The Muscle Menu

[Slimijs]

Point blank, to shock muscles we need to subject them to stresses they’re not accustomed to. What kind of stress you put on them depends on what kind of muscular development you're trying to achieve. There are three of them, each with their own type of training.

Strength

Strength is defined simply as a measure of how much weight you can lift one time. If you aim for strength, you generally won't develop much muscle endurance.

Training principle: lifting very heavy weights, low repetitions (1-6 reps), long rest periods (3-5- min) between sets.

Size

Trained properly, muscles do get bigger, due to the muscle fibers increasing in size. This process is fueled in part by testosterone, which is generally accepted as the reason why men's muscles are bigger then women's. now, you will get stronger, but size and strength don't necessarily correlate. Some of the biggest bodybuilders are not as strong as lifters who train solely for pure strength.

Training principle: moderately heavy weights, moderate reps (8-12), shorter rest periods (2 min).

Tone

There seems to be some confusion as to what exactly "tone" means. Some people think of muscle tone, some think of muscle endurance, and some think of cardiovascular endurance.

Let's make some sense out of this.

Toned muscles are firm, lean, and well-trained. For you visual thinkers, picture this: toned means you can stand still, and your muscles look slightly contracted, or tense, and not bulky. But you're really not. You're totally relaxed. but because you have toned muscle, it just looks that way.

Muscle endurance is similar to tone. Most people connect these two together. Take a look at a runner's legs. All that running has toned those leg muscles.

Cardiovascular endurance has to do with how well you heart and lungs transport oxygen-rich blood to working muscle, then transporting oxygen-deficient blood back to the heart to recycle. Muscle endurance is your muscles' ability to sustain movement over a period of time without undue fatigue.

Training principle: lighter weights, high reps (13-18), and short rest periods (30-90 seconds).

 

[chim_chim]

The first two parts are correct, but the last part is wrong.

Toned muscles are firm, lean, and well-trained. For you visual thinkers, picture this: toned means you can stand still, and your muscles look slightly contracted, or tense, and not bulky. But you're really not. You're totally relaxed. but because you have toned muscle, it just looks that way.

Looking "toned" is dependent on having a low bodyfat percentage, NOT lifting high repetitions. There is really no point in doing more than 12 reps at the absolute max.

 

[Slimijs]

More reps boost body fat burning, in fact the getting "toned" muscle means, your are going to do lifting/cardio at the same time.

Without the fat, your muscle do look tense. This is more for the athletes, then us.

 

[NRM]

Size and strength could be characterized between 4-6 reps. That's a good optimum range for growing and getting stronger. Your muscles do not look more firm or tone with higher reps. It is a body fat percentage. And in truth, you end up doing the same amount of work.

Work = Time x Intensity

More intensity in less time. Don't tell me your heart rate doesn't go up while lifting heavy weights also, because it does. Blood keeps flowing on to your muscles.

 

[Zero0ne]

Thanks Slimijs, good post.

 

[MrFitness880]

This is one of the biggest misconceptions in weight training and it really makes me want to hit my head against a wall every time i hear it.

strength/power (which technically are different) are generally done w/ 3-5 reps and heavy singles.

mass...well i have always promoted low reps and heavy weight, and some higher rep exercises from time to time. i stay around 4-6, sometimes going up to eight. mass rep range varies largely between individuals.

the last part i totally disagree with. if you want to look toned, build muscle then cut down. 13-18 reps might be good for endurance but if you want to look toned do cardio. high rep workouts are not going to do much good to get you toned. If you're going to hit the weights make if effective. use it to gain muscle. then when you cut down you'll actually have muscle that can look toned. to cut down...diet+cardio.

just because a muscle contracts does not mean it is an efficient rep for mass building.

hypertrophy is a result of an effective use of time under tension and progressive overload.

the reason runners are cut is because they run. so run.

dont try to do two things at once with training.

NRM - nice post

 

[MrFitness880]

This is one of the biggest misconceptions in weight training and it really makes me want to hit my head against a wall every time i hear it.

strength/power (which technically are different) are generally done w/ 3-5 reps and heavy singles.

mass...well i have always promoted low reps and heavy weight, and some higher rep exercises from time to time. i stay around 4-6, sometimes going up to eight. mass rep range varies largely between individuals.

the last part i totally disagree with. if you want to look toned, build muscle then cut down. 13-18 reps might be good for endurance but if you want to look toned do cardio. high rep workouts are not going to do much good to get you toned. If you're going to hit the weights make if effective. use it to gain muscle. then when you cut down you'll actually have muscle that can look toned. to cut down...diet+cardio.

just because a muscle contracts does not mean it is an efficient rep for mass building.

hypertrophy is a result of an effective use of time under tension and progressive overload.

the reason runners are cut is because they run. so run.

dont try to do two things at once with training.

NRM - nice post