The New Science Theory Behind Strength And Muscle
What is your goal while working out? Is your goal to build strong muscles or are you just trying to develop the functional strength of your body? Strength and muscle are two different things.
Many bodybuilders don’t realise that the success in the gym is all about weight lifting and weight training. The goal to get a strong body is not how much weight you can lift. It is about how resistance training shape, develop and sculpt various muscles of the body.
Bodybuilding Is All About Size
Bodybuilders lift weight not to improve their functional strength but to increase the size of their muscles. However, they can also develop strength, but as a means of a side effect rather than the primary focus.
Those who lift for size actually work for the pump. Through weight lifting blood brings nutrients and oxygen to muscles and offers you a sort of high.
The type of weight lifting done by bodybuilders helps to create microscopic components in the muscle and thereby, force the body to improve the storage capacity and repair body muscles. The repairing helps to grow muscles, and this process is called hypertrophy.
When muscles develop, they can hold more energy that helps them to exert greater force. However, the energy stored in the muscles is not the same as real strength, and thus, the bodybuilders are often weaker than they look.
The term bodybuilding actually refers to competitive exhibitions and a large number of them work out to get the right kind of body to look good on stage.
Here is a 4-day workout program for those who want to get bigger muscles:
1. Day 1 – Legs, Back & Biceps
2. Day 2 – Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
3. Day 3 – Legs, Back & Biceps
4. Day 4 – Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
Strength Training Is All About Strength
For strength training, there is just only one purpose to do workout – to increase the amount of force in the muscle for lifting heavy weight objects. The shape and size of the muscle do not matter. The muscles must exert adequate force when it comes to lifting weight.
If a person wants to develop strength in the body, he or she should train this way –
Less than 6 reps, around 85% of 1RM (one repetition maximum) then rests for 3 to 5 minutes.
Strength training is usually practiced through high weight and low reps. This training actually aims at improving your central nervous system. You lift the weight with an aim of strengthening your muscles, hardening the bones, reinforcing the joints and developing connective tissues.
Unlike bodybuilders, a strength trainer may not have a perfect shaped physique. They may have higher body fat and the shape of the body may be solid or blocky rather than slender and sleek. However, when it comes to using muscles, they may show much more functional strength than bodybuilders.
Here is a 4-day workout program for those who want to get more strength:
1. Day 1 – Legs, Back & Biceps
2. Day 2 – Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
3. Day 3 – Legs, Back & Biceps
4. Day 4 – Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
How To Become A Strength Trainee?
Here’s what you need to follow to become a strength trainee:
- Aim to perform the perfect form of exercise rather than lifting weight.
- Determine the right number of sets per muscle.
- Don’t jerk or swing; rather use precise movement in your training. If it requires lowering your weight, go ahead.
- Concentrate on building muscles evenly and not just only for showing muscles.
- Never lock your joints.
How Does Hormones Affect Muscle Grow?
The hormone is another type of component largely responsible for muscle repair and growth. This is because hormones contain two important factors – mecho growth factor and insulin growth factor. These two are the most vital components that contribute to muscle growth.
Some people think testosterone is the main hormone that helps in their muscle growth while working out. This seems to be valid up to some extent as it inhibits protein breakdown, increase protein synthesis, activate satellite cells and stimulate anabolic hormone.
However, most testosterone is consumed in the body and not available enough to use while lifting the weight. Strength training helps to release more testosterone in the body that activates tissue growth.
What Is The Result?
There have been many studies conducted related to bodybuilding and strength training.
In one study, the researchers compared strength protocol with standard hypertrophy protocol. Both these protocols are divided in respect of volume equation which means the first group performed 10 sets of 3 while the other group performed 3 sets of 10.
Following this training, both groups ended up with similar growth in the biceps. However, a basic difference has been outlined between them – the first group that followed strength protocol had noticed a better improvement in their body strength.
Therefore, the conclusion is strength training and bodybuilding styles promoted equal growth in the muscles. However, the powerlifting style enhances maximum strength in the body.
The Theory Behind Strength And Muscle – Conclusion
This fact does not mean that bodybuilding style training does not work at all. It still works. Strength training and bodybuilding should not be considered competing; rather they are considered as complementary methods of training.
It is a new science behind strength and muscle that depicts it is worth your time to break out that 3 sets of 10 exercises, alter the training volume and intensity to avoid uplands in hypertrophy and strength.
Here are some useful tips:
- Don’t follow a training program that increases hormone concentrations in the post work-out.
- If you aim at building muscles, don’t fear to lift heavy weights. You should not miss any mass workout during the strength phase. In fact, it may even spark new gains.
- Use a wide variety of reps and take intervals during training.
Follow these steps in your training program to achieve strength and muscle volume in your entire body.
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Article source: Bodybuilding.com
So could I also say if want a balance of Strength and muscles then go for 6~9 reps 80% of 1 RM