Research Topic
Strength Training
46 articles
Your 1RM Tells You How Strong You Are. Rate of Force Development Tells You How Explosive You Actually Are.
Rate of force development (RFD) — the speed at which an athlete builds force — is the performance variable that separates equally strong athletes in explosive sports. Maximal strength and RFD are trainable qualities that require different protocols.
5 min read · 2026-10-27
The 60-Second Rest Period Is the Most Reflexively Applied Recommendation in Resistance Training. The PCr Resynthesis Data Suggests It's Wrong for Most Goals.
Phosphocreatine (PCr) resynthesis reaches only 75% at 90 seconds post-set — the threshold for full replenishment is 3–5 minutes. Schoenfeld 2016 demonstrated that longer rest periods (3 min) produce significantly greater strength and hypertrophy gains than shorter rest (1 min) at equal volume.
5 min read · 2026-10-27
Protein in a Caloric Deficit: Protecting Lean Body Mass
The 1.6g/kg protein recommendation is built for energy balance. Athletes in a caloric deficit face anabolic resistance and elevated muscle protein breakdown that shift the optimal intake to 2.3–3.1g/kg lean body mass — a target most cutting programmes fail to meet.
5 min read · 2026-10-20
The 30-Minute Anabolic Window After Training Has Generated More Supplement Sales Than Scientific Evidence. The Meta-Analysis That Should Have Ended the Myth — and Why Total Daily Protein Still Matters More.
Schoenfeld & Aragon's 2013 review and 2017 RCT demonstrated that the 30-minute post-workout protein window is not a meaningful driver of hypertrophy when total daily protein intake is equated. Distribution across 4+ meals and per-meal leucine threshold matter more than peri-workout timing.
5 min read · 2026-10-20
Block Periodisation After 40: Modifying the Model for Masters Athletes
Masters athletes (40+) show measurably slower neuromuscular recovery, blunted anabolic hormone response, and increased connective tissue vulnerability. Standard 4-week accumulation blocks routinely exceed recovery capacity. Modified block periodisation with shorter mesocycles and higher deload frequency addresses these constraints.
5 min read · 2026-10-13
Phosphatidic Acid and mTOR: Hypertrophy Signalling Without Stretch
Phosphatidic acid activates mTORC1 through a lipid signalling pathway independent of mechanical load. Here is what the current evidence says for hypertrophy athletes.
5 min read · 2026-10-13
Phosphatidylserine and Cortisol: Blunting the Post-Training Stress Response
Discover how phosphatidylserine (PS) blunts the cortisol spike after intense training, protecting muscle and accelerating recovery. Evidence reviewed.
5 min read · 2026-10-13
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA) for Muscle Recovery: Dose and Evidence
Omega-3 fatty acids — specifically EPA and DHA — directly potentiate mTORC1-driven muscle protein synthesis independent of leucine intake. Most athlete nutrition protocols ignore this pathway entirely.
5 min read · 2026-10-06
Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP/PAPE): The Heavy Squat Before Sprinting
Post-activation potentiation (PAP) and post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) use a heavy conditioning exercise to prime the nervous system for explosive performance. Learn the mechanism, optimal rest window, and athlete selection criteria.
5 min read · 2026-10-06
Natural Muscle Gain Rate: How Much You Can Build Per Year
Lyle McDonald's rate model shows year 1 allows up to 1.1kg/month of lean mass; year 3+ drops to 0.2kg/month. Understanding the diminishing returns curve changes everything about training expectations.
5 min read · 2026-09-29
Athletes Are Taking Magnesium for Sleep — But Most Are Using the Wrong Form at the Wrong Time
Magnesium deficiency is the most common micronutrient insufficiency in trained athletes — and its impact on sleep architecture, muscle recovery, and nervous system function is widely underestimated.
5 min read · 2026-09-22
Macro Timing and Distribution: How Daily Spread Changes the Outcome
Meeting daily macro targets is the floor, not the ceiling. How protein, carbohydrate, and fat are distributed across meals directly influences muscle protein balance, glycogen replenishment, and training adaptation.
5 min read · 2026-09-15
HMB Supplementation: The Specific Use Case for Muscle Protection
HMB supplements are marketed as muscle builders for everyone. The evidence says something quite different — and far more specific. Here is what the research actually shows.
5 min read · 2026-09-08
Hypertrophy Mechanisms: Mechanical Tension vs Metabolic Stress vs Damage
Schoenfeld's 2010 three-mechanism hypertrophy model proposed mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage as drivers of muscle growth. A decade of subsequent research has clarified which mechanisms dominate — and which have been overstated.
5 min read · 2026-09-08
The Intermittent Fasting Mistake That's Silently Undermining Your Training Adaptations
IF works for fat loss and metabolic health — but combining it with strength or endurance training without adjusting the eating window creates a specific problem most coaches miss.
4 min read · 2026-09-08
Valsalva and Intra-Abdominal Pressure: Bracing for Spinal Stability
Intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) generated by the Valsalva manoeuvre increases spinal compressive load tolerance by up to 40%. Exhaling during the effort phase reduces IAP and undermines spinal stability at peak mechanical load. Understanding when and how to brace correctly is fundamental to safe heavy lifting.
5 min read · 2026-09-08
IPF GL Points: The Formula That Replaced the Wilks Score
The IPF replaced the Wilks score in 2019 with the GL coefficient. Discover why bodyweight extremes broke Wilks and how the new formula changes how we compare powerlifting strength.
5 min read · 2026-09-08
Grip Strength as a Longevity Biomarker: The 140,000-Person Evidence
Grip strength is a stronger predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality than systolic blood pressure. Here is the science and what it means for athlete longevity.
5 min read · 2026-09-01
Your Natural Muscle Ceiling Is Not Where You Think It Is — The Science of Genetic Potential
Every lifter eventually hits a progress plateau and wonders if they've reached their genetic ceiling. FFMI gives you an objective reference point — and most athletes are nowhere near it.
5 min read · 2026-08-25
Flywheel (Isoinertial) Training: Eccentric Overload Beyond 1RM
Flywheel devices match eccentric resistance to concentric force output — automatically delivering supramaximal eccentric loads that barbells cannot replicate. Here's the science.
5 min read · 2026-08-25
Daily Undulating Periodisation (DUP): Why Fixed Rep Ranges Underperform
Daily Undulating Periodisation rotates strength, power and hypertrophy stimuli within the same week. Meta-analyses consistently show 28% greater strength gains than linear periodisation across matched volumes.
5 min read · 2026-08-18
Nordic Hamstring Curl: The Eccentric Exercise That Cuts Injury Risk 51%
The Nordic hamstring curl reduces hamstring strain injury by 51%. Here is the eccentric overload science and how to integrate it into any strength programme.
5 min read · 2026-08-18
Textbooks Teach ATP-PCr, Glycolysis, and Oxidative Metabolism as Three Separate Systems. They Are Not. Understanding Why Changes How You Should Design Training Across All Sports.
The three energy systems operate simultaneously at all exercise intensities — the relative contribution shifts rather than switches. Gastin 2001 demonstrated that oxidative metabolism dominates by 75 seconds into maximal exercise — far earlier than most coaches assume. This changes training zone prescription across all sports.
5 min read · 2026-08-18
Dehydration and Strength: 2% Body Weight Loss Costs Up to 8%
Dehydration of 1.5–2% body weight reduces muscular strength by 4–8% and endurance capacity by more. Here is the neuromuscular physiology and hydration protocol.
5 min read · 2026-08-11
Deload Week: The Supercompensation Science of Training Less
A deload is not a rest week. It is a timed intervention that triggers supercompensation. The physiology of deload timing, depth, and how to distinguish it from tapering.
5 min read · 2026-08-11
Muscle Memory and Myonuclei: The Cellular Mechanism of Retraining
Muscle fibres that have previously hypertrophied retain extra myonuclei even after atrophy from detraining. These persistent nuclei — the cellular basis of muscle memory — allow trained athletes to regain lost mass significantly faster than untrained individuals building from zero.
5 min read · 2026-08-11
Compound Interest in Athletic Development: Why 1% Gains Beat Overhauls
The mathematics of compound growth applies to training adaptation the same way it applies to financial returns. A 1% daily improvement compounds to 37× improvement over a year. The athletes who understand this build differently — and retain their gains longer.
5 min read · 2026-07-28
Compression Tights: Legitimate Recovery Tool or Expensive Placebo?
Born 2013 reviewed 18 RCTs on compression garments. The results are more nuanced than the marketing suggests — here's what actually works and why.
5 min read · 2026-07-28
Concurrent Training Interference: AMPK, mTOR and Session Order
Endurance training activates AMPK, which phosphorylates and inhibits mTORC1 — the primary trigger for muscle protein synthesis and strength adaptation. Wilson's 2012 meta-analysis quantified the interference: strength gains are 35% smaller and lean mass gains are lower when endurance training is added to resistance training within the same session.
5 min read · 2026-07-28
Conjugate Periodisation (Westside): Training Two Qualities at Once
Classical periodisation trains one quality at a time. Westside conjugate trains max force and explosive speed simultaneously. Here's the science and the weekly structure.
5 min read · 2026-07-28
Cluster Sets: Intraset Rest for More Volume at a Higher Load
Cluster sets use intraset rest intervals to maintain bar velocity and neural drive at heavy loads. Here's how this method outperforms traditional straight sets for strength development.
5 min read · 2026-07-21
Cold Water Immersion Recovers You Faster. It Also Blunts Hypertrophy. Here's When Each Outcome Matters.
Cold water immersion reduces DOMS and accelerates perceived recovery — but suppresses myofibrillar protein synthesis for up to 48 hours post-immersion. The decision to use CWI is a context-dependent trade-off, not a universal recovery tool.
5 min read · 2026-07-21
Collagen DIAAS Is Zero: Why Athletes Should Still Take It
Collagen contains no leucine and cannot stimulate muscle MPS. Yet it significantly boosts tendon collagen synthesis via a separate pathway. Here's the science behind the dual-supplement strategy.
5 min read · 2026-07-21
Your Pre-Workout Caffeine Isn't Working — And the Reason Is More Interesting Than Tolerance
Caffeine tolerance reduces the ergogenic effect dramatically in habitual users — but the mechanism isn't what most athletes think. The dose, timing window, and cycling strategy determine whether it works at all.
5 min read · 2026-07-14
Bone Density in Masters Athletes: Which Sports Protect and Which Do Not
Bone mineral density in masters athletes depends on exercise modality, not just training volume. Endurance athletes — particularly cyclists and swimmers — can have BMD comparable to sedentary individuals despite high training loads. Here is the mechanism and the fix.
5 min read · 2026-07-07
Caffeine and Strength: The Neural Priming Effect Beyond Alertness
Caffeine raises motor cortex excitability and calcium sensitivity to deliver a 2–6% acute strength boost. Discover the neural mechanism and optimal dosing strategy.
5 min read · 2026-07-07
BCAA vs EAA: Why Branched-Chain Aminos Alone Cost You Muscle
BCAAs trigger a partial MPS signal. EAAs complete it. Here's what the science says about why branched-chain amino acids alone are not enough — and what to use instead.
5 min read · 2026-06-30
Building Muscle at 20% of Your 1RM: The Physiology Behind Blood Flow Restriction Training.
Blood flow restriction (BFR) training produces equivalent hypertrophic stimulus to heavy resistance training at 20–40% of 1RM loads. The mechanism — cell swelling, metabolic stress, and mTORC1 activation — explains why every elite rehabilitation programme now includes it.
5 min read · 2026-06-30
Body Composition Measurement Accuracy: DEXA vs BIA vs Calipers
Every body composition measurement method carries systematic error. For athletes — where hydration, muscle density, and bone mineral density deviate from population norms — the error is larger than manufacturers state. Knowing the bias of your tool changes how you interpret the number.
5 min read · 2026-06-30
Why Body Fat Percentage Is a More Useful Health Marker Than BMI — and How to Measure It Without Expensive Equipment
BMI misclassifies approximately 30% of adults with metabolically unhealthy body composition. Body fat percentage, measured correctly, tells a more accurate story — and you don't need a clinic to get it.
5 min read · 2026-06-30
Ashwagandha (KSM-66) and Cortisol: The RCT Evidence in Athletes
KSM-66 ashwagandha is one of very few adaptogens with proper randomised controlled trial data in athletes. Here is what the cortisol, strength and VO2max research actually shows.
5 min read · 2026-06-23
ACL Injury Prevention: The 20-Minute Neuromuscular Programme That Works
ACL prevention programmes reduce tear incidence by 50–88%. Hewett 2005 valgus collapse predictor, PEP programme Mandelbaum 2005, FIFA 11+, and the neuromuscular strength qualities that protect the joint.
5 min read · 2026-06-16
ACTN3 Genotype and Muscle Fibre Type: Sport Genomics' Strongest Finding
The ACTN3 R577X polymorphism is the most studied sports genomics variant — affecting Type IIx muscle fibre expression and influencing sprint vs endurance phenotype. Learn what the evidence shows about fibre type genetics, testing limitations, and training modifiability.
5 min read · 2026-06-16
Adaptive Thermogenesis: Why Your Caloric Deficit Stops Working at 8 Weeks
The body's metabolic response to sustained caloric restriction reduces total daily energy expenditure by 15–25% beyond what weight loss alone predicts. This isn't a calculation error — it's a documented physiological mechanism that defeats most long-term cut phases.
5 min read · 2026-06-16
Alcohol and Athletic Performance: What a Few Drinks Do to Recovery
Most athletes know alcohol isn't ideal for recovery. Few understand the specific mechanisms — or how little it takes to measurably impair the adaptations from a hard training session.
5 min read · 2026-06-16
Creatine Supplementation: The Complete Evidence Review
Creatine monohydrate is the most studied supplement in sports science. This is the full evidence base: loading protocols, the 20–30% vegetarian deficit, brain phosphocreatine, sarcopenia in over-55s, female-specific dosing, and why every "improved" formulation has failed head-to-head.
16 min read · 2026-04-06