Muscle Building

INTRODUCTION

Muscle building works by making the muscle work harder than it has previously been made to work. In response to this stress the muscle adapts by adding muscle fibers to those already existing which increases its size (and strength). There are more ways to do this than just trying to lifting more weight.

Muscle growth does not have to mean bodybuilding muscle and huge muscles. Muscular development relies greatly on a person's levels of testosterone and this is much lower in females. Therefore they do not need to fear suddenly looking like a bodybuilder.

The goal of a muscle workout can include: 

• lean muscle
• muscle tone
• muscle and fitness
• muscle strength
• muscle endurance
• build muscle lose fat
• muscle definition
• improved body shape

Before outlining factors relevant to muscle building I will provide some general information concerning muscle which will be of use in planning and implementing muscle building routines. The most effective method of exercising a muscle will be influenced by the interaction of the factors in this general information.

LEVELS

• Look and feel better
• Means to an end - improved performance in a sport or hobby
• Muscle for its own sake - this levels veers more towards the bodybuilding arena.

BENEFITS OF
MUSCLE BUILDING WORKOUTS

1. Daily tasks are completed more easily
2. Improved body composition - muscle is active body tissue and requires calories to maintain itself (the amount of calories increase as extra lean tissue is added)
3. Performance - increased lean tissue will enable a task to be completed easier or better.
4. Health - increased and better quality lean tissue is usually associated with improved health.
5. Ageing - part of what is perceived as ageing is actually the loss of muscle and strength. This makes the person more infirm and more prone to injury, especially falling. Other things being equal maintaining or increasing muscle will stave off many of the negative aspects of aging. It will also allow quality of life to be enjoyed for much longer.
6. Aesthetic - appearance, posture, body composition - both males and females can look both fit and healthy.

TYPES OF MUSCLE

There are several ways of classifying muscle :

1) Function

• Prime Mover - eg the legs and arms during walking or running. 
• Supporting - eg spinal muscles acting to maintain the body upright

2) Muscle Fiber

• Slow twitch/Type I/White - these predominantly use oxygen and are resistant to fatigue. Endurance activities utilise this type.
• Fast twitch/Type IIa and IIb/Red - these predominantly use the body's emergency stores of energy and are fatigue more easily. More powerful muscular contractions and hence movements are possible. Strength and power activities utilise this type. IIa fibers could be described as falling somewhere between type I and IIb.

3) Role during a specific movement

• Agonist - muscle(s) producing a movement
• Antagonist - muscle(s) acting to oppose the movement produced by an agonist or capable of producing  movement in the opposite direction (see flexion / extension below).
• Synergist - muscle(s) which assist agonists but which do not provide the main impetus for the movement.
• Stabiliser - muscle(s) which support the joints affected by a movement.

4) Anatomy - bodypart eg facial, neck, shoulders, arms, legs etc

5) Effect on Joints

• Flexion - the joint "closes" eg the elbow joint when the biceps muscles (front upper arm) are used to bend the arm.
• Extension - the joint "opens" eg the elbow joint when the triceps muscles (back upper arm) are used to straighten the arm.

HOW MUSCLES CONTROL MOVEMENT

Movement is controlled by the contraction of muscles. There are 3 main types of contraction.

1. Concentric - the muscles produce force by shortening. An example this would be when the shoulder muscles (deltoids) and to some extent the pulling muscles of the arm (biceps and forearm) contract to raise an object overhead. The faster the contraction the faster the object is raised.
2. Eccentric - the muscles produce resisting force whilst lengthening. An example would be lowering an object from overhead. The shoulder and pulling arm muscles act to control the downwards movement by lengthening whilst remaining tensed.
3. Isometric - the muscles contract to produce force but do not change in length. This contraction is used prevent movement. An important function of such isometric contraction would be when the muscles surrounding the spine are tensed. An everyday example would be where opening a heavy door is made much less difficult by tensing the abdomen. The tensing allows force to be applied to the door rather than "leaking" if the spine and body twisted.

METHODS - How to gain muscle

Factors to consider when creating muscle building workouts are :

1. Training Goal - why is increased muscle required - better quality of life, beach body, sports performance, bodybuilding.
2. Equipment -  weights, machines, cables, bodyweight (calisthenics), bands, kettlebells etc.
3. Location - gym, home, outdoors, travel, anywhere.
4. Exercise Routine - amount of the body to be trained (whole or part), exercises chosen, volume (total amount and split of work performed), intensity and speed of exercise, how it is carried out (e.g. tempo, time under tension).
5. Nutrition and supplements - the type and amount of food and nourishment can hinder or accelerate achievement of the desired goal. 
6. Time - amount available, which part of the day, duration
7. Frequency of workouts
8. Rest / Recovery - the stimulus for muscles to grow occurs within a workout but the growth itself occurs between workouts.
9. Profile - everyone regardless of age or gender can benefit from increased and better quality lean tissue but their starting point, rate of progress etc needs to be taken account of.
10. Training log - a record of  training is invaluable to review progress and amend workout programs where necessary.
11. Determination to avoid injury - correct technique and rate of progress are crucial to preventing such things as back muscle pain which would interupt training. This in turn will be central to obtaining the fastest and maximum results.
12. Forgotten muscles - neck, grip/wrist and ankle muscles are often neglected or assumed to be covered whilst exercising other bodyparts. However, the physique can be made more impressive, functional and injury proof if adequate attention is given to these important areas.

CONCLUSION

1. A person's current profile (age, experience etc) should determine the type and difficulty of muscle building workouts.
2. The biggest contributors to fast workout results are :

• avoiding injury
• correct and safe progression
• 80/20 rule - choosing  muscle building routines which maximise return for time and effort. Such routines would use exercises which

             - recruited the most muscle mass (multi-joint natural movements)

             - training hard

             - then focusing on recovering from the workout

• Diet and quality nutrition esp'y protein (meat, fish etc) & supplements play a significant role in assisting  muscle building and enhancing its visual effect 

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Site under construction - apologies for any gaps or apparent inconsistencies. In time as more information is added the whole site should "hang together".

Initially the focus will be on general information which should assist with achieving results regardless of the approach you take in working out.

Later I will provide more detailed information.