Lactic acid DOES NOT cause the burning sensation in your muscles!!!!! * One of the energy system in our body called the glycolytic pathway kicks in about 10s into intense exercise. It breaks down glycogen stored in our muscles, immediately available glucose in blood and the glycerol backbone from triglycerides to help regenerate ATP (think energy). * Fast glycolytic process releases a lot of hydrogen ions into the cell when it breaks chemical bonds. This is when hydrogen receptors (NAD+) and puryvate come to rescue. When “catching” hydrogen ions NAD+ becomes NADH and pruryvate becomes the infamous lactic acid. * “Contrary to popular opinion, rather than causing muscle burning, fatigue and the soreness that comes after a workout, lactic acid buffers hydrogen ions and carries them out of our cells. In essence, NAD+ and puryvate let us keep exercising.” (The essentials of sport and exercise nutrition, third edition by Precision Nutrition, p. 99) * Lactic acid allows us to keep training rather than getting in the way of it (under fatigue). Next time you hear someone say that getting rid of lactic acid will speed up your recovery - well… you know better now! Feeling like a myth buster these days!! 🤣🤣🤣

Simplicity! 👌👌👌👌

Simplicity! 👌👌👌👌

What I hate about “no pain, no gain” mentality. * Pain - “highly unpleasant physical sensation caused by illness or injury” (Oxford Dictionary) 📚. It is a signal sent through the nerve fibres (nociceptors) to our brain for further interpretation. It can be understood as a warning sign that we might get injured or hurt. When you touch a hot surface, the pain you experience will cause a constant contraction of your muscles resulting in pulling your hand away. * While receiving a massage today, there was one particular area where I was experiencing a high amount of pain. Having said that to the therapist I was served with “no pain, no gain” 🙄and “it’ll be fine tomorrow” 🙄🙄. Well… “THANKS A LOT BRUH” 🖖 but that was the point I refused further treatment in that particular area. Here’s why. * - Everyone’s perception of pain is different, whilst some pain (think lactic acid causing burning sensation) can be tolerated there’s also “shi* i’m about to die” kind of pain - If you flinch, pull away or tighten your muscles - it is an obvious and subconscious sign that whatever is happening isn’t being well tolerated - When you’re experience high level of discomfort - stop ✋ * The principle behind that popular statement is to get through hardships and endure them. While it most certainly applies to eliminating/getting over excuses it definitely does not apply to experiencing physical pain. * Sports massage 💆🏻‍♂️ 💆‍♀️ should not be associated with the “no pain, no gain” mentality. If you’re experiencing pain and flinching your therapist is overdoing it. There is going to be discomfort though. Use the 1-10 pain scale. If higher than 7/8 - that’s enough, report it and your therapist should back off. It’s counterproductive otherwise.

It’s weekend so what does science say about hangovers? 😂 * The alcohol hangover develops when blood alcohol concentration (BAC) falls considerably and peaks when it returns to almost zero (Ylikahri RH, Huttunen MO, Eriksson CJP, Nikkilä EA. Metabolic studies on the pathogenesis of hangover. Europ J Clin Invest. 1974). Among young adults, alcohol hangovers are reported as the most frequently occurring adverse effect of excessive alcohol consumption. * Symptoms can include: * Headache and dizziness * Dehydration * Nausea * Fatigue * Sensitivity to light and sound * Rapid heartbeat * Depression, anxiety and irritability * Alcohol-induced hangover, defined by a series of symptoms, is the most commonly reported consequence of excessive alcohol consumption. Alcohol hangovers contribute to workplace absenteeism, impaired job performance, reduced productivity, poor academic achievement, and may compromise potentially dangerous daily activities such as driving a car or operating heavy machinery. * Probiotics are known to reduce gut permeability and inflammation, and have been studied in liver disease. Probiotics could therefore be a useful treatment for lowering of alcohol intake by attenuating the endotoxemia-dependent elevation of neuro-inflammatory pathways (Bode C, Kugler V, Bode JC. Endotoxemia in patients with alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhosis and in subjects with no evidence of chronic liver disease following acute alcohol excess. J Hepatol. 1987) * Solutions: * NSAID - painkillers * Electrolyte solutions (sport drinks) will help with the dehydration * Salty soups/bouillons will help with replacement of sodium and potassium * Rest/sleep. The only thing that will really make it go away is time * Eat small portions of food (pizza mightn’t be the best idea in the early stages) * With all of this in mind - enjoy your weekend. 🍺 🍾 🥂 🎉

FOAM ROLLING - Yes or no and what does it ACTUALLY do? * Foam rolling is the most popular form of self-myofascial release, which is the type of myofascial release that is performed by the individual on themselves rather than by a practitioner. * Self-myofascial release causes an increase in short-term flexibility that lasts for >10 minutes but does not affect athletic performance acutely. Self-myofascial release may also be able to increase flexibility long-term, in programs of >2 weeks. (Sullivan, K.M., Silvey, D.B., Button D. C., & Behm, D. G. 2013) * The mechanism by which self-myofascial release affects flexibility is unclear. Current best evidence points towards a neurophysiological mechanism involving muscle activity for acute changes, which differs from the way in which stretching is effective. * The mechanism by which self-myofascial release affects DOMS (post workout soreness) is unclear. Current best evidence points towards the inhibition of pain feedback (pressing on fascia? nerve endings?), which may be similar to the way in which exercise is effective. * WHAT IT MEANS - if your trainer tells you that by foam rolling you’re breaking up “knots formed by tangled up fibres” send them back to research - it’s utter bullsh**. Tensile strength inside your fibres and tendons makes it impossible to physically manipulate them. WHAT DOES FOAM ROLLING DO - It is still unclear. What research does show is that it improves your flexibility short-term and gives you that “good feeling” potentially reducing DOMS. Following that - carry on with foam rolling but don’t be fooled by all those “experts” claiming you are releasing your muscles and so on. Also foam rolling will never compare to an experienced therapist providing proper treatment. If you’re injured and need help through a massage/theraphy - seek a professional who can help rather than rely on a foam roller. * Reference: https://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/foam-rolling-self-myofascial-release/#3 @ Dublin, Ireland

3 reason why cheat days are BULLSH** * When it comes to nutrition or exercise everything should be transparent, honest and done for the right reason. Guilt is never the right and sustainable kind of motivation. Not to mention that cheating is a negative word by definition and shouldn’t generate positive emotions! Here are 3 reasons why cheat days get in the way of your progress: * 1. By needing to cheat you are essentially admitting that what you are doing IS NOT sustainable. It is a form of an emotional crutch that just about gets your through a week or restricted eating. 2. Statistically, cheat meals are the reason most “diets” (another flawed concept - more on it soon) fail. The deficit created by reduced calorie consumptions gets cancelled out by a day (or sometimes even a meal!!!) of binging. Counterproductive much? 3. Cheat meals generate the idea there is good and bad food. Foods you can eat and foods you must avoid. There is only food and the amounts of it that you consume. Even certain vitamins in large quantities cause health issues but does it mean you cut them out completely? * My advice is simple, opt for 80-20 eating routine, where you eat whole foods, protein rich, fresh whole foods 80% and the other 20% of the time you enjoy your treats. Weight/fat loss comes down to kcal in vs kcal out at the end of the day!

Why 4 weeks transformations/training blocks are better than very popular 6 weeks transformations! * Every training plan should be periodised (broken into smaller chunks) into macro (6-12 months), meso (4 - 6 weeks at s stretch) and microcycles (1-7 days). Most of trainers or people involved in training, whether they realise it or not, prescribe/sign up for a mesocycle of training. * Literature (Viru A. Adaptations in Sports Training. Boca Ranton, FL: CRC Press, 1995) states: “It appears that after about four weeks of a specific mesocycle, asymptotic training effects (i.e, a reduction in the adaptive responses to the training stimulus) begin to occur. These effects are most likely related to a state of involution in which physiological and performance gains are either stagnate or begin to decline. * In simple terms, correctly executed training block will come to halt/plateu in around 4 weeks time. This is where you either take a recovery week (reduced training intensity) or jump into another mesocycle to maintain progress. * Now off for a few with the lads. Happy weekend!

This is too good not to share. Fascinating and potentially revolutionary concept of how our bodies work! Challenges the way anatomy is being thought. 👏 👏 👏 #Repost @vinnierehab with @get_repost ・・・ MUSCLES DO NOT ATTACH TO BONE!!!!! [anatomy knowledge] . The conventional ⚙mechanical idea that a muscle begins here and ends there is outdated. We commonly think that muscles attach to bone and that their function are to solely approximate ➡️⬅️ (bring closer) two points. Ie. Biceps bends elbow . But in fact muscles do not attach to bone. They attach to FASCIA! (In simple terms, fascia is the connective tissue that envelops your muscles) Their movement pulls on fascia, and fascia is attached to the periosteum. The periosteum then pulls on the bone! . Muscle cells are caught within the fascial 🕸 like 🐟 within a net! . Fascia distributes strain laterally to neighbouring myofascial structures. So the pull at one end is not necessarily entirely taken by the insertion on the other end. (Not all the strain of a biceps curl is distributed to your biceps. It leaks to neighbouring structures) . Your brain doesn't compute movement in terms of biceps and deltoids. The brain creates movement in terms of large fascial networks and individual motor units, not XYZ muscle . 👉🏼In reality we have ONE muscle and it just hangs around in 600 or more fascial pockets...🤯 #mindblown . #Myodetox #AnatomyTrains

BULLETPROOF SHOULDERS. In any sport including overhead/swinging motion (tennis,squash etc) shoulders play major role in connecting forces going through core & chest transferring them on to the arm. Rotator cuff is responsible for keeping it stable as well as aiding in deceleration (think of it as your breaking pads). * *Start with your shoulders retracted (think squeezing a pencil between your shoulder blades) *Pull your elbows in (towards your belly button) *Bring your elbows out to the side *Press overhead *Reverse entire movement in a controlled manner

Great experience consulting and working with @rochiminh @sohfitofficial @nevwadia the last 2 weeks. One more weekend in India before I come to Dublin to do some work from home. #lifesgood

A very busy first week in India. Short preview of one of the projects I’ve been working on. I’ll be looking for 4-8 subjects in the next few weeks to test out a fully comprehensive gym program (FOR FREEEEEEE) I’ve been working on. Stay tuned 😉