Applied Exercise Physiology: Fluid Program Design pt. 2
Here are some examples of generic workout plans for three common training scenarios. One with a fully outfitted gym, one home-based with a few dumbbells, and finally one with only bodyweight. As we transition through the three scenarios, it becomes more and more difficult to generate sufficient mechanical tension over the course of a workout with progressively less training implements.
As referenced in previous blogs, generating sufficient mechanical tension is the main driver of progressive muscle gain. While there are other methods of intensification that can help drive mechanical tension, ultimately, increased load with maintained technique is the goal. With that in mind, we can manipulate certain training variables to help us retain some muscle mass in the short term by taking advantage of exercise physiology. Modifying sets, repetitions, tempo, and rest periods allows for a window of opportunity to retain as much muscle mass as possible. Unfortunately, there is often a ceiling on new muscle gain.
In absence of technique-load induced mechanical tension, eventually, we present the body with competing stimuli that will slowly cannibalize our muscle generating adaptations in deference for muscle endurance. This serves to highlight the importance of developing mechanical tension via peak voluntary muscle contraction, mind-muscle connection, and the value of slowly progressing external load used to train a muscle. These three components are crucial to lasting effectiveness in your training.
Disclaimer #1: These are not actual workouts designed with any person in mind. They are exercises chosen for the express purpose of representing how exercise physiology can be harnessed to inform our workout design for muscle building purposes.
Disclaimer #2: Individualization is necessary for safety and effectiveness of training sessions.
Scenario 1 – Full Gym
As you can see, the first two exercises are moderately heavily loaded, and carried out for controlled sets and repetitions to generate as much load-induced mechanical tension as possible. As the exercises progress, they begin to enter machine-based higher volume metabolically stressful parameters before finishing with a few sets of metabolically stressful, muscle damaging lunges.
Scenario 2 – Limited Home Gym.
Note: Colour coordinated exercises are supersets.
In this scenario, with less available machines or free weights, intensification techniques are often necessary to increase mechanical tension. Supersets, greater total sets and repetitions, and pauses drive mechanical tension generation through an increased reliance on repetition-induced and damage-induced mechanical tension.
Scenario 3 – Bodyweight.
Note: Colour coordinated exercises are supersets.
In this bodyweight-only scenario, in absence of increased loading, generation of mechanical tension is reliant upon drastically increased set length, volume, and reduced rest periods. The challenge to the muscle is almost entirely dependent upon metabolically and damage-derived tension.
All of these scenarios are viable options for muscle growth stimulation, depending on your current situation. The drawbacks of the latter two workout styles are that they have markedly lower ceilings of progress. Given the inability to progressively overload weight per exercise, an eventual plateau awaits the trainee.
Exercise adaptation works on a dose-response cycle. The dose of exercise challenges the body, and the response is to improve whichever attribute was fatigued. These challenges generally fall on a continuum of strength, muscle building, or endurance. The heavier something is, the more strength-side of the continuum it falls on, and conversely, the lighter something is, the more endurance-side it falls on. While all three tend to be adapting to some degree at the same time, eventually, you’ll become too specialized on one side of the continuum to really see benefits anywhere else.
An excellent representation of this is an aerobics class. When you first start out, they are great all-purpose tools for increasing baseline strength, muscle definition, and endurance; however, within a very short period of time, without the ability to progress load, they become almost exclusively endurance-based training sessions. Your body has established a baseline level of strength and muscle mass capable of supporting you throughout the entire workout. Without a method of increasing external load, you will maintain that level of strength and continue to specialize in pure endurance.
For short-term, one-off situations, it is viable to manipulate even bodyweight exercise parameters to challenge the body sufficiently for some muscle retention; however, If the goal is progressive muscle growth, they will not be effective for long. Muscle gain should take a synergistic approach, emphasizing primarily technique-load induced mechanical tension and supplemented with metabolic and damage induced tension. If we continually seek improvements in technique-load induced mechanical tension throughout our entire exercise library, metabolically or damage induced tension exercises can be utilized as silver-bullet alterations made as each training session demands.
Best,
Eric
