Key points for effective muscle training
The primary goal of muscle training is to transfer as much of the external resistance as possible to the muscle being trained. The more isolated the training resistance acts on the target muscle, the greater the muscular load. To achieve this, a functionally and anatomically clean exercise execution is absolutely necessary. A high quality of movement therefore has the highest priority.
- First and foremost, we recommend that you focus on the quality of your exercise execution.
Muscle training over the greatest possible joint range of motion allows the muscles to grow longer. The length of the individual muscle fibres increases. The muscles can adapt to the new functional length by adding new sarcomeres in series at the ends of myofibrils.
- Therefore, make sure you perform the movement over the greatest possible joint range of motion each time.
Swinging and "explosive" movements go hand in hand with a drastically increased risk of injury. On the other hand, if the training resistance is accelerated in the initial phase of the movement, it would subsequently continue moving uniformly in a straight line, were it not for gravity and friction (and muscle force). This means automatically that when the training resistance gains "momentum", it moves to a certain extent under its own dynamics. The inherent dynamics of the training resistance mean a smaller relative force expenditure by the muscle. "Explosive" movements therefore do not allow a constant load on the musculature. Maintaining tension, i.e. the duration of muscle fibre tension until exhaustion, is however a criterion for muscle hypertrophy. Ideally, therefore, perform the exercise in the following rhythm: 3 seconds concentric (overcoming the weight), 2 seconds isometric shortened (no movement in shortened position), 3 seconds eccentric (yielding to the weight), 2 seconds isometric stretched (no movement in stretched position)
- So train slowly to reach your goal faster.
Muscle growth requires an above-threshold stimulus, i.e. performing the exercise to exhaustion. The duration of muscle fibre tension until maximum muscle exhaustion is a criterion for muscle hypertrophy. Advanced trainees should train not more, but more intensely.
- Make sure you do not put down the weight until complete muscle exhaustion, meaning until the weight can no longer be moved.
The duration of tension is much more decisive than the number of repetitions. These motor units should be fatigued so that their force output is only minimal. The individually required tension duration until exhaustion of the largest motor units is not precisely known. Roughly estimated, the specific tension duration, i.e. the total tension duration until exhaustion of the largest motor units, should be approx. 60-100 seconds. Training must also be progressive.
- If a tension duration of 60 seconds was reached in the first training session, you should try to exceed this tension duration in the next workout. If you have reached a tension duration of 100 seconds, you can increase the training resistance in the next step, and so on. Neither tension duration nor training resistance should ever be increased at the expense of movement quality.
Training also stimulates catabolic processes. This can be seen already from the fact that after strength training, not only the protein synthesis rate but also the protein breakdown rate is increased. If the breakdown processes predominate, no protein is stored on a net basis. In the worst case, protein breakdown can even occur. The risk of this rises with too high training frequency and intensity. Since muscle protein synthesis rate is elevated for up to 48-72 hours after a training session, an interval of at least 48 hours between training sessions appears to be a sensible approach.
- Set the intervals between training sessions so that either the tension duration or the training weight can be increased in each session.
For a muscle to gain mass, the metabolic basis must be in place: the net protein balance must be positive. This means that the muscle building rate must be greater than the muscle breakdown rate. Only then is protein stored in the muscle and the muscle grows. However, it is not enough to consume a sufficiently large amount of protein daily (approx. 1.3-1.7 g/kg body mass); the timing pattern of intake must also be right.
- Make sure you consume approx. 20 g of protein every 3-4 hours, 4 to 6 times a day.
