I'll divide these up so they are easier to answer with numbers.
1) Walking lunges are great and give my legs a huge pump, although, when I'm done and set the weights down my heart rate jumps to 160-170bpm and it feels like I can't catch my breath for like 10 seconds. Is this normal or should I be concerned? It scares me a bit whenever I'm breathing heavily and I feel like I can't get enough air in, kind of like when you get the wind knocked out of you. (I concentrate on breathing good throughout the set too...doesn't really make a difference)
2) When using a low bar position when squating is it natural for one to have to lean forward slitely to keep the bar from sliding off the back? I'm used to oly squats where I stand perfectly verticle at the end of the movement, with low bar wider stanced squats I find it's impossible for me to stand perfectly verticle, I always have this little forward lean to keep the weight centered.
3) When performing hyper extensions I get extremely dizzy and lite headed when I stand up after I'm done. I am guessing this may be because I'm looking down when I do this and the blood is rushing to my head? I tried looking up as much as I could on my last set today and I think it helped some, comments?
4) What is the deal with an increase of inner ear pressure after lower body days? I leave with popping ears for like an hour afterwards, really annoying, it may just be allergies but it has to have something to do with working out since it happens after my lower body lift (particularly after lunges....hmmm).
5) I am concerned that I may have too much posterior chain work in my setup, more specifically I'm questioning whether I should even have hyper extensions in my routine at all, comments? They are just getting kind of rediculous as I'm having to use more and more and more weight on them when things like sldl's and rdl's, all of which I already have in my program, do a better job of nailing my posterior chain anyway. Here are my lower body days.
Monday ME Lower
Squat work up to 3 rep max
Stiff-Legged Deadlift 6 x 5-8
Natural Hamstring Raise 3 x 5-8
Leg Raise 2 x 6-10
Hyper Extension 2 x 6-10
Thursday DE Lower
Speed Squat 5 x 3
Romanian Deadlift 6 x 5-8
DB Lunge 3 x 5-8
Low Pully Swiss Ball Crunches 2 x 6-10
Hyper Extension 2 x 6-10
Thank you everyone for taking your time out to check this thread and any input you may provide!!!
2) The forward lean is normal. I made a comment about it in your log a day or two ago. The idea isn't to sit upright, its the get a bit of forward bend which will let you bring in more hams and ass.
5) I think you could probably do without them on at least one of the days and do another ab exercise.
No idea on the other ones.
Danny
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Limitations are for people who have them.
1) Walking lunges are great and give my legs a huge pump, although, when I'm done and set the weights down my heart rate jumps to 160-170bpm and it feels like I can't catch my breath for like 10 seconds. Is this normal or should I be concerned? It scares me a bit whenever I'm breathing heavily and I feel like I can't get enough air in, kind of like when you get the wind knocked out of you. (I concentrate on breathing good throughout the set too...doesn't really make a difference)
This is certainly NOT normal and if you keep it up you will die...Okay, just kidding. It's perfectly normal. It's called EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). It used to be called oxygen debt. The exertion of your set is above the level that the body can provide energy via aerobic energy sources, so the heavy breathing is like paying back the debt. Your body is simply trying to restore short term energy via the aerobic system (increasing oxygen levels to make more ATP's for muscle contraction). Your breathing rate/depth during the set won't make a huge difference. This EPOC has been shown to last for an entire day after such a workout. I did a bunch of research on it back in the day when I was a bit of a lab rat (before studying EPOC was cool ).
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3) When performing hyper extensions I get extremely dizzy and lite headed when I stand up after I'm done. I am guessing this may be because I'm looking down when I do this and the blood is rushing to my head? I tried looking up as much as I could on my last set today and I think it helped some, comments?
Orthostatic hypotension (a drop in blood pressure to your brain). Same thing happens when you stand up really fast after laying down for a while. The longer you hang upside down, the stronger the response. Again, don't sweat it, but don't move away from the equipment until the tunnel vision and light headedness goes away so you don't trip over anything.
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4) What is the deal with an increase of inner ear pressure after lower body days? I leave with popping ears for like an hour afterwards, really annoying, it may just be allergies but it has to have something to do with working out since it happens after my lower body lift (particularly after lunges....hmmm).
Probably just part of the vaso-vagal response from very high levels of lactic acid accumulation (leg work generally produces a whole lot of LA due to larger muscle mass working hard). If you go out and run enough sprints with short rest periods, the same thing will happen. If you pay attention, you may also notice a queasy feeling or lack of appetite and the desire to get horizontal from the drop in blood pressure.
All these things are related to higher volume sets at bodybuilding intensity levels. As you adapt, they may not show up as strongly but will continue to some extent if you maintain the level of effort. You won't notice much of anything if you're doing heavy sets of 1-3 reps except for the hypotension from holding your breath to maintain stability.
When I read the first sentence of you response Bill my heart when KATHUMP THUMP THUMP!!! LOL! Good god Bill, you are the smartest man alive. I greatly appreciate the information!
p.s.~ are you this smart about everything? you could dominate jeopordy...
Quick follow up question for Bill. Do you think cardio training would help decrease the effects of epoc and vaso-vagal responses? I should have looked this up before I asked but I'll be lazy, if I find it in text I'll post some answers. Thanks Bill.
Originally posted by Newlife: Bill, Would Creatine help the situation with EPOC since it provides more ATP to your body?
Great response and questions! This stuff is priceless...
Doubtful. Time to fatigue may be enhanced, but EPOC will persist. Energy resources recover quite quickly (speaking of creatine phosphate resynthesis), but that's not the only reason oxygen consumption remains elevated. There are a number of homeostatic disturbances going on such as elevated hormonal levels, heart rate, etc.
Quick follow up question for Bill. Do you think cardio training would help decrease the effects of epoc and vaso-vagal responses? I should have looked this up before I asked but I'll be lazy, if I find it in text I'll post some answers. Thanks Bill.
Nope. It's the intensity level and duration at that intensity that determines the response. As you train at that level you will become more tolerant to the effects.
Bill
P.S. EPOC and metabolic distrubance is what the most effective fat reduction programs (like Craig's Turbulence Training and Alwyn's Afterburn are based on). Increased utilization of fat for energy in the post exercise period (24 hours +)as demonstrated by increased O2 consumption.
quote:Originally posted by Newlife: Bill, Would Creatine help the situation with EPOC since it provides more ATP to your body?
Great response and questions! This stuff is priceless...
Doubtful. Time to fatigue may be enhanced, but EPOC will persist. Energy resources recover quite quickly (speaking of creatine phosphate resynthesis), but that's not the only reason oxygen consumption remains elevated. There are a number of homeostatic disturbances going on such as elevated hormonal levels, heart rate, etc.
Bill [/quote]Thanks for the response Bill. As usual...you know everything!
I'm flattered but the reality is that I know very little. As they say, the more you know, the more you realize how little you know, so keep studying and applying.
Bill, are you coming to Chicago any time soon? I'll trade you a nice dinner for some injury talk. [img]smile.gif[/img] I'm disappointed I am not going to meet you at the retreat.
I have been wondering about 1) and 4) myself, good thing you posted this Rev. And thanks for the great info, where do you find the time to learn this stuff?
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And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
Originally posted by Kaiser: Bill, are you coming to Chicago any time soon? I'll trade you a nice dinner for some injury talk. [img]smile.gif[/img] I'm disappointed I am not going to meet you at the retreat.
Unfortunately, no time soon although I should just pack up the wife and head up to hang out. I like Chicago when it starts to warm-up and I'm dying to see Grasso's facility.
My wife's business (tradeshow exhibits) is really cooking this time of year and I'm working on too many things at once and trying to get my foot in the door of a new golf/country club near by. However, you're more than welcome to send me a PM.
mAtThEw as far as when you learn this stuff, you make time and you learn it over a period of years, apply what you've learned, keep reading, apply, etc. Mentors help a lot and I've been lucky to have some good ones (and bad ones!!). The hard part is keeping up, so I live on a 27 hour day.
quote: 3) When performing hyper extensions I get extremely dizzy and lite headed when I stand up after I'm done. I am guessing this may be because I'm looking down when I do this and the blood is rushing to my head? I tried looking up as much as I could on my last set today and I think it helped some, comments?
Orthostatic hypotension (a drop in blood pressure to your brain). Same thing happens when you stand up really fast after laying down for a while. The longer you hang upside down, the stronger the response. Again, don't sweat it, but don't move away from the equipment until the tunnel vision and light headedness goes away so you don't trip over anything.
[/QB][/quote]Bill, I assume that answer applies to my question as well, but I will ask anyway. When I deadlift heavily, I get lightheaded right away, which seems directly applicable to the answer you gave. However when I squat, its about 10 seconds or so after I rack the bar when the lightheadedness sets in. Is that essentially the same thing?
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Quoth David Banner: "Like a pimp"
It's not a beer belly. It's a gas tank for a sax machine.
Since this is already designated as a thread for questions about lower body training, I'll ask here. What does elevating your heals while squatting do? I feel more stress around my knees, but can't figure out what else it does differently than a normal sqaut.
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And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
It's perfectly normal. It's called EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). It used to be called oxygen debt. The exertion of your set is above the level that the body can provide energy via aerobic energy sources, so the heavy breathing is like paying back the debt. Your body is simply trying to restore short term energy via the aerobic system (increasing oxygen levels to make more ATP's for muscle contraction). Your breathing rate/depth during the set won't make a huge difference. This EPOC has been shown to last for an entire day after such a workout. I did a bunch of research on it back in the day when I was a bit of a lab rat (before studying EPOC was cool 
).
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