Intro
Mechanostat
Mechanostat is what translates mechanical stimuli, a physical phenomenon, get into biochemical signals that instruct bone cells to remodel the bone in such way that it gets stronger when faced with the same stress in future. It is performed by osteocyte. It provides your body a capability of adapting to physical circumstances it finds itself in. After we learn the intricacies of this, we will be better suited to control the process, in a way that results, an outcome more conducive to our goals. That is because we will find out the exact minimum amount of force needed to induce growth. Thus proving bonesmashing works.
Osteocyte
The primary type of bone cell, osteocyte, acts a sensoring cells. Their role is mechanosensation congruent with mechanotransduction, or the ability to detect and interpret strain. They are shaped in a elliptical like structure connected via fluid filled channels called lacuna-canalicular network. [18] Mechanical stress that changes bone geometry also changes the lacuna-canalicular network and that can be detected by osteocyte. Resulting biochemical signals after this process are intended for effector cells or osteoclast and osteoblast. These signals instruct them on the remodelling and modeling processes that happen in the bone. There are also aspects of electric fields caused by stress generated streaming potentials and hydrostatic pressure. Again, extreme details aren't very relevant here.
Strain
Now we got to figure out how to quantify mechanical stress using the unit strain and define the function that expresses bones response dependant on typical strain characteristics. That function will show us how much strain needs to be applied on facial bones to prompt a hypertrophic response from them. From there we will proceed to questions of how to apply strain the best way, where to apply it for intended results, frequencies of application and
possible periodization methods. Relative deformation or strain is a measurement of a objects distortion compared to its original length. Take a 100cm metal rod and you compress it by 1cm. You’ve just created a 1% strain. In osteology microstrain, witch corresponds with a 0.0001% of original length, is typically used. Any stress put on your bones creates a deformation whether that be you lifting weights, getting hit by a truck or standing on you feet. The difference is the amount of deformation determines the adapive response of bone. Aka will it break or strengthen them or do nothing. We know the exact boundaries of each as defined by Harold Frost. But it is not so simple that we can look ta single instance of stress inducing strain in a certain bone and reliable predict the adaptive response that is about to ensue.
Mechanical Usage History
With that, we find ourselves in a need of defining a somewhat abstract theoretical term that will be mentioned a ton later. Mechanical usage history, although it doesn’t have a definite meaning, for all our purposes it can be interpreted as the commonly experienced mechanical stress by a certain bone site during proximal past. Somewhat of a “average mechanical usage”. It is outlined by H.Frost with three rules:
- Modelling does not respond detectably to rare large bone strains, provided they do not damage the tissue.
- It responds to some time-averaged value of typical repeated peak strains equal to or larger than the MES for modelling. That is often referred to as a “loading history”.
- Lesser strains than the MES have no presently detectable effect on modelling no matter how frequent.
Noting that the last one was brought into question by newer research since Frost proposed the idea. You might be asking yourself how will this abstract term allow us to reliably predict effect that our smashes will have? Well this is where the fucking graph that's been everywhere comes in. What do all these acronyms stand for, what value each axis represents and what does it all mean?
Strain-Response Graph
Frost and collages, through research, calculated the function expressing bones response dependant on typical strain characteristics. Telling us, depending on where on this graph the typical strains or mechanical usage history, falls the exact adaptive response we can expect a certain bone to experience.
-MESr
Starting of with the disuse-mode strain range threshold or the MESr. If mechanical usage falls underneath MESr, the maximal disuse-mode activity occurs aka bone atrophy. So you can think of it as maintenance volume. Anything above this threshold will at the least preserve existing bone structure. It stands at 50-100μɛ.
-MESm
MESm is the bone’s genetically determined modelling strain range threshold, in and above which modelling usually turns on to strengthen a bone. Its equal in the realm of muscle hypertrophy training would be the minimum effective volume. Loading histories above 1000-1500μɛ were shown to initiate bone formation.
-MESp
Repeated bone strains cause microscopic fatigue damage in bone, called microfractures. Normally bone detects this and the remodelling process provides the ability to repair. Point after witch the accumulation of microfractures surpasses bones physiologic recovery ability is called MESp. Above it unrepaired micro-damage begin to accumulate but also when MESp is reached the lamellar bone formation is replaced by woven bone formation. It stands at around 3000μɛ and its equivalent would be maximum recoverable volume. Maybe we could periodize our bonesmashing and make it so we dip in this area slightly before a de-load as to not risk accumulation of microfractures and the consequent fracture if we continued, but we still get a heightened hypertrophy response from this range.
-Fx
Last Strain Landmark is Fx and its a pretty simple one. It is just bones ultimate strength above witch it fractures. Around 25000ms or 2.5% for healthy bone. Force required to inflict this amount of strain is quite big. In weaker bones, such as lateral orbital rim, injuries can occur but you need to be really irresponsible and dumb to hit it that hard. Even ufc fighters don't come down with bone fractures very often and they are subjected to much more dangerous forces then you should ever use in bonesmashing.
Disuse-mode
I quickly want to take a look back at MESm and examine the implication has “disuse-mode” for our bonesmashing. It is activated when bones stop experiencing stress to witch they are used to and have adapted to strength wise. If we achieve bone hypertrophy by an increase in mechanical usage. We increase the strength of our bones and thus we increase the MESm as it sits at 4% of Fx thus when ME is reduced or discontinued we can expect the disuse-mode to activate. That would mean that gains you achieve through bonesmashing have to be maintained by providing at-least maintenance volume to bones. Meaning bonesmashing might be a lifelong commitment if you want to keep the gains. On the lighter note. If you notice something is developing unevenly and in a way you don’t like, stopping the stimuli and letting it atrophy might work possibly. It is hard to extrapolate this from the literature and would be better if tested irl but my guess is that around 3-6 months after a significant bout of ME that leads to modelling is what it most likely takes for bone to return back to its pre stimulated structure. Although the longer you bonesmash and the more progress you make, I think your gains are of higher likelihood of staying permanently. And if not permanent, the situation would probably be very similar to muscle where maintenance volume where atrophy doesn’t occur is just very low relative to volume needed to grow muscle. Keep in mind that non of this certain just like almost everything in looksmaxxing. How long atrophy takes and does it even occur? I don’t know but I think it is likely to be the case.
Outro
First three are out but this episode will come out during the weekend
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Driler
This is where I share the knowledge and experience that I've gained on my l0ksmaxing journey.
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