Research Review

Huth PJ et. al. Major scientific advances with dairy foods in nutrition and health. J Dairy Sci. (2006) 89:1207-21.

A large body of scientific evidence collected in recent decades demonstrates that an adequate intake of calcium and other nutrients from dairy foods reduces the risk of osteoporosis by increasing bone acquisition during growth, slowing age-related bone loss, and reducing osteoporotic fractures. These results have culminated in the new (2005) Dietary Guidelines for Americans that now recommend 3 servings of milk products per day to reduce the risk of low bone mass and contribute important amounts of many nutrients that may have additional health attributes beyond bone health. A number of animal, observational, and clinical studies have shown that dairy food consumption can help reduce the risk of hypertension. Clinical trials indicate that the consumption of recommended levels of dairy products, as part of a healthy diet, can contribute to lower blood pressure in individuals with normal and elevated blood pressure. Emerging data also indicate that specific peptides associated with casein and whey proteins can significantly lower blood pressure. In addition, a growing body of evidence has provided support for a beneficial effect of dairy foods on body weight and the loss of bodyfat. Clinical studies have demonstrated that during caloric restriction, body weight and bodyfat loss occurs when adequate calcium is provided by supplements and that this effect is further augmented by an equivalent amount of calcium supplied from dairy foods. Several studies support a role for calcium, vitamin D, and dairy foods against colon cancer. Additionally, conjugated linoleic acid, a fatty acid found naturally in dairy fat, confers a wide range of anticarcinogenic benefits in experimental animal models and is especially consistent for protection against breast cancer.

My comments: Somewhere along the way, milk got a bad reputation among bodybuilders; it was said to make you fat and smooth. This attitude against milk has carried over into the fitness realm too and you will still see people removing milk from their diet when it's time to lean out. I used to get the occasional question about "When should I take dairy out of my diet?" In some circles, milk/dairy is considered an 'unclean' food (I don't want to get into the whole clean vs. unclean discussion here).

But is this attitude reasonable; more importantly, where did it come from? Here's my best guess. Back in the olden days of bodybuilding, lifters would routinely bulk up by lifting heavily and drinking gallons per day of whole milk (along with everything else that wasn't nailed down). This put on size but also a lot of fat. When it was time to diet, people would start to remove whole categories of foods from their diets. Ignorant of calories and dietary fat, I suspect that the removal of whole milk (containing a ton of each) let people lean up. Hence milk got its bad reputation; if you didn't drink it on a diet, you got leaner faster. If anyone else has a better idea where milk got its negative reputation from, please send me feedback.

Additionally, milk and other dairy products can contain quite a bit of sodium which can cause water retention. I suspect this is where its reputation for making people smooth comes from.

Finally, some people show a true allergy to dairy products although it's prevalance is only estimated at 1-3%. This should be contrasted to a milk intolerance (such as lactose intolerance), which is what causes people to get gassy (or diarrhea) due to undigested milk sugar. Rather, I'm talking about a true allergic/immunological response; this can cause a cortisol/immune system response in susceptible people. This tends to cause major water retention and can probably impair fat loss. Clearly, individuals who show a true immune system response to dairy should avoid it. Individuals with lactose intolerance can use the lactose removed milk (such as Lactaid).

I won't even get into the true anti-milk nutter groups, can't be bothered.

As you might guess, I do not subscribe to this particular belief. Hence the choice of this week's paper which is a review of the potential benefits of dairy foods in human health. There's really not much for me to add to what's written above in the paper's abstract but I would like to bring to everyone's attention the comments on increased fat loss when calcium (and especially dairy calcium) is added to the diet. I want to note that the research on this isn't quite as clear as the abstract above makes it sound; many papers have shown an effect of calcium, while others have not. A lot of it may have to do with whether you're fixing a true deficiency or supplementing above normal levels; fixing deficiencies tends to have a greater impact on everything than taking mega-doses.

But it does appear that dairy calcium improves fat loss on a diet, at least when you're looking at folks with sub-optimal intakes. And a bodybuilder/fitness type who is steadfastly avoiding all dairy and eating a small subset of foods (chicken breast, broccoli, maybe some oats) is at risk for a deficiency.

Add to this the critical importance of calcium for bone health, especially in women. And the fact that dairy calcium is best absorbed. Add to that the other potential health benefits listed above. Add to that the fact that dairy protein (which is a mix of both casein and whey) is extremely high quality, that casein protein takes a while to digest (this helps with both fullness on a diet and may exert an anti-catabolic effect) and, honestly, I think dairy should be a part of a diet. The fat and calorie issue is totally obviated now that low or non-fat products are available.

And the sodium issue? Well, first and foremost, if you're eating normal amounts of sodium in the first place, you don't get water retention when you eat a little more. As well, water retention is only an issue on contest day anyhow. Dairy should probably be dropped a few days out from your show so that you can deal with sodium/water retention issues but I see no need to avoid it steadfastly prior to that.

Interview with Bob Lipinksi

1. Hi Brock, thank for joining us. Who are you and why should we care what you have to say?

BL: My name is Bob Lipinski. I have just been lifting weights for a long time now, and I have learned a couple things along the way.

2. Tell us about your own past athletic accomplishments or current goals.

BL: Well, my best accomplishment is a 600 bench at 242. Not half bad for being drug free and in single ply gear. I'd like to hit that number at USAPL championships someday, and maybe win a national or world championship or two. As far as numbers, with the advances in gear lately it is hard to have any ultimate goal that means something. I figure if I eventually get strong enough for a raw 500 bench, I should be strong enough to compete with some of the strongest drug free bench pressers around. I also train my father in law, and while he puts in the hard work I try to map out his training. He has hit 445@275, at 68 years old I believe.

I am also really into grip strength, and I have been holding competitions which test grip strength. Seems goofy to some people, but it is lots of fun. I've closed the #3 Ironmind gripper, probably one of the few things people not familiar with grip stuff would recognize.

3. What's the best piece of training advice you've heard lately?

BL: "If you want to have a big training like Dimas, you cannot be a pussy"- Some foreign lifter.

Also, band pull-aparts, thanks to Jesse Reiman and Lee Distad. Just an easy and convenient exercise to help with upper back strength and shoulder injury prevention. It seems like at this point in the game for me, the big picture is pretty damn clear, so it is the little tips that improve my training which tend to stand out the most.

4. What about the worst?

BL: ONE SET TO FAILURE IS ALL YOU NEED! Hahahahaha, I rag on the HIT stuff a bit. The old school guys like Leistner and even Arthur Jones had some good stuff, but the current crop of HIT gurus are kinda out there.

5. Who in this field has influenced you and who do you listen to?

In my modern training, I would say Louie Simmons is one of my biggest influences. Also, some of the Russian stuff out there, and some guys like Anthony Ditillo and Pavel. I tend to listen to anyone who has some experience in making gains and works hard at figuring out how to train their best. It's not always who is the strongest- Sometimes the fifty year old guy who has been at powerlifting a few years has to train the smartest to get whatever gains they can.

6. If you had to give trainees a single important piece of training advice in terms of making gains, what would it be?

BL: Work hard on basic exercises, show up consistently, and keep trying to add weight to the bar. That sums up about 90% of what you need to know about training, the rest is details.

7. You're known for your massive bench (interested readers should check Brock's log on my forum, or on the P&B board) and, as I'm sure you know, most trainees are very interested in building a big bench press. What advice could you give to beginner, intermediate and advanced trainees in terms of improving their bench press?

BL: Beginners need to learn proper form, and learn to work hard on the basics. Some benching, narrow grip benching, dumbell benching, overhead pressing, and maybe some extra tricep and shoulder work. 2-3 hard sets 2 times a week or so. As far as intermediate lifters, I think one of the keys is being able to handle more volume, and finding what exactly works for you. Unless you have the benefit of a great coach, learning how you respond to training is largely a matter of trying everything out and seeing what happens. Many people do better with different things, for whatever reason, so it is hard to give a specific prescription for success. As far as the advanced lifter, I think that tweaking form, staying healthy, and proper peaking are the main challenges.

I could go on and on about some things. If you are interested in more things I have written, there is a compilation of my bench articles at

http://ironclub.net/pdfnewsletters.html

My comment: Issue #2 has Brock's articles on bench press; if you are interested in improving your bench press, you should read them all.

8. What do you think is the biggest mistake people make in trying to improve their bench press?

BL: From the average person at the gym, it is lousy form. Pinch your shoulder blades back, press your feet firmly to the ground, and set up a good base. Another thing is maxing out every week. I think the average gymrat, if they were really interested in increasing their bench, would benefit incredibly from just a basic powerlifting training approach. Most guys I see in the gym are doing high rep sets (then trying a max), or even better lots of "All you!!!!" reps.

9. What tips do you have for raw lifters looking to move to shirted benching for competition?

BL: Another easy one! Triceps, triceps, triceps. Board presses and narrow grip bench presses should become the primary focus in your workout. Lots of heavy tricep extensions - Skull crushers or Tate presses. When I first started, I quit almost all regular full range benching. Your bench will go down, but you shirted numbers will skyrocket.

Also - get with someone who knows the shirt. Hard to learn it yourself for some people, and it is really hard to get to get into some of the shirts by yourself. You will also want reliable spotters, because you can easily lose the groove in a shirt and give yourself unwanted dental work.

10. In your own training past, what would you say was your worst mistake? Put differently, if you could go back and time and train more effectively, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

BL: This is a no-brainer. I was a wanna-be Mike Mentzer for two years, and ended up with almost zero out of it. If I could have gotten on just a basic powerlifting routine I would have been far better off.

11. You and Shaf run the P&B board which I think is one of the best no-bs places to go for hardcore strength training information. What motivated you to start it up?

BL: Lots of internet drama here Lyle, you'd love it. Some guy started up the Bulk and Power board about 6 years ago. After about the third or fourth time he had a breakdown and deleted the board, we started the P+B so that the same group of guys would have a stable place to hang out. Shaf and I found out that we only lived about a half an hour apart at the time, so we became great friends. Anyway, eventually the Bulk and Power board disintegrated, and after the Garage Gym, Old School Training, and a few other sites started dying, those guys started hanging around the P+B. We have a large enough group of core members who just love strength stuff.

Questions and Answers

Q: I have been told by my physical therapist that due to an injury (piriformis, sciatica and lower back) that I will never be able to lift heavy again. That this will cause further injury to my back. She is suggesting that I strengthen glutes, hammies and back on a stability ball and do high reps with lower weights. I am looking for fat loss/weight loss. Is it possible to accomplish this in this manner. I'm quite frustrated. thanks

A: Sure. At the end of the day, the primary determinant of fat loss is going to be creating a caloric deficit and diet, as much as anything else is going to be important. High reps with shorter rest periods can be effective for fat loss (although it's not as wonderful for preventing muscle loss). You might check out Alwyn Cosgrove's Afterburn program for some ideas on how to do this.

Q: Do you believe that a person who is doing both weight training to build muscle and cardio for their heart and for endurance will only make gains in one area or the other? I keep running in to this philosophy...what do you think?

A: As a general rule, when you try to do too many things at once, especially if those things are making very different demands of the body (For example, gaining muscle and losing fat), you tend to see less gains than when you focus on one or the other. The old phrase 'jack of all trades, master of none' applies here. You can be good at one or the other or sort of mediocre at both.

Strength and endurance, to a degree, are like this. Many studies have demonstrated that a lot of endurance training can impair strength gains. Quite in fact, when you detrain endurance athletes, you tend to see increases in strength and power (i.e. vertical jump).

Interestingly, heavy strength training doesn't seem to impair endurance training as much and some studies find that heavy strength training can improve endurance performance.

However, in many of these interference studies, the endurance training done was fairly high intensity and/or high frequency (such as a football or rugby player might do for conditioning). An individual doing lower intensity endurance/aerobic training might not see such an impairment to strength gains.

Additionally, in many, the combined strength/endurance group was training more total days than either the strength or endurance group. So it may simply have been an issue of too much training. At least one study found that performing endurance and strength training on the same days (so 3 total days training for all groups) didn't find any interference effects.

One solution to trying to build both is to alternate training cycles (of anywhere from 2-6 weeks apiece) where you focus on one while maintaining the other. So train predominantly for strength while doing maintenance work for endurance for some period of time, then focus on endurance while maintaining strength.

Q: A while ago I read that clapping before bench pressing and jumping up and down a bit before squatting somehow 'wakes up' the nervous system so that you can lift better. Is this hogwash? And if it isn't, how does it work?

A: There's a phenomenon referred to as post-activation potential (PAP) whereby very high intensity and/or explosive work can enhance the body's ability to generate force. The mechanism is neurological and there certainly appears to be something to it. The key aspect of making PAP effective is to find a set of loading and rest parameters that generates the PAP without causing too much fatigue. It looks like fairly short, near maximal efforts (10 seconds or less) with a fairly long rest period (3 minutes or more) would be an appropriate place to start. So you might perform 3 or so jumps or clap push-ups and then rest 3' prior to doing a heavy set.

Most research has used an approach called complex training which alternates a heavy weight training exercise (think 2-5 RM in a squat or bench) prior to an explosive exercise (think vertical jump or upper body explosive movement). Some studies find an improvement in power output but this isn't universally true. Some studies have suggested that more highly trained athletes get more of an effect than less well trained. Less well trained athletes may generate too much fatigue from the heavy work and get an overall negative effect prior to the jumping.

Doing a jumping drill prior to a heavy set might be expected to have a similar effect. Fred Hatfield used to advocate frog jumps prior to heavy squatting and I've watched an elite master's PL friend of mine do frog jumps and explosive pushups prior to competition squat/bench respectively.