Basics Of Bodybuilding Part 1

Bodybuilding is all about muscle finding ways to exhaust it and then finding ways to relax it. Figuring out how to feed it & finally trying to find any use for it. To complete this cycle repeatedly you must constantly seek new ways to train and explore the latest recommendations and keep your eyes & ears wide open to all the new research and advice to distinguish fact from fiction. Though you need to keep your long-term goals in sight equally important is periodically zeroing in on the essentials that will carry you forward.

None of these elements is more basic than the contraction of a muscle a repetition (also known as a rep) the single motion within each exercise. No workout goes without repetitions. No simple physical task can be accomplished without them. You perform hundreds perhaps thousands of reps each day but how often do you stop to consider what’s actually happening each time you complete one?

You don’t need to understand every single little aspect of muscle physiology each time you simply hit the weights but a basic understanding of what happens when you complete a repetition may serve you well. The more you know about what makes and influences a repetition the better you’ll understand how your muscles work and what you can do to help them do their job better. If your reps are sleazy and sloppy the underlying physiology will not allow you to build any more muscle than you already have.

On the other hand, if you put the wisdom of your system to use and polish each repetition with precision based on good form your training sessions will quickly peak as will your muscles you will be able to grow more effectively and efficiently.

So what’s a rep? In short, it is a muscle contraction. Now what’s a contraction? For starters, I bet most ignorant sources tell you that a muscle contraction occurs only when you “make a bicep”. Not at all. You don’t even have to physically move to make a muscle contraction. Let’s explore how it all happens.

Muscle Work Pushing, Pulling, Squeezing And Relaxing:

At the most rudimentary level contraction only means that tension has been generated. For any movement to occur whether the contraction is involuntary (such as your heart beating) or voluntary (such as consciously lifting your arm or taking a step forward) your muscle fibers need to receive an electrical signal from your brain initiated by impulses sent via nerves from the brain & spinal column to muscle cells.

While you don’t have mind control over your heart beating you have to make a conscious decision to make physical movement possible. First you have to think about wanting to lift your arm for example. A single nerve or neuron is connected to several muscle cells or fibers. Collectively the neuron & the fibers it innervates constitute a motor unit.

When a nerve fires all muscle fibers constituting the unit contract. Each muscle comprises many such motor units of course but only during maximal contraction do they all fire simultaneously. In a less than maximal movement only a certain number of motor units respond at one time depending upon the force & motor skills required.

Let The Rep Begin:

Getting ready to do your favourite exercise be it a Squat, a Bench press, a Triceps extension or a Bicep curl doesn’t matter. Focus on the muscle to be worked. The initial motion flexes the muscle & is called a concentric contraction. Here the working muscle shortens by pulling the bones on either side of the joint being used closer together. To initiate a concentric muscle contraction the brain sends an electrical impulse a signal through the Nervous System to your muscle fibers.

This causes them to release Calcium which initiates the movement of the contractile protein inside the muscle fiber known as Myosin to pull on the other protein Action. The end result muscle contracts & pulls on the bone it is attached to in order to create movement. (A more thorough description of this mechanism is described in chapter “Flexing Muscles”) So when you curl a dumbbell picture your forearm & upper arm coming together the bicep muscle gets shorter & thicker.