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We are all different

Should I try to go for heavy training weights with low reps, or should I focus on medium weights and high reps? The most interesting thing is that there is no universal recipe .

Some people will make progress from pure strength work with low reps. For some, on the contrary, strength training will not cause a response to muscle growth and will not give progress, but focusing on an increased number of repetitions with an average weight will have a huge effect.

Experienced athletes, over years of training, intuitively find the most suitable scheme for themselves. Please note that in their videos on YouTube, most of these comrades say: “I don’t have a clearly defined exercise plan for today’s workout, I will do what I consider necessary and in a mode that suits my body at the moment.” . These are both bodybuilding stars and simpler, enthusiastic citizens who have spent years working with weights.

Sooner or later, many intuitively find their type of training if they are not lazy to experiment, but why waste time when you can do everything much faster and without unnecessary experiments?

First, let's deal with the myths regarding universal training.

PC muscle in women

The developed pubococcygeus region in women allows them to maintain health longer and tolerate pregnancy more easily. Located at the very bottom of the pelvis, it plays the role of support for all organs. If there is insufficient elasticity, it is not able to function normally, which leads to the development of incontinence and weakening of the intimate area. In addition, it affects the degree of elasticity of the vaginal walls, and when severely weakened, it reduces the level of arousal.

Where is

In women, the pubococcygeus muscle is slightly longer. Like a hammock, it covers the entire lower pelvic area, from the pubic bone to the tailbone. To feel it, you need to tense up as if you need to suddenly stop urinating. You can also place your finger in the vagina and try to squeeze it; if it is not tense, then you need to immediately start doing the exercises.

Kegel exercises for the PC muscle of women

Kegel exercises for women are similar to those described earlier. You need to alternately strain and relax the PC muscle, holding the tension at the top point for a few seconds, preferably 5. In total, you need to do 20 repetitions 4 times a day, 5 times a week.

The following exercises will consist of increasing the number of approaches and their duration. After the first two weeks, you can start using various devices. The simplest is a regular ball with a diameter of 3-5 cm. You need to place it in the vagina and try to hold it for as long as possible. In specialized stores you can find electronic exercise machines that create additional pressure on the walls of the genital organs. Some can be controlled from a smartphone, adjusting the program as well as the degree of compression.

Not all doctors are proponents of exercises for the pubococcygeus muscle. It would be more accurate to say that they do not believe that such activities will solve all problems. With excessive development of the pelvic muscles, large vessels and nerves will begin to be compressed. In addition, this can bring some difficulties during pregnancy. They believe that it is necessary to include stretching exercises in the training program. The most effective is a deep squat. When performed, the tendons and muscle tissues of the pelvis are stretched to their maximum, becoming more elastic. Therefore, visiting the gym or adding additional stretching to your home workouts will increase the quality of your workouts.

Leveling doesn't work

It actually works, but it's not very effective. By leveling I mean the classic periodization of loads .

This is when you work for strength with a small number of repetitions and heavy weights for a certain period of time, then move on to medium-repetition training with moderate weights, then give preference to light weights, increasing the number of repetitions and reducing the rest time between approaches.

Some people work on strength for a week, on medium mode for a week, on light mode for a week. Some people have cycles of 2–3 weeks, a month. The pros usually “bulk” for several months with severe gluttony and huge working weights, and then “dry” for a couple of months. These are the hefty cycles between competitive seasons.

But with the pros, not everything is so simple and often these are very gifted genetically comrades who can be forgiven for any mistakes in training. Especially considering the use of serious sports pharmacology. At the same time, the most successful professionals come to training intuitively, taking into account their own muscle structure.

It’s more difficult for mere mortals and mistakes in training lead to stagnation. Even periodization does not always help. And if it helps, it doesn’t last long, since within its framework certain muscles work effectively only in one of the cycles.

Roughly speaking, the classic scheme of repetitions and results often does not work. The scheme is something like this and is half a century old:

• 1–5 repetitions - for strength;
• 8–12 repetitions - for mass;
• 12–20 repetitions - for relief and endurance.

A person can puff himself up in an attempt to increase strength, but the result does not increase - he stagnate in one place and remains at the same level for months, or even years. Same with working on ground. Relief and endurance are a completely separate conversation, and for the former, a reasonable calorie deficit is more important than the number of repetitions.

Why is this happening? It's all about the ratio of muscle fibers of the first and second types . I talked about these types in detail in this article . For those too lazy to look, here is the information:

• The first type . These are slow muscle fibers, also known as red or oxidative muscle fibers (OMF). They contain many mitochondria, have a slow rate of contraction, a low rate of fatigue and a low capacity for growth (hypertrophy). In addition, they have low strength. Used for aerobic activity (running, cycling). The source of energy is fats.
• Second type . Fast muscle fibers, also known as white or glycolytic muscle fibers (GMF). In turn, they are divided into two subtypes : Subtype IIa (transitional or intermediate, PMV). Contain a moderate number of mitochondria, can use aerobic and anaerobic metabolism equally, have a high rate of contraction, a moderate rate of fatigue, and a low capacity for growth. They have high strength. Used during prolonged anaerobic exercise. The source of energy is creatine phosphate, glycogen.
• Subtype IIb (true fast muscle fibers). They contain a small number of mitochondria, use only anaerobic metabolism, and have maximum strength and speed of contractions. They have high fatigue, but at the same time a great ability to hypertrophy. In fact, these fibers are most important for bodybuilders and strength athletes, as well as sprinters. The source of energy is creatine phosphate, glycogen.

To simplify, the more fast-twitch muscle fibers a person has (Subtype IIb), the more predisposed he is to muscle hypertrophy and increased strength. That is, the emphasis should be on strength training in order to realize the potential of a large number of such fibers.

The more slow muscle fibers , the less potential for growth in strength and mass, but such a person is much more resilient. Again, hypertrophy in slow muscle fibers is also present, so there is an emphasis on the number of repetitions and it is in this mode that a person will progress in both strength and mass.

If intermediate muscle fibers (Subtype IIa), then training with medium weights and an average number of repetitions in the range of 8 to 12 will be most effective.

BUT! Every person has all types of muscle fibers, they just have different ratios. So you shouldn’t forget about other types of training in order to grow muscles as efficiently as possible, realizing your genetic potential.

Where and which muscle fibers predominate?

Some muscle groups of our body are constantly under load, which has determined their, so to speak, universal structure. As you understand, we are talking about slow muscle fibers, which are not very strong, but hardy. Although, how to say “not very strong”. For example, the calf muscles are the second strongest in our body after the muscles that compress the jaws (pressure up to 150 kg per cm²).

Be that as it may, in the following muscle groups, almost all of them are dominated by slow muscle fibers , which grow only when working for a large number of repetitions:

• Gastrocnemius and soleus muscles.
• Trapezius and back extensors.
• Forearms.
• Deltas.

Also, during everyday life, people very actively load the abdominal, gluteal and thigh muscles (quadriceps and hamstrings). Intermediate muscle fibers often predominate there. But there are already more discrepancies and exceptions.

As for the pectoral muscles, biceps, latissimus dorsi muscles - this is the will of chance and genetics.

Fredrick Hatfield (aka Dr. Squat) and Charles Poliquin, well-known in the world of foreign strength sports, worked a lot on the scientific component of strength training, and based on their work, an algorithm was developed that determines the ratio of muscle fiber types.

Functions of the pubococcygeus muscle

The pubococcygeus muscle is a large muscle responsible for intimate health and erection in men.

The pubococcygeus muscle (pubococcygeus or PC muscle) is an important organ that takes part in the normal functioning of the entire genitourinary system. Its main task is to support the pelvic organs. It is a branch of the muscle that lifts the anus. Its parts support the rectal opening, cover the prostate gland and ensure the correct position of the bladder.

In addition, it is the main intimate muscle in the human body. With the help of the PC muscle, the penis is raised during erection. A developed muscle is necessary to maintain a strong erection. It fixes the prostate gland and bladder, maintaining the tone of the pelvic organs.

Weakness of the pubococcygeus muscle can lead to the development of urogenital problems due to disruption of normal blood circulation in the pelvic organs.

When the muscle tone of the pubococcygeus muscle is weakened, the risk of developing congestion in the pelvic organs increases. This increases the chance of developing prostatitis in men who lead a sedentary lifestyle.

How to determine your individual muscle fiber ratio

The algorithm can be applied to any muscle group by selecting an isolated exercise, but it still makes sense to focus on the largest ones. That is, on the back, legs and chest. Plus biceps - many people have a problem with pumping them.

I personally conducted a test on my pectorals, finding out that fast-twitch muscle fibers predominate there (hurray-hurray - you can count on an impressive mass), but I’ll tell you about my personal results a little later, but for now let’s move directly to the algorithm.

First stage

We determine the maximum weight of the weight with which you can perform one repetition. In the case of chest exercises, the best exercise for this is the horizontal bench press .

Please note that
the test is not for complete beginners .
As soon as you come to the gym, work out for several months under the supervision of experienced comrades, learn how to perform the exercises correctly and tone your muscles. Otherwise, you may suffer a serious injury or the test results will be incorrect (due to poor execution technique and inability to recruit a large number of muscle fibers). We work carefully so as not to get injured due to poorly warmed up muscles. That is, first of all, warm up thoroughly with the bar , rest for a couple of minutes. Then we added a small weight so that we could easily squeeze it 15 times and did 10 repetitions. In the same way, we perform a couple more approaches, increasing the weight and doing 50% of the possible repetitions. Rest between sets - a couple of minutes.

Then, when the muscles are well warmed up, throw on some serious weights that you can squeeze 3-4 times. Press it once, rest for at least 3 minutes . In 3 minutes, the main energy reserves in the muscle are completely restored.

We rested, added 5 kg (or 5-10% of the total weight on the bar), pressed again, rested again for 3 minutes (but no more than 5), added another 5 kg, pressed... We work like this until we reach that weight, which cannot be squeezed out. There was a bummer, the weight was not taken - ok, you found out your maximum weight that you can squeeze at one time. Remember it.

Second phase

Now we will directly determine the type of predominant muscle fibers in the muscle group being tested .

In general, it is recommended to carry out the second stage after a good rest and during another workout (after a good warm-up, of course). But if you are unbearable and want to find out everything here and now, then after the last approach with determining the maximum weight, rest for 15–20 minutes . You should not sit - walk, slightly strain your chest, spread your arms to the sides so that the muscles do not cool down completely.

After you have rested, subtract 20% from your maximum weight . Let’s say you pressed 100 kg one time, which means you leave 80 kg on the bar. Now the most important point - start performing the exercise for the maximum number of times you can do without breaking your technique and without outside help.

• If you squeezed 80% of the maximum weight in 7-8 repetitions , then you have a predominance of fast-twitch muscle fibers. That is, this muscle group has great potential for increasing mass and strength. Thus, 75% of the training should be in strength mode . If you break this down into a simple monthly cycle, then for three weeks you train your chest heavy (5-6 repetitions in basic exercises, up to 8 in more traumatic ones, like push-ups with weights), one week - with medium or light weights. Although there are a lot of options for splits and cycles, the main thing to understand is that 3/4 of the training should be strength training in order to squeeze the maximum out of the potential of your muscles.
• If you managed to bench press 9–10 times , then split both types of fibers equally and split the training 50/50 between strength and high-repetition training.
• “Pulled” 80% of the maximum weight 11–13 times - you have a predominance of endurance, but not very strong slow-twitch muscle fibers . In this case, the emphasis in this muscle group is on multi-repetition training, and only 25% of the total load in the cycle is allocated to the strength group.

The following exercises are suitable for testing other muscle groups::

• shoulders - military press or seated dumbbell press;
• biceps - standing EZ-bar raise;
• triceps - French press;
• latissimus dorsi - pull the upper block to the chest while sitting;
• legs - classic squats with a barbell on the shoulders.

How to move your pectoral muscles

During training, you will feel your muscles working and contracting. The more they are developed, the better you will be able to feel and control them. To do this, the main thing is to follow two rules:

1. Perform the exercises technically correctly. Be sure to work with an individual trainer at the beginning of your training until you learn how to correctly perform this or that action.
2. Mimic the movements of exercises outside the gym. In between workouts, repeat the exercises at home, without additional load or effort. Just focus on the muscles that are working during your workout. Remember how they move during certain actions, what you feel, how they react.

With these mindful home exercises, you can eventually learn to move your pectoral muscles at will. Just tense them the same way you did during the exercises and they will respond accordingly.

Practical exercise

In addition, you can learn to tense your chest muscles using the following method:

1. Raise your arms to chest level, bend and tense them so that your chest muscles contract.
2. As you become more experienced, raise your hands not so high - place them a little lower. Experiment to see how low you can hold your arms so that when you tighten them, your pectoral muscles contract.
3. Practice to learn how to move the necessary muscles without raising your arms. This is the highest level of mastery of your body.

To summarize the above, the key to success lies in exercise and self-control. During training, listen to your feelings, remember the reactions of your muscles to movements, and then simply repeat them on purpose outside of training.