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1Chapter Two Muscle Growth Philosophy and Weight Lifting Theory

Muscle 101
Don't even think about skipping this chapter, because here's where you're going to learn some basic information that will offer you greater rewards and success when it comes to muscle building and weight gain through muscle mass. Think of it this way. Would you consider souping up your car without knowing the basics of how it works? In order to make improvements in a car engine, you have to know about spark plug and distributor gaps, timing chains, fuel lines and starters.

For improving muscle mass and strength, you have to know how your muscles work, as well as what drives them to expand and contract and best of all, grow. Did you ever wonder how your muscles work? Do you know how they develop and grow? Did you know there's a right way and a wrong way to try to increase muscle mass? Well, there is. I'm not only going to tell you how you can safely increase muscle mass, but I'll also tell you about things like micro-tears, resistance training and important stuff like concentric muscular failure and muscular hypertrophy. Don't groan! These things are good things that you need to know and understand about your own body so that you can follow your progress not only by how you look, but also by how your muscles feel. So lets get started on the basics. I promise, this will only take a few minutes and then we'll move on.

Basically, there are three different types of muscle tissue: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle and smooth muscle tissues. Skeletal muscle tissue attaches to our bone structure through ligaments, tendons and fibers that help hold us in position. Without muscle tissue, we'd be flopping all over the place. In the most basic sense, muscle is bone's partner. Without muscle, you would not be able to move.

Cardiac muscle tissue is the muscular tissue that makes up the heart wall. As such, your heart muscle is just as important as any other muscle in your body. It needs proper amounts of protein and exercise to work well, every second of your lifespan. While you can't exclusively put your cardiac muscle through a workout, in a sense, working out will strengthen your heart muscle. Smooth muscle tissue lines the inside of some of your organs and provides support for your abdominal and pelvic organs. Ligaments and tendons hold muscle to bone. There are more complicated, medical terms for these, in addition to several others, but we're just sticking to basics here, so these will suffice for the groundwork. So here I am, a six-foot tall dude, and I sometimes lift weights with a much shorter guy, one around five foot six or so. We can lift the same amount of weight, at the same speed and intensity, and yet, that little dude often outlifts me. What gives? It's called physics. The smaller guy's arm is shorter, so he doesn't have to lift as far. It's simple, really. I'm just saying that you don't have to be tall or huge to be able to out-lift someone else, so don't be surprised if someone smaller than you progresses faster than you do. You also have to take into consideration personal differences. The tendon in my forearm may be shorter than the same tendon in yours. It's just the way we're built. Again, because your tendon is a little shorter, you may be able to

lift more weight, in faster progressions than I do. No big deal! I'm telling you this now so that you don't get discouraged later on down the line, okay? Just remember: We are not created equal! We may have the same parts, but we are all individuals. So just remember that and don't get discouraged if you find yourself taking a little longer to show progress than someone else. Okay, moving right along. Muscle tissue contracts in a response to stimulation. This provides movement. Each muscle is comprised of two parts that work opposite of each other to produce movement. When one side of the muscle contracts, the other side lengthens. When I lift something with my hand, I feel a stretch along the front of my upper arm, and if the weight is heavy enough, in my lower arm as well. Try this experiment. Let's use your bicep muscle as an example to explain and describe how every muscle in your body works. Okay, pick up something, like a gallon of milk. You'll feel the slight tension in your arm as you hold it. Why didn't you drop the gallon of milk? Because your bicep (the muscle in the front of your upper arm), stretched and then contracted to adapt to the weight of the milk. Without getting too technical, nerve impulses imbedded in your bicep muscle fibers sent messages to your brain telling you to flex your arm. So

your bicep contracted in response. Stretching, the first reflex, leads to action, such as lifting and balancing the weight in your hand. Don't worry, I won't give you an anatomy lesson here, but knowing the very basics on how muscles work will be of great benefit to you when it comes time to start lifting those weights. It doesn't matter whether you're male or female. Pound for pound, women are just as capable of increasing strength as men. Still, it's a medical fact that men have a larger percentage of lean muscle tissue, which means less body fat, which gives men greater potential for strength. Such strength has nothing to do with muscle quality. Every human, male and female, has the same muscles, with just a few variances for gender. Men are generally stronger because of their increases muscle quantity. That being said, women can use the same weight training and exercise programs as men or vice versa.

Micro Tears and Working to Failure

When the human body performs any action, it uses muscles. When the muscles begin to work, they strain to accomplish the task at hand. The larger the strain, the more energy the muscles are going to need. As they exert more force, the muscles tear.

If you remember your high school coach hollering, Feel the burn! then you know what I'm talking about. That burning sensation means you're working the muscle hard enough to do some good. We're not talking about pain here, so know the difference between 'burn' and 'pain'. When lifting weights, the standard practice and method is to work to muscle failure, or the greatest point of muscle fatigue. That means not being able to lift that weight one more time. Depending on your condition, it may take a few or a lot of repetitions to reach your own personal point of 'failure'. Working to failure creates tiny fissures, or tears, in your muscle fibers that are called micro tears. While these may sound alarming, they are not. These tears are caused by breakdown of muscle tissue. Your body is a wonderful machine. If your body thinks it's under attack or being damaged, it sends help to the area in question. We won't go into physiological mumbo jumbo here, but take my word for it; when your muscle experiences any damage, or breakdown, such as that caused by micro tears, it will send help. Your body, without you even asking it to, will start to repair the damage done to that muscle tissue that you just brought to 'failure'. That burn is a good indication that you're there; that and the tremble in your arm or leg when completing that last rep.

The amazing thing is that your body repairs that damaged area by making that muscle tissue bigger and stronger than it was before! Cool, huh? This is your body's way of protecting it against further damage. Ergo, the more intensity you put into your workouts, the greater your benefits. As soon as the damage stops, the body automatically starts to repair that damage. Think of it like the chicken pox. When you get the chicken pox, your body is compromised. As you recover, your body provides ways to protect you from getting the chicken pox again. So go ahead, think of muscle building and increased strength like what happens in the case of the chicken pox. The harder your body has to work to protect itself from damage, the stronger you become. It doesn't matter whether your body is fighting the chicken pox, or a muscle strain of flu. Repeated exposure means increased immunity, or strength. The only difference in this analogy is that while you can't watch T-cells battling invisible viruses inside your body without the use of a microscope, you can see your muscles mass and strength increasing as your body protects itself from micro tears. I'll guide you on how to reach 'failure' without severely injuring yourself in the next chapter.

Concentric Muscular Failure

Don't be alarmed. That's just a big name for what we just talked about. However, before we even go any further, let's make a distinction here. There is a big difference between reaching failure and stepping over the line and injuring yourself. You do want to train to concentric or isometric or eccentric failure, but you don't want to lose control of your muscles or your body. Pushing yourself to perform that last rep while lifting that bar over your head may not be a good idea if you've already reached the point of failure. Remember that common sense must be applied to the physical theory behind muscle training. There are three different types of muscular contractions: Concentric Muscle shortens. Isometric Static contraction but no movement of muscle. Eccentric Muscle lengthens. So, concentric muscular failure is the process by which your muscle, no matter whether it's the bicep, the large muscle in your upper arm, or your quadriceps or the muscle on the front of your thigh, they all perform the same way. They contract and expand, or lengthen. While one side of the

muscle shortens, or contracts, the other side of the muscle lengthens, or expands. Concentric contraction may be initiated, for example, by curling a barbell from waist height to your chest. Hanging onto hand weights, for example, and not doing anything with them, brings about isometric contractions. Your muscles are tensed for the period of time that you are holding the weights. So, by lifting the barbell, you are performing a concentric, or muscle shortening, contraction in your biceps muscle. By holding it steady, you are performing an isometric contraction. By lowering the barbell, you are performing an eccentric, or muscle lengthening, contraction. Also keep in mind that you don't want to perform the same moves, the same number of reps and use the same poundage every time you lift. An increase of muscle mass and strength should be a very gradual process. This is one time when you don't want to rush things! So, now you know the basics about different types of muscular contraction and how breaking down muscle tissue can actually help you achieve reaching greater muscle mass and strength. Now we're ready to move on to other necessary terms.

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Intensity and Duration

Depending on whom you ask, there are two different schools of thought on this subject, so I'll just briefly describe each of them. Most bodybuilders will define intensity as the amount of effort used to complete a lift. For example, if I were to use a leg press set at 300 pounds, it would be a lot more difficult to complete a set of reps than if I had set the machine at 250 pounds. A sport therapist or doctor will define intensity as the difficulty of the specific work to be performed. They call this RM, which stands for 'repetition maximum'. That means that if a lifter has a 1RM of 300 pounds in a leg press, a single set performed with 250 pounds will be more intense than the same lift using 200 pounds, no matter how many reps he completes. To further illustrate this point, it is necessary to explain the difference between the effects of the different number of reps and the muscle's response to those numbers. For example, you can have a low, medium or high number of reps within any given set of exercises. A general range for these is 1 to 5 for low reps, 6 to 12 for a medium range of reps and 13 to 20 or more reps for a high number of reps. Training with a low number of repetitions makes your stronger. This is because the effect on muscles is more neurological more muscle fibers are involved, which stimulates muscle fibers that might not be involved or

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activated with higher sets of reps. With a low rep program however, the size increase of muscle fibers in minimal, though you will be stronger. Who says size isn't everything? We do. Below is a chart that will show projected results for a wide variety of rep ranges. Rep Range 1-5 Percent of 1 Rep Max 85 100% Effect of Training Neurological Goal Strength and Power, but little increase in 6-8 75 85% Neurological and Metabolic 9 - 12 70 75% Neurological and Metabolic muscle size Strength and increased muscle size Increased muscle size and some increased 13 - 20 60 70% Metabolic strength Endurance, and some increased muscle size, but little strength

For the sake of this book, we're going to stick to the bodybuilder's definition of intensity.

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Duration
Believe it or not, you don't have to spend hours working out in the gym or at home every day to build muscle mass and strength. As a matter of fact, you have to watch that you don't over-train. The most important thing to remember when setting out on a muscle building journey is to pace yourself and your muscles in order to achieve maximum potential and benefits. Working your muscles to the point of injury will get you nowhere, fast. Sure, you have to give each workout 100 percent, but that doesn't mean you have to train a specific amount or length of time on a daily basis. Actually, you'll make better progress if you limit your weight lifting workouts to roughly 3-4 hours a week. No, I'm not kidding. Weight training gets the muscle tissues hot and initiates the growth process, which we discussed at the beginning of this chapter. It has been proven that your body must receive an adequate amount of time to recuperate in order for your muscle-building efforts to succeed.

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If you don't rest muscle groups in between workouts, not only do you open yourself up to injury, but your workouts will be counter-productive and a waste of time. In this case, 'less is more'. Unlike other sports, it's not the practice that makes perfect; it's the quality and intensity of your individual workouts that make the difference between success and failure when it comes to building muscle. Take it from me, and thousands of other guys and gals who have tried to get around that little lesson. Not only will daily and hours-long weight lifting workouts not help you achieve your goals, but you'll likely end up hurting yourself and tearing a ligament or tendon or cause joint damage. Over training is one of the most common errors that new students to any form of exercise make.

Progression of Intensity
If you only train your muscles to the point of fatigue, you wont 'damage' your muscle tissue enough for your body to view the damage as threatening. In that case, your body won't rush to the rescue and make that muscle tissue stronger and bigger. Remember when we talked about concentric muscle failure?

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If you work to concentric failure, then maximum muscular damage will occur, therefore causing a greater need for repair. The greater the need for repair, the stronger the body will rebuild the muscle tissue, leading to larger increases in muscle mass in a shorter time frame. However, do notI repeat, do not overwork yourself, as mentioned before, because you'll just be wasting your time. The progression of intensity means slowly increasing both the amount of weights you're lifting or using, and the number of repetitions and sets you complete for each muscle group you're working. For example, if you bench-pressed 175 pounds for six repetitions yesterday, dont jump to 225 the next day, or even the day after that. You want to work up slowly, meaning 5-pound increments. Remember that bout of chicken pox? If you get a bad enough case of the chicken pox, it can kill you. Now, I'm not saying that lifting too much weight is going to kill you, but it definitely won't help you reach your goals any faster. If you injure yourself, it will take even longer to get where you want to go, so take your time and go slow. If you work your muscles too much, you will have little to show for all of that work but a shortage of vitamins and sore, aching muscles. So no matter what, dont overwork yourself. If you can already bench 175, then bump it up 5 pounds each week. That way, your body will adapt to the new weight.

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The law of intensity states that in order for muscles to grow, the intensity (the force exerted on muscles within a set) must be enough to damage the muscles to the point that repairs will cause excess muscle growth. An example, again using the bench press, would be to increase the before mentioned 175 pounds and six repetitions to 175 pounds and eight repetitions. This increase may seem very slight to you, but the higher intensity will start that muscle repair process that creates bigger and stronger muscles. The law of progression states that in order for muscles to grow, the body must progress from one intensity level to a higher intensity level. Once more, again using the bench press example, you could increase the 175 pounds and eight repetitions to 180 pounds and eight repetitions. Or you could simply increase the amount of repetitions performed. Another simple way of looking at the law of progression is as a continuation of the law of intensity; intensity must be increased in order to produce a change in muscular tissue damage, which in turn triggers muscle growth. Keep in mind that a one-time change in intensity is not enough. Both weights and repetitions within sets must be increased at regular intervals in order to continue producing muscle-building results. The most important thing to remember is that your body requires time to repair muscle tissue. Likewise, if your body puts forth all of its energy into building muscle, you will not see results, because your body is undergoing continuous muscular damage and repair. It is putting forth all of its energy

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toward repairing damage rather than preventing it. When the damage continues before healing can take place, extra tissue will not be formed.

Muscular Hypertrophy
No, it has nothing to do with awards or trophies and it's not a disease. The term hypertrophy is just a fancy, medical way of saying 'increased bulk'. In this case, the term is related to muscle fibers. Keep in mind however, that merely lifting heavier weights will not necessarily make you stronger. While your best potential for maximum growth depends on working specific muscles to 'failure' or 'overload', you also need to make sure that you don't let those muscles get bored by performing the same old routines every time you lift. You need to keep those muscles guessing, and expose them to different moves, poundage and repetitions. You can also do this by decreasing rest time in between sets, as well 'shocking' the muscles by pushing them a little harder once in a while. Another way to keep your muscles primed for growth is to do away with the negative aspect of a lifting motion. Let's use the bench press example again. Go ahead and lift the weight up, but then let your spotter take the weight and set it in the rack. This way, your muscles work on the eccentric muscle contraction only.

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Just like any physical process, muscle building takes time, so the most important virtue for any aspiring muscle builder to have is patience. As stated before, muscle building takes dedication, and if you dont have the dedication and patience to see this process through, then you may as well stop here. However, if you feel yourself up to the challenge, then we will continue to the next chapter, which will teach you how to properly structure your workout. Remember: 1) Always try to train with enough effort and intensity to trigger the breakdown of muscle tissue, which in turn makes the muscles grow even bigger and stronger. 2) Gradually increase the poundage you lift on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, as well as the number of reps you perform in any given set.