AA Fitness

How To Get Better At Pull-Ups | The Science Behind The Pull Ups | Get Your First Pull-up

2020-04-07T19:14:00.000+05:00

Photo by Anastase Maragos on Unsplash

Pull ups are one of the best exercises for increasing the size and strength of the upper back and arm muscles. They also contribute to your core development. Not to mention, it is an extremely convenient exercise as well, given that you can effectively work your back muscle with the pull up bar and only your body weight. However, this comes with a price. Pull ups are generally one of the most difficult exercises to master. Most people actually use very wrong approaches to master pull ups, for example doing Lat (latissimus dorsi) muscle pull downs and machine assisted pull ups won't cut it down. In this blog, let’s look into some studies that indicate the most effective steps in achieving your first pull up:

1) Strengthen the Pull Muscles Groups:

Here is one study (here is the link) that shows that the muscles that are most activated during pull ups are core, biceps, upper and mid traps.

Therefore, these are the muscles you have to work on. According to the research, “Activating the main muscles used in the alternative pulling exercises to a similar extent as that of the pull up will result in maximal transference from the training program and exercises to the exercise of interest; the body weight pull-up.” So, what are the best alternative exercises that will strengthen these muscle groups?

Scapular pulls:

First, start with the scapular pull ups as it will target the lower trap: that is really important for your pull strength. Now to perform this exercise simply hang on the bar, relax your shoulders down now pull your body without bending your arms, and give little pause at the top. This exercise will not only help you in strengthening your muscles, but also helps you in simulating the first phase of the pull up. As pull up is on two main phases: scapula retraction and contraction of biceps to achieve full range of motion.

Single arm pull-down:

Now, the next exercise that you should do is kneeling single arm pull-down. This will really help you in strengthening your lats, biceps and core as will. This exercise is more effective that the traditional lat muscle pull downs because it is a unifunctional exercise (i.e. you will train each side separately). Traditional let muscle pull down is a pretty similar movement as a pull up, but it would help you to transfer well in terms of strength development as the research (here is the link) shows that there is really weak correlation between these two exercises, one reason for this is that the traditional lat muscle pull downs do not contribute to any activation of the core muscles.

Australian Pull-ups:

The next exercise that you have to perform in Australian Pull-ups (AKA Inverted Row Pull-ups), this exercise will further strengthen your Lat, core and arms, but also emphasizes the upper traps as the research shows that this muscle is highly engaged during pullups (here is the link). To perform this exercise, simply hang on a lower bar while extending your lags on the ground and while preforming the rowing exercise, try to squeeze your trap muscles at the top.

2) Neurological improvement:

Besides strengthening your major muscles, it is important that you should neurologically get better in the movement itself. Well, obviously if you can’t do a single pull-up you have find some alternatives to practice with.

Resistance band pull-up:

The first exercise that we use for this purpose is Resistance band pull-up which we would highly recommend incorporating in your workout routine as it is a closer exercise to the pull-up itself. Resistance band pull-up are more effective than machine assisted pull-ups as it activates your core while performing the exercises whereas machine assisted pull-up doesn’t.

Negative Pull-ups:

Finally, do negative pull ups for strengthening the eccentric portion of the pull ups. It also gives you a confident feeling for controlling your body against gravity. To perform this exercise, simply jump up to the bar and then slowly come down with little pauses.

SETS AND REPS

For each exercise perform 13 sets of 10 to 15 reps after every second day.

Note: if you are an overweight you really have to cut down your weight first so that there will be a lesser load on your muscle fibers.

Why Have You Stopped Losing Fat? (Adaptive Thermogenesis)

2020-04-01T21:04:00.002+05:00

METABOLISM

Your metabolism, which means all the processes going on in the body, require energy to be carried out.
Every action, voluntary or involuntary uses the calories you take. In this regard, the term Total daily
Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is used. It means all the energy you use in a day.

TDEE can be categorized into,

BASAL METABOLIC RATE (BMR):

The minimum energy required by the body to fully perform the functions at rest. Functions like breathing, cell production, blood circulation are included in this. Your TDEE should be such that your BMR is 70-75% of it. A person’s BMR can be calculated by

Harris-Benedict’s formula:

For men: BMR= 66.47+(6.24× weight in lbs) +( 12.7 × height in inches) – (6.755×age)

For women: BMR= 655.1+(4.35× weight in lbs) +( 4.7 × height in inches) – (4.7×age)

THERMAL EFFECT OF FOOD: Thermal effect of food, also known as Dietary Induced Thermogenesis This includes the energy your body expends to digest, absorb and dispose nutrients. This is about 10% of your TDEE. The TEF for all macronutrients is different.

1) For carbohydrates, TEF is 5-15%
2) For proteins, TEF is 20-35%
3) For fats, TEF is also about 5-15%

It means that protein is hardest nutrient to break and therefore, greater protein intake is recommended
for fat loss. Some foods are also thought to be negative-calorie which means they have a greater TEF
than the total calories in it. This is just a myth related to low calorie foods like lemon, raw celery, apple, grapefruit etc.

THERMAL EFFECT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY:
TEPA makes up 15-20% of your TDEE and you can control or lose weight using TEPA. TEPA includes:

1) Exercise: e.g. endurance, strength, balance and flexibility.

2) Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis:

This includes all your activities other than exercise such as standing, sitting, walking to the school bus, lifting that jug of water. Yes, these activities also burn your calories. NEAT can be called as a body’s natural resistance against obesity. Leaving the sedentary life behind and just being active in your daily life can make some difference. Adopting healthy activities like cycling, going for a walk,
playing some sports.

Why Have You Stopped Losing Fast?

Well, this is specifically for those who are pretty lean and have successfully lost fat but have hit a
plateau. We are going to explain something really important in terms of your fat lose, and this has come down to this term “Adaptive Thermogenesis (AT)”. The leaner we get the harder it becomes to shift that stubborn fat. So why is this? because essentially the evolution of our body means that our body does not care that we want to look good on Instagram and it doesn’t care that we want to be 8% shaded with abs. Our body wants to preserve an amount of stored fat as energy for times of emergency. So, as we lose body fat and lose over all weight our body will readjust to our new weight, and our caloric expenditure will decrease as our body becomes more efficient at using calories with that lesser body mass. Therefore, AT based on fat lose is the process whereby the body is readjusting the amount of energy that it can operate on, and depending on the speed of our fat lose this can become a disproportionate in relation to the lower number of calories you are eating. Now this hormone called Leptin (the energy hormone) is really important, and so what will happen is your body will decrease the amount of leptin thereby increasing hunger and encouraging you to eat more to return your body more sustainable fat loss level according to how your body perceives it. so, the leaner you get the harder it’s going to be to simulate this fat loss.

So, What Can You Do?

There are few approaches we can take to overcome this problem. In terms of nutrition we don’t have
the research to backup these nutritional approaches to breaking these plateaus, but we can use good
common sense and solid principles to approach this. Well, we are not nutritionists so we need to be
careful to not outreach but on aspect of nutrition that we do feel confident in stating that maintaining
Adequate protein levels are vital during these times of fat loss and these times when you are leaner and approaching theses fat loss plateaus. Why is that? because of course on the one hand you guys know that protein is vital in terms of building and minting muscle mass, but because of the TEF (THERMAL EFFECT OF FOOD) of protein is comparatively high we can use it to manipulate our body against this plateau. And the other approach we can take is to increase your Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) that will help you to increase the BASAL METABOLIC RATE (BMR). You can also think about your training sessions, now of course resistance training is essential for minting muscle mass and increasing muscle mass which of course is going to increase your BMR, but these intense training sessions will put this energy demand on your body. It is really important to maintain an intense level of training that will come down to intangible factors of discipline, the motivation and that’s something that needs to come from you.

How Much Protein Do You Actually Need? (Protein Obsession)

2020-03-27T11:20:00.002+05:00

For this Blog I am going to share some information from multiple important sources around the world and then I’m going to discuss the actual way to look at this question.
This isn’t just a factoid that there seems to be an over inflation of “how much protein you actually need”. As a result of this hype on protein intake, many people, even beginners spend their money on protein supplements and do not go for natural foods. Now let’s look at the facts regarding this norm.
A meta-analysis of research into protein intake found that protein intake more than 1.6g per Kg of body weight was not effective in resistance training in relation to muscle mass.
Dr. Jims Stoppani, one of the most visible people in the fitness industry, recommended up to 2g of protein per body weight pounds (at least). For example, if you are a person weighing around 160 lbs. then you have to take “at least” 320g protein in a day, and that is almost equal to 9 chicken breasts in a day (definitely need protein supplement in this case).
What I have found from my own research is that these figures are not decidable. When I started doing research on this topic, I found that Asian dietary figures are different than that of international ones.

Protein Recommendation By Institute of Medicine:

• According to the Institute of Medicine (USA) The APR (Average Protein Requirement) in a day is 0.8g-1.0g /kg/day, and the most important thing is that these figures were said be the same for the athletes as well, but this recommendation faced many controversial statements as in the case of resistance training athletes this figure is highly inadequate.

Protein Recommendation By Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR):

• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommended The APR (Average Protein Requirement) almost about 0.8g-1.0g /kg/day for a normal person and even for a person who is slightly engaged in sports, and for an athlete who is training high intense aerobic exercises this figure increases up to 1.5g to 2g/kg/day.

Protein Recommendation By ISSN (International Society of Sport Nutrition):

• According to ISSN (International Society of Sport Nutrition), the Average Protein Requirement for resistance training athlete or endurance training athlete is 1.4g to 2g/kg/day, but if you are in fat burning state (I.e. you are in the caloric deficit) then this figure increases up to 2.3 to 3.1g/kg/day.

Protein Recommendation By ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine):

• ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), DC (Dieticians of Canada) and Academy of Nutrition and Dieticians recommended f 1.2g to 2g for a normal sports man and up to 2g/kg/day in the situations of hypo-energetic diet or injury in order to preserve LBM (Lean Body Mass).

Actual Way to Look at This Question

What I have concluded is that the actual amount of protein you should intake depend very heavily on your specific characteristics like

• Your training experience and intensity.

• Training frequency (how many times do you train in a week).

• Body composition.

The very simple thumb rule is; the more muscle you break down the more protein you have to intake. But keep one thing in mind you're not a professional bodybuilder your protein intake must not be greater as Dr. Jims Stoppani’s recommendation. So, your protein intake should be within the range of 1.5g to 2g per body weight kg (considering that your intensity level in pretty high). This range is fairly enough for the positive nitrogen balance. Furthermore, your eating protocols, body fat percentage and manipulation of carbohydrate intake (e.g. in caloric deficit you have to lower down your carb intake and there for you have to increase the protein intake to meet your caloric goals and vice versa) can change these recommended digits.

Conclusionary Remarks of Brendan Egan:

“The demands of physical exertion mean that protein requirements for athletes and active adults are now accepted as being greater than those described by population reference intakes. The latest guidelines for nutrition and athletic performance intakes ranging from 1.2–2.0 g/kg/day, whether performing aerobic or resistance exercise, and greater intakes in situations of hypo-energetic diet or injury in order to preserve Lean Body Mass. Taking a whole diet perspective informed by a meal-by-meal approach and the
multifactorial interactions between protein source, meal timing and pattern of distribution, and
macronutrient co-ingestion around exercise, practical nutrition strategies can be implemented on that
basis. These are in contrast to non-specific; default recommendations of a large, whole diet increase in protein intake. Longer term studies are required to confirm the efficacy of these recommendations and strategies, which are primarily inferred from data from acute studies, which have been fertile
for hypothesis generation but require rigorous investigation in free-living settings. Therefore, within the broad framework of recommended ranges and being cognizant of other macronutrient intakes, a
personalized and periodized approach to nutrition is required depending on an individual’s sport, training volume, phase and goals.”

get full research: Link

Can't Afford Gym No Problem, Here is a Free Home Workout Plan for You Guys

2020-03-24T14:28:00.000+05:00

8 WEEKS WORK OUT ROUTINE

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

NOTE:

I won’t recommend you to have a workout regimen like training your specific muscle on specific day (e.g. biceps on Monday), rather will recommend you to train your muscles on a systematic schedule as mentioned below

NOTE:

If you are a beginner and you're not familiar with the exercises I've mentioned below, simply just search them on the internet or YouTube.

NOTE:

Here above “Day 1” is not Monday. “Day 1” is the day when you'll start working out.

WORKOUT

FULL BODY:

CYCLE 1 (Push muscle group):

EXERCISE 1 (Simple push ups):

Beginner level:

SETS: 2
Repetitions: 5 to 8.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Intermediate level:

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 12 to 15.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Advanced level:

SETS: 5
Repetitions: 15 to 20.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

EXERCISE 2 (decline pushups):

Beginner level:

SETS: 2
Repetitions: 5 to 8.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Intermediate level:

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 12 to 15.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Advanced level:

SETS: 5
Repetitions: 15 to 20.

CYCLE 2 (Pull muscle group)

EXERCISE 1 (pullups):

Beginner level:

SETS: 2
Repetitions: 2 to 4.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Intermediate level:

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 5 to 6.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Advanced level:

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 8 to 10.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

EXERCISE 2 (Chin ups):

Beginner level:

SETS: 2
Repetitions: 3 to 4.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Intermediate level:

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 5 to 6.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Advanced level:

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 8 to 10.

CYCLE 3 (legs):

EXERCISE 1 (squads):

Beginner level:

SETS: 2
Repetitions: 12 to 15.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Intermediate level:

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 20.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Advanced level:

SETS: 5
Repetitions: 20.

EXERCISE 2 (Lunges):

Beginner level:

SETS: 2
Repetitions: 12 to 15.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Intermediate level:

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 20.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Advanced level:

SETS: 5
Repetitions: 20.

EXERCISE 3 (Body weight Hip Thruster):

Beginner level:

SETS: 2
Repetitions: 12 to 15.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Intermediate level:

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 20.

NOTE: If it seems too easy either do slower repetitions or jut move to the next level.

Advanced level:

SETS: 5
Repetitions: 20.

CORE & MOBILITY

Note: I'm not going to mention 3 levels of workout, there for at any level you have to follow the same routine.

Exercise 1 (crunches)

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 15 to 20.

Exercise 2 (leg raises)

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 15 to 20.

Exercise 3 (Russian twist)

SETS: 3
Repetitions: 15 to 20.

Exercise 4 (abs plank)

SETS: 3
Duration: 30 sec to 1 min.

" get PDF of the workout plan"