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At the moment it is by no means clear which type of athlete / gymrat would benefit from milk fat globule membrane supplementation and which wouldn't. It's after all well possible that the effects Soga et al. observed in rookies wouldn't occur in adv. trainees or professional athletes.

After the study on nucleotide supplements the Satako Soga's latest paper on the dietary supplementation with milk fat globule membrane is #2 on the list of studies with promising new ergogenics in less than a month. In view of the fact that the last year has been devoid of any true innovations, this is a welcome diversion from writing about whey (or other protein powders), creatine, beta alanine and baking soda, as well as the occasional study on HMB for me.

In spite of the fact that this is a follow up on previous rodent studies from the same researchers, I must warn you not to to expect too much of MFGMs, yet. More data and studies with more realistic resistance training + supplementation protocols from independent labs are warranted before MFGMs may eventually appear next to the previously mentioned top dogs on a list of "waredownloadsoft Recommended Supplements".
But hey, let's keep the skepticism for the bottom line and take a look at what the scientists from the Kao Corporation did with their fourteen Japanese subjects. The men, who were aged 31–48 years and did not participate in regular strength training before the study, took 1 g of the  structural membranes of milk which are usually covering the triglyceride globules that are dispersed as emulsified bodies in milk or 1g of an identically looking whole milk powder as a placebo in tablet form for 4-weeks (composition see Table 1).

Table 1: Composition of MFGM and whole milk powder (Soga. 2015)

"On the exercise training enforcement days [i.e. the days on which the subjects were required to train], the subjects were instructed to take the tablet within 1 h before training. On the other days, the subjects were instructed to consume the tablet at the time of their choice during their daily routines.

The MFGM was prepared from buttermilk by filtering and centrifugation. The MFGM and whole milk powder compositions were analyzed at Japan Food Research Laboratories (Tokyo, Japan)" (Soga. 2015).

The exercise routine the subjects from both groups had to follow consisted of two workouts per week. The workouts had to be performed on nonconsecutive days for 4 weeks using StrengthErgo 240 stationary cycling exercise machines (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). On these machines, the subjects completed 3 sets of 15 % maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) cycle exercises for 60 s and 7 sets of 20 % MVC cycle exercises for 40 s at 50 rpm.
Physical function tests and surface electromyography (EMG) were conducted at baseline and at the end of the study period. In addition, some hemotological parameters were tested of which - surprise - the data in Figure 1 tells you that MFGMs have a small, but statistically significant "EPO-effect" and are thus capable of raising both the red blood cell and hemoglobin content - an effect that has been observed in rodents too (Haramizu. 2014b) and may be ascribed to the incorporation of MFGM phospholipids into red blood cells which would in turn be less vulnerable to exercise-related or other stressors. Whatever the reason for these changes may be, they are certainly in line with the previously mentioned (see red box) increase in fatty acid oxidation during endurance exercise that may be facilitated by an RBC and hemoglogin related increase in oxygen transport.

Figure 1: The significant increase in red blood cell and hemoglogin content could explain the previously observed increases in endurance performance and fatty acid oxidation in Haramizu et al. (2014a). The buffered decrease in white blood cell may not be statistically significant, but may still indicate beneficial effects on the immune system (Soga. 2015).

Both the increase in RBC and hemoglobin, as well as the buffering of the albeit non-significant decline in white blood cells in the placebo group, which may be a response to the exercise-induced stress and evidence of an immune-boosting effect of MFGM supplementation during any potentially exercise induced immune suppression, do yet need further investigation before they can be explained mechanistically.

No further research is needed, though, to state that all other blood markers. These included AST + ALT (liver health), glucose and triglycerides + cholesterol, neither of which was affected by the supplement. The latter cannot be said of the increase in leg extension strength before and after the intervention and the EMG activity which showed highly significant inter-group differences.
In fact, the differences in Figure 2 are pronounced enough to ask the question: Were they induced by the supplementation alone or did the pathetic training regimen have an effect here, as well? As I am going to point out in the bottom line one paragraph below, we will need studies with more realistic training programs to answer this question in a way that's relevant for trainees like you and me. In the mean time, however, there is no debating "that the daily intake of 1 g MFGM combined with regular, twice weekly exercise improved skeletal muscle strength (leg extension) in middle-aged adults, despite a lack of change in muscle mass" (Soga. 2015).

Figure 2: The MFGM supplementation lead to significant increases in leg extension strength, of which the increase in EMG activity (likewise sign.) suggests that they were mediated by neuronal changes (Soga. 2015).

The same goes for the increase in RMS of surface EMG, which indicates that the dietary provision of MFGM increased the average (RMS = root mean square) motor unit activity during muscle contraction and may thus mechanistically explain why the subjects got stronger even though they didn't make substantial gains in muscle mass: The supplement helped them to "make the most" of the muscle they had. This hypothesis is in line with results from rodent studies which

"[...] revealed that dietary MFGM combined with regular exercise improved muscle strength in adult mice primarily by stimulating the pathway involving “nervous system development” in the skeletal muscle (Haramizu. 2014b). This pathway includes functional annotations such as formation of synapses, growth of neurites, or development of NMJ. Dietary MFGM combined with exercise increased skeletal muscle expression of docking protein-7 (Dok-7) and muscle-specific receptor tyrosine kinase in mice, both of which play a critical role in NMJ [neuromuscular junction] formation. Defects in NMJ function causes muscle weakness in neuromuscular disorders, and Dok-7 gene therapy improves NMJ formation and rescues the motor activity" (Soga. 2015).

And still, even at the risk that I may sound like a broken record, I have to repeat that without future research it is impossible to tell (a) whether the assumptions we've made about the increase in red blood cell count are accurate and, maybe even more importantly, (b) who, i.e. which type of athlete, will benefit most from using MFGM supplements.
References:

• Cano-Ruiz, M. E., and R. L. Richter. "Effect of homogenization pressure on the milk fat globule membrane proteins." Journal of Dairy Science 80.11 (1997): 2732-2739.
• Haramizu, Satoshi, et al. "Dietary milk fat globule membrane improves endurance capacity in mice." American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 307.8 (2014): R1009-R1017.
• Haramizu, Satoshi, et al. "Habitual exercise plus dietary supplementation with milk fat globule membrane improves muscle function deficits via neuromuscular development in senescence-accelerated mice." SpringerPlus 3 (2014): 339.
• Kim, Hunkyung, et al. "Effects of Exercise and Milk Fat Globule Membrane (MFGM) Supplementation on Body Composition, Physical Function, and Hematological Parameters in Community-Dwelling Frail Japanese Women: A Randomized Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Follow-Up Trial." PloS one 6.10.2 (2015): e0116256.
• Lemonnier, Lori A., et al. "Sphingomyelin in the suppression of colon tumors: prevention versus intervention." Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 419.2 (2003): 129-138.
• Riccio, Paolo. "The proteins of the milk fat globule membrane in the balance." Trends in food science & technology 15.9 (2004): 458-461.
• Singh, Harjinder. "The milk fat globule membrane—A biophysical system for food applications." Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science 11.2 (2006): 154-163.
• Snow, D. R., et al. "Membrane-rich milk fat diet provides protection against gastrointestinal leakiness in mice treated with lipopolysaccharide." Journal of dairy science 94.5 (2011): 2201-2212.
• Soga, Satoko, Noriyasu Ota, and Akira Shimotoyodome. "Dietary milk fat globule membrane supplementation combined with regular exercise improves skeletal muscle strength in healthy adults: a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial." Nutrition Journal 14.1 (2015): 85.
• Spitsberg, V. L. "Invited review: Bovine milk fat globule membrane as a potential nutraceutical." Journal of dairy science 88.7 (2005): 2289-2294.
• Timby, Niklas, et al. "Neurodevelopment, nutrition, and growth until 12 mo of age in infants fed a low-energy, low-protein formula supplemented with bovine milk fat globule membranes: a randomized controlled trial." The American journal of clinical nutrition 99.4 (2014a): 860-868.
• Timby, Niklas, et al. "Cardiovascular risk markers until 12 mo of age in infants fed a formula supplemented with bovine milk fat globule membranes." Pediatric research 76.4 (2014b): 394-400.

If you are doing any sport that requires high intensity sprints, bicarbonate supplementation can help you beat your competition on the track, field or wherever.

Ok, I know I may sound like a broken record, but in view of the fact that the supplement industry is only promoting expensive bogus, I won't stop promoting sodium bicarbonate, which is neither expensive nor bogus, as another recently published study just confirmed.

In the corresponding experiment, thirteen men aged 23 ± 1 year (height: 180 ± 2 cm, weight: 78 ± 3 kg; VO2max: 61.3 ± 3.3 mlO2 · kg−1 · min−1; means ± SEM) performed the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 2 test (Yo-Yo IR2) on two separate occasions in randomized order with (SBC) and without (CON) prior intake of sodium bicarbonate (0.4 g · kg−1 body weight).
Before we will be discussing the results, I would like to briefly explain what the YoYo Test (Level 2, which is aimed at  well trained and elite athletes) actually looks like... so here's what you'd do as a trainer / athlete:

"Use cones to mark out three lines as per the diagram above; 20 meters and 2.5 (endurance test) or 5 meters (recovery test) apart. The subject starts on or behind the middle line, and begins running 20 m when instructed by the cd. This subject turns and returns to the starting point when signaled by the recorded beep. There is a active recovery period (5 and 10 seconds respectively for the endurance and recovery versions of the test) interjected between every 20 meter (out and back) shuttle, during which the subject must walk or jog around the other cone and return to the starting point. A warning is given when the subject does not complete a successful out and back shuttle in the allocated time, the subject is removed the next time they do not complete a successful shuttle (see video example)" (topendsports.com)

As previously hinted at, there are two levels for each of the recovery and endurance intermittent tests: Level 1 designed for lesser trained individuals and level 2 aimed at well trained and elite athletes and starting at a faster speed. Both test variations have increasing speeds throughout the test.
Now that you've got an idea of what the highly trained young men who were competing in intense sports (middle-distance running, team sports and triathlon) and trained 5–7 times per week for at least 4 years when they were recruited for the study, had to do, you may be able to really appreciate the performance boost they got from nothing, but a single administration of 0.4g/kg body weight sodium bicarbonate (~31g | use the same protocol as in the study at hand, i.e. take it in ~25 gelatin capsules, with one fifth taken at 90, 80, 70, 60 and 50 min prior to exercise, or avoid the high dosage altogether by serial loading).

Figure 1: Blood pH (left) and YoYo IR2 performance (distance covered) in the control (= no supplement) and sodium bicarbonate group (Krustrup. 2015).

If you take a closer look at the individual performance benefits from the pH increase in Figure 1 (right) it is obvious that not all subjects benefited to the same extent. While one subject covered almost twice the distance when they used bicarbonate before the workout, the distance one of the subjects covered was even non-significantly reduced. Whether that's a result of gastrointestinal distress is not mentioned in the study (maybe because there was no distress with the previously described graded ingestion of sodium bicarbonate capsules).
References:

• Krustrup et al. "Sodium bicarbonate intake improves high-intensity intermittent exercise
• performance in trained young men." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition Sample 12 (2015):25.
• Saunders, Bryan, et al. "beta-alanine supplementation improves YoYo intermittent recovery test performance." J Int Soc Sports Nutr 9.1 (2012): 39.

Synephrine, arginine, citrulline - Which pre-workout ensures that you're "on fire"?

As I pointed out previously, my initial idea to cherry pick only the most interesting study results that were presented in form of of poster presentations at the Twelfth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo in 2015 didn't work out. The number of interesting studies is is simply too much for a single waredownloadsoft article to discuss them all.

Accordingly, I am now posting the 2nd serving of what is going to be a multi-part series of articles with brief discussions of the most significant results of the >20 studies and short references to those that didn't make the waredownloadsoft cut in this, previous and future installments of this series for one reason or another.

• Synephrine More Ergogenic Than Thermogenic? There was not just one, but two poster presentations and a full paper that has been published only days ago on synephrine containing supplements at the ISSN meeting and on the ISSN website, respectively. Synephrine? Yes, that's the supplemental non-starter, ah... I mean allegedly powerful fat burner from orange peels. The one with promising fat loss results in rodents, but discouraging results in practice.
  
  Luckily, the studies that were presented in form of posters by scientists from the Texas A&M University (Jung. 2015 & Dalton. 2015) at the ISSN meeting did not deal with synephrine as fat burner. Rather than that, Jung et al. and Dalton et al. took a look at the short- and long-term safety of synephrine as a pre-workout. A pre-workout that contained either 3g beta alanine, 2g creatine nitrate, 2g arginine AKG, 300mg N-acetyl tyrosine, 270mg caffeine, and 15mg Mucuna pruriens, alone (PLA) or the same baseline ingredients and synephrine.
  

  Figure 1: Number of reps on sets 1-3 & 4-6 in the control and treatment conditions (Ratamess. 2015)

  Now, the fact that some synephrine in your preworkout won't kill you is not really exciting. I have to admit that. What is exciting... at least sort of, though is the fact that the questionable thermogenic turned out to be an effective ergogenic in the already published and thematically related study by Ratamess and colleagues (Ratamess. 2015). A study that shows that p-synephrine of which previous studies indicate that it is a potent, but highly selective β-3 adrenoreceptor may nor be the best fat burner (the good old ephedrine was a pan-receptor activator and clenbuterol & co target the β-3 receptor, maybe that's also why the fat loss results are rather disappointing) , but at least an underestimated ergogenic.

• As the data in Figure 1 goes to show you, the p-synephrine supplement, which was administered to twelve healthy, college-aged men at a dosage of 100mg either alone (S) or in conjunction with 100 mg caffeine (SCF) for three days. On the day on which the subjects participated in a standardized resistance exercise protocol consisting of 6 sets of squats for up to 10 repetitions per set using 80 % of their one repetition-maximum (1RM) with 2 min of rest in between sets, the supplement was ingested 45 minutes before the workout. In comparison to the placebo treatment synephrine alone triggered a significant increase in total repetitions and volume load. When synephrine was combined with 200 mg of caffeine, it also increased the mean power and velocity of squat performance. What did not change in response to either synephrine alone or caffeine and synephrine, though, were the blood lactate levels or the rate of perceived (RPE) exertion the subjects reported on the usual visual analogue scales.
  
  For me personally, that's a surprising result. For the scientists it "indicate[s that] supplementation with S and SCF can enhance local muscle endurance during resistance exercise" (Ratamess. 2015); and I have to admit: They are right. One thing you should keep in mind, though, is that unlike caffeine, where you often see reductions in RPE and thus an effect you will feel, synephrine will - even if it works - do its purported "magic" more subtly.
• The Latest on "Pump Supplements" - Creatine, Arginine, Citrulline, Nitrates -- To make sure that this series is not turning into a 12-part article, I will address the results of Moon's, Suzuki's and Vogel's results in one item (since Moon's paper basically summarizes the results of studies by Falcone and Joy, I won't discuss those separately) .
  
  

  Figure 2: Increases in blood flow volume (BFV) 33 minutes after the ingestion of 1.87g of RC, 3.67g of CP (citrulline content 1.87g), 1.87g of RA, or 3.07g of AP (arginine content 1.87g) before 3 sets of 15 arm curls (Moon. 2015).

  Moon et al.'s comparison of citrulline's and arginine's ability to increase the exercise-induced vasodilation and blood flow yielded unsurprising results that confirm that citrulline-based ingredients are more effective than arginine-based ingredients for modulating vasodilation and blood flow. Now that alone wouldn't be news-worthy if the scientists had not tested the effects of both, rawe L-citrulline (RC) and raw L-arginine (RA) and, citrulline and arginine bound to a whey peptide (CP and AP, respectively).
  
  I guess I am not going to surprise you, when I tell you that regular arginine was the worst vasodilator in this quartet. What is more surprising, though, is the extent to which the peptide bonding increased the vasodilating effects of regular citrulline and even arginine. With the the former producing 2x higher increases in vessel diameter and 9% higher increases in blood glow volume than regular citrulline (let's not even mention regular arginine | see Figure 2) the effects are pronounced enough to be potentially "feelable" and "visible" during a workout.
  
  

  Citrulline & Glutathione - GSH Amplifies & Prolongs CIT's NO Boosting Effects During + After Biceps Workout | learn more.

  Against that background I would be curious to see, whether the likewise recently reported performance enhancing effects of citrulline Suzuki et al.'s observed in twenty two well-trained young men who consumed 2.4 g / day of L-citrulline or placebo for 7 days and they took 2.4 g of L-citrulline or placebo 1 hour before 4 km cycling time trial on day 8 would be enhanced by bonding citrulline to whey peptides.
  
  I mean, if citrulline-whey-peptides appear to offer the same effects citrulline does, but at a higher efficacy, their beneficial effect on cycling time trial performance of which the Suzuki et al. argue that it was mediated by an up-regulation of plasma NO availability should be superior to that of raw citrulline, as well, right?
  
  And now that we are already talking about what really matters, i.e. performance enhancements, not increases in blood flow, it would also be interesting to see a follow up on the last "pump supplement" study to be mentioned in this installment of the ISSN Research Review: A study by Vogel et al.'s on the vasolidating effects of an arginine-nitrate based pre-workout supplements that shows significant increases in brachial artery diameter. Increases that are quantitatively similar to those Moon et al. observed for citrulline-whey-peptides in the previously discussed study. That does not mean, though that they are equally effective, though. To be able to say that we would need a study in which both agents are compared head-to-head. Unless this study is done and a follow up on Vogel's study proves that the increases in blood flow will actually produce significant performance gains, the only thing I can say about arginine nitrate is: It's interesting, but with respect to its ergogenic effects more studies have to be done.

References:

• Allison, D. B., et al. "Exactly which synephrine alkaloids does Citrus aurantium (bitter orange) contain?." International journal of obesity 29.4 (2005): 443-446.
• Bouza, Brooke, et al. "Exercise and calorie information on menus is not enough to improve food choices in Hispanic adults." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P3.
• Dalton, R., et al. "Safety and efficacy of a pre-wrkout dietary supplement with and without synephrine." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P5.
• Falcone, Paul H., et al. "Acute hemodynamic effects of L-arginine, arginine nitrate, and arginine peptide on exercise-induced vasodilation and blood flow in healthy men." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P10.
• Joy, Jordan M., et al. "A comparison of raw citrulline and citrulline peptide for increasing exercise-induced vasodilation and blood flow." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P18.
• Jung, Y. P., et al. "Effects of 8 weeks pre-workout dietary supplement ingestion with and without synephrine on blood chemistry panel." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P4.
• Moon, Jordan R., et al. "A comparison of citrulline and arginine for increasing exercise-induced vasolidation and blood flow." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P6.
• O'Connor, A., et al. "Short-term powdered tart cherry supplementation encircling an acute endurance challenge potentially increases running performance and attenuates post-race markers of inflammation." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P7.
• Suzuki, Takashi, et al. "Oral L-citrulline supplementation enhances cycling time trial performance in healthy well-trained males." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P52.
• Vogel, Roxanne M., et al. "Acute hemodynamic effects of a multi-ingredient performance supplement on brachial artery vasodilation and blood flow volume following elbow flexion exercise in healthy young men." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P28.

Dude, it won't suffice to just bring your chains to the gym to show them off, you will also have to attach them to the barbell before squatting and benching to see results... and bro, the science on the benefits of elastic bands is much more solid - even though they are not as "cool"!

I've written about the use of bands and chains in previous waredownloadsoft articles, but Miguel A. Soria-Gila recent paper is the first meta-analysis that aggregates the available data to answer the important question, whether the use of "variable resistance" training (VRT), as the use of bands and chains is usually referred to in the literature, is generally advisable, or if the existing positive results are nothing but outliers.

Now, from the headline of today's waredownloadsoft article you already know that Sotia-Gila's analysis yielded positive results, or as the authors have it: " Long-term VRT training using chains or elastic bands attached to the barbell emerged as an effective evidence-based method of improving maximal strength both in athletes with different sports backgrounds and untrained subjects."
What is particularly interesting, though, is whether the statistically significant benefits are practically relevant enough for you to consider bringing your chains and/or resistance bands to the gym.

Figure 1: Relative strength increase in bench press (BP), back squat (BSQ), leg press (LP) and squat (SQ) in response to regular and variable resistance training; if not indicated otherwise, the variable resistance training was done with bands, only the study by Ghigarelli, et al. compared bands to chains (Soria-Gila. 2015).

To answer this question we need both, the relative and absolute strength increases in both, the variable resistance training (VRT) and control groups of the four pertinent studies in the meta-analysis - data I've plotted for you in Figure 1 and 2.

Figure 2: Absolute increase in 1-RM strength (all values in kg) in the respective exercises (see Figure 1 for abbreviations) in the seven 7-week plus studies that were part of the meta-analysis (Soria-Gila. 2015).

In five of the studies (indexed with "(T)" in Figure 1) the subjects were trained individuals, in the studies by Anderson (basketball and hockey players + wrestlers), Cronin and McCurdy (baseball, Division I) the subjects actually had ~3 or even more years of training experience. The results of these studies may thus be of particular interest for the average waredownloadsoft reader of whom I know that he / she is not a total foreigner to gym. If we assume that they / you would see the same benfits, the extra-increases on the bench and in the squat would be:

• An extra 5% increase in 1RM and thus 2x greater strength gains on the bench.
• An extra 11% increase in 1RM and thus 2.6x greater strength gains for squats.

In relative terms the benefits you may achieve after only 10-13 weeks are thus quite impressive. But can the same be said for the absolute extra-gains? Soria-Gila et al. report an extra strength gain of 5.03 kg (95% confidence interval: 2.26–7.80 kg) for all studies and all exercises. If we, again, consider only the bench press and the squat and eliminate the studies with untrained participants, the absolute values are much smaller: 1.8 kg and 2.7 kg, respectively.
References:

• Anderson, Corey E., Gary A. Sforzo, and John A. Sigg. "The effects of combining elastic and free weight resistance on strength and power in athletes." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 22.2 (2008): 567-574.
• Bellar, David M., et al. "The effects of combined elastic-and free-weight tension vs. free-weight tension on one-repetition maximum strength in the bench press." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 25.2 (2011): 459-463.
• Cronin, John, Peter Mcnair, and Robert Marshall. "The effects of bungy weight training on muscle function and functional performance." Journal of sports sciences 21.1 (2003): 59-71.
• Ghigiarelli, Jamie J., et al. "The effects of a 7-week heavy elastic band and weight chain program on upper-body strength and upper-body power in a sample of division 1-AA football players." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 23.3 (2009): 756-764.
• McCurdy, Kevin, et al. "Comparison of chain-and plate-loaded bench press training on strength, joint pain, and muscle soreness in Division II baseball players." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 23.1 (2009): 187-195.
• Rhea, Matthew R., Joseph G. Kenn, and Bryan M. Dermody. "Alterations in speed of squat movement and the use of accommodated resistance among college athletes training for power." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 23.9 (2009): 2645-2650.
• Shoepe, Todd, et al. "The effects of 24 weeks of resistance training with simultaneous elastic and free weight loading on muscular performance of novice lifters." Journal of human kinetics 29 (2011): 93-106.
• Soria-gila, Miguel A., et al. "Effects of variable resistance training on maximal strength: a meta-analysis." Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research/National Strength & Conditioning Association (2015): Accepted article.

15 min in the AM, 15 in the PM = Win? For many of you that may sound laughable, but according to a recent study from the University of Copenhagen it is at least as effective as three "mammoth" workouts-sessions per week.

What kind of trainee are you? Do you hit the gym thrice a week, spend two hours there and crawl out of the gymdoors totally exhausted? Yeah... Well that means you're not the fitness model guy, who trains twice a day for 15-20 minutes only and swears that this is the only way to do it?

After all these questions you're probably asking yourself if the answers you gave in your mind were good or bad for ya? Right? Well, eventually, both forms of training can be equally effective. If we take a closer look at the non-significant study outcomes in a recent paper by scientists from the University of Copenhagen (Kilen. 2015), though body composition and strength may in fact benefit more if you train more frequently - even if the total workout volume is the same.
Workout volume? Yes, that's the number of sets and reps. So, let's say you do three 45-minute training sessions weekly, including 1 strength on Monday, 1 high intensity cardiovascular (HIIT) session on Wednesday, and 1 muscle endurance session on Thursday, then those 3x45 minutes + warm-up exercise are your total workout volume.

In case that's what you're doing on a regular basis, you're training just like those of the 21 study subjects (10 men, 11 women; 25 +/- 3 years) with some previous training experience who were randomly assigned to the "classical" training program in the previously mentioned study by Kilen, et al. (2015). If you're rather the fitness model type, you may recognize your own training in what the other subjects did, i.e. a "micro training" program with a total of nine 15-minute training sessions weekly that were divided equally between strength training, high-intensity cardiovascular training, and muscle endurance training and performed in the AM and PM from Monday to Friday (there was no PM training on Friday, though, and cardio and strength were rotated | see caption of Table 1).

Table 1: Description of the two different training regimen (Kilen. 2015) | *To minimize the potential negative effect of concurrent cardio + strength training, MI performed 2 days of strength (Mon and + Tue) and 1 day of cardio training (Wed) in odd weeks, and 1 day of strength (Mon) and 2 days of cardio training (Tue + Wed) in even weeks.

Unlike the training frequency and rest between workouts, the strength training, HIIT and muscular endurance training sessions, themselves, were identical in both groups:

• Strength training consisted of leg exercises (deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, and 1 leg squats), with 1–2 warm-up sets and 2–3 target sets of 8RM, and upper-body exercises (pullups, dips, weighted push-ups, and 1 arm rows), with 1–2 warm-up sets and 2–3 target sets of 5RM. For progression, the exercises were adjusted using extra loading (sandbags in 1-kg steps) if the subjects were able to accomplish more repetitions than prescribed. If the subjects were not able to perform the number of repetitions prescribed, they performed as many as they could in proper form and finished the set conducting only the eccentric phase of the exercise. 
• High-intensity cardiovascular training (HIIT) consisted of running for 2 and 4 minutes at an average speed of 15.1 and 14.5 km/h, respectively, which elicited ;90% maximal heart rate during exercise. Micro training performed two 4-minute run intervals in the morning with 3 minutes of rest in between and four 2-minute run intervals in the afternoon with 1 minute of rest in between. Classical training performed three 4-minute and six 2-minute run intervals in the same training session with the same rest as MI in between. The training volume was evaluated and the only significant difference was running distance during 2-minute and 4-minute intervals, where MI ran significantly further than CL in each interval. 
• Muscle endurance training consisted of three 5-minute exercise sessions involving 5 different exercises performed continuously for 30 seconds with 30-second rest periods. Micro training conducted 3 sessions; the first was “easy,” the second “hard,” and the third “very hard.” Classical training conducted 9 sessions in the same order, starting over with “easy” on the fourth and seventh sessions. The exercises were weighted lunges (with a 20-kg sandbag); push-ups; shuttle runs; abdominal exercises ([a] regular sit-ups from a supine position with knees bent at 908, fists in contact with the ears and the lumbar arch supported by a folded towel, and [b] diagonal sit-ups from a horizontal supine position, outstretched hand to opposite raised foot, alternating); and back exercises ([a] back extensions on an incline bench and [b] kettlebell swings in a standing position). 

As Kilen et al. point out, "[a]ll training sessions were supervised by scientific staff, and subject attendance" as well as "[h]eart rate [...] during high-intensity cardiovascular training and muscle endurance training for the last 5 weeks of the training intervention" (Kilen. 2015) were recorded.

Figure 1: Relative pre- vs. post changes in all measures performance markers (calculated based on Kilen. 2015).

After the 8-weeks on the respective training regiment, a comparison of the pre- vs. post-training data yielded the following results:

• Increases in shuttle run performance were observed in both group, albeit with a higher significance as far as the pre- vs. post-difference is concerned in the classical training (CL) vs. micro training (MI) group (MI: 1,373 +/- 133 m vs. 1,498 +/- 126 m, p < 0.05; CL: 1,074 6 213 m vs. 1,451 6 202 m, p , 0.001).
• Significant improvements in peak oxygen uptake (3,744 6 +/- 615 mL/min vs. 3,963 +/- 753 mL/min | p < 0.05), maximal voluntary isometric (MVC) force of the knee extensors (646 +/- 135 N vs. 659 +/- 209 N | p < 0.001), MVC of the finger flexors (408 +/- 109 N vs. 441 +/- 131 N, p < 0.05), and the maximal number of lunges performed in 2 minutes (65 +/- 3 vs. 73 +/- 2, p , 0.001), however, were seen only in the micro = high frequency training group.

The question you may be asking yourselves now is: Why does the headline say that there were no significant differences? Well, the lack of statistical significance of the improvements in the classical training group does not suffice for a statistically significant between difference to the micro training group. Statistical significant inter-group differences did not exist either before or after the study. The scientists conclusion that

"similar training adaptations can be obtained with short, frequent exercise sessions or longer, less frequent sessions where the total volume of weekly training performed is the same" (Kilen. 2015)

is thus absolutely correct. The fact that statistical significance for the aforementioned study outcomes was achieved in the micro, yet not in the classical training group does still suggest that the high(er) frequency training regimen may have an adaptive edge... albeit in terms of study outcomes not everyone will deem practically relevant.
References:

• Kilen, Anders, et al. "Adaptations to Short, Frequent Sessions of Endurance and Strength Training Are Similar to Longer, Less Frequent Exercise Sessions When the Total Volume Is the Same." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 29 (2015): S46-S51.