Weight lifting: lift fast or slow for more efficient fat loss

[ChefChiTown]

This foundational level I speak of are the "laws" that all of our bodies abide by. For instance:

- a shortage of energy will always lead to tissue loss
- a stress placed above and beyond what our muscles are accustomed to will always lead to an adaptation that is universal to that specific stress

To try and put this in terms you might understand, here is an example:

I broke my tibia and fibula years ago in a sports accident. My grandfather did the same thing at a much older age. I healed about twice as fast as he did. In your terms, that's because our bodies are different. He was old and I was young. I was healthy, he was not. I was active, he was not. And so on.

These are obvious differences that I don't think anyone needs to have pointed out.

That said, our bodies responded to the break identically. Swelling occurred around the break. Osteoblasts helped form new bone as well as collagen. Etc, etc, etc.

I'm speaking in terms of this latter level and you're speaking in terms of the former. This is where the miscommunication lies.

Not everybody has the same exact reaction to a broken bone (for example). For instance...

Is the break clean?
Has the break completely broken the bone in two seperate pieces?
Has that bone been broken before?
How old is the person with the break?
How healthy is the person with the break?
Etc.

All of those things are variables, AKA - differences, that matter. Even in your own example you somewhat contradict a point that you are trying to make (which I do understand, but you're just splitting hairs). Your grandfather healed slower than you, even though you say that your bodies had the same exact reaction to the broken tibia. If your body had the same exact reaction, your bones would have healed at the same exact rate. But, since there are a ton of variables from body to body, human to human, the rate of healing was different.

Your argument of using the body's natural reaction to things is no different than saying...

"I got punched in the nose and my eyes watered. My grandpa got punched in the nose and his eyes watered too. Therefore, we aren't different."

I'm talking about stuff books are written about with regards to physiology, biology and physics. These foundational concepts are not the sort of things that apply to some but not others. It's the way our bodies work.

As a trainer, these are the necessary understandings that one *must* have a firm grasp of LONG BEFORE they start applying the foundational concepts to various individuals with individual needs.

As a professional trainer, you should also understand that everybody is different. In fact, you already know this, but you just continue to split hairs.

I have already stated my reason of saying "everybody is different", clear as day, but you still continue to split hairs in order to claim that people are not different.

I completely understand where you are coming from, I do...but you are also stating obvious things that don't need to be said. You're just using a lot of words to do so. What you are trying to say (for example) is...

"If you lift weights, you will get stronger" - TRUE
"If you lift weights, you will build muscle mass" - TRUE
"If you lift weights, you will burn calories" - TRUE

All of those are true and I don't think anybody here is arguing that. But, that doesn't mean that if I lift weights, my body will have the same exact reaction (results) as everybody else. That is the point that I am making by saying that "everybody is different".

If I run a mile and you run a mile, our bodies won't receive the same exact benefits. You might burn more calories than I will. Your heart might beat faster than mine will. Your muscles might not get as tired as mine will. Etc.

The way you're responding to me you'd think I made the comment, "Everyone is identical."

Hint: I didn't.

I know that's not what you're saying. Hell, if everybody was identical, life would be pretty boring.

I said our bodies respond to specific stresses the same because we are humans. You took this out of context to an elementary level of understanding with regards to the human body where, "If Sue is injured and John is not, they're bodies can't be trained the same way."

That has nothing to do at all with what I'm discussing.

I'm not taking anything out of context. And, no...our bodies don't respond to specific stresses in the same way. Once again, you can use an example like...

"If your body gets hot (the stress), it will sweat (the response)", which is TRUE, but not everybody sweats the same amount. Not everybody gets hot at the same temperatures. Not everybody sweats (which is weird). Etc.

That is the point I am making. To apply that to exercising and working out...

"If you bench press weights, your chest will get stronger"

We can all agree that is true. But, not everybody increases muscle mass, muscle strength or muscle endurance with the same exact rate.

I'm not debating whether a 90 year old with drastic mobility issues should be trained like an 18 year old football player. I'm arguing that, for example, applying resistance training in a specific way will elicit specific responses that are the same in each.

Once again, I know what you're saying by talking about responses and I already addressed that.

If I had both train to increase the rate of force development (power), their neuromuscular systems would both develop/adapt in a way to increase power. Sure, the rate and magnitude of change would vary greatly. But the adaptation would behave the same regardless. This doesn't mean that each would be trained identically given their obvious unique factors. It means we know that both of their bodies will adapt the same with regards to power training... now it's a matter of seeing what their limits are, what their time frames are, etc and building a routine around these things to elicit the universal adaptations we desire.

Now you're saying, "Adaption is only needed when there are differences."

If I'm being honest, I have no clue at all what you mean by this. Can you elaborate please. Only elaborate if, after reading what I just wrote above, there's still a disconnect. If there's isn't, great... let's move on.

Adaptation is needed for anyone who wants to improve. If there's no adaptation, there's no improvement.

Also, I sincerely hope you realize I'm just discussing here. I suspect you are too... not getting heated or anything like that. I don't sense that you are, which I appreciate since most people on the Internet have trouble separating themselves and their emotions from a debate.

So thanks... look forward to hearing from you.

I know you're just discussing. Neither of us is getting heated and it's purely conversational.

When I talk about adaptation...

If a 300lb, completely out of shape man walks into a gym, he won't be able to the do same things as a 175lb, ridiculously in shape man. The 300lb man will have to adapt his choice of workout to what his body can currently handle. The 300lb man and the 175lb man will, more than likely, have completely different levels of fitness, causing them to adapt their workouts to their own body.

Once again, I 100% understand the point you are making. I honestly do. And, what you say does make sense and I think we can all agree on that. But, you can't treat every person's body without treating them as individuals, not just a body that has reactions. That is what I am saying.

When I still played baseball, my trainer(s) gave me a specific workout routine which was based on my body's capability to do certain things. I mentioned before that I have sustained a decent amount of injuries, so my trainers had to customizea workout for me, so I wouldn't re-injure myself.

Anyway, the workout routine that my trainer(s) gave me worked wonders...for me. I have actually worked out with friends of mine and they have tried my routine. They would adjust the amount of weight they would use to their individual levels of strength, but they would do all of the same exercises. My friends wouldn't see much result by using my routine. But, I would see tremendous results in a matter of only a month or so.

That is the prime example (in my head) when I say that "everybody is different". We did the same exact workout routine, with the only exception being the amount of weight we used, but our results weren't even close to the same.