Maximum Muscle Utilization for Growth
In order to get the most growth and benefit from your training, you need to maximize muscle utilization. Not all the muscles in your body are the same, however. In fact, every skeletal muscle in your body is different than the next for a number of factors. Bone length, muscle proximity, leverage, attachment points, stability, muscle length, and composition all are huge determining factors for the nature of a given muscle.
For example:
- Pectoralis Major: The “Pecs” – Single joint muscle which contracts the humerous in a hemispherical “arc” about the shoulder girdle. This means that the pectoralis must be able to not only contract deeply, but be able to overextend as well. It also has to be able to contract the humerous and shoulder girdle in a variety of directions, as this joint is very flexible. So the pecs have to be very versatile! You will never get the full benefit of training your pecs unless you hit them from every angle (decline, parallel, incline) but with every shoulder angle as well (from maximum stretch to maximum contraction). If you do not, you will create weak points, or flat spots in your chest.
- Biceps: The biceps muscle is a smaller and simpler muscle. First of all, it is a multi-joint muscle, which spans both the shoulder and the elbow. This means that regardless of the angle of the arm, as long as you need to move your hand closer to your body, the biceps will be contracted. However, there is one caveat: if your body and shoulder are kept at a constant angle, the bicep muscle utility will fall dramatically pas the 90° point. Also, the biceps is at a leverage disadvantage from maximum extension of the elbow joint to about 170°. This is exactly why your biceps muscle is strongest while extended, and weakest while contracted, but functionally is actually only strongest while close to 90°. The muscle is built to overcome the leverage disadvantages at specific angles of the muscle. Therefore, to keep your body, shoulder, and elbow completely static will guarantee you maximum stress on the biceps for a SMALL ANGLE. For maximum muscle utilization, it must be stressed at all levels of linear contraction.
You can see now how important it is for the advanced bodybuilder to train for over an hour tediously stressing every muscle fiber in a given muscle for growth. It can easily turn into a high-volume workout. Rather than doing every conceivable exercise, the natural or intermediate level lifter should focus more on heavy, multi-joint movements to place greatest muscle stress dynamically, and on the largest areas of the muscle to be worked. Exercises can be rotated on a biweekly or monthly basis to avoid unbalancing or overtraining the muscle.
So what is the big theme here? Maximum muscle stress and resistance throughout entire contraction. Keep the reps slow, and utilize all angles. Just don’t overdo it in one session!
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Dr. Rex is a natural bodybuilder and a local authority on training for muscle development. Be sure to subscribe to his newsletter for superior muscle and bodybuilding information Here.
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Tags: biceps angle, Maximum Extension, Maximum Muscle, Maximum Stress, Muscle Length, muscle utilization, Pectoralis, Shoulder Girdle