You May Be Leaving 60% of Your Gains On The Table
Many people go to the gym,
pick up heavy stuff, put it down and never wonder how this works or why it
works. It’s like trying to become an auto mechanic without knowing how an
engine works.
But then they wonder why they’re not gaining
muscle or losing fat or getting stronger. So they blame their lack of progress
on their genetics or their metabolism or El NiƱo or global warming or whatever
other excuse they can come up with to quit.
You don’t need to be a
professional coach or trainer or have a degree in Physiology. But you should at
least have grasp of what makes the engine go.
There are a number of
different mechanisms at work when it comes to building skeletal muscle. And
if you want to maximize the effectiveness of your workout program and your time
in the gym you need to have a basic grasp of those mechanisms.
The Mechanisms that Force Muscle to Grow
Think about these mechanisms
in terms of evolution. If you can’t out run a saber tooth tiger, you’d better
find a way to get faster or stronger.
1.
Muscle Tension (or Mechanical Tension)
This is where you have that "Holy crap this is heavy" moment.
In
order to produce muscle growth, you have to apply a load or stress greater than
what your muscles had previously adapted to. Most people understand this
mechanism as simple Progressive Overload
(Lifting progressively heavier weights). Stop increasing the load and your
muscles stop growing. It’s that simple. And the body adapts very quickly.
It’s
a chemical and hormonal process that not only affects the muscles at a cellular
level but also affects the motor units (nerves) that control the muscles. The
muscle cells not only get larger, they also increase in number to insure you
can kick the tiger’s butt next time.
2.
Muscle Damage
This is where you say "I think I'll take the elevator.
This
is the one (and sometimes the only one) that most people are familiar with.
Muscle damage is micro-tears in the muscle fibers that cause muscle soreness
called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).
This
microscopic muscle damage causes the body to repair itself by releasing a flood
or inflammatory molecules and immune system cells (and nutrients) to the site
of the damage. The body not only repairs the damage but tries to build up the
area so damage doesn’t occur again.
Think
about this way: If you hang a picture on a nail that’s too small for the weight
and the nail bends, what do you do? You use a bigger nail.
But remember, you don’t have to have soreness to have
progress. Over time, the body fixes
that too. So that, over time, the amount of soreness you experience will
diminish because of other mechanisms more related to your nervous system.
3.
Metabolic
Stress
How your muscles feel after metabolic stress..
(Not really. This idiot injected his muscles with Synthol-a mixture of oil and alcohol)
(Not really. This idiot injected his muscles with Synthol-a mixture of oil and alcohol)
If
you have ever felt the burning sensation in the muscle during an exercise (if
you haven’t then you’re doing it wrong) or had the “pump” where your muscles
seems to expand and puff up and become temporarily larger, then you’ve felt the
effects of metabolic stress.
The
“burn” is not caused by the buildup of lactic acid (though there is some) but
by the buildup of nitrogen molecules. Both are a result of chemical processes
within the cell. Just like burning gasoline in your car produces water and
carbon monoxide, burning glycogen in your cells produces nitrogen, lactic acid
and other by-products. While you have the muscle fibers under stress or flexed,
those by products are temporally trapped in the tissue.
As
the muscle relaxes the by-products rush out and additional fuel (glycogen)
rushes in causing the muscle and connective tissue to swell causing the “pump”.
Again,
it’s a cellular process. The by-products trapped in the muscle also initiate
other chemical processes. It’s called sarcoplasmic hypertrophy which
simply means the muscle get larger in order to adapt.
You
should note that sarcoplasmic hypertrophy increases the size of the muscle but
doesn’t necessarily increase strength.
There
is a forth mechanism more related to increasing strength than hypertrophy. But,
keep in mind, that as you get stronger you can move more weight. Moving more
weight means you can continue progressive overload and build more muscle.
Neurological
Adaptation
You
can train your central nervous system (CNS) just like you can train your
muscles or your heart or your respiratory system.
The
human body has limits when it comes to muscular strength. A power lifter will
probably reach his or her maximum muscular strength within a few years. Past
that point, strength gains are primarily due to adaptation of the CNS. More
motor units are added to make the muscles more efficient and to recruit more
muscle fibers faster. And the body becomes more adept at activating those motor units more efficiently.
Why
should you care about all this scientific stuff?
Because
you want to speed up progress and waste less of your valuable time in the gym, avoid plateaus (or be able to break through them) and meet your goals easier and faster.
The thing is, each of the the mechanisms mentioned above need different types of stimulus to work.
The thing is, each of the the mechanisms mentioned above need different types of stimulus to work.
The correct way to train and take advantage of all 3 mechanisms is called "Periodization". And I'll teach you how and why in tomorrow's article
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