Pre/Post Workout Q&A with Amy

Here are Amy's full answers from last week's Instagram Q&A. With links!

Is it bad that I don't eat before and after my workout? 

Eating before exercise, as opposed to exercising in the fasting state, has been shown to improve performance but may not be necessary unless it has been more than 3-4 hours since your last meal (in which case you will probably want to have a snack that is high in carbs, moderate in protein, and relatively low in fat and fiber so that it is digested quickly). It is recommended to eat within 30-60 minutes post-exercise to maximize glycogen storage and muscle protein synthesis. 

Creatine before of after lifting? Inside any specific time frame? 

Research is not clear whether there are any reliable differences between taking creatine before or after exercise. It appears that it is likely best to consume it a short time before or after exercise rather than a long time before or after exercise. To optimize creatine uptake, ingest supplements following a carbohydrate or carbohydrate/protein-containing meal. 

Favorite post-workout snacks to keep in your bag? 

Portable fruits like apples, oranges, grapes and bananas or dried fruit like raisins and dates which provide carbohydrate, potassium, and vitamin C; nuts which provide protein; trail mix which combines both carbs and protein; energy bars that are made from whole ingredients like Rx or Lara bars; cheese sticks with some whole grain crackers; peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread; 

Here are some options from the UCLA Teaching Kitchen that provide a good mix of carbs and protein.

Homemade energy bites- https://ucla.app.box.com/s/c4b8dj3dgog7o64u9efd91hvco7rmff6/file/761610727974

Granola bars- https://ucla.app.box.com/s/c4b8dj3dgog7o64u9efd91hvco7rmff6/file/779361234587

Baked chickpeas- https://ucla.app.box.com/s/c4b8dj3dgog7o64u9efd91hvco7rmff6/file/697424464646) 

Thoughts on collagen and biotin supplements? 

Collagen supplementation in combination with resistance training was found to increase muscle mass and strength in a small group of elderly men, but it is unknown whether these results would be seen in healthy, young adults. Although biotin plays a vital role in your body’s metabolism of macronutrients, in absence of a deficiency (which is rare), there is no evidence that supplementation has added benefit. 

BCAAS pre, during, or post? 

There is no reason to consume BCAA supplements for enhanced stimulation of muscle protein synthesis and/or decreased muscle protein breakdown. High-quality protein in foods should be consumed to provide sufficient BCAA and leucine, as well as the other essential amino acids. For a more thorough explanation, check out https://www.gssiweb.org/en/sports-science-exchange/Article/branched-chain-amino-acid-supplementation-to-support-muscle-anabolism-following-exercise.

What's your opinion on energy drinks as pre workout? 

While consuming energy drinks before exercise has been shown to improve mental focus, alertness, anaerobic performance, and endurance in adults (largely through the effects of caffeine), they often have high levels of sugar which can contribute to weight gain and negative effects on blood sugar. They are not recommended for children and adolescents. Adults that choose to consume them, should avoid drinks that have greater than 200 mg of caffeine and avoid consuming in combination with alcohol. 

If you're eating at a deficit what's your rec for timing meals for energy during workouts? 

Eating some carbohydrate prior to exercise and during, if you are training for long periods of time, will help fuel your workout. Replenishing both carbs and protein shortly after completing your workout will provide the greatest benefit. 

You're supposed to eat carbs before you train. True or false? 

Consuming carbs before you train will help fuel muscle glycogen stores and maintain blood sugar levels during exercise. If you are training at high intensity for an hour or moderate intesity for more than 2 hours, you should also consume some carb during exercise to prevent low blood sugar and increase exercise performance. 

What if food makes me nauseous before workouts but I still need an energy boost? Low fat, low protein, and low fiber foods will empty faster from the stomach and may be better tolerated. Try eating something small that is easily digested, like a banana, applesauce, or toast an hour or two before working out. 

How soon after training should I try to eat so I get those gainz? 

Consuming 20+ grams of protein within 30-90 minutes post workout is recommended to enhance recovery and muscle protein synthesis. Include carbs as well in order to replenish glycogen stores.

If you have any more questions, list them below! Or if you'd like to talk with one of our RDs, you can find them here.

For more recipes, you visit our Teaching Kitchen schedule or classes or @uclateachingkitchen.

Rest and Recovery

By Cindy Engle

If you are in BHIP by now you most likely have seen or understand the benefits of regularly participating in a strength and conditioning program. Yes, consistent training plays a huge part in the journey to improve your health and wellness but so does proper rest and recovery. As much as we think we should just go, go, go, we also need to have time where we slowdown in order for us to get stronger and perform better.

Why is recovery important?

Repair

Strength training causes small tears in the muscle fibers. The body then works to repair the tears which is how our muscles grow. If we are constantly placing only stress on our muscles, they won’t be able to keep up with repairing the damage and eventually our performance will suffer or lead to injury. By slowing down, our muscles are able to properly repair the microtears from training and build new cells. 

Adapt

Optimal performance requires a sharp central nervous system. Our systems need time to process training. Recovery gives the central nervous system time to adapt and make any adjustments. Similar to how our brain feels after learning new information, our body systems need time to recuperate and absorb new information after a workout. 

Prevent 

You cannot put your body through excessive overload during training and then expect it to repeat the same intensity day in and day out. Inadequate recovering can begin with small issues but lead to more serious problems if continued. Recovery helps prevent illness, extreme fatigue, injury, and burnout associated with overtraining. 

Perform

More is not always better with training.  Really pushing the intensity of your workout where appropriate, has shown to more beneficial in building strength and hypertrophy than working at a moderate intensity and pushing the amount(volume) you train. By giving your body the rest it needs, it will then let you really push your intensity. Without recovering our performance during workouts suffers and we are unable to push our intensity as much as we can.

Now that you understand why recovery is important, lets go over some ways we can help our body recover. Here are 5 easy ways you can improve our recovery. 

1. Sleeping

Adequate sleep is essential for training. Sleep is when your muscles best grow and repair. Aim to get between 6-8 hours of sleep each night. 

2. Fueling

Your car cannot run on empty and neither can you. Eating a proper diet helps improve your recovery from workouts and will replenish your depleted energy stores. Staying hydrated will also help improve your nutrient uptake.  

3. Foam Rolling/Stretching

By rolling and stretching you will increase oxygen and blood flow which will help deliver nutrients to your muscles.  Need more information? There is a pervious blog post dedicated to foam rolling!

4. Rest Day

Pretty simple here. Full day of rest equals enhanced recovery.

5. Hot/Cold Cycling

Instead of taking a shower in hot water, try cycling between hot and cold temperatures. This one can be uncomfortable at first. Exposing your body to the extreme temperatures will shock your system and wake you up. The cold will help decrease the inflammation from training and increase your recovery. Try something like 30-seconds of cold followed by 2-minutes of hot for 3-4 cycles.

Long story short, taking care of your body through rest is just as important as training. Now make sure you recover as hard as you workout!

Returning to Training

By Daniel Jauregui

As BHIP begins its return to in person programming and classes, I wanted to do a breakdown of the training you’ll all be doing at the rig. Many of you have likely found ways to be active and exercise within the confines of your quarantine, but the stimulus for adaptation that you can provide for yourself at home might not be quite the same intensity as in person classes. It’s also entirely possible that you haven’t been able to train in any capacity for the last year, and that’s okay.

Regardless of what you’ve been able to do, you can always start improving now. Just note that as you do start to make your way back to classes and using heavier equipment, you should take things extremely slow. Training is a process that takes a long time, and you need to give your body ample opportunity to adapt to any stimuli that it’s not currently accustomed to. This means keeping your weights light, resting when you need to, and not trying to rush back to your previous levels of fitness immediately. Start easy and progress from that point.

There are 3 primary areas of focus that we’ll dedicate our time to with the in person BHIP programming this spring.

Focuses of the Program:

1. Building Strength

2. Developing Inactive/Weak Musculature

3. Improving Joint Stability and Mobility

There’s some overlap between these points, but the general idea of what we’re trying to accomplish is highlighted by each one. Strength is the most important physical quality because it lays a foundation for all of the other ones. You cannot have a high work capacity without first building a base level of strength. It’s also something that virtually no one has been able to train in a year because it requires loading, and will therefore be the first point of emphasis. Some of you may have bought some 10 lb dumbbells, and while this is better than nothing, it is nowhere near the level of loading needed to create increases in strength in most exercises. Luckily, there’s lots of weights at the rig.

The second point of emphasis isn’t entirely distinct from the first, but muscular development will come more from lower intensity and higher volume exercises. It’s possible you’ve done a good job of maintaining your muscle mass and keeping relevant muscles active throughout the pandemic, but it’s more likely that you didn’t. Quarantine created an environment in which it is very easy to be sedentary for the entire day and not have to walk or go anywhere for hours. As someone who has experienced this, I can confidently say that the one hour of exercise that some people do is not anywhere near enough to counteract the effects of sitting. Postural muscles, gluteal muscles, musculature of the trunk, and probably many other things will not be where they were previously.

The last point also ties into the fact that most of us have been sitting so much. When you sit, things get both tight and weak. Your feet, ankles, and knees grow weaker because you’re literally not using them. Your hips, shoulders, and upper back grow tighter because they’re stuck in static and usually poor positions endlessly. Your main exercises and the simple act of going through gross movement patterns will help with some of this, but more activation and mobilization exercises will be necessary to help make sure you’re ready to handle more difficult positions and higher intensities. 

All of this to say that the program will be very strength focused for the time being. We’d like to give you access to all of the things you haven’t been able to do for a while. As we progress and become more conditioned to handling load and working out in masks, we’ll be able to add onto this with some other exercises and modalities. 

The Program: Linear Progression

Since you’re all just returning to lifting, the program to help you get stronger isn’t complicated; we’ll use a method called a linear progression. This means that we’ll hold most of your training variables constant, but increase the load by a small amount every time you train. This micro increase in loading between training sessions will feel negligible, but when done consistently over time, will eventually produce a big change and lead to a large increase in your strength levels.

After getting past our initial phase of training and figuring out how heavy to go, the goal will be to add 5-10 lbs to the bar every week. Here’s what a linear progression might look like for the back squat over the course of a month:

Week 1: 3x5 95 lbs

Week 2: 3x5 105 lbs

Week 3: 3x5 110 lbs

Week 4: 3x5 115 lbs

In week 1, our example lifter squats 95 lbs for their sets with ease. The next session, they decide to add 10 lbs and go to 105. This feels a little more challenging, but is still entirely doable, so from here they choose to only add 5 lbs in subsequent weeks. The difference between each training session is small, but from week 1 to week 4, this individual would’ve added 20 lbs to their squat.

That’s the general idea of a linear progression. Everyone progresses at different rates, but each of you will try to apply this model to yourself with the guidance of your trainers. Here are a few other notes to help guide you and keep your training as safe as possible in the immediate future.

Guidelines:

• Start very light. I overemphasized this point last week because it’s critical that you all leave plenty of room for progression. Keep in mind most of you are currently adapted to no load whatsoever, so even if something feels easy, there are changes that will happen in your body to help better prepare you for when the weight actually does get heavy. Just enjoy the fact that it’s not hard right now.

• Weight increases are optional. If you perform your sets and decide that it was too difficult for you to increase the load the following week, then don’t. You can always repeat a weight or even decrease the load and restart the process of building back up. Be as conservative as you want to with your training, and ask a trainer when in doubt.

• Always keep the load increases small. It should never be more than 10 lbs for barbell exercises. Remember, the whole point is micro increases between sessions that add up to significant changes over time.

• Stay consistent! We’re only training in person 2 times a week right now, and I recommend all of you do something else at least one other day of the week. If you miss one of your only 2 training sessions in any given week, that’s a great way to slow down your own progress.

• Don’t worry about your previous strength numbers. If you stay consistent, you can get back to that point and beyond, but focus on where you are right now and what you can do to get a little better every session.

• Lastly, keep up with your recovery. This is important in any training program and includes sleeping, eating, mobilizing, and more things that leave the scope of this post.

In our next blog post, Cindy will dive into some recovery methods you can use to help keep your body prepared for more intense training.

Q&A

Hey everyone, here are some answers to most of the questions from our recent Q&A. Some of the questions are more of an individual focus so a few of us trainers discussed our answers and provided the abbreviated version below. All questions are bolded, so if you're not interested in one, you can scroll down to the next. If you have another question, be sure to ask it in the next Q&A!

Q. What's your favorite part about being a BHIP Trainer?
To summarize the discussion that a few of us had, the community and participants are by far our favorite part. Being a trainer wouldn't be the same with a different group of people. We all love the group dynamic and getting to watch people develop their social relationships as the program goes on. It's also awesome to see how strong everyone is capable of being. So many participants have done things that they once thought impossible, and that is extremely rewarding to be a part of.

Q. Who's your "body goals"?
Cindy, Em, and I were all in agreement that we tend to focus on performance and not aesthetics in our training. With that in mind, none of us have anyone that is our "body goals." If we're getting stronger, better conditioned, faster, more mobile, etc. then our training is successful, but looking like someone else isn't really part of the goal. As Cindy put it, "it's empowering to be strong and to feel like my body is performing at its peak." 

Q. Handstand progressions we can work on at home?
The first step would be just becoming comfortable with being inverted. It’s definitely a foreign position for most people in the beginning. Start with getting the torso as vertical as possible with the feet on a box, bench or couch. The goal is to get the hips to the sky and walk the hands back until the shoulders and wrists are directly stacked. After that, start facing a wall and walking the feet up the wall and just practice holding wherever you feel comfortable. Eventually you want to work yourself close enough to the wall that your nose is almost touching.

Q. Recommendations for Sandbag exercises?
Check out Brute Force Training and the Ultimate Sandbag Training. Both companies provide different sandbag workouts and exercises. Brute Force has an app you can download with a daily sandbag workout.

• Ultimate Sandbag
• Brute Force

Q. Can you give us a progression for push-ups, planks, or sit-ups?

With all of these movements, you can either progress with a variation or by changing sets/reps. To progress with variations, you simply have to try a version of the movement that's harder than what you're doing. Stuck on a wall for push-ups? Try negatives on the floor. Stuck on a certain number? Try a different version like archer push-ups or ring push-ups. There's even ballistic push-ups. We could go through a similar thing with planks and sit-ups, but the point is different variations will strengthen the movement in different ways, and you can incorporate any of them. Alternatively, you can stick to one variation and very gradually increase sets and reps over time. Nothing too complicated about that, just be sure to challenge yourself and do the movement often!

Q. What fitness sites/blogs do instructors follow?

Here are a few resources me, Cindy, and Em follow. A brief description of each and link are included.

• Juggernaut Training Systems (JTS) - Resource for all topics, but especially strength training.
• Catalyst Athletics - Weightlifting resource with information on training, recovery, and movement.
• The Ready State - Mobility and movement focus; hundreds of vlogs and movement demos on the site.
• Brute Strength - Website and great podcast on psychology, performance, and training struggles.
• 70's Big - Strength and conditioning site with tons of articles.
• Eric Cressey - Specializes in shoulder rehab and performance; very active on social media.
• Ben Bergeron (Crossfit New England) - Podcast called "Chasing Excellence" with lots of wonderful information and a focus on the mental side of training.

Q: Does BHIP offer one on one zoom training sessions?
Yes, UCLA is currently offering one on one personal training sessions. The sessions are charged per hour, but if you're interested in pricing information or trying it out, you can contact us and we'll help set you up with a trainer!

Q: How do you get that awesome spotlight effect in the weekly workout videos?
One day, while in Pardee Gym, most of the lights accidentally shut off, leaving one spotlight in the middle of the room. Em and I happened to be there and thought it looked cool; so here we are now.

Q. What set/rep/% progression patterns do we use in BHIP if we want to continue on our own?

Most people don't have access to any significant form of loading at the moment, but if you're one of the lucky few that do then this is relevant. Discussing the details of the Ongoing program would take a bit more time than this response affords. In general, however, there are a few guidelines to keep in mind.

• Weights lifted in the 70-80% range can consist of sets of anywhere from 6-10 reps. 80-90% is more likely 3-5 reps. 90+% would be 3 or fewer reps.
• It's typically a good idea to progress from higher volume, lower weight to lower volume, higher weight as time goes on. So using the above percentages, you could start with higher rep ranges around 70%, and over the course of weeks/months add marginal amounts of weight and decrease the reps.
• The most important principle is progression. If there's no progression, there's no strength gain. So whatever approach you take, progress every single week in some way. 

Thanks to everyone who submitted a question! We hope to hear more in the future.

How to Stay Fit and Safer at Home

By Daniel Jauregui

The good thing about the world changing so drastically is that you still have plenty of time to exercise. You may find that difficult to do while you’re quarantined in your home checking the news every half hour, but there are actually a number of things that you can use this time to focus on. You will maintain a good deal of your fitness simply by continuing to move daily! Don’t use the coronavirus as an excuse to get lazy.

Equipment:
If you’ve kept up with any of the socials, then you know that we’ve begun implementing at home workouts for BHIP. Currently, these workouts revolve around bodyweight movements or exercises that can be done with odd objects (like a backpack). So at minimum, you already have the basics you need to get started. Moving forward, we will plan occasional workouts that center around fitness equipment. That’s not to say the movements can’t still be done with odd objects, but it would behoove you to look into purchasing the following implements while quarantined. We won’t officially begin using any of these until Monday 3/30.

An example of an odd object.

• Dumbbells/Kettlebell
• Resistance Loop
• Resistance Tube
• Door Strap
• Pull-up Bar
• Jump Rope

Dumbbells are the most expensive thing on this list, but everything else can be found at a relatively affordable price on amazon. You can even find a decent quality, easy to install pull-up bar for under 30 dollars. Don’t feel pressure to get everything on the list (you can always use different implements), but having any of these items around your home will only help.

Training Tips:
1) Do the BHIP at home workouts. A week’s worth will be sent out via email every Monday, and each individual workout will be posted daily. You can do them while you watch tv if you’d like. Or you can zoom and watch your friends do it at the same time. You can read a book for all I care. It doesn’t matter. Just do the workouts!

2) Do more push-ups. If you’re bad at push-ups, there has literally never been a better time to get really good at them. As a starting point, aim to complete 50 reps throughout the day a few times a week. Elevate your hands on a countertop if you need to. Once you can do it in a couple of sets, add reps or lower your hands a bit. If you’re going to take on this challenge, I recommend getting a resistance tube and doing regular banded pull aparts/rows to have some balance around the shoulder.

“Show me someone who can do 30 pull-ups, and I show you someone
who doesn’t have a problem with the way they look.” - Rus Tokman

3) Improve your pull-up. If you have the means to access a pull-up bar during this quarantine, I think it’s the single most useful piece of equipment you can get. If you’re still working on getting the first rep, you can do a few negatives throughout the day a few times a week. If you already have the first one, then set a number of reps to achieve throughout the day, as with push-ups, and try to increase that number over time.


4) Enhance your stability with some unilateral work. Since you don’t have access to heavy weights that recruit maximal muscle fibers, you can increase your motor recruitment with single leg variations. Muscle activation can be comparable to that experienced while training with heavier loads thanks to the stability demands of single leg exercises. We’ll incorporate exercises like single leg sit to stands and single leg RDL’s into your home workouts occasionally, but doing a few reps on your own a couple of times per week won’t hurt.

5) Condition. There’s no excuse to not do this. You need nothing more than your bodyweight and some effort to get you out of breath. Improving your conditioning will help increase your work capacity and make it significantly easier for you to jump back into BHIP workouts whenever we do resume. At minimum, do the programmed at home workouts with as much intensity and effort as you can muster.

6) Set goals for yourself. You will need something internal to keep you motivated during this time. Setting a goal for yourself will give you the direction and focus you need to get through these workouts without all of your friends constantly there to do it with you. Whether your goal is to get a pull-up or improve your balance when you stand on one leg, pick something and focus on it. Then you can show all your friends how fit you are when you get back.

If you have questions about how to implement any of these at home training strategies, comment on whatever platform you find most convenient, and I’ll respond. Probably. Remember to wash your hands. See you all soon.