Adaption and Gene Expression

I was looking at my usual blogs the last couple of days and it got me thinking. The things that showed up recently had a common theme of using a slow method of lifting instead of a more explosive style of lifting with power.

My first thought was that this slower method(a link here and another here)sounds interesting and has gotten results for those who have used it. Since the method is slower it might also be a bit less risky for those who want intensity without the possibility of injury. It might be a nice way to shake things up and have some additional variation. A more explosive method shown with great results is Keith from Theory To Practice, who does things far more powerfully. I tend to do things more like Keith with a bit of stronglifts and Art Devany style pyramids thrown in for variation.

My second thought is whether it really matters and what is really important. My guess is that what really matters is forcing adaption. The adaption to get stronger and more lean are going to come only when a threshold is reached in intensity that forces is. Some more technically minded call this "gene expression".

Art Devany has a great post in his archives on gene expression about twins(make sure to click on the tiff image even if it doesn't come up on the web page or you won't see what I mean). The 2 people in the picture are genetically twins, but you can't tell from the picture unless you look really closely at their faces. The difference isn't the genetics as they are the same. The difference is the way the genes express themselves in the resulting person, which is very different since the 2 twins train very differently(long distance track versus field events).

Back to lifting methods. I think the specific method is secondary to the intensity and variation. If it is intense it will force the adaption and get the genes to express as a result. If there is variation then your body can't fully adapt and is always guessing. Intense with method A versus method B are probably not worth quibbling about too much. I, for one, and not one for too much Dogma anyway. Make it intense, keep it variable and you should be good to go.

I have been interested in fitness for over a year now and have been reading a lot into this stuff. It is very easy to overthink it and miss the fundamentals:

• Eat real food. You don't want high carb adaption of being fat and weak. Meat, vegetables, and some fruit for 95% of food at least.
• Exercise intense enough to force the adaption and get postive gene expression(lean and stong).
• Don't risk injury. Consider slower methods in order to keep it intense safely.
• Don't exercise too often. Better to take a day off and hit it more intensely the next day rather than to do too little intensity that flies below the threshold.