-heated plant oils, additives and processed foods; not entire macro nutrients like carbohydrates or fats. Keep everything in balance and focus on having fewer calories than what is expended instead of excluding a food group that your body needs. STAY STRONG!

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High Intensity Interval Training

High intensity interval training is a favorite form of fat burning exercise for many bodybuilders for a few reasons. It is one of the quickest ways to shed fat, does not decrease muscle size, takes less time than standard cardio and is considered less boring than most other cardiovascular exercises.

What is high intensity interval training?

High intensity interval training is a form of cardio where you alternate between extreme bursts of exertion and less intense bouts of activity. This can be done with running, swimming, rowing, skipping and other exercises. The typical timing is 1 minute to 30 seconds of extreme exertion and 2 minutes to 1 minute of lighter exercise respectively. For example, someone who is performing high intensity interval training while using running as their method will sprint as fast as they can for 30 seconds, jog at a medium intensity for 1 minute and repeat for 10 to 40 minutes without taking a break, depending on their fitness level. The lower intensity period is almost always double the amount of time as the high intensity period, acting as the form of active rest while keeping the heart rate up. It is important to push yourself as hard as you can (running as fast as you can, for example) during the high intensity part, while you almost catch your breath during the lower intensity period.

Benefits of high intensity interval training

High fat burning capability

Pushing the body to perform at its maximum possible energy output burns more calories in a shorter period of time than any other form of exercise. The body is also put into a fat burning mode for a longer period of time after exercise as it tries to recover from the cardio at such a high intensity. More fat is metabolized (broken down and used) one to two days after this form of exercise than when it is actually performed. It is because of this extreme fat burning state that makes high intensity interval training such an effective way to burn fat.

High intensity interval training does not harm muscle mass as much as other cardio forms

Another reason why this form of exercise is loved by many is because it does not decrease muscle size as much as other cardio forms like standard steady-state cardio. Muscle is comprised of fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers. Slow twitch muscle fibers are used for longer periods of time and result in decreased muscle mass. This is why marathon runners have skinny bodies. Fast twitch muscle fibers are used for shorter periods of time that require a higher level of intensity, like weight lifting. These fast twitch fibers are the ones that are responsible for increased muscle size. Stimulating slow twitch muscle fibers too much will result in decreased muscle size as the body adapts to the new stimulus (yes, running a marathon will cost you some gains). High intensity interval training, on the other hand, puts the body in a fat burning zone, but stimulates the fast twitch muscle fibers instead of the competing slow twitch muscle fibers, as maximum output is reached in a shorter period of time. This means that it won't affect muscle size the same way as traditional cardio.

It takes less time

This is one of many people's favorite things about high intensity interval training. A simple 30 minute training session can burn more calories, overall, than a 2 hour standard cardio training session. For people who have limited time to train or who want to dedicate most of their training time to weight training, this form of cardio is ideal. It is also less boring than standard cardio. Some people dread the thought of idly walking on a treadmill for long periods of time.

Things to consider regarding high intensity interval training

Every form of exercise has its pro's and con's. Here are a few things to consider about this form of training.

High intensity interval training pits a lot of stress on the central nervous system

All exercise stresses the central nervous system. The central nervous system becomes stronger as a response, just like muscles get weaker during training but stronger when they have the time and nutrients needed to recover. The greater the intensity of an exercise is, the greater the stress that is placed on the central nervous system. Putting too much stress on the central nervous system leads to negative symptoms like a weaker immune system, decreased ability to recover from and perform exercise, and over training syndrome. High intensity interval training stresses the central nervous system more than most exercises because of its intensity. This is why it is recommended that high intensity interval training should not be done for more than 3 times a week for most people. If your current weight training program is already putting a lot of strain on your central nervous system, then adding high intensity interval training might not be the best idea. If your central nervous system can handle the extra stress placed on it by adding high intensity interval training to your program, this won't be a problem.

Increased nutrient need

The body will respond to this exercise by scrambling to recover, even until long after the exercise is done. It will not only burn more fat cells because of this, but will also need more nutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, oxygen etc.) to recover. Make sure that your body has enough of the nutrients it needs so that the body does not end up breaking down muscle for those nutrients. 

Higher chance of injury than standard cardio

Because of the high intensity, the risk of injury is greater than most other exercises. This does not mean that high intensity interval training is particularly dangerous, but that caution must be taken to make sure that injury is avoided. Higher intensities (of any exercise) put more pressure on joints, for example, than lower intensities.

It takes a lot out of you

High intensity interval training takes a lot of energy. If you do it right, you will feel drained afterwards (and possibly for the next few days afterwards!). This needs to be taken into consideration when deciding when to perform this exercise. Doing it just before weight training, for example, will lower the amount of energy you have left for your weight training session.

High intensity interval training is a great way to burn fat, increase fitness and add a level of intensity to your program but will require extra energy, nutrients and planning. STAY STRONG!

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Can High Reps Build Muscle Mass?

Short answer: yes. Working out in the higher rep range can build muscle. Read on to find out why.

The jury is out on the rep range that causes the most muscle size. Some professionals swear by the higher rep range of 15-20 reps, whilst others swear by reps as low as 3-5. The most common consensus is that a typical 8-12 rep range is ideal. However, the question remains: can a 15-20 rep range elicit great muscle growth?

Reasons why high rep ranges are great for muscle growth

1) Increasing muscle glycogen storage

High rep training is often referred to as hypertrophy-focused weight training while low rep training is often referred to as strength training. High rep training requires more glycogen, a form of energy stored in the muscles, because more energy is spent by the muscles to complete more repetitions of movement. The individual muscles will adapt by storing more glycogen in the muscle tissue. Increased glycogen storage translates to increased muscle size. This is the biggest (see the pun?) reason why high rep training increases muscle size.

2) Increased joint strength

Low rep training places a heavy burden on joints, which over time can lead to injury as sufficient rest is not given specifically for joints to recover and rebuild. Joints take longer to strengthen in response to training than muscles do. High rep training strengthens joints because the muscle can be maximally taxed without overloading the joint with weights that are too heavy for them to handle. High rep training is therefore best used to build stronger joints (or recover joint strength from a previous low rep training program) before following a low rep exercise routine.

3) High reps build muscular endurance

High reps build muscular endurance, which is important for getting bigger guns. 

4) Longer time under tension

Muscle grows as a response to stimulus. The amount of time a muscle is tensed on order to execute or hold a movement determines the amount of stimulus it gets, which determines the growth it will attempt to achieve. Higher reps naturally have a greater time under tension than lower reps, giving the muscle enough stimuli to prompt it to grow further.

Even though high reps can build bigger muscles, there are reasons why high rep training is not always the best muscle building rep range.

Reasons why high rep training is not the best muscle building rep range

1) High reps activate mid-twitch muscle fibers

High repetitions do not activate fast twitch muscle fibers as well as low repetitions do. This is a very important point because fast twitch muscle fibers have the ability to grow the largest, compared to mid twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers. The type of muscle fiber that is activated depends on the duration of the exercise. Low-rep weight training activates fast twitch muscle fibers, while long-distance running activates slow twitch muscle fibers, for example. This is why the leg muscles of bodybuilders are much larger than those of marathon runners. Therefore, in order to achieve the best possible muscle size, a lower rep range (lower than 15-20 reps) is ideal as they will better target the potentially bigger, fast twitch muscle fibers.

2) High reps require more calories

High rep training uses up glycogen stores, which the body gets from carbohydrates. More calories are needed to sustain a high rep training routine, meaning that less of these calories are actually used for building muscle. This is easily avoided, though, by consuming more calories through the diet.

3) High rep training places stress on the Central Nervous System

Since muscles are placed under tension for longer periods of time, the central nervous system is also placed under stress for a longer period of time, especially if worked until failure after every set. This point is not as important as the first 2 points because ALL exercise places stress on the central nervous system, including low-rep training. The central nervous system will adapt to exercise by getting stronger and more able to cope with the stress, but this takes time and too much stress placed on the central nervous system can lead to over training.

If high rep training is great for muscle growth but not the best rep range, then what is the best rep range?

The best rep range is the one you haven't done. This is because the best thing to do is vary between rep ranges for the best muscle growth over time.

Why should you vary your rep ranges?

1) Muscle confusion

The number 1 reason why you should vary your rep ranges is because of muscle confusion. The muscle grows by being forced adapt to a stimulus. Muscle growth will plateau over time as it gets accustomed to a certain stimulus and therefore does not feel the urgent need to grow and adapt anymore. This is why people who change from a low rep range to a higher rep range (and vice versa) experience greater muscle growth. It is advised to change your workout program every 3rd month or so for the best results, altering things like your rep range, number of sets, exercise order, rest in between sets, style of training, etc. or a combination of the above.

2) Joint strength

Lower reps activate fast twitch muscle fibers the best, but can take their toll on joints over time. Higher reps strengthen joints the best but don't activate the fast twitch muscle fibers as well as lower repetitions. By alternating between rep ranges, muscle can optimally strengthened as well as joints. To read more on joint pains from exercise and recovery, click here.

3) Muscle strength and size

By alternating between different rep ranges, you can focus on building muscle strength as well as size. Some rep ranges will increase the one more than the other, even though both will increase with both rep ranges. Strength and size are very closely interlinked (strength is needed to lift heavier to grow and size is needed to house more strength), but different exercises and rep ranges affect the balance of this spectrum differently. 

Which rep range is best suited for beginners?

The higher rep range is best suited for beginners for the following reasons:

1) Form

Beginners need to focus on using the right form (executing the exercise the right way) more than anything else to stimulate muscle growth and avoid injury. After a while, lifters start to get a feel for what form is correct and what form is not. By using higher repetitions and therefore lower weights, more emphasis can be placed on learning, practicing and getting the feel for the right form. 

2) Joint Strength

As discussed above, high reps will be needed to strengthen joints so that heavier weights can be lifted later on.

3) Mind-to-muscle connection

Beginners need to develop a mind to muscle connection, which is the ability to force a muscle to perform at its maximal output for an extended period of time. Low rep ranges rely heavily on an already developed mind to muscle connection in order to get the most out of every rep. High reps are a great way to develop this connection.

4) Muscular Endurance

Higher reps develop muscular endurance, which is greatly needed to push the muscle to a point where it is optimally stimulated to grow. High reps develop this faster than lower reps do.

We hope that you have learned something from this article. High reps can indeed increase muscle mass, but the best way to do so is through a varied rep range. STAY STRONG!

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