The Size Principle of Muscle Fiber Recruitment tells us that on a standard-tempo set of lifting in one second and lowering in three, the slow-twitch fibers dominate on the earlier, easier reps of a set… [Read more…]
The Need for Speed: Your Get-Bigger Trigger
Let’s pick up the Speed Set discussion with more from neurophysiologist Chad Waterbury:
To produce more force, the nervous system must recruit more motor units. Think of each motor unit as being a football player, and imagine your car is stuck in a ditch. The more football players you have to pull the car out, the easier the task will be.
The same is true with the nervous system: the more motor units recruited, the greater the force you’ll be able to produce. So to lift the largest load or to lift any load as fast as possible, you must recruit as many motor units as possible.
So again, speed equals force. You can NOT lift a weight faster by recruiting fewer motor units. That means the more motor units you recruit, the faster you’ll move…
Arnold knew that instinctively and did many of his sets with controlled explosive reps…
Of course, you don’t want to start jerking the weight, as that can cause you to get injured. But by doing some of your sets in Speed style, with 1.5-second controlled reps, you will stimulate more muscle mass at each workout…
Back to Waterbury…
Make no mistake about it, speed is the omnipotent ruler. Indeed, the most reputable research has demonstrated time and time again that a faster tempo leads to the greatest hypertrophy and strength gains. And I’m not just talking about the concentric (shortening or lifting) phase of muscle contractions; I’m talking about both phases.
But what about the Size Principle of Muscle Fiber Recruitment? It tells us that the slow-twitch fibers dominate on the earlier, easier reps of a set, gradually giving up and giving way to the fast-twitch fibers toward the end of a set.
At least that’s how it works on standard slower-rep sets: slow-twitch domination early leads to fast-twitch domination late…
But what about a Speed Set, which creates high force early? Could that be key in accelerating hypertrophy? We’ll delve into that tomorrow.
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Move Fast for More Mass: Neurophysiologist
Readers of this newsletter sometimes send me research articles on topics I’ve discussed.
One who is always on the money is astute reader Steve (no relation to me, Reeves, or McQueen). His recent toss to me was by neurophysiologist Chad Waterbury, and it has to do with Speed Sets—fast reps… [Read more…]