btufts
24-05-2012, 04:04 AM
So here it is, 4 o'clock in the morning and nothing but a quote sticks in my mind from the book I've been reading: Anatomy Trains, Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists by Thomas W. Myers. Thankfully lent to me by my massage therapist after sharing ideas from our own backgrounds on myofascial release, holistically, and dynamically through stretching and strength training.
All but one quote in this book sticks in my mind as I lay in bed: (insomnia is a bitch when it wants to be) Think globally - locally - globally.
For many, this means nothing. But from a fitness philosophers point of view, this very broad quote set in my mind. The quote in relevance to the book is talking more so about looking at imbalances in peoples physique. Simplified by the two major chains of fascial tissues (there are actually 11) tugging on the anterior and posterior chains of soft tissues in our bodies creating the typical imbalances we see everyday. (slouched shoulders, rolled upper back, posterior rotated hips, loose gut etc.) The quote however is very simple. Look at the overall problem being caused, isolate where the issue is coming from, see how the problem now fixed affected the overall system. But look at it as you like; Simple quotes were meant to be applied.
While reading through one chapter, I read very simply that anatomically as homosapiens that our anterior chain of muscle groups (less active day to day) are vastly made up of fast twitch muscle fibres. In contrary, our posterior chain (more active due to keeping erect daily) is made up of more slow twitch endurance type muscles.
This leads me to my first statement:
To create an environment of change at a physical level, we need to do the opposite of what we typically do.
Very simply put, for our muscles to change, we need to cause hypertrophy by making our muscle do something that our body needs to resist and adapt to. (resistance training)
Now, taking the idea that our "lazy" anterior chain muscle groups consist mostly of fast twitch muscle fibres, it only makes sense that training at a higher rep range (12-15reps) would contradict what those muscles can easily adapt to. Hence a greater chance of hypertrophy.
That being said, our bodies always know when to pick up the work for a lagging point by the opposing muscle group. In this case, its our entire anterior chain. Therefore, our whole posterior chain is active throughout the day more so than our anterior chain to pick up its slack (in very simple terms). This pattern over the millions of years of creation has created more endurance like muscles in our posterior chain, hence a vast amount of high twitch muscle fibres.
Again, as athletes, want to cause a change that our body will be forced to adapt to. So theoretically, training our entire chain of posterior muscles with heavier resistance should cause enough of a change for our muscles to cause a great deal of hypertrophy. For this sake a rep range 8-10 reps might work best for. (I'll explain further next).
This brings me to another theory that will allow for both rep ranges to be effective for functional hypertrophy: Time Under Tension Theory.
Using Charles Poliquins' theory that a muscle under tension for at least 45 seconds will cause an effective window for maximum amount of hypertrophy, any less than 8 reps would be too heavy to keep under tension for that period of time so it would be ineffective in this case.
Simply summarized: It would seem that training all our pushing and extending muscle groups in our anterior chain for higher repetitions may cause better growth; in contrary, training all our pulling, flexion, and extending muscle groups in our posterior chain with heavier weight and lower repetitions while still maintaining the 45 second rule of time under tension may cause a better response for hypertrophy in the muscles trained.
I am keeping this theory as simple as what I've stated above. I will leave compound movements and other muscle groups not in our anterior and posterior chains as variables. The simpler put, the more room for experimentation.
Now 5 am, the sun is starting to come up and I am going to bed with my mind at ease.
Btufts
All but one quote in this book sticks in my mind as I lay in bed: (insomnia is a bitch when it wants to be) Think globally - locally - globally.
For many, this means nothing. But from a fitness philosophers point of view, this very broad quote set in my mind. The quote in relevance to the book is talking more so about looking at imbalances in peoples physique. Simplified by the two major chains of fascial tissues (there are actually 11) tugging on the anterior and posterior chains of soft tissues in our bodies creating the typical imbalances we see everyday. (slouched shoulders, rolled upper back, posterior rotated hips, loose gut etc.) The quote however is very simple. Look at the overall problem being caused, isolate where the issue is coming from, see how the problem now fixed affected the overall system. But look at it as you like; Simple quotes were meant to be applied.
While reading through one chapter, I read very simply that anatomically as homosapiens that our anterior chain of muscle groups (less active day to day) are vastly made up of fast twitch muscle fibres. In contrary, our posterior chain (more active due to keeping erect daily) is made up of more slow twitch endurance type muscles.
This leads me to my first statement:
To create an environment of change at a physical level, we need to do the opposite of what we typically do.
Very simply put, for our muscles to change, we need to cause hypertrophy by making our muscle do something that our body needs to resist and adapt to. (resistance training)
Now, taking the idea that our "lazy" anterior chain muscle groups consist mostly of fast twitch muscle fibres, it only makes sense that training at a higher rep range (12-15reps) would contradict what those muscles can easily adapt to. Hence a greater chance of hypertrophy.
That being said, our bodies always know when to pick up the work for a lagging point by the opposing muscle group. In this case, its our entire anterior chain. Therefore, our whole posterior chain is active throughout the day more so than our anterior chain to pick up its slack (in very simple terms). This pattern over the millions of years of creation has created more endurance like muscles in our posterior chain, hence a vast amount of high twitch muscle fibres.
Again, as athletes, want to cause a change that our body will be forced to adapt to. So theoretically, training our entire chain of posterior muscles with heavier resistance should cause enough of a change for our muscles to cause a great deal of hypertrophy. For this sake a rep range 8-10 reps might work best for. (I'll explain further next).
This brings me to another theory that will allow for both rep ranges to be effective for functional hypertrophy: Time Under Tension Theory.
Using Charles Poliquins' theory that a muscle under tension for at least 45 seconds will cause an effective window for maximum amount of hypertrophy, any less than 8 reps would be too heavy to keep under tension for that period of time so it would be ineffective in this case.
Simply summarized: It would seem that training all our pushing and extending muscle groups in our anterior chain for higher repetitions may cause better growth; in contrary, training all our pulling, flexion, and extending muscle groups in our posterior chain with heavier weight and lower repetitions while still maintaining the 45 second rule of time under tension may cause a better response for hypertrophy in the muscles trained.
I am keeping this theory as simple as what I've stated above. I will leave compound movements and other muscle groups not in our anterior and posterior chains as variables. The simpler put, the more room for experimentation.
Now 5 am, the sun is starting to come up and I am going to bed with my mind at ease.
Btufts