Muscle Work and Development - E. Truscott (1957)

 

Doug Hepburn, 720 Squat.

A while later, 780. 

One cannot but admire the old time strong men. 

Sandow, Saxon, etc., must have had great natural advantages in physique and appearance. They were, of course, characteristic mesomorph physical types but even so, the amount of work performed in order to reach their muscular peak would today be considered nothing short of amazing. 

These old timers apparently had no particular idea in their approach to the game, it was then considered sufficient to lift weights and indulge in routine exercises indiscriminately without any regard to scientific considerations. No doubt, if scientific application had been incorporated into their training methods these tough pioneers would have saved themselves hours of arduous effort and arrived at maximum physical condition much earlier in their careers. 

There are many would-be strong men who lose their enthusiasm owing to disappointment in results obtained. It is understandable that many get bored performing routine exercises and become apathetic when results are slow in appearing. 

The haphazard approach to physical development is sure to result in very limited progress, it is not surprising that without some idea of the basic principles regarding muscular development, physical culture can become a humdrum and uninteresting business. It is not sufficient, therefore, to obtain various weights and expanders and hope that continual use of them daily will be rewarded by body development merely as a matter of course. 

POWER AND ENDURANCE EXERCISES 

  

In 1945, de Lorme carried out a series of experiments on skeletal muscular development with special regard to power, bulk (hypertrophy), coordination and endurance. He found that different types of exercises brought about different characteristics in the muscles. 

He defined "power" as the ability of the muscle to perform with the maximum efficiency over a short period of time as in weight-lifting. According to de Lorme, this strength potential of muscle can be achieved by using weights of maximum poundages increasing as the muscle strengthens. 

He defined "endurance"  as the ability of the muscle to perform work over long periods as in cycling, long distance running, etc. Endurance can be achieved by repetitive exercises against light resistance. 

HEAVY RESISTANCE EXERCISES 

Much is being written regarding muscular development. How to obtain maximum bulk in the minimum period of time? 

Remember the old gimmicks, "Have muscles like mine in six easy lessons -- Send you the muscles next week." "Take this or that, do this or that, so and so's tablets will put six inches on your chest." 

I advise beginners to view these quack theories with suspicion and make up their minds that muscular strength and bulk cannot be achieved without hard work and concentration. 

How about diet? 

Protein foods and concentrates are very good, but no amount of protein will put one inch of muscle on the body without essential exercise. Without a doubt the quickest route to a good physique is by hard work and endeavor incorporating the scientific approach. 

The person who derives the greatest benefit from physical training is he who really ENJOYS THE EFFORT. 

He who is stimulated by lifting maximum weights and works the muscles to their greatest capacity achieves FAR greater results than the haphazard enthusiast, no matter how much protein or vitamins are consumed. 

MUSCLE HYPERTROPHY AND POWER 

 

Muscle bulk increases according to the amount of work it is called upon to perform. With increase in bulk there is a proportionate increase in power. The increase in bulk is due to the increased circulation and to chemical changes taking place during contraction. 

We we muscle men usually refer to as "pumping up" the muscle is, in fact, actually increasing the blood supply to the part. We all know that a muscle increases in size after a workout and that definition is more marked. Activity causes some destruction of muscle tissue, the greater the activity, the greater the muscular destruction. When nature replaces the loss, she overdoes it and produces greater muscular than is lost during the activity. 

This replacement tissue is responsible for the increase in bulk and is nature's method of overcompensating for the destruction that has taken place during a workout. 

The muscle fibers do not increase in number but small fibers which in normal circumstances remain unused in everyday activity, grow in size (hypertrophy) in direct proportion to the amount of work given to them. 

So, in well-developed muscle, the amount of muscle fibers remain unchanged. It is the size of the muscle fibers that has increased. Heavy resistance exercises bring about this increase in size of the muscle fibers with its corresponding increase in power. 

Endurance exercises tend to increase the blood supply by increasing the capillaries to the muscle. 

WHAT'S THE LIMIT?

 

Oops. 

Systematic weight-training can result in tremendous muscular performance -- look at the achievements of Anderson and Hepburn. One wonders where it is all going to end . . . 

Will we ever reach limit of man's physical strength? 

At the moment I see no limit, great records are made to be broken. Great strength is gained by gradually increasing weight resistance. If you can squat 3 repetitions using 450 try one rep with 500. When 3 reps of 500 can be performed, increase 10-20 pounds and so on ad infinitum. This system must be practiced throughout your workout routine. No muscle man can stay at the top unless his poundages are constantly increasing. 

ENDURANCE

Increases in power and bulk do not necessarily mean an increase in endurance. Of course a stronger man can perform better than his weaker friend against greater resistances but when exercising with medium loads a person with less powerful muscles may be the champ. 

Wally Cox to the Rescue! 

Increase in endurance is out of all proportion to gain in strength. Constant repetitive work against an increasing resistance can bring about greatly increased muscular endurance with no appreciable increase in muscle bulk.

Some occupations which call for constant repetitions of certain muscular actions bring about great endurance in the muscles involved. This type of work is performed by people with no particular muscle significance but would exhaust the bulging muscles of a trained weight-lifter. Constant repetition increases the number of capillaries to the muscles, thus increasing the storage and economic supply of oxygen to the fibers, relieving fatigue. 

CHEMICAL CHANGES IN MUSCLE

There is an increase in chemical activity in a well-exercised muscle, the color is found to be darker than normal. This is due to a substance known as hemoglobin and its presence in muscle determines the latent muscular power. It is also found that the nerve impulses to the muscular fibers improve on exercising a muscle with corresponding increase in muscle tone. 

BODYWEIGHT AND POWER 

Maurice Jones

As muscles make up about 40% of bodyweight, it is obvious that muscular force depends upon bodyweight, providing fat is not a predominant factor. It has been seen how lifting performances increase with increases in bodyweight, I am sure that if Reg Park increased his bodyweight to 260 pounds his lifting potential would increase in proportion.

MUSCLEBOUND? 

There is a common belief that weight-trainers can become musclebound and become excessively fat and cumbersome in movement. 

Actually, nothing if further from the truth, a well-trained man can have huge muscles and have no excess fat. He usually moves more quickly and gracefully than that untrained man and is far more supple. The muscles contract more rapidly and he is usually more mentally alert. 

IN CONCLUSION 

In order to obtain maximum hypertrophy (size) of muscle, it is desirable to work out a scheme of heavy resistance exercises that combines the optimum combination of resistance, repetition, and frequency. 

The usual practice among my associates is 3 sets of 10 reps using maximum poundage. By maximum poundage I refer to the greatest weight that can be lifted 10 times only, thus working the muscles to their utmost capacity. 

Do not complete 3 sets in one muscle group, keep changing the exercise, go through the routine 3 full times so that each muscle group is exercised 3x10 reps*. In order to increase the power and hypertrophy of the muscle, the demands upon it must increase in proportion to the increase in muscle power. As the muscles get stronger so the resistance must get greater . . . 

The sky's the limit! 

*Editor's Note: This principle is identical to "circuit training" which was introduced into the athletic world. As yet we know of no lifter or bodybuilder who has practiced this method of training and should any of our readers plan to experiment with it we should be pleased to learn the result. 

Enjoy Your Lifting!