If you take a friend
to the gym, chances are he is going to lift weights, and if he lifts weights he
will want to learn about muscle growth.
If he learns about muscle growth, he is going to want to know different
ways to stimulate muscle growth. If he
knows different ways to stimulate muscle growth, his muscles will grow, which
will make him want to lift more weights.
If he wants to lift more weights he will probably want you to take him
to the gym.
Kudos to you
if the opening paragraph reminded you of a children’s book; it is popular
around my house with a certain almost-three-year-old. If you did not get the reference and you are
still reading this, chances are, stimulating muscle growth is topic of interest
with you. Thanks for sticking with me.
As the title
of this suggests, there are five different ways to stimulate muscle
growth. More accurately, these should be
called principles of muscle growth because these techniques are foundational to
adapting training to give the muscles every possible form of stimulation. There are five principles, but most people probably only use the first two, maybe three. Before identifying these
principles, understand that utilization of any of these in training is not an
excuse for sacrificing form. Mastering
the form and technique of any exercise is paramount to both safety and
efficiency. Also, before explaining these principles the SAIDs principle must
briefly discussed. SAIDs stands for Specific
Adaptation to Imposed Demands. It is
a fancy way of saying that the human body will adapt to whatever stimulus it
receives. Without changes in
stimulation, the body will gradually adapt to the point where a specific form
of stimuli no longer induces any change.
This is commonly referred to as plateau.
It will happen to everyone at some point, when it does, understanding
varying methods of providing stimulus and apply those methods is the only way
to overcome it.
So what are
these principles? It is time to stimulate, but not annihilate the muscles
through Variation of Resistance, Frequency of Activation, Variation in the Speed of Movement, Variation in Tension, Variation of Length of the Muscle Action.
1. Variation of Resistance. This is the
easiest and most common form of stimulation: if it seems easy, make it harder. It strength training this most commonly done
by increasing the weight on a given exercise.
But it can also be done by lowering the weight. Lightening the weight, even for just one
week, can give the body a variation in stimulation that may help someone break
out of a plateau. This is referred to as
deloading; taking a defined period of
time to perform the same exercises but with lighter weight. The purpose of this is shift the focus of
training to improve the efficiency and quality of a given movement while giving
the muscles a reprieve from the strain of heavy weights.
2. Frequency of Activation. In Gymanese[i],
this is known as repetitions or reps. A
change in the repetition range for an exercise is a great way to target the
different muscle fibers. This also plays
well into variation of resistance.
Increasing the weight typically results in fewer repetitions while
decreasing the weight will result in a higher number of repetitions performed.
3. Variation in the Speed of Movement. Odds
are you have never done this, at least not intentionally. It works with any movement;
simply perform it faster or slower. However,
this must be done at a deliberate pace.
Take the barbell bicep curl as an example, lifting the weight from the
bottom position with the arms extended to the top, the bar level with the
shoulders, could be done for a deliberate count of 1, 2, 3. The bar could then be lowered with the same
count or a different count. Ideally, the
part of the motion that lengthens the muscle (in this case, lowering the bar to
the arms extended position) should be done at the same pace or slower than the
motion that shortens the muscle.
Performing the part of the movement that extends and relaxes the muscle
faster than the contracting phase offers no benefit[ii]
and indicates an inability to control the weight (it is too heavy for proper
technique).
4. Variation in Tension. When most
people lift weights, they simply move the resistance through a specific
motion. But just creating movement
against resistance does not fully stimulate the muscles. Creating tension in the muscles is a
combination of resistance, distance, and intensity of the muscle contraction. Creating tension in the muscle requires a
little visualization. Simply thinking
about a muscle becoming tenser through a specific motion will actually result
in the muscle contracting with more force.
The more forceful the contraction, the more effective the exercise will
be. Applying this technique for maximum
benefit requires understanding the different actions a muscle can make to
change length.
5. Variation of the Length of the Muscle Action. Against an
external object, the muscles can create many types of movement; pushing,
pulling, throwing, and dragging are just a few. However, within the body, when muscles are
working to move a specific part of the body, they are only capable generating
movement by shortening in length. Go
back to the example of the bicep curl.
When the arms are extended in the bottom position, the bicep muscle is
relaxed. The act of creating tension and
raising the bar to the shoulders shortens the muscle (if this does not make
sense, extend right arm down at your side while placing your left hand on your
right bicep, now raise your right hand towards your shoulder in a curling
motion, feel the bicep shorten?). The
term for this is concentric muscle
action. The force in the muscle
overcomes the resistance provided by the barbell, resulting in the bar moving
towards the shoulder.
The opposite of concentric muscle action is eccentric muscle action. During the phase of motion the resistance has
overcome the force of the muscle tension, resulting the lengthening of the
muscle. During the bicep curl this
occurs as the bar is lowered back to the starting position. Done properly the eccentric phase should take
just as long, or longer, than the concentric phase (refer back to point #3). The trick to training using an eccentric muscle action is to slowly and in a controlled manner all the muscle to lengthen. Do not allow the weights to simply drop back to the starting position.
The final method of changing the muscle length is isometric action. This is a trick question. During isometric action the contractile force
generated by the muscle is equal to force generated by the resistance. The result in tension created in the muscle
but there is no movement due to the equal forces. This is what happens if someone tries to
punch you in the stomach. The rectus and
transverse abdominal muscles generate force to prevent the punch from damaging
the internal organs, however, there is no visible movement from the body. Coincidentally, this is the best way to
generate maximal force within the abdominal muscles. Want strong abs? Let people punch you. Just kidding, do not do that. However, you could make like Rocky and let
someone drop a medicine ball on your abs while you tense the muscles.
Stimulating maximum muscle growth requires a program
that utilizes all five of the principles of muscle stimulation. However, do not feel that it is necessary to
incorporate all five into a single training session. Set a goal of using three of the five
techniques in each workout and switch it up each time you train. The greater stimulation will result in
greater muscle growth.
[i]
Gymanese the language spoken by everyone who thinks exercising makes them an expert
despite a lack of knowledge or training in the Exercise Sciences. It is commonly spoken by those who believe in
Broscience. Broscience is the act of taking advice from drug-enhanced jacked
dudes regardless of what actual science may say in answer to the question.
[ii]
There is an advanced technique stretch-shortening cycle that is an exception to
this. However, that is a whole different
topic for another conversation. For most people, especially beginners and
nonathletes, this technique is not appropriate.
