[Best of Meso] Training Theory by Angel Face
Date: 09/30/01 09:44 AM
Author: Angel face
Subject: Here we go
...Right then I've basically decided to create this thread pretty much
as a resource on training theory...What I intend to do is make this
thread kinda like a text book so that anyone can refer to it if they
need to know something...this will take me a while to complete so I am
gonna do it in installments like small chapters...If the thread looks
like its gonna disappear cuz I havent posted can you please bump it to
keep the sucka active?... ...Why am I doing this? well for 2 reasons
really...the first is so that everyone out there has access to theories
that they may not neccessarily be familiar with...therefore I hope
everyone will learn something from this thread or at least it will jog
their memories and make you think a little... Plus I am getting
complacent so this will hopefully serve as a refresher for myself and
get me thinking again!... ...I will try to make it as readable as I can
so its not gonna be mega scientific or complex because I dont have the
resources...all information that I will post...I will backup with
literature when the thread is completed....Its not gonna be realy long
just enough to present you with some good basic information and
hopefully introduce you all to training theory so that you can apply it
to yourself... If anyone has got anything to add please feel free to do
so...
(http://www.mesomorphosis.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=1&Message_ID=1171)
Date: 09/30/01 10:29 AM
Author: Angel face
Subject: Basic Concepts...
...This first few parts will deal with a few basic theories and will be
somewhat introductory. ...ADAPTATION.. Adaptation is both the primary
target of training in general and one of the most important laws that
governs the way we train. A simple definition of adaptation would be
adjustment to environment. Consequently when the environment is subject
to change so too would be the object. The primary objective in training
is to incite explicit adaptations to increase performance. Consequenlty
it can be seen that the application of a carefully contrived training
program is imperitive. For adaptation to occur then the stimulus for the
adaptation has to be at a greater level than the current standing. To
increase the magnitude manipulating the intensity, volume and modality
is often employed. Consequnetly if the same stimulus is being presented
over a long period of time then once intial adaptations have occured
there will be no more changes thus a plateau forms. Training loads are
often categorized into three areas according to the 'magnitude' that
they correspond to ... ...The first would be a stimulating
magnitude...here the training load is above the habitual level... ...The
second is retaining...this is where the level is neutral and thus
maintained... ...The third is thus detraining...here the magnitude is
beneath the habitual level and thus a decline in performance is
observed. Essentially for any positive adaptation to occur then OVERLOAD
must be created. In the absence of overload typically performance will
either be maintined for a period of time or decrease. This is governed
by accomodation. ACCOMODATION is in essence a decrease in response
observed to a continual stimulus. Thus interms of training continual
stimulus results in a loss of reponse. Resulting in a plateau, training
thus becomes redundant. This concept neccessitates the need to present
yourslef with variety. It is unwise to present yourself with the same
stimulus for a long period of time. Avoidance of the accomodation effect
can be achievd by the simple application of variety achieved via
quantitaive (load, volume intensity etc)and qualitative (types of
exercises performed) measures. Adaptation to training stimulus is
specific. For a particular training goal to be observed the stimulus
(training) has to be specific to the goal. Consequently it would be
unwise for an olympic weightlifter to train like an endurance athlete
and vice versa. SPECIFICITY is the application of the training stimulus
to the nature of the intended goal. Therefore if an individual wanted to
increase his benchpressing ability it woudl be wise to train the muscles
resposibles for the movement.... ...
(http://www.mesomorphosis.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=1&Message_ID=1174)
Date: 09/30/01 04:25 PM
Author: Angel face
Subject: Adaptations as response to training part1...
...Adaptations as a response to the training stimulus can be classified
as either Central (CNS)and peripheral (pertaining to the muscle). The
importance of the central nervous system cannot be underestimated. to
appreciate the adaptations that occur centrally we must first be aware
of how these central factors work. Typically central factors fall into
two distinct categories. The first is intramuscular coordination..this
relates to which the muscle fibres can be activated voluntarily.
Intermuscular coordination is the coordinated innervation of appropriate
muscell groups and is thus skill related. Motor units are the essential
foundations of the motor system. Typically they consist of motoneurons,
axons, motor endplates, and muscle fibres activated by a motor neuron.
Motor units are generally classified into to groups based on their
contractile characteristics. Slow motor units are typically used for
prolonged use at low intensities, they consist of small low threshold
motor neurons axos with low conduction frequencies and slow twitch
muscle fibres. Consequently fast motor units are the antithesis of slow
motor units. They will consist of a large high threshold motor neuron,
an axon with a high conduction velocity and fast twitch muscle fibres.
the activation of a motor unit is solicited by an all or nothing law.
basically this dictates that a motor unit either fires or it doesnt.
Consequently there is no alteration in the inetnisty of firing, they
either fire or they dont. the Central nervous system governs muscle
force via three methods...RECRUITMENT, RATE CODING and SYNCHRONIZATION.
The recruitment pattern of the motor units during a voluntary
contraction is dependant on the size of the motor neurons (Size
principle). the motorneurons with the lowest firing threshold
(smaller)are recruited first, conseqnelty the more the intensity
increases the larger forces neccessary to generate are done so via
increasing the recruitment of the larger motorneurons. Consequently no
matter what the intensity of exercise slow twich fibres will be
recruited to some extent. The achieving of full motor unit activation is
deemed particularly difficult thus untrained individuals cannot recruit
all their motor units. one of the primary adaptations that occurs as
aresponse to weight training is an increase in the ability to recruit
Motor units. thus trained individual have an increased propensity for
motor unit activation. RATE CODING is the discharge frequency of the
motorneurons. With an increase in force needed, firing rate will
increase to accomodate. Synchronisation...motor units work in harmony to
achieve a fluid movemnt pattern. Within the muscle there are specific
inhibitory mechanisms that inhibit the amount of force that can be
generated. These are known as Golgi tendon organs and Renshaw cells. It
is common in life or death situation for a completely untrained
individual to be able to produce massive amounts of force...this is most
likely due to an inactivation of these inhibitory mechanisms. It has
been shown that with strength training a reuction in neural inhibition
can occur increasing the amount of strength that can be generated due to
an increase in the recruitable 'motorneron pool'. Exercise is a highly
skillful sequence that requires the complex coordination of several
muscel groups (intermuscular coordination). Consequently motor learning
or the acquisition of skillshould be a primary training objective.
Dramatic strength increases in beginners is oftem the result of skill
acquisition, consequently this type of adaptaion has little cross over
benefit. Next time I will concntrate on the peripheral adaptations and
consequently the theories of muscular growth.
(http://www.mesomorphosis.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=1&Message_ID=1235)
Date: 10/01/01 11:55 AM
Author: Angel face
Subject: Adaptations part 2 - peripheral
O.K in the last post I presented a few of the central adaptations that
can occur. These adaptations are repsonsible for the observation of
strength increases without hypertophy. Consequently for the first few
weeks of training when initial increases in strength are observed, the
strength increases are deemed to be the result of neuromuscular
efficiency.
...Peripheral adaptations, this is the area that we as bodybuilders will
be most concerned with. Again I will introduce a few concepts. I will
briefly discuss hypertrophy and hyperplasia. For those that dont have an
understanding of physiology I will briefly explain a few basic concepts.
Again I will keep it pretty simple as I dont want to blind everyone with
science.
Skeletal muscles consist of many many fibres. these are long and
cylindrical in shape they are the cells. Each of the fibres is made up
of myofibrils, which are made up of sarcomeres. These sarcomeres are
made up of both thick (myosin)and thin filaments(actin). The myosinf
filaments have small crossbridges projecting outwards on the end of
these protrusions is the myosin head.
Muscle contraction (known as the sliding filament theory) is the result
of the myosin and actin filaments sliding across each other. This is
because the myosin heads attach the actin and basically pull the
filamnts over each other. This results in a shortening of the sarcomere.
So everytime you contract a muscle this is what happens, it shortens
because the filaments slide. Hence a muscle can only pull, it cannot
push. Muscles with longer sarcomeres (filaments) generally can exert a
greater force because they have more room to overlap. All sarcomeres of
the myofibrils exert the same amount of force, they act in a linear
fashion.
The force produced by a muscle fibre is dependant on the number of actin
and myosin filaments and thus the number of myofibrils. One of the main
adaptations of training is an increased number of myofibrils per muscle
fibre, and an increase in the density and size of the filaments. This
will result in an increase in the cross sectional area (size) of a
muscle. Consequently from this assertion it can be seen why a bigger
muscle is potentially a stronger muscle.
muscle force is dependant on the number of muscle fibres, cross
sectional area of the fibres and thus size.
Increase in muscle size is called muscle hypertophy and is caused by
either an increased number of motor fibre (fibre hyperplasia) or an
increase in the cross sectional area of a muscle fibre(fibre
hypertophy).
Here we will deal with two types of fibre hypertophy, myofibrillar and
sarcoplasmic. Sarcoplasmic hypertophy is the increase in size of the
sarcoplasm, typically filament density will decrease with sarcoplasmic
hypertophy, so that it is possible for a fibre CSA to increase without
increases in strength. Myopfibrillar hypertophy is an enlargement of the
muscle fibre because more myofibrils are formed, consequently it is
usually followed by an increase in filament density and thus strength
increases.
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is associated with an increase in
noncontractile tissues, which is why filamnt density decreases.
Myofibrillar hypertophy typically results in an increase in contractile
tissues hence the increase in density and strength.
There are many theories as to how weight training results in hpertophy,
the most widely accpeted theory is that of the breakdown and build up
theory.
This theory in its most basic form speculates that all energy during
exhaustive weigh training is spent on the training itself resulting in
the creation of a catabolic state. Consequently a deficit forms during
training where more amino acids are being broken down than synthesized.
After training protein synthesis is increased massively both post
workout and up till the next session. Protein synthesis will then drop
again during training. The purported increase in muscle size is due to
the fluctuation of protein synthesis which is alleged to result in
SUPERCOMPENSATION of protein and thus hypertophy. This alone
neccesitates the need for more protein in the diet (so fuck off RDAs
etc!).
I wont cover the hormonal affects of training unless you want me to as
some of you will probably want to commit suicide due to boredom!
Phewwwwww, got that (I hope so) I am sure that what I probably just
typed (very badly I am sure as per usual!) will make no sense whatsoever
so I apologise for how this thread will read...not exactly enthralling
stuff i know but it will get much better I promise!
next time we shall cover SUPERCOMPENSATION amoungst a few other
things...
(http://www.mesomorphosis.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=1&Message_ID=1400)
Date: 09/30/01 09:44 AM
Author: Angel face
Subject: Here we go
...Right then I've basically decided to create this thread pretty much
as a resource on training theory...What I intend to do is make this
thread kinda like a text book so that anyone can refer to it if they
need to know something...this will take me a while to complete so I am
gonna do it in installments like small chapters...If the thread looks
like its gonna disappear cuz I havent posted can you please bump it to
keep the sucka active?... ...Why am I doing this? well for 2 reasons
really...the first is so that everyone out there has access to theories
that they may not neccessarily be familiar with...therefore I hope
everyone will learn something from this thread or at least it will jog
their memories and make you think a little... Plus I am getting
complacent so this will hopefully serve as a refresher for myself and
get me thinking again!... ...I will try to make it as readable as I can
so its not gonna be mega scientific or complex because I dont have the
resources...all information that I will post...I will backup with
literature when the thread is completed....Its not gonna be realy long
just enough to present you with some good basic information and
hopefully introduce you all to training theory so that you can apply it
to yourself... If anyone has got anything to add please feel free to do
so...
(http://www.mesomorphosis.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=1&Message_ID=1171)
Date: 09/30/01 10:29 AM
Author: Angel face
Subject: Basic Concepts...
...This first few parts will deal with a few basic theories and will be
somewhat introductory. ...ADAPTATION.. Adaptation is both the primary
target of training in general and one of the most important laws that
governs the way we train. A simple definition of adaptation would be
adjustment to environment. Consequently when the environment is subject
to change so too would be the object. The primary objective in training
is to incite explicit adaptations to increase performance. Consequenlty
it can be seen that the application of a carefully contrived training
program is imperitive. For adaptation to occur then the stimulus for the
adaptation has to be at a greater level than the current standing. To
increase the magnitude manipulating the intensity, volume and modality
is often employed. Consequnetly if the same stimulus is being presented
over a long period of time then once intial adaptations have occured
there will be no more changes thus a plateau forms. Training loads are
often categorized into three areas according to the 'magnitude' that
they correspond to ... ...The first would be a stimulating
magnitude...here the training load is above the habitual level... ...The
second is retaining...this is where the level is neutral and thus
maintained... ...The third is thus detraining...here the magnitude is
beneath the habitual level and thus a decline in performance is
observed. Essentially for any positive adaptation to occur then OVERLOAD
must be created. In the absence of overload typically performance will
either be maintined for a period of time or decrease. This is governed
by accomodation. ACCOMODATION is in essence a decrease in response
observed to a continual stimulus. Thus interms of training continual
stimulus results in a loss of reponse. Resulting in a plateau, training
thus becomes redundant. This concept neccessitates the need to present
yourslef with variety. It is unwise to present yourself with the same
stimulus for a long period of time. Avoidance of the accomodation effect
can be achievd by the simple application of variety achieved via
quantitaive (load, volume intensity etc)and qualitative (types of
exercises performed) measures. Adaptation to training stimulus is
specific. For a particular training goal to be observed the stimulus
(training) has to be specific to the goal. Consequently it would be
unwise for an olympic weightlifter to train like an endurance athlete
and vice versa. SPECIFICITY is the application of the training stimulus
to the nature of the intended goal. Therefore if an individual wanted to
increase his benchpressing ability it woudl be wise to train the muscles
resposibles for the movement.... ...
(http://www.mesomorphosis.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=1&Message_ID=1174)
Date: 09/30/01 04:25 PM
Author: Angel face
Subject: Adaptations as response to training part1...
...Adaptations as a response to the training stimulus can be classified
as either Central (CNS)and peripheral (pertaining to the muscle). The
importance of the central nervous system cannot be underestimated. to
appreciate the adaptations that occur centrally we must first be aware
of how these central factors work. Typically central factors fall into
two distinct categories. The first is intramuscular coordination..this
relates to which the muscle fibres can be activated voluntarily.
Intermuscular coordination is the coordinated innervation of appropriate
muscell groups and is thus skill related. Motor units are the essential
foundations of the motor system. Typically they consist of motoneurons,
axons, motor endplates, and muscle fibres activated by a motor neuron.
Motor units are generally classified into to groups based on their
contractile characteristics. Slow motor units are typically used for
prolonged use at low intensities, they consist of small low threshold
motor neurons axos with low conduction frequencies and slow twitch
muscle fibres. Consequently fast motor units are the antithesis of slow
motor units. They will consist of a large high threshold motor neuron,
an axon with a high conduction velocity and fast twitch muscle fibres.
the activation of a motor unit is solicited by an all or nothing law.
basically this dictates that a motor unit either fires or it doesnt.
Consequently there is no alteration in the inetnisty of firing, they
either fire or they dont. the Central nervous system governs muscle
force via three methods...RECRUITMENT, RATE CODING and SYNCHRONIZATION.
The recruitment pattern of the motor units during a voluntary
contraction is dependant on the size of the motor neurons (Size
principle). the motorneurons with the lowest firing threshold
(smaller)are recruited first, conseqnelty the more the intensity
increases the larger forces neccessary to generate are done so via
increasing the recruitment of the larger motorneurons. Consequently no
matter what the intensity of exercise slow twich fibres will be
recruited to some extent. The achieving of full motor unit activation is
deemed particularly difficult thus untrained individuals cannot recruit
all their motor units. one of the primary adaptations that occurs as
aresponse to weight training is an increase in the ability to recruit
Motor units. thus trained individual have an increased propensity for
motor unit activation. RATE CODING is the discharge frequency of the
motorneurons. With an increase in force needed, firing rate will
increase to accomodate. Synchronisation...motor units work in harmony to
achieve a fluid movemnt pattern. Within the muscle there are specific
inhibitory mechanisms that inhibit the amount of force that can be
generated. These are known as Golgi tendon organs and Renshaw cells. It
is common in life or death situation for a completely untrained
individual to be able to produce massive amounts of force...this is most
likely due to an inactivation of these inhibitory mechanisms. It has
been shown that with strength training a reuction in neural inhibition
can occur increasing the amount of strength that can be generated due to
an increase in the recruitable 'motorneron pool'. Exercise is a highly
skillful sequence that requires the complex coordination of several
muscel groups (intermuscular coordination). Consequently motor learning
or the acquisition of skillshould be a primary training objective.
Dramatic strength increases in beginners is oftem the result of skill
acquisition, consequently this type of adaptaion has little cross over
benefit. Next time I will concntrate on the peripheral adaptations and
consequently the theories of muscular growth.
(http://www.mesomorphosis.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=1&Message_ID=1235)
Date: 10/01/01 11:55 AM
Author: Angel face
Subject: Adaptations part 2 - peripheral
O.K in the last post I presented a few of the central adaptations that
can occur. These adaptations are repsonsible for the observation of
strength increases without hypertophy. Consequently for the first few
weeks of training when initial increases in strength are observed, the
strength increases are deemed to be the result of neuromuscular
efficiency.
...Peripheral adaptations, this is the area that we as bodybuilders will
be most concerned with. Again I will introduce a few concepts. I will
briefly discuss hypertrophy and hyperplasia. For those that dont have an
understanding of physiology I will briefly explain a few basic concepts.
Again I will keep it pretty simple as I dont want to blind everyone with
science.
Skeletal muscles consist of many many fibres. these are long and
cylindrical in shape they are the cells. Each of the fibres is made up
of myofibrils, which are made up of sarcomeres. These sarcomeres are
made up of both thick (myosin)and thin filaments(actin). The myosinf
filaments have small crossbridges projecting outwards on the end of
these protrusions is the myosin head.
Muscle contraction (known as the sliding filament theory) is the result
of the myosin and actin filaments sliding across each other. This is
because the myosin heads attach the actin and basically pull the
filamnts over each other. This results in a shortening of the sarcomere.
So everytime you contract a muscle this is what happens, it shortens
because the filaments slide. Hence a muscle can only pull, it cannot
push. Muscles with longer sarcomeres (filaments) generally can exert a
greater force because they have more room to overlap. All sarcomeres of
the myofibrils exert the same amount of force, they act in a linear
fashion.
The force produced by a muscle fibre is dependant on the number of actin
and myosin filaments and thus the number of myofibrils. One of the main
adaptations of training is an increased number of myofibrils per muscle
fibre, and an increase in the density and size of the filaments. This
will result in an increase in the cross sectional area (size) of a
muscle. Consequently from this assertion it can be seen why a bigger
muscle is potentially a stronger muscle.
muscle force is dependant on the number of muscle fibres, cross
sectional area of the fibres and thus size.
Increase in muscle size is called muscle hypertophy and is caused by
either an increased number of motor fibre (fibre hyperplasia) or an
increase in the cross sectional area of a muscle fibre(fibre
hypertophy).
Here we will deal with two types of fibre hypertophy, myofibrillar and
sarcoplasmic. Sarcoplasmic hypertophy is the increase in size of the
sarcoplasm, typically filament density will decrease with sarcoplasmic
hypertophy, so that it is possible for a fibre CSA to increase without
increases in strength. Myopfibrillar hypertophy is an enlargement of the
muscle fibre because more myofibrils are formed, consequently it is
usually followed by an increase in filament density and thus strength
increases.
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is associated with an increase in
noncontractile tissues, which is why filamnt density decreases.
Myofibrillar hypertophy typically results in an increase in contractile
tissues hence the increase in density and strength.
There are many theories as to how weight training results in hpertophy,
the most widely accpeted theory is that of the breakdown and build up
theory.
This theory in its most basic form speculates that all energy during
exhaustive weigh training is spent on the training itself resulting in
the creation of a catabolic state. Consequently a deficit forms during
training where more amino acids are being broken down than synthesized.
After training protein synthesis is increased massively both post
workout and up till the next session. Protein synthesis will then drop
again during training. The purported increase in muscle size is due to
the fluctuation of protein synthesis which is alleged to result in
SUPERCOMPENSATION of protein and thus hypertophy. This alone
neccesitates the need for more protein in the diet (so fuck off RDAs
etc!).
I wont cover the hormonal affects of training unless you want me to as
some of you will probably want to commit suicide due to boredom!
Phewwwwww, got that (I hope so) I am sure that what I probably just
typed (very badly I am sure as per usual!) will make no sense whatsoever
so I apologise for how this thread will read...not exactly enthralling
stuff i know but it will get much better I promise!
next time we shall cover SUPERCOMPENSATION amoungst a few other
things...
(http://www.mesomorphosis.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=1&Message_ID=1400)
Is there a link to all the posts in their entirety
