Heavy Weight Training
Weight Training
Weight training is a type of anaerobic resistance training. You can use either free weights like barbells and pulleys, weight machines like pull down cables or assisted squat racks, and also bodyweight exercises like push-ups and sit ups.
If you are to understand how your muscles actually lift weights, then you must, first, understand different types of muscle fibers.
An Explanation Of The Three Different Muscle Fibers
* Type I Fibers (Also known as “slow twitch muscle fibers”) - These are the smallest and weakest muscle fibers with the least potential for growth. These fibers are used for endurance training such as power walking or jogging. They use mostly fat for fuel. Marathon runners’ muscles would mostly consist of Type I Muscle Fibers.
* Type IIB Fibers (Also known as “fast twitch muscle fibers”) - These fibers are the exact opposite of Type I Fibers. They are the largest type of muscle fiber and also the strongest - however, they fatigue very quickly. These muscle fibers are primarily used for activities such as sprinting, bodybuilding and powerlifting. These muscle fibers produce high amounts of lactic acid and primarily use glucose for fuel.
* Type IIA Fibers - These fibers have a mixture of the characteristics of I and IIB fibers. They can be used for both endurance activities and high power and speed activities and use both fat and glucose for fuel. They are typically stimulated during high intensity aerobic activity like boxing or circuit training.
The average human will have an equal amount of each type of muscle fiber in their body. However, it is thought by researchers that although you cannot change the amount of each type of fibers you have, you can change the characteristics of each type of fibers, depending on the type of sports and activities you do. For example, if you were to lift heavy weights three times per week (which we will be doing) then your Type I Fibers will become bigger and more powerful, along with your IIA and IIB fibers - the opposite would happen if you were to go jogging three times per week instead.
Back To How Your Muscles Lift Weights
Your muscles lift weights by generating force. If you were to go for a light jog, your body would be using Type I muscles in your legs. If you were then to start sprinting, your Type I muscle fibers wouldn’t be able to produce enough force on their own to handle the power output needed, and your Type IIA muscle fibers will come into play and start working also.
Now, if you were to go to the gym and do heavy squats with a barbell, then all your Type I, Type IIA and most or all of your Type IIB fibers will be used. This is because your Type I and Type IIA fibers cannot produce enough power output on their own to lift these heavy weights, and therefore, your Type IIB fibers come into play. Always remember that ALL fiber types will be active when you’re using maximum power. Which is great for muscle building!
Amount Of Resistance Needed To Activate Each Fiber Type
* Type I - 60% or under. Any resistance at 60% or under your maximum strength output will use type I fibers. It’s typically at around 60% maximum strength output ALL type I fibers will be used.
* Type IIA - 20%-75%. At 20% maximum output your muscles will begin to bring Type IIA fibers into play and at 75% ALL Type IIA fibers will be active.
* Type IIB - 60%-85%. At 60% maximum strength output your Type IIB fibers will come into play and at 85% ALL Type IIB fibers will come into play. After 85% of your maximum power output, the remaining 15% of strength comes from what is called “rate coding”. This is when your brain gets better at using 85% of your strength and then gets better at contracting your muscles at this rate, which causes more strength and power output. It’s like when you and your brain learned how to bounce a ball for the first time, the first time you did it as a child, it felt awkward, but the more you did it, the better you got at it and the easier it became. That’s because your brain learned how to tell your muscles how to twitch and move properly after enough practice - lifting heavy weights is no different - your brain needs practice to master it.