In my previous article, Strength Training for MMA, I touched on this briefly, stating: “Probably the most common error is relying on weight training programs influenced by, or taken directly from bodybuilding magazines. Training in this manner is not without its merits, (moving up in weight; general strength, etc,) but done exclusively, over a long period of time, can result in decreased performance in the ring and even lead to injury. At the very least, such training is less than optimal.” At this time I’d like to go into greater detail about the problems of training like a bodybuilder.
Certain modern bodybuilding practices: Overuse of machines, marathon workouts consisting of multiple sets of high repetitions, over reliance on support gear (belts, straps and knee wraps), and anabolic steroids have created physiques, that while impressive to look at, are pretty much all show and no go. The technical term is nonfunctional hypertrophy, cosmetic muscle that is of no real value to the athlete.
Isn’t muscle, muscle? Not necessarily. Muscle size can increase one of two ways: By an increase in the sarcoplasm or by an increase in the size and number of contractile proteins. The sarcoplasm is soft tissue that surrounds the muscle fiber, it is mostly fluid and does not contribute to contractile force of the muscles. In addition to the size and number of contractile proteins, muscle strength is also a product of intra-muscular coordination, the synchronized firing of the motor units (bundles of muscle fibers enervated by a single motor neuron) to generate greater force. Untrained individuals can typically activate only about 60% of their muscle fibers simultaneously, whereas highly trained athletes are capable of voluntarily activating up to 85% of their fibers concurrently. In contrast to bodybuilding-style sets of 8-15, sets of 5 repetitions or less are superior for improvements in intra-muscular coordination.
In addition to the strength of individual muscles, overall strength is also a product of inter-muscular coordination, the smooth synchronization of different muscle groups working together to complete a specific task. In a deep squat, not only the muscles of the legs and lower back are working, but approximately 70% of the muscles of the body, including many stabilizers and fixators, contribute to the execution of the movement. Bodybuilders’ proclivity for machines (and certain exercises like concentration curls), while easy to master and often more comfortable, tend to isolate specific muscles, and can be counterproductive for developing inter-muscular coordination.
What’s wrong with isolation, bodybuilders will often argue that that is the best way to stimulate muscle growth. This isn’t necessarily incorrect, but in the real world of three-dimensional space, muscles never act in isolation, and by attempting to isolate a muscle, (besides diminishing inter-muscular coordination), the smaller stabilizing and fixating muscles that provide balance, stability, and help prevent injury are not fully activated. Strength and conditioning authority, Charles Poliquin gives the following illustration: “A judoka who is stronger on machine chest press than another, but has weak fixaters and stabilizers, will likely be unbalanced by, and thrown by the other, even though he is stronger on the machines”. He also believes that athletes should do no more than twenty-five percent of their strength training on machines.
Anabolic steroids (testosterone analogs), growth hormone, insulin, IGF-1 and many other drugs have become increasingly part of the professional bodybuilder’s stock. Potential health risks aside, steroids, like typical bodybuilding training, tend to increase the fluid content of the muscles more than the contractile proteins. In addition, steroids can cause muscle fibers to grow out of pennation, which means that they are out of alignment with the direction of muscle contraction and therefore, make no contribution to its strength. Muscles developed in this way tend to soft and heavy, only moderately contributing to the development of force. Bodybuilders, while generally stronger than average men, are not nearly as strong as (Olympic) weightlifters, powerlifters, or most high-level heavyweight athletes.
If you are an athlete, even if your goal is to get bigger, typical bodybuilding methods are not the best way to go. Hypertrophy (increase in muscle size) is a product of both tension and fatigue. At one extreme, doing several hundred pushups will cause extreme fatigue, but little tension. At the other extreme, performing single, near-maximum repetitions, on bench press, with 6 to 10-minute rest intervals will cause great amount of tension, but little in the way of muscular fatigue. Popular bodybuilding routines, of 3 to 5 sets, with reps in the in 8-15 range and 1 to 3-minute rest intervals cause a degree of tension and fatigue. However as noted above, this tends to produce increase primarily of the sarcoplasm and hypertrophy of the slow-twitch endurance fibers.
In a given set, by the time you’ve reached 5 repetitions, most of the fast-twitch speed and power fibers have ceased firing. With this in mind a better way to create functional hypertrophy is doing up to ten sets of reps in the 3 to 5 range with rest intervals of 2 to 5 minutes. The result is the same, tension + fatigue, however the tension is much greater, do to the heavier weight used and the fatigue is a result of a greater number of total sets, rather than higher repetitions. This sort of hypertrophy training will also better prepare you for maximal strength or explosive power training phases.
Is there a place for high-rep training? Hi-rep training, performed at a slow tempo can be useful in early preparatory training to improve balance, stability, and strengthening the connective tissues. Or following a power-training phase, high-reps performed explosively can help develop power endurance. Nevertheless, for development of maximal strength, explosive power or even for functional hypertrophy, high-reps are not the way to go.
To recap: Don’t get your information from bodybuilding sources (or gym rats). Train movements, not muscles, compound multi-joint exercises give you a bigger bang for your buck. Don’t rely on machines; use them sparingly if at all. Particularly for experienced athletes and weight trainers, keep the lion’s share of your reps below six.
References:
Hartmann J. & Tunnemann H., Fitness and Strength Training for All Sports, Toronto, and Ontario: Sports Books Publisher. 1995
Bompa, Tudor O., Periodization Training for Sports, Champagne IL, Human Kinetics, 1999
Tsatsouline, Pavel, Power to the People, St. Paul, Dragon Door Publications, 2000
Colgan M, The New Power Program, Vancouver BC, Apple Publishing Company, Ltd., 2001
Poliquin C, Charles Poliquin Audiotape Interview III, Mile High Publishing 1996.
About the author: Mark Ginther has over 20 years experience in sports, martial arts, and strength training. He has worked with numerous athletes including Michael Hawkins (formerly of the Boston Celtics), as well as several pro and amateur boxers. In 1999 he became the Strength & Conditioning Coach for AMC Kickboxing & Pankration.
He's recently returned from 6 years in Tokyo, where he was highly respected in both the fitness and martial arts industries. He trained K-1 Champion Nicholas Pettas for his comeback, and has written for, or been featured in several of the industry’s top publications. His monthly strength & conditioning column has appeared in Full Contact Fighter for 4 years, and ran for 2 years in IRONMAN Japan. He was featured in a cover story in Tokyo city magazine, Metropolis, and interviewed for the Japanese bodybuilding magazine, BODYPOWER. His fitness column ran in Tokyo’s Player for 6 months.
