Quote: (05-11-2016 03:34 PM)ScrapperTL Wrote:
Quote: (05-11-2016 03:19 PM)mikeymike Wrote:
Quote: (05-09-2016 10:17 PM)ScrapperTL Wrote:
Quote: (05-09-2016 06:22 PM)mikeymike Wrote:
Quote: (05-09-2016 12:59 PM)ScrapperTL Wrote:
Mikeymike, I am a very reasonable logic-minded person and I have to admit you have put together a great case & some very strong arguments above against Fasted Training + Cold Immersion.
What is your opinion on Hot Showers being shown to temporarily disrupt sperm and testosterone production?
and Cold Showers being shown to temporarily increase testosterone and sperm production?
You have to understand, unlike most "elite" athletes, I am not on TRT or Anabolics year round.
If a Hot Shower can disrupt Testosterone production for an hour or two a day and a cold one can boost it.
That is a potential 730 to 1460 hours a year, my Testosterone Production is elevated versus disrupted.
Everything adds up over time - this has to account for a significant body composition change overtime for the natural weightlifter.
Although, I can not prove this theory, just assumptions.
Also, if improved recovery is 100% proven with Cold Immersion, than this will indirectly lead to significant beneficial body composition changes as well.
Increased recovery = more frequent training sessions and less injuries.
As for Fasted Training - I train first thing in the AM for 30 to 45 minutes. right after awakening.
Typically I have gone 9 to 10 hours without food by this time.
I have been doing this same routine for 17 months now and I am easily maintaining the lowest body fat % of my life.
I understand however that this as well, is 100% anecdotal.
Re: hot and cold showers affecting test levels, sperm production, motility etc. What I was saying regarding fat loss with cold showers also applies here, I just don't feel we are elevating temps long enough in either direction for test levels to be affected in a meaningfull way during a shower. If you were to soak for 10-15 minutes in an ice bath you might see some slight elevation of test levels. If you were the type to take long hot baths or hot tub soaks daily you could see a slight decrease but I don't believe a shower is going to allow you to see any measurable gains even over time.
Improved recovery is proven with cold immersion but it hasn't translated to improved gains, in fact it's been the opposite. Cold will help with inflammation but inflammation isn't necessarily bad it's just not comfortable. There have been a couple studies done on the effect of using cold immersion therapy long term and it's been showing to decrease strength and hypertrophy and thus less gains overall. For a bb'er/pl'er this is terrible for the professional athlete who has lactic acid build up and needs to be able to function at peak performance it is less of an issue.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.11...0/abstract
I understand that you're getting results with your routine, my question is have you tried other variations, maybe starting the fast earlier the prior day and training fed. My gut says it's more likely to be the strict adherence to diet (lowcarb) and IF combined with the dedication to training that has been the driving force behind your results moreso than any significant results from fasted training. I think you may be able to get superior results from combining these elements with fed state training.
Your pushing me out of my comfort zone!
and for that I'll say thank you
I'll give it a shot brother, try shifting a couple AM workouts a week to PM workouts and see how it goes.
I appreciate you noticing my dedication - willpower & discipline are definitely my most finely honed attributes.
Probably I won't give up the cold showers though, call me sadistic & twisted if you want - I have grown to enjoy the raw "alertness" that lasts for a couple hours afterwards.
Hot showers make me drowsy.
My pleasure, I will be very interested to hear how it goes, keep us updated!
And definitely, if you're finding benefit from the cold shower no reason to stop. There is no negative to a short shower so no harm done.
Yo Mikeymike!
While I have your attention, whats your opinion on training to failure?
Some of my favorite movements are bodyweight training to failure, things like push-ups, variations on planks, pull-ups, dips, knee-ups etc...
Occasionally I will do lightweight dumbbell/barbell movements to failure too.
I've noticed majorly increased vascularity from this type of training, although I also notice a lot of soreness the next day - preventing me from exercising that muscle group again for awhile.
Not sure if these methods are good for muscle/strength development or purely just for endurance/vascularity?
Training to failure can be a valuable tool in your development but it depends on how one applies it and how often. You mentioned the exercises you like to go to failure on but did not mention what the rep ranges are to hit failure. For best results we want to work thru a variety of rep ranges (2-15 reps) to get both strength and hypertrophy results. If you're doing an exercise and you're blasting out 50+ reps, while it may lead to some nasty doms and a vicious pump that day, long term that isn't going to translate into any real strength and muscle gains. On the flipside, going ultraheavy and going to fail every working set every workout is a surefire way to burn out your cns and see strength regression and limit your progress. You can get amazing results and never go to failure as long as you continue to overload but you can continue to overload while applying some training to failure. There can be overlap between the 2 but between the 2 overload is of primary importance so you have to find a way to add failure training in, in a way that doesn't affect your ability to keep increasing weights/intensity. If you are getting over 15 reps while training to failure, you're not lifting heavy enough. If you want to throw in a superlight ultra high rep exercise once in a blue moon to throw something new at a muscle it can be of some benefit but it can't be a regular part of a training program if you want to maximize results. If you've decided to take a set to failure on a particular exercise make sure the weight is heavy enough that it allows you to achieve a goal, either hypertrophy or strength, higher 12-15 for hypertrophy and 2-6 for strength so pick a weight that youd fail near the goal. There is little benefit to muscle and strength goals to endlessly rep out (16+ reps) light weights on a regular basis.