Blood shunting in exercise

yogicarl

This is hardly a new exercise revelation as I remember doing it in circuit training 30 years ago. The principle of blood shunting in an exercise program is to work the lower half for one set, then switch to an upper body exercise for the next set, lower body the next and then a fourth exercise for the upper half.

An example may be (calisthenics):

A push-up set, followed by
Squats, immediately followed by
Pull-ups, immediately followed by
Low Plank Alternate Knee to Triceps

Ideally these should be in the 5 - 8 rep range for strength, but could be adapted for stamina work with higher rep sets.

- as soon as one circuit is completed, go back to the top and do another circuit - no rests between exercises or circuits - until the whole program (three circuits for example) is complete. Then lie down and wait for your heart rate to slow down.

On the one hand its supposed to have a profound effect on the metabolism even between workouts and has a high cardio element compared to conventional strength training.

On the other hand, some strength training articles advise to group exercises to upper or lower body in turn to avoid blood shunting so the optimum energy delivery and ATP recovery are focussed on each muscle group in turn; through the workout or each split, depending on what your program is.

My own experience with working this way has been an overall cardio improvement, an increase in overweight loss rate but also a decrease in the amount of chin-ups per set due to rapid breathing from the squats before the chin-ups and I feel a rapid energy drain in my chin-up sets.

Not sure I would rely on this way of training long term, but it is an interesting change of tempo. I would use it as a way of breaking through plateaus or training boredom.

- any views?