Overview
I remember it like it was yesterday.
For 13 years I’d been inundated by images of big, strong, athletic-looking people bulging with muscles. No matter where I looked, I saw them. As a typical teenage male on the verge of puberty, I wanted to look just like them.
My first time in the high school weight room, I headed straight for the dumbbell rack -- who needs warm-ups? -- grabbed some 25-pound dumbbells and started busting out curls. Needless to say, this approach didn’t get me far. I burned out in about five minutes and just stood there, awkwardly, without any idea what to do next.
I know I’m not the only person who’s had this experience. In fact, I’m willing to bet that many of you could share a similar story.
Athletes want muscle. Bodybuilders want muscle. Powerlifters want muscle. Recreational lifters want muscle.
Muscle is in high demand, and I’m here to help you get it -- the right way.
The Good Stuff
Rather than go into satellite cells and myogenic pathways, let’s focus on information that applies directly to your training. In particular, let’s look at the three primary factors responsible for initiating muscular growth, also known as hypertrophy, in response to exercise:
1. Muscular Tension
2. Muscular Damage
3. Metabolic Stress
Whether you’re trying to get superhero arms or bigger glutes, your success will depend on how well you manage these three variables.
Muscular Tension
Muscular tension, also known as mechanical tension, has a profound effect on muscle gain. It can be broken down into two types: passive and active.
A good example of passive tension is when you lie on your back and let someone stretch your hamstring. As the person lifts your leg, you feel tension when the muscle lengthens and reaches its end range. This is passive tension because you are not actively creating it. The tension is being created by the lengthening of your muscle.
Active tension, on the other hand, is when you physically contract a muscle. For example, flex your bicep as hard as you can. What you feel is active tension. It is isometric because the muscle is not changing length.
To induce muscle gain, you should expose your muscles to both types simultaneously, a concept known as dynamic tension. Dynamic tension occurs when you create active tension while moving. For example, flex your bicep as hard as you can again. Now extend and flex your elbow as if you’re doing a bicep curl.
That’s dynamic tension because you actively created the tension and took the muscle throughout a range of motion. Contracting your muscles through a large range of motion, however, is not enough, because tension is dependent upon load. Think of it this way: You can only generate so much tension against a lighter load, so more weight allows for greater tension.
Reference: http://tinyurl.com/zeoo6b2
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