Strength is of paramount importance in powerlifting, but bodybuilders develop it as well. Learn how to train to increase strength. To obtain the desired results, both in mass-gaining training and in the development of strength, the athlete should understand the physiological processes that occur in the muscle tissues. To do this, it is not at all necessary to go deeply into the essence of this problem and the basic concepts are quite enough. Today we will try to create a comprehensive guide to developing strength in bodybuilding and powerlifting, based precisely on the concepts of mechanisms that contribute to achieving this goal.
Load is the main factor in the development of muscle strength
Whatever tasks the athlete sets for himself - the development of strength. Endurance, weight gain - one factor is always common and that is load. Here it is appropriate to give an example with calluses that appear during long-term performance of a certain work. The situation is almost the same with the muscles during training.
Due to physical activity, the athlete affects the adaptive mechanisms of the body and, as a result, achieves a certain result. However, it should be said that the mechanisms of adaptation for strength training and for gaining mass are different, which leads to the need to change the training program in accordance with your tasks. We will now look at two basic principles that lead to increased strength.
Overload principle to increase power performance
The principle of overload is the application of an increasing load to a certain mechanism, accompanied by an adaptive response of the body. It should be noted that a special mechanism is associated with each area of training, which should receive stress exceeding the normal norm for the body in its intensity. Thus, the overload can be light or high intensity.
When choosing an intensity level, you should focus on a large number of factors, for example, the age of the athlete, the level of fitness, the phases of the training cycle, etc. Most often, the intensity should be high, but at the same time, exclude overtraining and overload of the central nervous system.
Principle of Specific Adaptation to Established Requirements (SAUT) and Strength Development
The process of exposure to the load required to activate the body's adaptive response can be regulated by the number of repetitions and sets, the speed of the movement, the weight of the burden with which the athlete works, the type of exercises and the frequency of their performance. All of these factors must be matched to maximize the effectiveness of the training. It is important to understand that the reaction of muscles to different types of load is different and for this reason, when performing an exercise to develop endurance, one should not wait for an increase in strength indicators. At first glance, all this seems simple enough, but in practice it is not entirely true. The principle of SAUT together with the principle of overload described above is one of the main ones for increasing the strength of an athlete.
Factors Affecting Strength Growth
Surely many athletes know that every cell of muscle tissue contains myofibrils, which are contractile elements. These are protein compounds that resemble threads. If you look at myofibrils under an electron microscope, you can see the alternation of thin and thick filaments.
Larger myofibrils are composed of myosin, while thinner ones are composed of actin. Between these filaments there are microscopic hair-like processes called cross bridges. Under the influence of nerve impulses, these processes interact with myofibrils, thereby causing their contraction.
When these contractions occur along the muscle fibers, they are called concentric. An example here is the contraction of the biceps when lifting a sports equipment up. In order for the projectile to be lowered down, some of the myofibrils are turned off from work, and the remaining working ones begin to oppose the force of gravity, and as a result, the sports projectile is lowered. This contraction is called eccentric.
The number of cross bridges that try to contract the muscle again is small and they are unable to resist the eccentric contraction. As a result, cross bridges are injured. Such negative training significantly increases strength indicators, however, it takes a lot of time to restore muscles and the effectiveness of training is sharply reduced.
Speaking about the factors contributing to the increase in strength, we can note the number of myofibril filaments involved in the work. However, there are more important factors. Every cell in muscle tissue contains enzymes that produce energy for the muscles to work. The more effective the enzyme mechanism is, the more significant the increase in strength indicators is.
And the last major factor in increasing strength is nerve impulses. Muscles contain motor units made up of muscle fibers. Their number can range from one to several hundred. Under the influence of nerve impulses coming from the brain, a certain number of motor units come into operation. The higher their number, the more strength the muscle develops. Now more and more athletes are starting to pay attention to the brain-muscle connection, which can also be exercised.
By utilizing all of the strength building factors described above, the athlete can achieve their goals. In this case, the auxiliary muscles must interact with the stabilizers. This creates a synergistic effect and increases strength. It is the athlete's job to select specific exercises to train these two types of muscles. Of course, this is quite difficult, but it is necessary to get the desired result.
You can visually familiarize yourself with the exercises for developing strength in this video:
