muscle memory

[sirk85]

ive been told by someone at the gym today that going 135 warm up 15 reps 225 12 reps 315 3 reps then going back down 225 12 reps 135 15 reps. that i shouldnt go back down i should go high weight and stay there dont go back down because your body remembers the last thing you did to it is this correct? also i was telling him how i started going 90 degrees with my arms when i bench due to shoulder pain. he said that it would make my bench press weaker doing it that way thanks for any input

[G o r t]

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ive been told by someone at the gym today that going 135 warm up 15 reps 225 12 reps 315 3 reps then going back down 225 12 reps 135 15 reps. that i shouldnt go back down i should go high weight and stay there dont go back down because your body remembers the last thing you did to it is this correct?

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No, the extra sets at a lower weight may well be needed to thoroughly exhaust your muscles and make them grow. I am not sure you should go all the way down to 135, however. If you can still get 12 reps at 225 you should probably do more sets there.

[RawIron]

I have read that going back down is bad for just that reason... muscle memory. I agree with the guy at the gym. That pyramid method is the most popular mistake in body building in my opinion. My sources on this are founder and President of AST sports science Paul Delia, Dr. Paul Cribb Ph.D. CSCS, and Jeff Willet- 2 time Team Universe Champion. (www.ast-ss.com) check out this site... read the max ot training section if you are intested in why this method is ineffective. A lot of reading though.

[G o r t]

This particular meaning of the term "muscle memory" comes only from one source, Paul Delia - founder of AST.

He also says silly things like "fatigue does not build muscle - overload builds muscle." Alas, fatigue does indeed contribute greatly to building muscle. As long as you keep a reasonable definition.

I have never been a proponent of constant, heavy workouts because they did not work for me and they did not work for a great many people I have known. They also tend to get you injured, but then you know that.

[Captin Huge]

The guy who is saying "fatigue does not build muscle - overload builds muscle" is correct! You can lift say 20kg for BB Curls and you will exhaust the muscle in say 30 reps and your not gonna lift it any more. You can add another 10kg to the bar and lift it then say 12 reps. The extra weight activates more fibers and on the concentric contraction causes more tears on the myofibrils (muscles fibers) and so more satellite cells are called in to repair the damaged muscle making the muscle bigger and stronger.

More weight = more mass!!

go as heavy as you can.

[RawIron]

this guy explains it good... however he is no medical doctor or anything

http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Power-or-Fatigue-for-More-Muscle-Mass-/90761

[G o r t]

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The extra weight activates more fibers and on the concentric contraction causes more tears on the myofibrils (muscles fibers) and so more satellite cells are called in to repair the damaged muscle making the muscle bigger and stronger.

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Satellite cell activation is a response to both chronically elevated muscle waste products and chronically low reserves of ATP. The new mitochondria are needed to produce increased ammounts of ATP necessary to sustain repeated bouts of anerobic muscle activity. Increased numbers of mitochondria are directly associated with locally increased reservoirs of sarcoplasm which contain glycogen and fluids and provide considerable extra bulk to the muscle. This is the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy which increases muscle size in bodybuilders.

Sarcomeric hypertrophy involves the microtearing and repair of contractile protiens which ultimately increases the size and strength of the muscle fibers themselves. Since the muscle fibers only account for a small total of a muscles size, substantial enlargement of fiber size will provide a real increase in muscle strength but only a limited increase in muscle size.

The problem here is that some people, but by no means all, are able to get enough fatigue from heavy work to cause sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. This may depend on fiber type ratios, neromuscular effiency, metabolism, or something else. Regardless of the reason, ultimately, muscle fatigue is the reason for increased muscle size in bodybuilders.

[RawIron]

yea youre right. different things def do work better for different people.

My workout partner and I workout differently and both get great results with proper diet. I take some advice from him and he takes some from me but we dont always workout the same way.