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Why strength curves help build muscle

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Fitness enthusiasts train using varying weights and angles, targeting different points in the strength curve.

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Resistence builds muscle. (Rawpixel.com pic)

If you go to the gym to build muscle, then strength curves are important. Whether you’re looking to “tone up” or you’re a competitive bodybuilder, provided you’re doing exercise under resistance, the goal is muscle.

This is the result of creating contractions, which cause damage by making the muscle work, and then you recover from it stronger.

The issue is that the strength your muscles are able to exert when contracting is dependent on the position of the bones they’re moving.

Across their range of motion they will have a peak position, where they can exert the most force, and a weakest position, where they can exert the least. In some movements you’re working many muscles, each with different curves.

This is of relevance because if you allow your ability in the weakest position to dictate the maximum weight you can lift, you will spend the rest of each rep not providing maximum stimulus to the muscle.

It will work at 100% for a short moment, and the rest of the time be contracting at a fraction of it’s potential. Less stimulus, less damage, less gain in repair.

Luckily this is something that has been well studied and there are graphs that can be found online discussing it.

If you take the knowledge on the elbow joint for example, you know it is controlled in flexing and extending by the biceps and triceps. They are strongest in both directions when the forearm is at approximately 90º to the upper arm.

Both muscles then get weaker as they move in either direction – bending further, or extending completely.

Important to note is that whilst moving a weight around a pivoting joint like the elbow, the force required of and produced by the muscles involved is not constant.

The weight being moved may be constant, but its relationship with the pivot isn’t. Gravity is what dictates the force required. The further away from the pivot the weight is, the “heavier” it is.

Imagine standing completely upright with a 10kg dumbbell in your right arm hanging straight down. Whilst it may weigh 10kg it doesn’t require 10kg of force from your biceps.

As it curls upward (and forwards), the force relative to the elbow and the movement the bicep creates increases. So more contracting force is required. This is perfect, as the bicep’s ability to contract increases as it bends too.

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A good warm up is essential before exercising. (Rawpixel.com pic)

Once your forearm goes past parallel to the floor and keeps curling upwards, the dumbbell starts getting closer to your body.

Thus the weight of the dumbbell begins decreasing for the bicep. Again, this is ideal because the abilities of the bicep decrease as well.

During a dumbbell bicep curl, the muscle works at close to its maximum potential throughout the whole movement. The only caveat is you must keep your elbow still and not use it to whip the weight.

The same applies to dumbbell extensions overhead when lying on a flat bench. With your hands at the top position vertical, directly over the elbows, no force is required.

As they are lowered, more and more force is required. At the 90º position, with your forearms parallel to the floor in their peak position, the weight is “heaviest”. Perfect as this is where you’re strongest.

If you look at a dumbbell tricep kickback, where your chest faces the floor, you have the opposite situation. When the weight should be heaviest, with the elbow bent at 90º, the weight is hanging under your elbow requiring no force.

When your tricep is the weakest, at a fully straightened extension, the weight is heaviest. This means that you select a weight that you can manage in this compromised position.

Then, throughout the rest of the movement, you are using a weight lighter than it should be. Your muscle may be working at 100% of its ability in that end position, but the rest of the time it is being barely used.

The only way a dumbbell tricep kickback will work your muscle to its full potential throughout its full range is if you’re doing it hanging upside down, which isn’t very practical. Or, if you did it using a cable pulldown.

This policy applies to every movement in the gym. Some, like the bicep curl discussed above, have a strength peak in the middle. Others, like the squat, have you weakest in the bottom position and strongest at the top.

This is why you’ll often see people using resistance bands and chains in movements. These tools allow you to vary the weight even when it moves straight up and down.

Competitive bodybuilders often train using varying weights and angles, targeting different points in the strength curve. This takes more sets and time, something not all of us have.

Research, look at the forces being applied, and choose your movements and angles accordingly.

Joompa is a digital platform that facilitates the sourcing and booking of freelance, mobile personal fitness coaches. Available on iOS or via www.joompa.com.my

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