💪 Training Valor Newsletter🦵

🔶 Sample Workout – 4-day Bodybuilding & Power

This program uses powerlifting, olympic weightlifting and bodybuilding exercises combined to form a muscle building and power development phase. Most sessions will start with cardio and some stretching to warm up. Then is the main power exercise followed by 1-2 heavier strength & muscle building compound lifts. Finally the session is finished with 2-3 bodybuilding focused exercises. This program is perfect for intermediate – advanced lifters looking to include clean and jerks into a solid bodybuilding program.

🔶 Featured Stretch

The overhead Squat isn’t a deep stretch (at least it shouldn’t be). But instead a squat and overhead mobility challenge. Holding the bar overhead with a wide grip will force you to maintain an upright posture and challenge your shoulder mobility. The wide grip is key with the overhead squat, it’s significantly easier to secure a bar (not just over your head) behind your neck with a wide grip. The cossack squat (lateral lunge) is the squat mobility challenge. It will require you to open up the hips, stabilize your center of mass over each foot, and stay upright with the bar still overhead. This is a great warm up exercise before squats, snatches, cleans or any leg day exercises.

🔶 Strength & Conditioning Science

Mitochondrial biogenesis and healthy aging

López-Lluch, G., Irusta, P. M., Navas, P., & de Cabo, R. (2008). Mitochondrial biogenesis and healthy aging. Experimental Gerontology, 43, 813–819

How to train so your mitochondria don’t age

The largest increases in mitochondrial respiration have been reported following a combination of moderate-intensity and high-intensity exercise training

Strength Training (2-5x/week)
Conditioning Training (2-3x/week)

• 1 long moderate intensity
• 1-2 HIIT or Sprint session(s)

In the Graph, notice the X-axis shows “how long” and the Y-axis shows “how intense”

The individual arrows show three different measures for the specific training effect on mitochondrial biogenesis. The first one (from left to right) is measuring mitochondrial quantity and the other two (2nd & 3rd) are measurements of quality. The blocks circled in red are the ones that benefit the most (2 beneficial arrows). Aligning them with the X & Y axis shows us that the most benefit comes from Very High intensity & Low volume and High intensity and medium and high volume.

Using the 3 different graphs below we can use this to identify what categorizes our Very high intensity sessions (sprint intervals) and our high intensity sessions (HIIT). 

Important things to note here, are that moderate-intensity continuous training (a standard longer slow run) still positively increases our quantity of mitochondria and is a beneficial training method.

🔶 Featured Recipe –