I'm lifting superslow...every Tuesday evening 6:30 to 7, then recover for a bit.
Recently I've discovered that no-carb diets and extreme-exercise don't mix. I ran 3 exercises @ 2 minutes each last week, and then I nearly threw up, having no remaining blood sugar.
This week, I took the advice of IF guru Martin Berkham, and my competitive cyclist 15-years paleo co-worker. I chugged some BCAA's and a glob of honey (mixed) 1/2 hour before lifting. FWIW: Not a great tasting combo The BCAA's were citrus flavored, and citrus powder in honey is kinda suspicious. Regardless, that chugging enabled me to make it past my prior week of 3rd exercise almost throwing up.
This week, having read the science of "the glove", my trainer and I got some ice water and some tubs, and after the third exercise (Leg Press, Pull down, Chest press), I dunked both hands and both feet (easy to remove barefoot shoes) into ice water for 3 full minutes. Why 3? I read the book about Wim Hok. Not a well written book. Mildly interesting information about cold tolerance.
I then did superslow again, with mild (20%) degradation of full performance on a second set. Leg Press, and then Pull Down. I was at that point sufficiently exhausted, and overheated that I could not do it again. And it wasn't worth a 2nd ice bath.
45 minutes later, I tested my legpress capabilities, and was unable to move the machine at all.
I then made my trainer do a harder exercise:
Leg press. Ice for 2 minutes. Leg press again. These are superslow leg press to failure: "Barely able to stand up afterwards" leg presses.
She also did a roughly 20% degradation on her 2nd superslow leg press set with no rest in between.
Not only was the exercise fabulously more than I would expect to have been able to do, the internal sensation of doing the exercise was completely different.
When I lift, the leg press (near 2 minutes) moves my (sensed) body temperature completely off-whack. Though, it seems that on a ketotic diet, this effect is more pronounced. Also, sometimes, after the leg press (first or second exercise), I am unable to stand normally, and often dizzy as well. After the 2nd hard exercise (pulldown), I am always dizzy, and frequently, my right ear pressure de-equalizes, and I lose partial hearing in that ear. My trainer also put it kindly: "You also lose higher cognitive functioning". I can talk to her like an intelligent human being for roughly the first 2/3 of each of the first 2 exercises. After that? "Tell me what to push". FWIW, this set of experiences is roughly normal for experienced super-slow practitioners.
The ice water in tubs on hands and feet completely removed the temperature, dizziness, and ear disequilibration. And it massively tweaked my ability to re-lift on superslow to-failure level.
Experiment: Unqualified success.
I will be lifting with cooling on hands and feet (and maybe face and neck via cloths) for the next few months. Next week, I expect my bodyweight to be below my pulldown as well.
I will also be considering (later this month) whether I should up back to 2 sessions a week, with double or triple cooling in or after each session. I've been unable to do 2 sessions a week for 4-6 weeks...as it's too much exercise, not enough rest.
Further experiment: I am worried that the ice in the water over-cooled the water, leading to closing of blood vessels in the palms and feet. Wondering if 50 or 60 degree water would have been better than icewater.
Welcome me, please, to the quantified self movement.
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6 comments:
You might try wet cotton T-shirt and a box fan. T-shirts (and jeans) are infamous for causing hypothermia in survival situations.
I also tried the palm cooling thing at the gym yesterday, with some differences:
Cooling method: Enhanced bloodflow to hands (centrifugal force, not vacuum) but the cooling source was merely pressing my hands against ~10° metal poles. And I used 30 seconds of cooling.
Exercise type: Restpause sets of weighted (30kg) chins and one armed dips.
Result: I felt better, but my records show I didn't really improve at all from last session.
Conclusion: Try icewater next time. And longer cooling times.
MEANWHILE, I've gone over the original articles such as the one you've linked too, and I can't find any comment on muscle building. The 'better than steroids' line appears to be referring to performance, and that is performance while doing the cooling, not in a competition where presumably everyone is under the same conditions.
We can speculate that higher workloads will lead to improved growth, but exercise physiology is a very primitive science.
Dr. Pat,
If I didn't have such damn smart readers, I might stop blogging.
I haven't seen anything on muscle building either. However, I'm gonna be measuring performance...or rather my trainer already does.
Alex,
Wet cotton T-shirt would seem to do the job, but maybe not in San Antonio. Also...I think it takes a lot longer. body tends to preserve heat, by contracting surface muscle.
My next session was this morning.
Cooling method: Enhanced bloodflow to hands (centrifugal force) followed by immersion and agitation in ~7° water.
Cooling Time: One rendition of "Fight for your Right (to party)", later timed at 3 min 26 seconds.
Exercise type: Restpause sets of snatches, deadlifts and upright rows.
Result: The second set of deadlifts, which normally doesn't happen at all, actually felt easier than the first, and I reached 12 reps before a pause, compared to 10 in the first set. Last session of this exercise selection saw 1 set only of 10 reps before the first pause.
Issues: Soaking my hands in water makes the skin soft which leads to skin damage when doing deadlifts.
Conclusion: 3 minutes of icewater seems to be a serious improvement to standard exercise rest periods. Hand cooling techniques still need work.
Dr. Pat,
Great to hear that you're getting similar results to me. Consider those chemical gel ice-packs? Can cool without wetting.
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