OnFitness Magazine - May/June 2020 - 52

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W W W. O N F I T N E S S M A G . C O M | V O L 2 0 N O 6 | 2 0 2 0

Smart Training
movement put out the fire and induced growth-promoting effects
to regenerate. Today, injury is still common-place. Poor nutrition,
chronic stress, and a toxic environment cause damage internally,
leading to chronic disease.
So then, what about movement? Humans still move. We walk
to our cars, we move our fingers when pecking at our keyboards,
and a few of us even lift weights and go for a run on occasion.
However, when compared to our ancestors, even the most active
among us have a difficult time emulating their movement patterns.
Our hunter-gatherer predecessors walked all day, every day. It was
not considered exercise, but a necessity.
In addition to this low-intensity exercise, they were forced to
engage in high-intensity exercise when escaping danger or
capturing dinner. The modern-day epidemic of chronic
inflammatory diseases is directly related to a way of living that
ignores the historical frame of reference in which we evolved.
Muscles talk
It's important for us to understand anatomy and physiology. The
mechanism behind the anti-inflammatory effects of exercise is
important because it provides a workout blueprint. After all, when
learning a new training method, it's important that you
incorporate it into your unique training style.
The first concept to realize in this new method is that muscles
talk to the rest of the body. For a long time, muscle tissue was
seen only as a means of locomotion. Now we are beginning to
understand that muscle is an endocrine organ. Every time you
move and the way you move cause the release of chemical
messengers that talk to your fat cells, liver, and brain, and give
these organs information on what's happening in the muscles.
These chemical messengers that are released from the muscle are
called myokines. The amount and types of myokines released hold
the key to halting inflammation.
The most important myokine in muscle is called interleukin 6.
Science has discovered that this molecule may be the " elusive
exercise factor " and the one chemical that can explain all the
magic properties of exercise. When interleukin 6 is released from
the muscles, it sends signals to adipose and liver cells to release
glycogen and fat for energy. Interleukin 6 also speaks to the brain,
turning off hunger and increasing glucose usage. Interleukin 6
also has pronounced effects on the immune system by turning off
two of the most powerful signals for inflammation: tumor necrosis
factor-alpha and interleukin 1.
At the same time, it turns on a powerful anti-inflammatory
chemical called interleukin 10. This powerful ability to speak to
the body and deliver the message of healing and repair is a major
factor in disease prevention. This same mechanism also explains
some of the immediate medicinal effects of exercise: enhanced
mood, decreased platelet aggregation (thinning the blood), and
lowered blood pressure. It also explains the effect exercise has on
fuel metabolism and muscle gains, as interleukin 6 is a potent fatburning molecule in its own right and has strong stimulating
properties on human growth hormone release.
Harnessing exercise's anti-inflammatory potential
The first thing to know is interleukin 6 release is not a factor of
muscle damage. In other words, you don't need to tear down muscle
tissue to reap its benefit. Interleukin 6 is released simply from the
act of moving a muscle. The amount of interleukin 6 released is
directly related to how much muscle is involved in the workout.
This means single-joint movements and machines are the least
effective, while the use of compound movements and free weights
is ideal. This also encourages the use of full-body sessions where
upper and lower body movements are performed simultaneously
or within the same workout.
Another factor to consider is glycogen depletion. Interleukin 6
release is directly tied to muscle sugar stores. The more you are
able to deplete the glycogen, the more interleukin 6 you'll release.
When most people think of glycogen depletion, they normally

think of long-distance running or similar long-duration
cardiovascular activity. However, this is an impractical solution
since the amount of time most are willing to spend exercising is
limited.
A more sensible approach is to construct a workout that is
fast-paced and combines elements of resistance training and
cardiovascular work. These workouts will heavily tax both the
aerobic and anaerobic energy system, and burn through muscle
sugar stores quickly. A strong lactic acid burn is a good indication
you have achieved the desired effect.
To round out the growth-promoting effects of the workout,
you should work to minimize the cortisol-to-growth hormone
ratio. This means focusing on a high-volume or high-density
workout protocol, as opposed to very heavy weights and longer
rest periods. The weight should be moderate and done until
metabolic failure (lactic acid burn), rather than mechanical failure
(gravity-based failure). This approach will elevate testosterone and
growth hormone along with cortisol, and ensure the workout is
regenerative and growth-promoting.
The anti-inflammatory workout
To begin, choose five full-body exercises. Some should be cardiobased and some weight-based. Use mostly hybrid and compound
movements, choosing free weights over machines. Here are our
choices:
Squat-press (hybrid); Lunge-curl (hybrid); Bent-over row,
bench press; and recumbent bike curl and press done on a
recumbent bike with moderate to high-resistance. With a set of
dumbbells, curl them and then press them overhead during
pedaling. Choose a moderate weight for each exercise and go for
the burn. A proper weight should have you burning at ten
repetitions and failing within ten to twenty repetitions.
To keep the workout moving and interesting, consider
conducting the workout circuit style. Start on the squat-press with
a set of dumbbells. Perform ten to fifteen repetitions finding the
burn. Once there, go to the next exercise, with just enough time to
collect your thoughts and take some water. Keep rest periods short
because remember, your goal is glycogen depletion.
Next, move to the lunge-curl, counting each leg as one
repetition. Now on to the bent-over row immediately followed by
the bench press. You should really be huffing and puffing by now.
Finally, you're at the recumbent bike. On this exercise, use time
instead of repetitions; an interval lasting thirty seconds to one
minute will suffice. That's round one. Now repeat.
Get as far as possible into the workout until ten to forty
minutes have elapsed, and then wrap it up.
Ten minutes is enough to get some glycogen depletion and
growth hormone release, while a workout lasting longer than forty
minutes may push you into excess cortisol release. This range
allows you to tailor the workout to your needs. Those less fit or
frailer, as well as those new to the workout, will want to keep it
short at first. Furthermore, this workout lends itself well to timebased goals. Use a stopwatch and record how many rounds you
achieve in the allotted time.
For example, a person who achieves three complete rounds
and makes it to the bench press on the fourth round would have
completed three-point eight rounds (point eight representing
getting to the fourth exercise in the cycle, with each exercise
representing point two). This will give you something for which to
aim in the next workout and add the element of progressive
volume into the workout.
The anti-inflammatory workout is a new and useful training
approach to help fight inflammatory diseases. With an
understanding of the way muscles communicate and what
workout techniques elevate interleukin 6, you can be confident
you are positively impacting some of the major killers affecting
you today. In addition, this workout can be used as the first line of
therapy in a world where good anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical
medicines are hard to come by. Z

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OnFitness Magazine - May/June 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OnFitness Magazine - May/June 2020