Debate! Article on changes in muscle DENSITY, SHAPE, and ISOLATION!

[TooPowerful4u]

This has long been debated, some more than others. I came across this article, and anyone who wants to take the time can read it here : **broken link removed**

Summerized
1. It states you CAN induce hyperplasia (cell multiplication) through training thus making the muscles more dense.
2. You can stress different heads of the muscle depending on positioning of the movement.
3. (this is the BIGGEST debate) You can stress different areas of the muscle (lower bicep, bicep peak, inner chest, etc..) stating it is "it would seem implausible in light of the fact that there are distinct physiological/anatomical differences within a single muscle that a muscle would respond in a uniform fashion ."

Read it if you care to debate, hopefully you will. Id like to hear the vet, mod, and experienced opinions, ideas, and knowledge related to this subject.

 

[joshbarnett]

hyerplasia cannot be induced by training just the size of the fiber. gh has been shown to increase number of new muscle fibers. i do think you can attack certain areas of a muscle by changing the angle of attack.

 

[raybravo]

yeah , there was this article by author l rea too , here's a part of it :
"J. Streng Cond. Res. 14(1): 102-113, 2000

So you have been told that you can not alter the peak of your bicep or build a wider chest and back? To a great degree…B.S. Muscle is not merely a bunch of fibers that attach to bones contracting and relaxing to provide potential movement. Muscle is composed of multiple fiber sizes and types. Each fiber is made up of different size cells with different individual metabolisms, and different contractile potential and amino acid profiles. This means that during different exercises and different angles of execution there is a different recruitment pattern of different regions of the muscle (confirmed by EMG). Therefore it is possible to trigger the growth process on a more site-specific basis. So is it obvious yet that you can utilize specific protocols to induce growth in specific areas resulting in an alteration in shape? "

 

[homonunculus]

Summerized
1. It states you CAN induce hyperplasia (cell multiplication) through training thus making the muscles more dense.
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Seems probably that hyperplasia is possible, although difficult (ethically, especially) to test in humans. It can be done w/ wt. training in mammals (cats) and certainly w/ other models of muscular overload. Jose Antonio has a nice paper or two on this and an article somewhere on the web. (Mesomorphis, maybe).

As far as density, Don't know what is meant by this. Myofibrillary packing density doesn't change w/ hypertrophy. Not sure why you would want *more* density (mass / volume), b/c this would mean a muscle that is now heavier (e.g.,. putting a BB'er in a heavier weight class) but takes up less volume (less impressive vsiually).
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2. You can stress different heads of the muscle depending on positioning of the movement.
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No doubt. This is the advantage of having different heads on a different muscle: to produce force in different planes of motion. This is validated by MRI of muscle (see Tesch's book, "Muscle meets magnet")
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3. (this is the BIGGEST debate) You can stress different areas of the muscle (lower bicep, bicep peak, inner chest, etc..) stating it is "it would seem implausible in light of the fact that there are distinct physiological/anatomical differences within a single muscle that a muscle would respond in a uniform fashion ."
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Huh?

In a pennated muscle like the pec major, the the fanning of the muscle means preferentall activation (just as w/ head of a given muscle) w/ different plante os motion.

As far as making realtive change in size along fusiform muscle (like the biceps or a even just a head of the biceps) this seems less unlikely, as it would require force inequalities along the length of the muscle that predispose it to injury (shortening at one end w/ minimnal tension at the other end).

-Randy

 

[homonunculus]

TYpo?....

yeah , there was this article by author l rea too , here's a part of it :
"J. Streng Cond. Res. 14(1): 102-113, 2000

Each fiber is made up of different size cells with different individual metabolisms, and different contractile potential and amino acid profiles. "

A muscle fiber IS THE SAME THING as a muscle cell... Hmmm

-Randy