Know About Med Training Research Updates

If you’ve followed my shoulder training advice then you should be well accustomed to doing upright rows using a much wider-than shoulder-width grip on the bar.

This is the same for Smith machine upright rows, whether done with two arms at a time or one. The reason is because doing them with a wider grip allows the elbows to lift out to the sides in a similar manner to lateral raises. But the difference is that because you are pulling the weight up, you can use more weight to place more overload on the middle deltoid head for greater muscle growth. And although you all have felt and seen the reward from doing upright rows this way, I’ll still mention a new study that supports this method of upright rows.

Researchers from the University of Memphis, yes in Tennessee, had trained subjects perform the upright row with a close grip (half of shoulder width), a shoulder-width grip, and a two times wider than shoulder-width grip on the bar.

They measured muscle activity of the front, middle and rear deltoids, as well as the upper and middle traps, and biceps during upright rows.

They reported in a 2013 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that when the subjects performed the upright row using the two times shoulder-width grip, the muscle activity of both the middle deltoid and even the rear deltoid increased by over 20% compared to using the close grip.

They also reported that the wider grip increased muscle activity of the upper traps, while decreasing muscle activity of the biceps.

Jim’s take-home point:
As you should already be doing, this study confirms that doing the upright row, whether with a standard barbell or in a Smith machine, with a wider than shoulder-width grip increases muscle activity of the middle deltoids. It also increases muscle activity of the traps, which is somewhat surprising. But also surprising is the fact that the wide-grip upright row also increased muscle activity of the rear (posterior) deltoid head. So use the upright row in this manner for better development of both the middle and rear delts, as well as the traps.

Jim Stoppani provides the best services of the MED Training programs; Nutrition & Supplementation.

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Greatest Med Training Program and Updated Research

There’s no doubting the fact that the more muscle you build the easier it is to get lean.

No, I’m not saying that everyone with a lot of muscle mass is shredded. However, if the same person gains 20 pounds of muscle, it is generally easier for them to get lean than before they built that extra muscle. For decades it was assumed that this was due to the fact that muscle burns more calories than an equivalent amount of body fat. And while that is true, the difference is not significant enough to really make a huge difference in fat loss.

While there are many reasons why more muscle means less fat, one plausible mechanisms has to do with the hormone leptin.

Leptin is a hormone released by fat cells that increases metabolic rate and decreases hunger. So you burn more calories yet consume fewer. Most people would assume that the leaner you get the more leptin you would release. Yet a recent 12-week study from Spain combining weight lifting and aerobic exercise found that as you lose body fat your leptin levels decrease. This seems counterintuitive, or at least counterproductive to continued fat loss. However, an earlier study from the same Spanish researchers shows why muscle growth is so important for continued fat loss. And it also shows why combining weight lifting with cardio is the best way to keep fat loss going as compared to cardio alone. 

The Spanish researchers reported that in the dominant arm of male pro tennis players, which had 15% more muscle mass than the opposite arm, they also had higher levels of leptin receptors.

Jim’s take-home point:

Having more leptin receptors means that bigger muscles would have a higher sensitivity to leptin. This means that you likely would get a bigger spike in metabolic rate despite having lower levels of leptin. And this may be one of the reasons why building bigger muscles can make getting leaner all the easier. It also highlights the fact that the best way to lose body fat and to continue losing body fat over the long term is with a program that combines weight training and cardio. I can’t tell you how many times people contact me and ask, “If I want to focus on fat loss should I just do cardio and then lift weights after I lose the fat, or is it OK to also lift weights while trying to lose fat?” My answer is of course that you definitely want to do both for the best fat loss. And this research shows one reason why lifting weights and doing cardio is superior for fat loss than just doing cardio alone. Since cardio doesn’t build muscle, but will decrease body fat, it may lower leptin levels, but without an increase in muscle size, may not increase leptin sensitivity enough to offset the lower leptin levels.

Jim Stoppani provides the best services of the MED Training; Nutrition & Supplementation .Jim has been a part of the most popular training programs since many years.

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