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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BODYBUILDING |
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The FULL RANGE is when a muscle
carries out a movement from its extreme stretched position of its extreme
contracted position.
Muscle tissue consists of 3 forms... Muscle is composed of approximately 72 percent water and 28 percent protein and minerals. A muscle contracts in three different ways; they are.... ISOMETRICALLY (statically) CONCENTRICALLY and ECCENTRICALLY (i) ISOMETRIC CONTRACTION is a static i.e.... unmoving contraction. When antagonistic muscles contract against each other with equal tension, resulting in NO MOVEMENT this fixation or static contraction is known as ISOMETRIC contraction. If you hold your arm with the elbow half bent and unmoving with the BICEPS tensed, then this would be an ISOMETRIC contraction.
Most muscle controls are isometric contraction, combined with controlled isolated RELAXATION. (ii) CONCENTRIC contraction consists of the muscle fibres working against RESISTANCE throughout any of the normal muscle ranges as in everyday weight training exercises In concentric work, about 30 percent of the energy set free by the oxidation processes is used on actual work, the remainder of the energy going to raise the temperature of the muscle, and if large muscle groups are involved, the general temperature of the body. (iii) ECCENTRIC work is also carried out by performing against resistance, except in this instance the resistance OVERCOMES the action of the muscle fibres, pulling the origin and insertion points apart, and although under contraction, the fibres are lengthened. Muscular tissue is the only issue having the power to contract. Muscles provide the motive power of the body, moving the bones to which they are attached by lengthening and shortening, passing over the joints. For a muscle to be DEVELOPED, it has to be exercised using both CONCENTRIC and ECCENTRIC work in the inner range. Muscles work as (a) PRI-MOVER, (b) ANTOGONIST or (c) FIXATOR or SYNERGIST. To illustrate these terms, if you were curling a dumbell to the shoulder, you would employ the BICEPS (and Brachialis) muscles, these being the PRIME MOVERS. The ANTAGONIST muscle in this example would be the TRICEPS whilst the need to maintain the position of the arm in the curling position would involve the contraction of the shoulders, these being the FIXATORS. All movements made by the body are of leverage with muscles PULLING. The muscles are always known by their LATIN names; however, for convenience bodybuilders often shorten Latin names for muscle groups, for example 'pecs' for pectoralis major, 'lats' for latissimus dorsi and so on.... Your best way to learn them, and thereby help you with your training when you wish to concentrate, is to obtain a good muscle chart, one of which is obtainable from George Greenwood. The movements of the body have specific names. When one part is bent upon the other it is called FLEXION, when they are straightened out it is termed EXTENSION. Only about 100 pairs of muscles are used in general posture and movement of the body and limbs, with the majority of muscle pairs being smaller and involved in the nose, throat, mouth, eyes, etc. Exercise breaks down tissue, rest builds it up. The rest interval required for a body builder's muscles to recuperate after a heavy workout, ranges from between two to four days. Experience shows that best results occur when you train each muscle group on average three times a week, with rest periods spaced in between training sessions. Naturally, certain individuals will break this rule, according to their genetic advantages. You will need to experiment to find your own unique requirements. A muscle will HYPERTROPHY with exercise, i.e. grow, and ATROPHY with disuse, that is lose size. HYPERTROPHY or growth in muscle results from an increase in the size of each individual muscle fibre. You cannot increase the NUMBER OF muscle fibres, as this is controlled genetically (meaning fixed at birth). Muscle HYPERTROPHY results form an increase in INTENSITY of work, i.e. only when a muscle is OVERLOADED will it respond by undergoing hypertrophy (growth). The AMOUNT of work has no significance.
Photos by Russ Warner, from
David Gentle's Classic Photo Collection.
Encyclopedia of
Bodybuilding |
We have approximately 650 muscles, made up
of pairs of muscles which, together with their tendons account for about
40 percent of a person's bodyweight. Each muscle has a FULL RANGE,
INNER and OUTER range of movement.
In recent years much research has been
carried out with evidence that brief isometric contractions maintained for
short periods of 5 or 6 seconds endeavoring to achieve maximum
contraction, can actually result in measurable STRENGTH increase.