Vascular Shunt Training
What is it?
Vascular has something to do with the veins and shunt is movement so really this is about moving the blood around the body (correct! – Beeble). With this type of training we are looking not only to improve your fitness but also to improve your body’s ability to get blood where it is need as quickly as possible (we’re going to turn you into a machine – Beeble).
How is it done?
Simple really, it is done by training one part of your body fully then immediately training another part. But this form of training didn’t get called shunt by just training your chest then your back. It’s not enough distance to warrant the name shunt. No this is far more extreme, you must train the exact opposite ends of your body. The easiest way to do this is to ’superset’ (that means do two different exercises back to back, no rest – Beeble) a lower body exercise with an upper body exercise. Each exercise has to be carried out to fatigue to get optimum results.
An Example
So if I were training myself I would pick, say, the Squat first. I would either pick a weight where I thought I would fatigue at around 12 repetitions, or if I was not going to use a weight then I would Squat until I could Squat no more. (Argh….someone grab me a chair – Beeble). This way I would know that there would be a lot of blood flowing directly to my legs. Once completed I would then go straight into an upper body exercise, so in this case I will take on the Chest Press. I would again pick a weight where I thought I would fatigue around 12 repetitions, or if I was not going to use a weight I would complete as many press ups as I could. Then it would be straight back to the legs again and so on until my session was over. Of course I would pick different exercises throughout the session, but always alternating lower body with upper body exercises.
What is it good for?
It is great for teaching your body to get blood to the areas that need it fast. So by training from one extremity to the other you will know that if you’ve been running and then suddenly need to use upper body strength, your body will be conditioned to do so. It also means that from standstill if you suddenly need to really use your muscles your body will be conditioned to get the blood to where it is needed quickly. This is great for a lot of sports professionals who need that sudden burst of power and it is great for the rest of us as it really strengthens the heart and cardiovascular system.
Recommendations
This, as with all programmes, is recommended for a maximum of 2 months before you change to another programme. The body gets used to exercise and continuing the same routine for too long will slow your development. Due to the extremity of this type of training there is a real chance that you will feel faint during the training. This is because your body is craving blood for different areas of the body and sometimes when it can’t get it it will take some from the easiest point, the brain. It is easiest to get it from the brain because of gravity. As it takes blood from the brain you will begin to feel faint. All you need to do is lie down with your feet elevated and the blood will drain back to the heart and this allows it to pump it to where it is needed. Remember to tell someone if you are feeling faint. As you progress with this training and your body improves then you will feel less faint each time.
And A Warning…
I would not recommend this type of training to anyone who has any heart conditions, asthma or is a beginner to exercise. If you are unsure, check with your doctor before commencing this or any other routine. If you are okay to do this training then remember to vary the exercises you do. Variety will keep your development at an optimum.
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:59 am
Isn’t a shunt a diversion? Isn’t that a strange name for such an exercise?
What’s the point of this type of exercise? What studies show that it truly strengthens the cardiovascular system?
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:00 am
Many thanks for the question and I hope I can suitably answer it for you.
A shunt is a diversion and vascular shunt in the body (in relation to exercise) normally refers to the body changing from rest to exercise. This is where the body diverts blood to the skeletal muscles and away from organs like the liver and kidneys. However vascular shunt training refers to a way of performing exercises that will train one part of the body and then immediately after the other extremities. The most obvious example of this is to split the body into upper and lower. So by training the lower body first the blood is diverted to the leg muscles. The heart happily pumps the blood to the muscles that need it and the contracting muscles are able to return the blood back to the heart. By now going to an upper body exercise the legs cease to move which creates blood pooling in the legs. The body knows that it now needs more blood to the upper body muscles now being used. More often than not it will use gravity and divert or shunt blood away from the brain to be used in the muscles requiring it. This is why when this type of training is tried initially most people will end up feeling light headed and faint. So maybe shunt seems like a strange name for it I personally think it describes not only the exercise but why the exercise is being performed.
The point of this exercise (I had really hoped that the post had explained this) is to improve the body’s ability to get the blood where it is needed as quickly as possible. It is very rare in sport that you can be as controlled as you are in a gym. Sport is never “I will train my legs first and then my shoulders and then I may train my abs”. Sport is legs, arms, abs, back, chest and everything else all in one and vascular shunt training takes the normal gym session and gets your body to think about where it might need blood next. Over time this has proved to make the body more efficient in the transportation of blood around the body.
As for official studies you will have to search the internet for more information on that. The only proof I have are the numerous clients (including myself) I have trained and seen the improvement in their cardio performance.
January 21st, 2010 at 12:01 am
how does the vascular shunt actually happen?