Strength gains and resistance training

When you start a strength training program, you can observe from twenty five percent to a hundred percent improvement within three to six months. Women experience similar strength gain compared with men, but it does not show as much or at all.

Superhuman athletic performance prove that strength is not always linked to muscle size. Under stress, Bob Beamon's long jump of twenty nine feet, two and a half inches (8.9m) at the 1968 Olympic Games exceeded the previous record by two feet (0.6m); this record was not broken until 1991!

Strength gain is not only a property of the muscle but also of the motor system.

Motor units are usually not called all at once, but recruited synchronously; some are inhibited in order to protect our body frame (tendons, bones, etc). A blocking or reduction of the inhibitory impulses in the motor system would allow more motor units to be activated together, resulting in great strength. Inhibitory system prevents the muscle from exerting more force than the bones and connective tissues can tolerate. It is called autogenic inhibition. During superhuman feat of strength, these structures are often damaged.

Thus, resistance training both increase motor unit recruitment and decrease neurological inhibition (autogenic inhibition)

If early gains in strength appear to be due to neural factors, long-term gains seem due to hypertrophy.

What is hypertrophy? The number of fibers in muscles is established by birth and stays fixed throughout life. However, fibers can enlarge while lifting weights. During exercise, protein synthesis decreases, while protein degradation increases. This pattern reverses during post exercise recovery period so that a net synthesis of protein is observed. The hormone testosterone is partly reponsible; males experience a significant greater muscle growth than females for the same strength gain and some resistance training. Testosterone is an androgen (a substance that produces masculine characteristics). Anabolic steroids are androgens; massive dozes with resistance training lead to more strength and muscle density.

Inactivity, muscle immobilization leadsin a few hours to protein loss and decrease in size of muscle tissue. Strength in theory decreases at the rate of three percent to four percent per day. However, basic strength can be maintained with reduced frequency workouts.

Docherty and Sporer discovered that the best training is at between 70% to 80% of VO2max, which is, 70% to 80% of heart rate reserve, when you can still talk while exercising; about 80% to 85% of maximum heart rate. This training results in maximal contractile force in the heart, which maximizes central adaptations important for health benefits.