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The foolish idea that 'more is better' when it comes to bodybuilding goes
directly against the basics of exercise science. When is comes to increasing
your rate of muscle gains, more exercise is almost never what is needed. As I
have mentioned already, once you have "stimulated" muscle gains by hitting the
gym hard, any additional amount of exercise, will in fact, prevent any muscle
gains from happening.
You see, muscles are made up of 'muscle fibers'. Muscles themselves work by
contracting and reducing their length. In order for muscles to contract, they
must move. For a muscle to produce movement, and therefore the power to move a
given weight, it must do so by lengthening and contracting.
In other words, a muscle performs exercise by contracting, and by doing this it
generates force and power. While a muscle uses some of it's fibers to perform a
given exercise, it almost never uses all of them at the same time.
For a muscle to contract every one of its available fibers at the same time, it
must be in a totally contracted position. To increase your muscle mass in the
shortest time possible, the maximum number of muscle fibers possible must be
"stimulated". The easiest way to achieve this is through multiple repetitions
of a particular exercise. More often than not it is impossible to contract all
of the muscle fibers in a specific part of the body, using only one repetition,
without risking injury. Multiple repetitions however, allow it to be done
safely.
As a general rule, it's almost impossible to perform an exercise in a way that
contracts all of the muscle fibers of the body parts involved. However, if the
exercise is performed with intensity, many more muscle fibers will be
stimulated, than there would have been otherwise.
As an example, when you perform a basic exercise like the barbell curl (standing
upright with a barbell and curling your arms from resting against your thighs
up towards your chest), you are using the fibers of the biceps muscle of the
upper arm. At the beginning of the exercise, when performing the first
repetition of a set of ten, your biceps muscles are at their strongest and most
rested.
However, during the first repetition you can only involve a minimal number of
the muscle fibers available. Most of the fibers are unable to contract unless
in a totally contracted position. The bicep itself will only use the minimal
number of fibers needed to perform that one repetition. Muscle fibers will only
perform at full capacity, and are only "recruited" by a specific body part as
they are needed.
By increasing your speed of movement you can dramatically increase the number of
muscle fibers involved. However, in many cases this is extremely dangerous,
leading to the muscle tearing loose from its attachment. Not fun or desirable.
As well as the risk of severe injury, increasing the speed of movement will
often involve extra momentum. By using overall body motion to "cheat", the
intensity shifts away from the muscles and body parts you are trying to
stimulate.
So keep this in mind. In the case of the barbell curl example, the first
repetition should be performed in perfect form, but at a pace that is
considerably slower than is actually possible. A pace that will allow you to
perform each repetition as fast as possible without risking injury.
The bottom line is this. Regardless of how you perform the first repetition of
the barbell curl, you will still only be involving a very small percentage of
the muscle fibers available. This is due to the following three reasons. (1)
When the muscle is not in a fully contracted position, only a limited number of
muscle fibers are involved. (2) During the first repetition the biceps muscle
fibers are at their strongest and most rested. (3) The majority of the exercise
equipment on the market provides practically no resistance to a muscle in a
fully contracted position.
Zero resistance can become an issue during almost all basic exercises. For
example, during the bench press, a totally contracted position is reached when
the arms are completely extended. Because your arms also reach a point of total
"lockout" of the elbow joints at this point, there is basically zero resistance
in this position. The way this problem can be resolved is by performing all of
your exercises in a series of repetitions. You can then make sure that you
achieve maximum stimulation of the muscles involved.
Let's look the barbell curl example again. If you are using a weight that allows
you to perform about ten repetitions, then the first repetition will only
involve about five percent of the total number of muscle fibers available. The
remaining ninety-five percent of fibers are not involved at all.
When you perform the second repetition however, things start to change. And
change fast! The previous five percent are no longer as strong or as rested as
they were during the first repetition. The strength levels of these fibers have
been challenged, and so they now need the help of additional fibers to perform
the second repetition. These additional fibers are at their strongest and most
rested. However, they too will only be used to the extent that they are
actually needed.
As you continue to perform the exercise, more and more muscle fibers become
involved. Finally, by the tenth repetition you will be using as much as twenty
percent of the total muscle fibers available. By this stage of the exercise
your breathing should be coming thick and be fast. And, the intensity level
will be high.
In this example, the exercise is being performed with a weight that the you knew
you could only perform ten repetitions with. It is at this point that most
"skinny" guys stop the exercise. This is a big mistake. Doing so with result in
almost no muscle gains at all.
By stopping the exercise at this point, you are not pushing through your comfort
zone. You are just nudging up to it. Also, the various muscles involved are not
being pushed enough to cause them to GROW. If you are "stupid" enough to train
in this manner, your muscle gains will be slow and in many cases, totally
non-existent. In short. If you are going to go for it. Then, make sure you go
all the way... and then some!
Trent
Brook is the Author of "Huge Gains Fast - How to Get More Rock-Hard
Muscle Mass In A Month Than You Now Get All Year. His "Huge Gains
Fast" muscle building program is an easy-to-follow system so simple
and understandable it's fully explained to you in just 4 easy steps!
The Revised Edition is now available online at his website, http://www.hugegainsfast.com
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