Scientists continue to investigate the mechanisms of muscle growth, but there is already a lot to tell about them. Find out what bodybuilders are hiding about muscle growth. Today we can say with complete confidence that without the destruction of muscle fibers, their further growth is impossible. The greater the damage to the tissues, the stronger the subsequent supercompensation will be. However, only beginner athletes have the ability to progress quickly. Then the performance starts to decline. Today the topic of conversation will be the principles of training contractile microstructures of muscles in bodybuilding.
Reasons for the decline in training progress
Before you start talking about the principles of training contractile microstructures of muscles in bodybuilding, you need to find out the main reasons for the decrease in the effectiveness of classes. Two main ones should be highlighted. The first is that after the first stress received by the central nervous system during exercise, its excitability decreases sharply.
The second reason is associated with biochemical reactions and structural transformation that occurs at the cellular level. Today we will talk about solving this problem.
Today it is known that there are two ways to achieve hyperplasia and hypertrophy:
- Saturation of cells with energy;
- An increase in their number.
Most athletes who do not use steroids increase the concentration of energy sources in their cells. The process proceeds quickly enough, but there is a certain level, upon reaching which the filling of cells with energy stops.
If new contractile structures are not synthesized, then muscle growth will stop. The first weeks of training for novice athletes, the muscles very quickly hypertrophy and hyperplastic, and this does not require the use of special techniques and techniques. This period usually lasts about three months.
After that, the body enters a state of a plateau and the athlete does not observe progress either in muscle growth or in increasing strength indicators. If new “blows” are not dealt to the central nervous system now, progress will not begin.
It takes time and building materials to repair damaged fibers and then grow them. However, after the initial rapid progress, protein or creatine will not help. You need to give your body a boost to build muscle further. To do this, you need to destroy certain contractile structures - actin and myosin.
These protein structures interact with each other, resulting in muscle contraction. It is this complex that needs to be destroyed. When a beginner athlete first starts training, myotin and actin are damaged very quickly and severely. This can be judged by the painful sensations that constantly arise after training in the muscles.
During this period, you can use the MacRobert system and constantly slightly increase the working weight, and leave the number of exercises, sets and repetitions unchanged. This will allow some time to progress again, but this method is not the most effective for gaining mass. You can also use the Mike Mentzer system. He called for shortening the training time, but at the same time working with the highest possible intensity. It must be said that Mentzer's technique did not become extremely popular, although it still has fans. So what do you do to overcome the plateau?
Principles of muscle microstructure training
So we come to the answer to the main question of today's article. Now you can get acquainted with the basic principles of training, which allows you to destroy the contractile structures of muscles.
Duration of approaches
The duration of the approaches should be about 20 seconds, which has been proven in the course of numerous scientific studies. This is due to the fact that the actin-myosin complex can be destroyed only after the complete depletion of ATP reserves. All natural athletes should remember that swollen muscles are not evidence of future growth, and on the contrary, it will not.
Number of approaches
After completing the first set, the level of ATP is minimal. Within 3 to 6 minutes, ATP reserves are not only restored, but even slightly exceed the original ones. This is the main difficulty, since after 6 minutes it will be much more difficult to exhaust the supply of ATP. This also affects the destruction of myosin and actin. Consequently, the second set will no longer be as effective.
Duration of rest between sessions
We have already said above. That after completing the approach, the ATP level is slightly higher than the initial one. After a few hours, the body begins to function as before, which leads to a decrease in the level of creatine and ATP.
Over the course of several days, the level of energy carriers returns to normal, and if the training is not repeated at this time, the phase of the lost compensation will begin. During this period, the level of ATP continues to decline. It is at this time that a second session is necessary, since it will be much easier to destroy the actin-myosin complex. For lovers of the average level of training, the optimal time to rest after training each group is from 12 to 16 days. It should be noted that for small muscle groups this time can be reduced by 2 or 4 days, but no more.
Number of repetitions
We have already said that after about 9-12 minutes, the synthesis of ATP begins to slow down. Therefore, you need to perform 5 to 6 repetitions in 10 seconds, of which about 4-5 will be negative. It is important to remember that movements in the positive phase should be explosive, and in the negative phase they should be slow and should be completely controlled.
In conclusion, remember that you should always remember to warm up. To achieve continuous progress, you need to make changes to the training program in accordance with the above recommendations.
For more information on training contractile microstructures of muscles in bodybuilding, see this video:
