This is a special guest post by Mitchell Graves of http://www.fitwithitch.com/
On the quest to build muscle, there are endless ways to get it right, and endless ways to get it wrong.
On the quest to build muscle, there are endless ways to get it right, and endless ways to get it wrong.
Well, I’ve stumbled upon a little way to get it very right.
I call it, a Duration Superset.
I’d known about the three types of muscle fibers for years. Type 1’s which are your slow twitch fibers, are responsible for slower and endurance movements. These fibers don’t grow much (ever seen a true marathon runner?). You have type 2a’s which are basically your in-between fibers. They can grow as much as 25%. Finally, you have type 2b’s which are your fast twitch fibers. They can grow by up to 100%. Your type 2a’s can go between type 1’s and type 2b’s, depending on how you train. We’re looking for muscle growth here, so we want them to go to type 2b’s since these fibers have the most potential for growth.
The key phrase here is “depending on how you train”. The sequence I’m about to show you will recruit the most muscle fibers in the fastest manner possible.
Most guys who have no knowledge of muscle fibers, miss this and just do random exercises when they go to the gym. There’s a method to my madness and it’s paying off nicely.
I came across this little trick when I combined a few philosophies. I was looking at another program that included a lengthy set at the end. The author explained (and I agreed) that by throwing this set in, it would recruit a lot of type 2a muscle fibers that rarely get recruited in a workout. Hitting them this way would stimulate the most growth, effectively turning them into type 2b’s.
This set is a basically a burn out set, but you’re shooting for 12-15 reps. The longer duration will flood the muscles with blood (you’ll get a HUGE pump). This will in turn increase cell size which means more nutrients can flow into your cells for more muscle growth.
This Duration Set, isn’t just done with any old exercises though. It’s specifically done with a “contraction exercise”. Contraction exercises include Sitting Bicep Curl (with your elbow on your knee), Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, Dumbbell Kickbacks, etc. You get the idea. You do contraction exercises because they are good for recruiting the most muscle fibers in a particular muscle since they are usually isolation exercises. These exercises take good advantage of the peak contraction point principle which says that your efficiency of muscle fiber recruitment goes up when you reach the peak contraction point.
I’m not done yet, so don’t run off and do this just yet. Remember, I said that this was a superset. A superset with what you may ask….well here we are.
In my program, I do four sets of decreasing reps using a compound movement. Compound movements include Squats, Deadlift, Bench Press, Shoulder Press, etc. My decreasing sets are 12, 10, 8, and 6. That last set is to recruit the most type 2b muscle fibers (which are your power fibers that can grow the most) and hit the nervous system hard. When you hit your nervous system hard like that, you increase the efficiency at which your brain tells your muscles to fire. Doing this, will increase you strength because it’s like opening more lanes on a highway. You can increase the traffic flow.
To wrap it up, here’s what it all looks like. A compound movement with decreasing sets. Then, on your last set of 6, once you finish, run over to the contraction movement for that same muscle group and do a maximum of 15 reps. NO REST. So for instance, if I wanted to do my chest, I would do the bench press 12, 10, 8, 6 then run to the peck deck and do 12-15 reps. Once you hit a muscle group, you’re DONE for the day on that muscle. Please do not go back and try to do other stuff. The reasons behind that will have to wait for another article.
So get out there, get to it! I’ve used this technique to put on as much as 2lbs in a week, WHILE dropping body fat with my diet. This technique takes advantage of SO many muscle growth principles, it’s not even funny. So this works like a charm.
About the Author,
Mitchell Graves is a fitness author and trainer. He’s the author of Rapid Ripped Abs – The Fastest and Simplest Way To Turn Your Gut Into A Six Pack. Period. And the author of FitWithMitch.com, which is a blog dedicated to muscle building, fat loss, and nutrition.
About the Author,
Mitchell Graves is a fitness author and trainer. He’s the author of Rapid Ripped Abs – The Fastest and Simplest Way To Turn Your Gut Into A Six Pack. Period. And the author of FitWithMitch.com, which is a blog dedicated to muscle building, fat loss, and nutrition.
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2 comments:
Everyone says eatng more will help gain size etc etc.
For 9 years ive been working out, doing corecet forms, and have lifted at one point twice my weight, ate a lot and only ate healthy foods, but, i never ever gained size, and never ever had any shape.
Did plenty of cardio to lose some fat, and get some shape, but couldnt, stopped on the cardio, increased food intake and never gained size.
Only place i ever gained was my stomache, and again, i only ate healthy meals.
I even had a nutritionist, and still couldnt gain.
This doesnt work for everyone, most people are just lucky and some arent.
Im a bit confused, how do we know what kind of exercises exactly?
If i do bench and then the superset, i cant do anymore chest workouts like dumbell flies etc?
And how do we know exactly what workout to do for the bodyparts?
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