Effective muscle training
- Anatomically correct exercise technique
The primary goal of muscle training is to direct as much of the external resistance as possible onto the muscle you're training. The more isolated the training resistance is on the target muscle, the greater the muscular load. To achieve this, a functionally and anatomically clean exercise technique is essential. High movement quality therefore has the highest priority.
First and foremost, we recommend that you focus on the quality of your exercise technique. - Movement through the greatest possible joint range of motion
Strength training through the greatest possible joint range of motion makes it possible for the muscle to grow in length. The individual muscle fibres increase in length. The muscles can adapt to this new functional length by adding new sarcomeres in series at the ends of the myofibrils.
So make sure you always perform the movement through the greatest possible joint range of motion. - Controlled, slow movement speed with deceleration at the turning points
Fast, "explosive" movements come with a drastically increased risk of injury. It's also the case that if the training resistance is accelerated during the initial phase of the movement, it would then continue to move in a straight line at a constant speed, were it not for the force of gravity and friction (and muscular force). This automatically means that once the training resistance gains "momentum", it moves to a certain extent under its own dynamic. This self-propelled dynamic of the training resistance means a smaller relative effort from the muscle. "Explosive" movements therefore don't allow for a constant load on the muscle. Holding the tension - in other words, the muscle fibre tension duration to the point of exhaustion - is, however, a criterion for muscle hypertrophy. Ideally, you should therefore perform the exercise in the following rhythm each time: 3 seconds concentric (overcoming the weight), 2 seconds isometric shortened (no movement in the shortened position), 3 seconds eccentric (yielding to the weight), 2 seconds isometric stretched (no movement in the stretched position)
So train slowly to reach your goal faster. - Muscle exhaustion
Muscle growth requires a supra-threshold stimulus, meaning you need to perform the exercise to the point of exhaustion. The muscle fibre tension duration to the point of maximum muscle exhaustion is a criterion for muscle hypertrophy. Advanced trainees shouldn't train more, but more intensely.
Make sure you don't put the weight down until you reach complete muscle exhaustion, that is, until the weight can no longer be moved. - Tension duration to exhaustion within the target range (fatigue index of the largest motor units)
In fact, it's the tension duration, not the number of repetitions, that's decisive. These motor units should be fatigued to the point where their force output is only minimal. The individually required tension duration to exhaustion of the largest motor units isn't precisely known. As a rough estimate, the specific tension duration, i.e. the total tension duration to exhaustion of the largest motor units, should be around 60-100 seconds. Your training also needs to be progressive. If you reach a tension duration of 60 seconds in your first training session, you should try to beat that tension duration in your next session. Once you've reached a tension duration of 100 seconds, you can then increase the training resistance as a next step, and so on.
However, neither the tension duration nor the training resistance should ever be increased at the expense of movement quality. - Time interval between training sessions
Strength training also stimulates catabolic processes. This is already evident from the fact that after strength training, not only the rate of protein synthesis but also the rate of protein breakdown is increased. If the breakdown processes predominate, no net protein is stored, seen overall. In the worst case, this can even lead to protein breakdown. The risk of this increases with excessive training frequency and intensity. Since the rate of muscle protein synthesis remains elevated for up to 48-72 hours after a training session, leaving at least 48 hours between training sessions seems to be a sensible approach.
Set the time intervals between your training sessions so that in each session you're able to increase either the tension duration or the training weight. - Optimised protein intake in terms of timing and amount
For a muscle to increase in mass, the metabolic basis for this needs to be in place: the net protein balance must be positive. This means the rate of muscle building must be greater than the rate of muscle breakdown. Only then is protein stored in the muscle and the muscle grows. However, it's not enough to consume a sufficiently large amount of protein each day (ca. 1.3-1.7 g/kg body mass) - the timing pattern of your intake needs to be right too.
Make sure you take in around 20 g of protein every 3-4 hours, 4 to 6 times a day.
Sources: update Fitness training concept
