| 
| 
|
Introduction
One of the biggest misconceptions with calisthenics is that it doesn't provide enough resistance for ample muscle breakdown; and therefore, muscle gain. Intuitively, this makes sense since the only form of resistance is your body weight and, for the most part, your body weight doesn't change. The BIG misconception with this theory is:
THE AMOUNT OF RESISTANCE DOESN'T DICTATE THE AMOUNT OF MUSCLE GROWTH
To truly understand this misconception I must first explain a little about the different types of muscle fibers and the motor units that stimulate them.
One of the biggest misconceptions with calisthenics is that it doesn't provide enough resistance for ample muscle breakdown; and therefore, muscle gain. Intuitively, this makes sense since the only form of resistance is your body weight and, for the most part, your body weight doesn't change. The BIG misconception with this theory is:
THE AMOUNT OF RESISTANCE DOESN'T DICTATE THE AMOUNT OF MUSCLE GROWTH
To truly understand this misconception I must first explain a little about the different types of muscle fibers and the motor units that stimulate them.
| Muscle Fiber & Muscle Contraction Overview As depicted by the different colors in the picture to the right, there are 3 types of muscle fibers: 1: Slow twitch: small; produce low amounts of force but don't fatigue over time 2: Fast twitch: big; produce high amounts of force but fatigue quickly 3: Intermediate twitch: medium: can be trained to contain beneficial properties of slow and fast twitch fibers. (These fibers are very unique and can be further discussed in another blog post) | 
|
| Furthermore, these fibers are recruited to contract based on The Size Principle, which states that small fibers are recruited first and bigger fibers in succession based on the amount of force required. Check out the graph to left for a visual orientation of this theory. Now that you have a basic understanding of this concept we can continue to discuss the BIG misconception of calisthenics. |
The Weight Lifting Argument
Knowing The Size Principle, weight lifters conclude that if they lift the heaviest weights, then they will cover the full spectrum of muscle fibers from slow to fast. It turns out that this statement is true. But because of this belief and your body weight being the highest amount of resistance one can obtain in a calisthenics workout, weight lifters have come to think that calisthenics can only take them so far in their training. The problem is that the rapidly drastic climb of excitation from slow to fast fibers makes you really susceptible to injury. Where weight lifters fault is that, again, force isn't the limiting factor of fiber recruitment, so there are safer ways to workout the entire spectrum of fibers in the muscle.
| The Answer: Maximal Effort Regardless of whether your doing calisthenics, weight lifting, yoga, or any other type of exercise, if you want to get the most out of it you have to complete it with maximum effort. Dr. Ralph N. Carpinelli confirms this statement through his writing in the Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness, volume 6, number 2, 2008. He shows that the factor controlling muscle fiber recruitment is effort, which starts in the brain. By pushing your body to its limits, you are requiring more and more motor fibers to be recruited till they are all exhausted. Carpinelli shows that doing 20 reps of an exercise or 8 reps with higher weight have no significant difference in strength or physical outcome. So why risk injury. | 
|
The moral of this blog isn't that weight lifting is wrong, or even that calisthenics is right.The moral is that regardless of what type of exercise you are doing, effort dictates all, so push yourself beyond what you think you are capable, always tell yourself you can do one more, and never stop growing.
*For a short and easy summary of Carpinelli's writing check out this link: http://www.cbass.com/Carpinelli.htm
*For a short and easy summary of Carpinelli's writing check out this link: http://www.cbass.com/Carpinelli.htm
RSS Feed