E
ebe
Iron
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STRENGTHMAXXING
THE SECRETS TO GAIN GODLIKE AMOUNTS OF STRENGTH
In this guide, I will be explaining the ways to maximize your strength gains whilst remaining lean and low body fat for your gymcels. This guide is for gymcels looking to become literal demi-gods in terms of strength without the need to bulk to monstrous amounts.
3. Types of Muscles
Muscles are builts to be adapted for different purposes such as aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise. There are 3 types which are completely up to your genetics and consist as a ratio in your muscles; Type 1, Type 2a, Type 2x. Type 1 muscle fibers are slow twitch, highly oxidative and process little to no glycolytic capacity. These muscles are resistant to fatigue because they are highly oxidative and get energy through oxygen, but they fail to produce large amounts of force. Type 2a muscle fibers are oxidative and they process glycolytic capacity meaning they are the perfect middle ground, being able to use oxygen and sugars as energy sources, and they are still able to produce force and are relatively resistant to fatigue. Type 2x have little to no oxidative capacity and but an incredible amount of glycolytic capacity. They are able to produce large amounts of force, but fatigue quickly. These muscle fibers have varying degrees of ATPase in them, an enzyme that harnesses the energy throughout the breakdown on a phosphorus bond. The more ATPase activity in a muscle the more contractile speed it will generate. Type 2a and 2x are the best muscle fibers to have for strength. Alpha-actinin 3 or ACTN3 is a gene that encodes a protein only expressed by type 2 fibers. This gene helps muscles generate high contractile forces and a rapid rate.
Henneman's size prinicple relates force production to motor neurons function and muscular fiber activation within the muscle itself during a sustained load. Meaning, you can specifically train the type of muscle fiber you want to train, in this case it would be type 2 muscle fibers because of their increased capacity to produce power and force. You can do this by, lifting near your 1 rep max, ideally 80-100% of your 1 rep max. When lifting close to your one rep max, your brain recruits alot of type 2 muscle fibers.
4. How to become a strength demi-god
5. ATP and the Mitochondria
Adenosine-Triphosphate (ATP) is the fuel source of our cells, its molecular shape makes it very efficient in energy transfer throughout your cells. It drives the processes of your living cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, chemical synthesis, etc. When consumed by metabolic processes, it is converted into Adenosine-Diphosphate (ADP) or Adenosine-Monophosphate (AMP). The general role of Mitochondria is oxidative phosphorylation which in short, generates ATP. Improving function of our Mitochondria is necessary to have a healthy and long-lived supply of ATP. Increased supply of ATP, means less fatigue, in this case your muscles.
Some ways to increase mitochondrial function are
THE SECRETS TO GAIN GODLIKE AMOUNTS OF STRENGTH
In this guide, I will be explaining the ways to maximize your strength gains whilst remaining lean and low body fat for your gymcels. This guide is for gymcels looking to become literal demi-gods in terms of strength without the need to bulk to monstrous amounts.
- Size ≠ Strength
Muscular size does not necessarily correspond with strength in an upward trend as in the bigger the muscles the stronger they are. Muscular hypertrophy induced by resistance training, hormone intervention and administration or genetic manipulation is not proportional to strength. In fact studies have been shown that measure isometric contractions and identify muscular size and force produced. One can increase strength without increasing muscle size through various adaptations. Such adaptations include the strengthening of neural pathways in the brain and spinal column and the effects of neuroplasticity. We can utilize the power of adaptation to exploit the muscle in a way to allow it to force maximum force. - How do we build muscle
3. Types of Muscles
Muscles are builts to be adapted for different purposes such as aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise. There are 3 types which are completely up to your genetics and consist as a ratio in your muscles; Type 1, Type 2a, Type 2x. Type 1 muscle fibers are slow twitch, highly oxidative and process little to no glycolytic capacity. These muscles are resistant to fatigue because they are highly oxidative and get energy through oxygen, but they fail to produce large amounts of force. Type 2a muscle fibers are oxidative and they process glycolytic capacity meaning they are the perfect middle ground, being able to use oxygen and sugars as energy sources, and they are still able to produce force and are relatively resistant to fatigue. Type 2x have little to no oxidative capacity and but an incredible amount of glycolytic capacity. They are able to produce large amounts of force, but fatigue quickly. These muscle fibers have varying degrees of ATPase in them, an enzyme that harnesses the energy throughout the breakdown on a phosphorus bond. The more ATPase activity in a muscle the more contractile speed it will generate. Type 2a and 2x are the best muscle fibers to have for strength. Alpha-actinin 3 or ACTN3 is a gene that encodes a protein only expressed by type 2 fibers. This gene helps muscles generate high contractile forces and a rapid rate.
Henneman's size prinicple relates force production to motor neurons function and muscular fiber activation within the muscle itself during a sustained load. Meaning, you can specifically train the type of muscle fiber you want to train, in this case it would be type 2 muscle fibers because of their increased capacity to produce power and force. You can do this by, lifting near your 1 rep max, ideally 80-100% of your 1 rep max. When lifting close to your one rep max, your brain recruits alot of type 2 muscle fibers.
4. How to become a strength demi-god
- Heavy loads are key for strength gains, any weight heavy enough to take you to failure by 6 reps is heavy enough. You must always train to failure to induce maximum mechanical tension, physical deterioration and neural stress. The last few reps are the reps that really matter. Due to our bodies' bio-mechanics and structure when doing the first few reps of an exercise, not 100% of the muscle fibers are being recruited in order to save energy. According to the force-velocity relationship as the contractile velocity decreases the contractile force increases. This means in those last few reps when you are really fighting the weight, your body is activating nearly 100% of the muscle fibers. This makes the last few reps the best reps.
- Long rest times up to 3-5 minutes is recommended for strength gains, as it reduces muscular fatigue and allows the muscles to activate at 100% workrate
- Intense isometrics can help you break through plateaus in your strength gains, isometrics up to 110%-130% your 1 rep max and induce neural stress.
- Your workouts should follow compound lifts as they recruit multiple joints and muscles and they teach the muscles to work together and create great flow. Learning to use the posterior chain and anterior chain in harmony to transfer large amounts of energy.
- One can be strong and one can be relatively strong. To be relatively strong you have to lift in relation to your bodyweight. (E.g; Hypothetically let's say you weigh 100 kilos and you can bench 200 kilos and your friend weighs 1 kilo and benches 2 kilos. In terms of absolute strength you would be stronger, but in terms of relative strength you would both be the same, being able to bench 2 times your own bodyweight). To be relatively strong, you need to cut down on your body fat, because fat is just useless weight, fat cant contract or produce force, meaning that weight is practically useless.
- Your build will play a role in strength, especially on some lifts because of bio-mechanics and leverages
- By repetitively lifting large loads for a consistent amount of time, the central nervous system will adapt to these loads and your motor skills and coordination will improve, resulting in a strength increase.
- People always sleep on speed, training your explosiveness and rate of power/speed development is crucial. Speed is a big part of generating force.
- Muscles aren't everything, your tendons play a big role. Your tendons are actually the things that transfer the energy from the muscle into kinetic energy by tugging on your bones. Think of your tendon like a spring, it can store high potential energy and transmit large amounts of force, if your spring is loose and weak it fails to transmit force quickly and adequately. If your spring is tight and strong, it can transmit a large amount of force very quickly, making you very explosive, reactive and bouncy.
- Testosterone is crucial for strength gains. Testosterone increases the neurotransmitters which encourages tissue growth and it interacts with nuclear receptors in DNA, which causes muscle protein synthesis and increased levels of growth hormone
5. ATP and the Mitochondria
Adenosine-Triphosphate (ATP) is the fuel source of our cells, its molecular shape makes it very efficient in energy transfer throughout your cells. It drives the processes of your living cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, chemical synthesis, etc. When consumed by metabolic processes, it is converted into Adenosine-Diphosphate (ADP) or Adenosine-Monophosphate (AMP). The general role of Mitochondria is oxidative phosphorylation which in short, generates ATP. Improving function of our Mitochondria is necessary to have a healthy and long-lived supply of ATP. Increased supply of ATP, means less fatigue, in this case your muscles.
Some ways to increase mitochondrial function are
- The most basic of the basics, exercise. Continuous exercise increases the amount of mitochondria in muscle cells to ensure adequate ATP is supplied.
- Cold exposure. This one is kind of weird, as although it does increase mitochondrial function, it decreases muscular strength. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator (PGC-1alpha) is a protein that plays a significant role in cellular energy metabolism. It is induced by cold temperatures. It stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis and promotes remodeling of muscle tissue into a fiber-type that is highly oxidative and less glycolytic, essentially type 1 muscle fiber's
- Oxaloacetate is a naturally occurring product produced by Krebs Cycle or TCA Cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle). This cycle is an important cycle, as it uses chemical reactions to release stored energy. This cycle is used to generate energy by anaerobic respiration or aerobic respiration. Oxaloacetate can be supplemented and seen to increase mitochondria.
