In this article we will try to highlight all the essential traits to establish how many reps to perform and, above all, why.
:- Anabolic stimulus: given by an intense mechanical force stress on the muscle tissue and biochemical stress of failure, to which the construction hormonal response follows;
- Super-compensation: given by the reconstruction and construction of new muscle tissue, including contractile units, energy reserves, liquids, etc., which requires adequate nutrition and recovery times.
It remains to understand what kind of mechanical stress to apply; this is where repetitions come into play.
it is: the execution of a movement, mono or multiarticular - distension, flexion, adduction, abduction, rotation and combinations - including a concentric and an eccentric phase, and possibly one or two isometric rests.
). This is because, in general, an incomplete ROM penalizes the stretching capacity of the growing muscles, causing various kinds of imbalances.
The relationship between the concentric and eccentric phase, the presence of isometry and the relative and total times of muscle tension (Time Under Tension or TUT), are very important parameters that depend on the goal or in any case on the training method.
; let's make two examples. with the barbell in a sitting position requires a "true abduction of the humerus" in extra rotation and an "extension of the forearm on the arm, to complete that one could define an" extension above the head and behind the neck - we neglect the movements of the shoulder blades and back, to streamline the topic.
Those who attend gyms know that not everyone is able to perform this exercise without feeling pain or instability - here the subjective anatomical-functional characteristics come into play - even, many instructors abolish it in favor of military press or slow forward.
This limited applicability derives from the very common inability to extra-rotate the humerus; in healthy subjects, the problem is almost always a hypertrophic shortening of the pectoral and grand dorsal muscles, while in others it is due to a paramorphism / dysmorphism of the upper spine and related secondary effects. For this reason, especially in "not entirely clear" situations, it is sometimes preferred to approach an exercise by reducing ROM and overload, to progressively increase them. In the slow behind - which, to be honest, also requires a certain care in the grip - this means shortening the descent of the bar.
