Maximum Intensity Strength Training

Ironically, muscular contraction is a topic that isn’t discussed very often or very thoroughly, if at all, in most workout plans. But it definitely should be. Because as I stated in the first article of this series on exercise intensity, Exercise Intensity: the #1 Key to Building Muscle, Part I; Exercise Intensity Defined, exercise intensity is simply “the amount of muscular contraction generated in the working muscle per unit of time“.

 

And the more muscular contraction that you generate in the working muscle “per unit of time”, the harder the muscle is working, and the higher the intensity of the exercise. And thus, the greater the muscle growth stimulation is likely to be.

 

So to build maximum muscle, especially “maximum muscle in minimum time”, you need to get the muscle to work as hard as it possibly can, by generating “maximum muscular contraction  per second“, in the working muscle. That’s what maximum intensity is. And that’s simply a law of nature that applies to everyone.

 

So anyone who says that it’s impossible to come up with a single workout plan that works effectively for everyone is wrong. And that includes the late, great Joe Weider, one of the leading bodybuilding gurus of the 20th century; who made that statement in one of his books.

 

The truth is that any workout plan that defines exercise intensity correctly and completely (as defined above), and shows you how to apply that definition effectively to any strength-training or weight-training exercise that you do, will enable you to build maximum muscle; in 100% of all cases!

 

I also pointed out that muscular contraction, not motion, is what induces muscle protein synthesis (muscle growth). The truth is, you can build muscle without motion; but you can’t build muscle without muscular contraction.

 

And I emphasize this fact, because people are generally so obsessed with all of the “motions” that they do when they workout, that they miss out on the primary reason for all that motion; which is to generate as much muscular contraction as possible per second in the working muscle.  And the purpose of that, of course, is to achieve maximum intensity, and thus build maximum muscle; ideally “maximum muscle in minimum time”.

 

In fact, you’d probably be interested to know that the more motion that you generate “per unit of time” when strength-training or weight-training, the less muscular contraction you generate “per unit of time”; and thus, the lower the intensity of the exercise.  And the more muscular contraction that you generate “per unit of time”, the less motion you generate “per unit of time”; and thus, the higher the intensity of the exercise.

 

So, the amount of muscular contraction that you generate “per unit of time”, and the amount of motion that you generate “per unit of time”, are inversely proportional to each other.  Which means that the higher one is, the lower the other has to be. You’ll probably want to remember that during all of your workouts.

 

So how do you generate “maximum muscular contraction per second” in the working muscle, for any strength-training or weight-training exercise that you do?

 

To accomplish that, you obviously need to know what muscular contraction is.

 

 

Muscular Contraction Defined

 

 

Muscular contraction can be defined simply as “the activation of a muscle fiber”.  And when you’re strength-training or weight-training, you can activate a muscle fiber for two purposes:

 

1) To move a body part, such as when you bend your arm, or straighten your leg.

 

2)  To work against a “net external force”, such as that provided by a weight. That force is called resistance.

 

The first type of contraction is called dynamic contraction (DC). And that’s because it involves motion. This type of contraction generally involves a “shortening” of the muscle, as the moving body part is drawn towards the working muscle.

 

And the second type of contraction is labeled resistance–induced contraction (RC). And that’s because when you’re strength-training or weight-lifting, it’s caused by the “net external force”, or resistance that the muscle has to work against. This type of contraction does not require any motion; nor does it involve any shortening of the muscle.

 

I chose those terms for these two types of muscular contraction when I developed Maximum Intensity Training (MIT) and Maximum Intensity Strength Training (MIST).  And that’s because when I came up with those two workout plans, I had never found any other workout plans (and I analyzed many) that clearly differentiated between these two types of muscular contraction.

 

And if your goal is to achieve maximum intensity, so that you can build “maximum muscle in minimum time”, it’s very important to distinguish between the two. And that’s not only because of the crucial role that both dynamic contraction(DC) and resistance–induced contraction (RC) play in the process of muscular hypertrophy. It’s also because whenever you do reps of any kind, both types of muscular contraction constantly fluctuate; often dropping down to zero. And that, of course, causes the intensity of the exercise to constantly fluctuate; sometimes dropping down to zero.

 

So it often happens that you might have maximum dynamic contraction (DC) at a certain point in your range of motion; but zero resistance-induced contraction (RC) at that point. Then at another point in your range of motion, you might have maximum resistance–induced contraction (RC), but zero dynamic contraction (DC).

 

And since intensity is the “amount of contraction that you generate in the working muscle per unit of time (per second)”, you obviously need to maximize both dynamic contraction (DC) and resistance–induced contraction (RC) simultaneously, throughout the entire exercise; in order to achieve maximum intensity, and thus maximum muscle growth.

 

Combining maximum dynamic contraction (DC) with maximum resistance-induced contraction (RC) simultaneously provides the “ultimate trigger” in the central nervous system (CNS), that’s needed to induce maximum muscle protein synthesis.

 

So, think about it: since muscular contraction is the “activation of a muscle fiber”, should it come as any surprise to learn that you have to activate (i.e. “contract”) a muscle fiber, in order to get it to grow bigger and stronger?

 

Furthermore, should it come as a surprise to learn that maximally activating the fiber (as when you combine maximum DC with maximum RC simultaneously) is the key to maximum growth of the muscle fiber, and thus the entire muscle?

 

No, it’s no surprise at all. It actually makes sense. Basically, it means that you’re getting the muscle fiber to “work harder” than it would when it’s less activated; as hard it can in fact, at it’s maximum level. And getting the muscle to “work as hard as it possibly can” is what triggers the process that leads to maximum growth in the muscle fiber.

 

In Conclusion

 

So, to sum it up:

 

MAXIMUM DYNAMIC CONTRACTION per unit of time + MAXIMUM RESISTANCE-INDUCED per unit of time =

MAXIMUM MUSCULAR CONTRACTION per unit of time = MAXIMUM INTENSITY = MAXIMUM MUSCLE GROWTH

 

So now that you know what muscular contraction is, how do you generate maximum dynamic contraction (DC)?

 

How do you generate maximum resistance-induced contraction (RC)?

 

How do you combine those two types of muscular contraction simultaneously, to achieve maximum intensity, and thus build “maximum muscle in minimum time”?

 

To learn the answers to those questions, start with the follow-up article to this one,

Exercise Intensity: the #1 Key to Building Muscle, Part III; The Role of Dynamic Contraction

 

Comments? Questions? Care to agree or disagree? Feel free to do so!