5 Strategies for Choosing Exercises • You need to focus on working muscles from different angles based on the orientation of the individual fibers. • Muscular recruitment varies based on the plane of movement in which the body is worked. Its amazing how many lifters seem to miss this fact and train almost exclusively in the sagittal plane. • The claim made by some that all you need to do are the big lifts is overly simplistic, at least if your goal is maximum muscle. • Even something as simple as using different hand and foot positions can enhance hypertrophy by targeting different muscles and or portions thereof. Proper manipulation of program variables is essential for maximizing muscle development. Most often, lifters focus on the all-important aspects of intensity and volume, and rightly so. These variables have a profound impact on adaptations, but an often overlooked factor central to results is varying exercise selection. Make no mistake: If you fail to include a variety of exercises in your routine, youll fall short of getting the most out of your muscular potential. To be clear, variety here has nothing to do with muscle confusion or any such overhyped propaganda. Rather its about working your muscles in a manner that promotes optimal stimulation of all fibers. In fact, one of the primary reasons that bodybuilders are thought to have greater muscular development compared to powerlifters and weightlifters is the variation of training they use. While strength athletes mainly stick with a limited number of lifts, physique athletes employ a multitude of exercises. The importance of variety is apparent from basic functional anatomy. Muscles often have varied attachments that help to optimize leverage for varying actions. For example, the trapezius is subdivided into an upper aspect that elevates and upwardly rotates the scapula, a middle segment that adducts the scapula, and a lower aspect responsible for depressing the scapula. Similarly, the deltoids have three distinct heads – anterior, middle, and posterior – that carry out flexion, abduction, and horizontal extension, respectively. Okay, so perhaps this isnt news to you. What you might not be aware of is the fact that varying exercise selection can potentially allow you to work portions of the same fiber. Contrary to popular belief, fibers do not necessarily span the entire length of the muscle from origin to insertion. Muscle fibers are often partitioned into neuromuscular compartments with each compartment innervated by its own distinct nerve branch. Studies show that the biceps brachii, sartorius, gastrocnemius, and hamstrings, amongst others, are all subdivided by one or more fibrous bands or inscriptions. This has important implications for targeting different body parts. Whats really interesting, though, is an emerging body of research showing that the selective activation of different areas of a muscle is consistent with where hypertrophy occurs in that muscle. Translation: Emphasizing activation of given aspects of a muscle can enhance the extent of hypertrophy. A key takeaway here is that maximal muscular adaption can only be achieved by fully working all aspects of all the major muscles, and this can only be accomplished by training with a variety of exercises. 1. Alter the Training Angle. 2. Work in Different Planes of Movement. 3. Manipulate the Length-Tension Relationship. 4. Combine Multi- and Single-Joint Exercises. 5. Use Different Hand/Foot Positioning. Full article by Brad Schoenfeld - https://t-nation/training/5-strategies-for-choosing-exercises
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 22:05:00 +0000
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