I Was Wrong About Deadlifting (Why and How Climbers Should Do It)
Hooper’s Beta Ep. 78
Intro
Do you ever feel underappreciated, underutilized, or simply misunderstood? Do you feel like you could really help out if only you were given the time and patience to thrive? If so…. You just might be a deadlift!
I have to admit, early in my career I didn’t love the deadlift. I saw people getting disc bulges or muscles strains from it, and I just didn’t get it. What’s the point? Why just pull some weight off the ground and drop it aggressively acting all cool? But... We all learn right? And acknowledging when we are wrong is important, and oh boy, I was wrong. Deadlifting has an incredible list of benefits and, when done correctly, few to no downsides, which is why I now whole-heartedly recommend it for climbers. But you have to know how to do it properly to not get injured. So today, we gon’ do some learnin’!
In this episode we are going to talk about why the deadlift is helpful for climbers. More specifically, we’ll be delving into the Romanian deadlift, which I believe to be the most useful for climbers. We’ll get into the reasons why in a bit, however, if you’re curious about the other two forms, you can find a bunch of information and instruction on how to do them in the show notes. Most of what we talk about in this video will be applicable to all three types of deadlifting, though, so no worries there. We’ll discuss the specific anatomical benefits of deadlifting, the proper technique so you can perform it sately, and how to integrate it into your training routine for max climbing gainz.
SO WHAT IS A DEADLIFT?
Before we get too far into it, let’s actually talk about what a deadlift is, so let’s get down to the basics The term deadlift comes from the fact that you are lifting “dead weight,” meaning there is less energy stored in your tissue before you start the lift. This is different from many other exercises which start with a lengthening of the muscle which helps create energy before performing the actual lift, such as with a bench press or squat. The “dead” weight is lifted up to approximately the height of your hips and is done so by engaging multiple muscle groups such as hamstrings, glutes, core, quads and back. To do so effectively, one must maintain proper tension throughout the range of motion, which is one reason it is so useful for climbers. There are many adaptations or variations to a deadlift as well, whether it be with the form or the weight used. Traditionally, a deadlift is used with an Olympic bar, but kettlebells, dumbbells, and resistance bands can also have a role.
As mentioned before, we will focus on the Romanian deadlift form in this video, because of its application to climbing, but the show notes will also cover the conventional deadlift and the sumo deadlift. The conventional deadlift focuses more on the quads, glutes, core, and mid back whereas the RDL is more hamstrings, glutes, core, and mid back. The sumo works the glutes, quads, core, and mid back. So the real difference is conventional deadlift = more quads, RDL = more hamstring, and sumo = more glutes.
Choosing which one is right for you really depends on your goals. BUT! In my opinion, the RDL is the best one for climbers. It works the hamstrings the most which is ideal for heel hooking, and it has a smaller range of motion than the conventional deadlift so it can be a bit safer! Win-win in my books.
WHY DOES DEADLIFTING + CLIMBING = <3 ???
So, aside from helping you brag about how much weight you can lift, what else is deadlifting good for and why do I recommend it to climbers specifically?
It trains grip strength and can help develop strong fingers
It teaches you how to control tension in your body
It improves posterior chain strength which improves multiple aspects of climbing including cave climbing
The improved strength can also decrease injuries by improving your overall strength and stability of multiple joints
It helps build hamstring strength so you can heel hook with the best of ‘em
And the hormone response makes you feel like a million bucks
Here are some of the things deadlifting Does NOT Do (When Done Correctly)
Guarantee a back injury
Make your legs huge and heavy
Make you bro out and force you to solely drink protein drinks 24/7
Now if that doesn’t get you psyched on deadlifts, you must be a slab climber.
Ugh, fine, I guess deadlifting can help with slabs too. In fact, before we learn how to do a deadlift, let’s delve into all the science and anatomy stuff behind deadlifting and why I keep saying it’s so great for climbers.
#1 LEARNING TO CONTROL TENSION IMPROVES CLIMBING TECHNIQUE
Climbing, at all levels, can be very dependent on your ability to create and control tension in multiple body parts. Think about it. You typically have all four limbs engaged while having to operate at all sorts of angles. This means that the upper limbs, core, and legs need to be in control. Maintaining that control can make or break your attempt on a climb, and while you can learn some of this by just climbing a lot, deadlifting is a much more potent tool in this regard.
If that doesn’t make sense to you, think about another great training tool for climbing: the hangboard. We all know you can get pretty strong fingers just by climbing a lot and not getting injured. But, anyone who has incorporated hangboarding into their training routine knows that, when done properly, handboarding is a far more efficient way of strengthening your fingers. And anyone that has hangboarded also knows that you are not meant to just drop into your fingers. You need to keep the elbows and shoulders engaged to safely hang.
The deadlift functions in a similar way when it comes to body tension control by engaging multiple muscle groups, primarily: the legs, core, and mid to upper back. Note: The varying forms of deadlift will create slight biases to different muscles, but we’ll get into that in a few.
Also, the progressive increase in the weight you’re able to lift with a deadlift is not just a result of the physical improvements your body is making; it’s actually because your body is learning how to deadlift aka control and maintain tension. When the muscle groups are not working together, you cannot lift much weight, and it is not safe. One group of muscles may be taking a larger percentage of the weight, which the body can sense, and this places it an increased risk of injury, therefore limiting the weight you can pull. BUT, when you can engage multiple muscle groups, they work in concert with one another, attenuate the forces between muscle groups, and allow you to generate more force, i.e. lift more weight.
So, you can see, using this as a tool to learn how to control tension will also improve the force you can control throughout your body, meaning you’ll be able to generate and control more force while climbing.
#2 BUILDING STRENGTH IN THE POSTERIOR CHAIN IMPROVES HEEL-HOOK ABILITY AND REDUCES INJURY RISK
Another wonderful benefit of deadlifting is the added overall strength to the posterior chain, including the hamstring, which will improve stability and can help prevent injuries while climbing. Avoiding injuries can be a balancing act of mobility and stability. Often when one system outweighs another, we are setting ourselves up for an injury. Often climbers focus on simply climbing, increasing finger strength, and working on mobility, and they forget about the added health benefits of strength training. This is a tool that can address those benefits while also being helpful to climbers.
The strength gains from deadlifts also will directly improve hamstring strength, which can help you avoid hamstring injuries and make you better at heel hooking. Let’s face it, heel hooks are an essential tool in a climber’s bag o’ tricks. Sometimes the ability to do a heel hook means the difference between finishing a climb and flopping off the wall like a total gumby. If you have weak hamstrings, not only will you be unable to heel hook effectively, but you’ll also be more exposed to an injury.
Think about it simply: if your hamstrings can theoretically only hold 10% of your body weight and you’re attempting a move that requires you to load the hamstrings to 9.9%, you’re reeaaallly close to the max tension that hamstring can handle and that’s likely going to cause an injury. On the other hand, if your hammies can handle 20% of your body weight you’re going to be cruuiissing through that 9.9% heel hook. Your beefy hambones aren’t even breaking a sweat and you complete the project and everyone cheers and you go on to become a pro and you live out in Red Rocks and you meet Aelx Honnold and you become best friends and you take a picture with him and post it to your Instagram… All thanks to your hamstrings.
Now… what if I told you that there was a form of deadlifting that BIASES THE HAMSTRINGS! That’s right. The shortest path to best friends with Honnold is coming up soon
But first, let’s get into another aspect of the deadlift that is beneficial to climbers and athletes alike.
#3 WORKING LARGE MUSCLE GROUPS CREATES A HORMONAL RESPONSE
Finally, another great part of the deadlift is the hormonal response. Now, I’m not just talking about the hormonal response of exercise in general. Yes, deadlift, as well as most exercise in general, makes you feel great! On a chemical level, it releases many positive hormones into your body, and on a mental level, it also makes you feel accomplished and those positive feelings will simply make you feel great! But, here’s another thing: resistance exercise has been shown to increase hormonal response such as increasing testosterone, Insulin Growth Factor-1 (IGF1) and growth hormone. And it’s been shown that larger muscle groups such as your legs have a larger impact on the release of these hormones. We know that testosterone is vital in maintaining and regulating skeletal muscle, and research has shown that growth hormone positively impacts connective tissue such as collagen. Now, these effects can definitely vary between individuals and their genetics, but the potential boost is great! To get a full understanding of this, I recommend checking out a new article titled Links Between Testosterone, Oestrogen, and the Growth
Hormone/Insulin-Like Growth Factor Axis and Resistance Exercise Muscle Adaptations. They even have a great chart there that is easy to follow and demonstrates these awesome changes!
#4 INCREASED AVAILABILITY OF HORMONES HELPS YOUR FINGERS HEAL
Now, this next part is more theoretical, BUT follow me here… the deadlift works large muscle groups, so it can improve your hormonal anabolic response, which may increase the amount of free floating anabolic hormones, AND if you couple it with some light forearm or finger exercises while on your rest breaks…. You can open some of the capillaries in your forearms and hands may trigger some of those hormones to go to your forearms and build healthier, stronger fingers! Now, this is not exact science, it is more theoretical, but it is a tool that has MULTIPLE benefits with little to no drawbacks. And sometimes when research isn’t out there yet, we rely on our own case studies. How do YOU feel after you do this? How are YOUR numbers trending? Are you climbing better and putting up stronger numbers? Or does it have no impact? Remember, the anabolic response varies from individual to individual based on the research that is out there, but this may be a boost for you and is just another reason that makes this exercise so beneficial!
(plus, small side note here, you need to take a long break between deadlifts and hangboarding so, why not just be efficient and work them in your rest periods! It is a great use of your time and will not negatively impact one another).
PREPARING TO DEADLIFT
#1 WARMING UP
Before we do a full-on deadlift, we need to warm up; don’t just jump right into a deadlift. I definitely recommend doing some light hip mobility work first, especially if you are doing a conventional or sumo deadlift. If your focus is on the RDL, it may not be as needed, but it’s still a good idea.
Hip mobility is recommended in order to get your hips mobile enough for the range you are working in. If they are not, you will likely create compensations and open yourself up to injuries.
My recommendations to improve hip mobility before a deadlift is to do a garland pose or deep squat to improve your hip flexion while also pressing your hands together and forcing the knees out to improve your adductor range of motion. You can also do a side split stretch, which I would highly recommend if you are doing a sumo deadlift.
Next, we need to activate the core, the hamstrings, the glute med/max, and the shoulders/mid back. Remember, this is a compound exercise so there are multiple muscle groups to get ready.
To keep things simple, let’s keep it to just 1 or 2 exercises max for each muscle group.
HIP MOBILITY
First, hip mobility. Because the RDL is a much smaller range of motion, you will be much safer even if you don’t have wonderful hip mobility, BUT I still recommend doing a garland pose, deep squat, or childs pose (if the other two don’t work for you) to improve the mobility of the hips.
HAMSTRINGS
To get the hamstrings fired up, love doing nordic hamstring curls. Start with a smallllll range of motion and slowly work larger. This has the added benefit of forcing you to engage your glutes, and core, so you are already getting the tension built sup.
GLUTE MED/MAX
For the glute med/max, I recommend doing side steps with the band at the toes for the glut med and add in a little squat to lightly engage the glut max.
UPPER BODY
This one is more important than you may think, BUT I highly recommend doing bilateral shoulder extension to warm up the back and this is really helpful as it emulates the shoulder positioning you want while deadlift.
CORE
Finally, I recommend this core drill so you know what to do and what to feel while deadlifting. Now, in the show notes we will have even more details about the basics and how to properly engage your core, but to keep this brief, let’s just do the final stage.
Deadlift Core Bracing Drill
Standing Bracing Practice:
1) Stand upright with hands relaxed by side and feet shoulder width apart.
2) Take a deep breath by breathing into your stomach, feeling your stomach and lower ribs expand as you do so. Try to keep your shoulders from elevating while preventing your upper chest from expanding.
3) While holding that breath, squeeze your abdominal muscles as if bracing for a punch to the stomach. Hold this "braced" position for 3 seconds.
4) Exhale and repeat until familiar. Standing in front of a mirror and/or placing hands on stomach and ribs while practicing may help.
Exercise:
1) Stand with hands placed flat on front of thighs and feet shoulder width apart.
2) Breathe and brace using the technique listed above.
3) While holding breath, slide hands down front of thighs by bending at the hips and slightly at the knees (don't lock knees).
4) When hands reach knees, lock arms and push down into your knees as hard as you can sustain.
5) Hold this bottom bracing position for 3 seconds and exhale as you stand back up.
6) A single full repetition should take roughly 5 seconds. Catch breath while standing and repeat.
In summary, we can look at our warmup as a small circuit, here’s what I recommend.
Circuit - warm up - 2x through
Side steps band at toes x12 steps
Nordic hamstring curls x12 reps
Bilateral shoulder extensions x12 reps
Core bracing drill 3-4 reps
Do all of those once, then repeat, and you are ready to get into it.
Now that we have all the muscle groups fired up and warm up… let’s continue with our public service announcement aka general advice
#2 PROGRESS SLOWLY
This is equally important as warming up: always go slow with your weight progressions.
This is how people typically get hurt, they progress too quickly and lose the quality of their form which causes injuries either abruptly or building over time as they continue to lose the quality of their form.
#3 HIP HINGE
Think of deadlift as a hip hinge activity. It is important to initiate the movement by bending at the hip. This does not cause your back to round if done properly. But rather engages the proper muscle groups to perform the technique correctly.
#4 START AN RDL WITH THE WEIGHT OFF THE GROUND
If you are newer to deadlift, and are starting with a RDL as I recommend, I strongly support doing the opposite of a conventional deadlift and start with the weight just below the hips, not on the ground. The RDL is an eccentric focused exercise, and by starting with the weight elevated, we start in a safer position where we can eccentrically load the muscles. .
#5 GRIP TYPE
I highly recommend people use the double overhand grip, not the 1 hand over, 1 hand under grip otherwise known as the mixed grip.
I recommend this because the double overhand grip creates more symmetry, which produces fewer compensations, and creates a more balanced movement. It also forces you to work on your grip and so it can be great cross-training to work the wrist flexors and even partially the wrist extensors. The mixed grip is used when people have weakness in their grip because there is opposition. As the bar wants to roll out of one hand, the other hand is able to counter that roll because it is pulling in the opposite direction. Now, if you go with the double overhand (again, which I think you should), you of course will have to consider where you implement this with your training since it inevitably will work the forearms, but look at that as a positive, it’s cross training for your forearms and wrists, win win!
Quick side note: there’s also the thumb tuck grip which may be the strongest grip, but I am not a huge fan. It places a lot of stress on your thumb in order to lift heavier weights but again, this is a video about deadlift for climbers, so let’s not hurt our thumbs.
OK, goodness gracious, can we just get to the deadlift techniques, PLEASSE!!
TIPS AND INSTRUCTION ON THE 3 COMMON DEADLIFT TECHNIQUES
Romanian Deadlift
As a reminder, the Romanian deadlift is amazing training for your hamstrings, core, lat/smid back, and glutes.
It is a pure hip hinge. So, before you can even consider lifting weight with this, you have to understand how to hip hinge. And it’s simple, the butt goes back, the chest comes forward and down while maintaining a straight spine. Now, be careful, because some people will say “make sure to look up!” But, this can actually cause your lower back to arch, which will increase the chance you compensate with your lower back muscles rather than lifting with your legs.
With that understood, let’s get into how to do the lift!
Start with the barbell elevated. It is much better to start the rep from an elevated position to improve your form.
An RDL is more of an eccentric exercise than a concentric one, so we start with the eccentric.
Grip the barbell just outside of your thighs.
If your thumbs are touching your thighs, that is OK
Take a big breath, brace your core, and lift the barbell from the pins
Walk the weight back from the rack in 2-3 steps, placing your feet shoulder-width apart
Slightly bend your knees – you’ll keep this bent-knee position throughout the entire movement
Hinge at the hips as you sit your butt back as the barbell moves to the knees. Think about keeping the weight on your heels
The barbell should remain on your thighs while your shoulders travel over the barbell
If it is not doing this, either you are not engaging your arms (recall the bilateral shoulder extension exercise we did earlier) or you are not sitting back enough.
Keeping the arms engaged is important as it will improve your form and improve your center of gravity to prevent added strain and stress to your lower back and can even prevent rounding.
Think about driving your hips back to feel the tension in your glutes and hamstring.
Once the barbell is just below the knee, engage your hamstrings and squeeze your glutes to drive your hips up and forward
Don’t extend your knees at the top, you should still have the slight bend you began with
Some common mistakes with the RDL include
Starting the movement by bending the knees
Remember, this is a hip hinge!
Going too far with your range of motion
The weight should stop at or slightly below the knees. Traveling too far down will force you to either bend at the back, lose your shoulder engagement, or bend at the knees. Bending at the knees is the least concerning motion as that would just turn the lift into a conventional deadlift, but the other two can end up causing lower back pain
Allowing the bar to drift in front of you
This changes the center of gravity of the weight and will potentially cause back pain, as noted with the conventional deadlift
And that’s it! This will help improve your heel hooks while also really building that strength and tension in the posterior chain. For information on the other forms, please be sure to check out the shownotes, otherwise let’s jump into how to integrate this into your training routine!
Now…. the next step: the conventional deadlift.
Conventional Deadlift
So, the RDL has really set us up for success here on the conventional deadlift. It is similar in that it uses the hip hinge, BUT it also involves a knee bend to go through the full range. So, to make it simple, you break it down into two parts. A hip hinge AND a knee bend. This lift focuses more on the quads and glutes so to me, it’s not AS practical for climbers, but because it involves a larger range of motion, it can be helpful at building strength that can be used for deeper single leg squats while climbing. If for some reason you have simply skipped ahead to this part, make sure to go back to review our warm up including working on appropriate hip mobility and activation techniques to make sure the core, glutes, and arms are warmed up and ready to lift.
With the conventional deadlift, you typically start with the weight on the ground .
Approach the barbell and place your mid-foot directly underneath of the barbell
The barbell will be approximately 1 inch away from your shin bone when you are standing upright. This means when you actually go to lift the weight your shin may encroach on or touch the bar, that’s OK. DON’T start with the bar in front of your feet, that’s a good way to hurt your back.
Stand with your feet either shoulder-width apart or slightly inside shoulder-width
Grab onto the bar with your hands just outside your shins
If your thumbs are near and/or touching your shins, that’s OK but you don’t want your hands dragging up your thighs.
Don’t go too wide for this, this will actually shorten the length of your arms making you have to go even deeper during your lift.
Make sure to keep your arms elbows straight with this, don’t flex at your elbow before you lift, this will place more strain on the biceps.
Engage your core by taking a big breath, holding it, and then forcefully exhaling without letting out any air
Drop your hips into the start position
Keep your shoulders slightly in front of the barbell with your back straight
Engage your lats by ”flexing your armpits’
Think about squeezing your shoulders close to your body while also squeezing your shoulder blades lightly together
This will help keep the weight closer to your body as the bar drags up the legs.
When ready, pay attention to the next two main aspects of the movement
push the floor away with your knees, making sure your hips don’t rise faster than the barbell
When the barbell is at the knees, think about driving your hips forward, and locking your hips and knees at the same time
This is your knee bend + your hip hinge
When ready to lower the weight back down, maintain the armpit and core engagement, but then perform the hip hinge and the knee bend.
A little bonus? Here are a few extra tips to help make this lift better and safer. And, we’ll go over a few common mistakes.
Main cues and tips
“Push the floor away from you”
Keep the weight close to your body throughout the movement. Think of it as sliding the bar down your legs. This will help protect your back.
Safety tip: If you have to perform the repetition fast or with speed, you likely cannot perform it with control. Before you ever increase weight, think “how slow / controlled can I perform this rep”
Common mistakes with the conventional deadlift
Rounding of the mid back which can cause rounding of the lower back
People either use too much weight or simply forget about this engagement.
Raising the hips too quickly
You want to start the movement but pushing with the legs then pushing straightening out with the hips. Starting the movement by lifting the hips first can cause you to round your back and cause an injury.
Not sitting back / hinging at the hip first, causing the bar to drift away from your body
The moment this happens, the more strain/stress you can place on your lower back as the center of gravity has moved forward. That is counted by activating your back (typically).
Now that we have that monster of a lift covered, let’s talk about the final form, the sumo deadlift!
Sumo Deadlift
The final variation is the Sumo deadlift. This is a great variation that focuses more on the glutes and has the potential to keep your back safer than the other two lifts because you remain in a more upright position. While this may be considered the safest of the 3 forms I am discussing today, the reason I don’t list it as my #1 recommendation is simple: I want an exercise that gets the most bang for your buck. The RDL focuses attention on the hamstrings, which will improve your heel hooking AND your cave climbing. The sumo deadlift focuses on the glutes, which will have some benefit, but not as much as the RDL. So, it may be slightly safer, but it doesn’t have the same added benefits.
To do the sumo deadlift, you really need to do the two mobility exercises I mention first, because this is a wider stance lift and if your hips aren’t mobile, you may not do it correctly.
Like the conventional deadlift, you will start with the weight on the ground.
Walk up to the bar and place your feet wider than shoulder width, and with the toes pointing approximately 30-45 degrees in external rotation, not straight ahead.
This will allow you to open the hips up more, allowing you the depth you need for this lift without sacrificing form.
Bend at the hips and knees and grab the bar.
Your arms should be directly under your shoulders and straight, NOT bent.
Engage the armpits as with the other lifts.
Tighten the core, and get ready to lift.
Push the ground away from you as you engage the glutes.
Come to an upright, standing position with the shoulders, glutes, and core still engaged, then reverse the motion and lower the bar back down.
You’ll notice that this exercise not only has a smaller range of motion, but is also with a more upright spine, again, this makes it slightly safer and if your goal is bigger but, this just may be for you!
Main Tips and Cues
Make sure to focus on squeezing the glutes and keeping the core engaged
Keep your chest up but don’t focus on being completely vertical
Practice without weight working through the range of motion before you decide to add weight
Some common mistakes with the sumo deadlift are
Bending the elbows
Having the grip too narrow
Making the feet too wide
Bending at the back.
To avoid most of these mistakes, practice this lifting technique with minimal weight and with a mirror or a phone to make sure your form is good BEFORE you add a lot of weight.
INTEGRATING DEADLIFTS INTO YOUR TRAINING
Now that we know how to deadlift and what to avoid, let’s talk about the sets, reps, frequency and… when the heck should I do this?!
Now, your sets and reps will vary based upon your goals BUT, my recommendation is to focus on strength training with this because it will improve your strength and ability to control tension, without adding much weight to you. Whereas higher repetitions may trigger some hypertrophy, added weight into your legs, which may not be as beneficial to your climbing.
Quick note: if you want more information about this rather than just a 10 second blurb, check out our video on if climbers should strength train for more awesome information!
OK, back to it. So, let’s break down our sets.
I recommend 5-6 total sets, starting with a lighter warm up set of 8-10 reps, and working into the last 2 sets of 2-3 reps.
The first set is optional, as it depends on how warmed up you are ahead of time. I personally prefer doing the bonus set just to really get my form locked in.
Here’s what that would look like:
I recommend taking a full 3 minute break between sets
But…. what do I do with ALL THAT TIME DOING NOTHING!
OK calm down, I know that seems like a lot of time… so let’s make it worth it! During this time you can stretch the upper extremities. You can play chess on your phone. You can watch the newest hooper’s beta videos… or do what I do, some moderate intensity hangboarding!
Again, if you haven’t seen our video about strength training, you need to, but here is the thought.
The deadlift, being a compound movement involving tons of large muscle groups will increase the amount of anabolic hormones circulating through our body. If you do some light finger loading, it creates the opportunity for some of those hormones to go to the fingers to help build and repair the tissue there. Standard hangboard training does not elicit a large enough release of anabolic hormones, so doing it coupled with deadlift can be a huge plus to your training! Also, the fingers will not create an extreme demand on your cardiovascular system, meaning you are still recovering for the next round of deadlifts as your heart rate lowers back down, whereas performing push ups or something demanding in that manner, such as watching intense hooper’s beta videos, may keep that heart rate elevated and hamper your recovery time.
Whoa! So I’m going to get soooo strong from this, right? How often can I do it? You may be asking…
I recommend only doing this twice a week. It is a significantly demanding exercise and you need ample time to recover. I don’t recommend performing it 3 times a week because that will then take away from your climbing and that’s not the goal.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I love the deadlift! I believe it is an amazing exercise (when done properly). It teaches you body tension, builds strength, and helps you on a molecular issue. It is a tool that should be employed by climbers and anyone looking to add to their strength training program. I hope, though, you take this video seriously and follow the recommendations! Because as most great things do, this comes with a cost. Do it wrong, and you can hurt your back. But, do it right? Bam, power lifting machine!!
Until next time! Train that deadlift. Climb those try hard problems. Send them with a massive heel hook. Repeat!
DISCLAIMER
As always, exercises are to be performed assuming your own risk and should not be done if you feel you are at risk for injury. See a medical professional if you have concerns before starting new exercises.
Written and Produced by Jason Hooper (PT, DPT, OCS, SCS, CAFS) and Emile Modesitt
IG: @hoopersbetaofficial
RESEARCH
TITLE
Postexercise Hypertrophic Adaptations, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
CITATION
Schoenfeld, Brad J. Postexercise Hypertrophic Adaptations, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: June 2013 - Volume 27 - Issue 6 - p 1720-1730
doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31828ddd53
KEY TAKEAWAYS
These studies have led to the supposition that GH does not mediate hypertrophic adaptations and that its anabolic effects are limited to synthesis of noncontractile tis sue (i.e., collagen)
Considering that the anabolic milieu is primed during the post–workout period, it is conceivable that the large GH spikes seen after resistance exercise may facilitate muscular repair and remodeling.
Numerous studies have shown that exogenous testosterone administration can promote marked increases in skeletal muscle hypertrophy (9,10,71), and these effects are magnified when combined with resistance exercise
Binding of testosterone to membrane receptors can cause rapid (within seconds) activation of second messengers associated with down stream protein kinase signaling (16), suggesting that transient postexercise elevations may enhance protein synthesis.
However, although the majority of research shows substantial increases in IGF-1 and GH immediately after resistance exercise, studies on acute testos Terone release have been somewhat inconsistent. Some trials have reported that testosterone was elevated to a greater extent after hypertrophy-oriented resistance training com pared with strength-type routines (13,23,25,53,72), but others have failed to find significant differences.
It has been estimated that genetic differences can account for approximately half of the variation in athletic performance
TITLE
Links Between Testosterone, Oestrogen, and the Growth Hormone/Insulin-Like Growth Factor Axis and Resistance Exercise Muscle Adaptations.
CITATION
Gharahdaghi N, Phillips BE, Szewczyk NJ, Smith K, Wilkinson DJ, Atherton PJ. Links Between Testosterone, Oestrogen, and the Growth Hormone/Insulin-Like Growth Factor Axis and Resistance Exercise Muscle Adaptations. Front Physiol. 2021 Jan 15;11:621226. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.621226. PMID: 33519525; PMCID: PMC7844366.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
RE-induced increases in key endogenous steroid and peptide hormone responses are likely to be an integral part of the integrated response to acute exercise and exercise-induced muscle growth. The combined effects of RE and RE-induced androgen release lead to upregulation of anabolic signaling pathways which likely augment net protein accretion and hypertrophy. However, the anabolic effects of RE-induced GH release act indirectly via stimulation of hepatic-IGF-1 production; in turn resulting in the activation of anabolic signaling pathways, and muscle growth and maintenance
TITLE
Exercise-Induced Hormone Elevations Are Related to Muscle Growth, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
CITATION
Mangine, Gerald T.1; Hoffman, Jay R.2; Gonzalez, Adam M.2; Townsend, Jeremy R.2; Wells, Adam J.2; Jajtner, Adam R.2; Beyer, Kyle S.2; Boone, Carleigh H.2; Wang, Ran2; Miramonti, Amelia A.2; LaMonica, Michael B.2; Fukuda, David H.2; Witta, E. Lea2; Ratamess, Nicholas A.3; Stout, Jeffrey R.2 Exercise-Induced Hormone Elevations Are Related to Muscle Growth, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: January 2017 - Volume 31 - Issue 1 - p 45-53 doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001491