Wondering about fiber recruitment

[Steel Warrior]

I have been wondering about how the nervous system recruits fibers and how it adapts to stress..
From what I understand most bodybuilders do higher volume sets to recruit the most fibers because certain fibers become fatigued from earlier sets(or reps)
So I was wondering if the more strength you have for exercises the more fibers you are recruiting at that time, and if it would be possible to force your nervous system to adapt by recruiting the maximum muscle fibers for just 1 set(which in theory would generate alot of power).
What made me start wondering this is I've been looking at the way Dorian Yates trained oposed to the way Ronnie Coleman does.
This does not include muscle fiber size just the recruitment by the nervous system.
Thanks to anyone who clan clear this up for me

[Adam Knowlden]

Motor units are recruited in the order of their size, from smallest Type I to largest Type IIb.

There are two methods of force regulation, the first is recruitement, the second is code rating.

However, the President and I were discussing some cool new studies that the motor recruitement principle can be defied! Revolutionary stuff! Future JHR material! /forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Steel Warrior]

cool, think you could might PM me some stuff about it cause I've recently been trying to find the most out about the nervous system and how I can manipulate it for extreme muscle growth.

[Draka49]

if u want to learn more big guy then go to the blue tab that says Anatomy and look under "Muscle Fibers"

its some interesting stuff and the mods spent weeks doing researching and writing stuff - interesting and worthwhile read -trust

[Adam Knowlden]

Yep defenietly look under the anatomy section. The President has given some insane articles on these topics!

/forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif They're excellent and will accelerate your goals for more mass!

[Venom]

Here is a quote from, http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/magazine/musclefibers.htm that should help clear things up:


[ QUOTE ]
Adaptations Made From Low Repetitions

Low repetition work provides an extremely unique adaptation. The particular range I am talking about is between 1-5 repetitions. This has been verified through studies to be " generally " the best range to see pure strength gains in a person's one rep maximum lift( 7, 8, 9, 10 ). Explosive, demanding work such as this causes your body to react immediately to overcome the resistance. You are not giving your body much choice in the matter. Either it recruits as many motor units as possible or you get crushed by the weight! This is why specific nervous system adaptations must take place in order to survive the next bout of training.

1. Our bodies have protective mechanisms, which cause us to fail before the muscles have actually exerted their full potential against the resistance. This is naturally to prevent injury. However, repetitions in this low range will cause adaptations that will increase your ability to use your muscles full potential. You can see how this will make you stronger.

2. Secondly in order to overcome the weight, you must recruit as many motor units as is humanly possible. Therefore your nervous system will become more efficient at this process. In essence you will learn to lift the heavier weight with greater efficiency by coordinating all( or as close as is possible ) of your muscle fibers in one fail swoop. This is one reason that powerlifters are so brutally strong. They can literally cause all of their motor units to fire at once! The more motor units working together, the more you will be able to lift in a single one repetition effort( 22 )!

3. Thirdly, studies have shown that athletes can cause muscle fibers to act more like there counter parts. In other words, you can make a slow twitch muscle fiber act more like a fast twitch fiber. Which means that it will be able to twitch faster. ( this also works opposite, for example, most bodybuilders fast twitch IIB fibers behave like fast twitch IIA fibers. This is a good thing and will be discussed in a bit. ). If a muscle can twitch faster it can produce more force. ( 12, 13, 14, )

4. You can also improve your ability to take advantage of your elastic energy( 18 ). In order to overcome enormous weights, an athlete will want to use this. When a muscle is stretched, the quicker an athlete explodes out of that stretch the more force they will be able to produce. It is similar to a rubber band, the quicker I release it the farther it will go. Therefore strength athletes will take full advantage of this, by lowering time in the " hole. " Heavy lifting forces one to explode in order to take advantage of this or the weights will not be overcome, this enhances this aspect of training. This also goes along with taking advantage of momentum.

As you can see, strength gain in the 1-5 repetition range can take place without muscular hypertrophy. Does this mean that growth cannot occur at these junctions? Certainly not, it simply means that growth can take place, but it is certainly not the optimal method of adaptation in this zone. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly lower rep sets do not recruit as many muscle fibers as higher repetition sets. Grant it, they do recruit more motor units at once, but due to signaling problems occurring in the nervous system they cannot recruit nearly as many, as compared to a longer set. You see the nervous system is asked to act extremely fast and furiously under this circumstance, and it is taxed to its limit. Secondly, the contractile proteins in a cell are responsible for most muscular growth. These must be exposed to enough stress or they will not be damaged enough to overcompensate by increasing in size. Therefore it is not enough to recruit a muscle fiber, you must also damage the actin and myosin filaments if it is to grow.

In regards to bodybuilding, I personally never recommend lifting in the 1-2 repetition range. However, used correctly 3-5 repetition sets can stimulate hypertrophy in your fast twitch IIB fibers. If you are experiencing a plateau in growth, I would suggest starting your routine out with a few sets in this range. It will not work very long as far as mass gains are concerned, but in this sport we should take advantages of every opportunity to grow. This style of training is also of extreme benefit( beside its obvious benefit to strength athletes ) to someone who must maintain his weight and gain strength. For example, wrestlers, boxers, martial artists, track stars etc. It can also be applied to other activities that cause an athlete to recruit as many motor units as possible in a short amount of time. Plyometrics( 18 ) have become quite popular for such specific reasons and they take full advantage of elastic energy specifically. This can enhance your ability to start, jump and explode out of the hole.



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[**DONOTDELETE**]

[President Wilson]

[ QUOTE ]
We're definitly going to present a ton of research regarding neural responses to stress and exercise in the coming issues of JHR! Stay tuned! /forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats my specialty! Next issue will have some tremendous info on the subject!

[dragonman]

Ok I'll wait, but is it possible to work both in one work out. ie.. after warm up do a set or two in the 1-3 rep range and then for the rest of the work out drop the weigt and shoot for the 8-10 rep range. I ask this because over the course of years I tend to gravitate to this type of work out,and I have always wondered if I am helping or hurting my gains.
I first started lifting to get stonger but over time my desire has been to build as much LBM. as possible,but I do love the rush of lifting heavy.

[Steel Warrior]

In muscle fibers part 2 i believe President Wilson says to drop to the 3-5 rep range and then do normal 6-12 rep sets afterwards for about 2-4 weeks(your body will adapt if you go any longer)

[Logga]

[ QUOTE ]
Motor units are recruited in the order of their size, from smallest Type I to largest Type IIb.

There are two methods of force regulation, the first is recruitement, the second is code rating.

However, the President and I were discussing some cool new studies that the motor recruitement principle can be defied! Revolutionary stuff! Future JHR material! /forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi there.

Is it already been written, and it can´t find it, or isn´t it "just" completed? I´m very interested in this stuff, and would like to see the article at abc, or the studies.

Regards.

[Steel Warrior]

Yes I believe an entire series has been written since this post. Also check the "Anatomy" section.

[Logga]

Can´t find it. Is it the Muscle Fibers - An In Depth Analysis Part 1-3?

[Steel Warrior]

yes those articles and under neuropsychology.