Bodybuilding Basics - Perform The Perfect Rep For Building Muscle

Bodybuilding is all about muscle - finding ways to exhaust it, then finding ways to relax it; figuring out
how to feed it, and finally trying to find any use for it. To complete this cycle repeatedly, you must
constantly seek new ways to train, explore the latest recommendations, keep your eyes and ears wide
open to all the new research and advice to distinguish fact from fiction. Though you need to keep your
long-term goals in sight, equally important is periodically zeroing in on the essentials that will carry you
forward. None of these elements is more basic than the contraction of a muscle, a repetition (also
known as a rep), the single motion within each exercise. No workout goes without repetitions. No
simple physical task can be accomplished without them. You perform hundreds, perhaps thousands of
reps each day, but how often do you stop to consider what's actually happening each time you
complete one?
You don't need to understand every single little aspect of muscle physiology each time you simply hit
the weights, but a basic understanding of what happens when you complete a repetition may serve you
well. The more you know about what makes and influences a repetition, the better you'll understand
how your muscles work and what you can do to help them do their job better. If your reps are sleazy
and sloppy, the underlying physiology will not allow you to build any more muscle than you already
have. On the other hand, if you put the wisdom of your system to use and polish each repetition with
precision based on good form, your training sessions will quickly peak, as will your muscles, you will be
able to grow more effectively and efficiently.
So, what's a rep? In short, it is a muscle contraction. Now, what's a contraction? For starters, I bet
most ignorant sources tell you that a muscle contraction occurs only when you make a bicep for
example. Not at all. You don't even have to physically move to make a muscle contraction. Let's
explore how it all happens.
Muscle Work: Pushing, Pulling, Squeezing and Relaxing
At the most rudimentary level, contraction only means that tension has been generated. For any
movement to occur, whether the contraction is involuntary (such as your heart beating), or voluntary
(such as consciously lifting your arm or taking a step forward), your muscle fibers need to receive an
electrical signal from your brain, initiated by impulses sent via nerves from the brain and spinal column
to muscle cells. While you don't have mind control over your heart beating, you have to make a
conscious decision to make physical movement possible. First, you have to think about wanting to lift
your arm, for example. A single nerve, or neuron, is connected to several muscle cells, or fibers.
Collectively, the neuron and the fibers it innervates constitute a motor unit. When a nerve fires, all
muscle fibers constituting the unit contract. Each muscle comprises many such motor units, of course,
but only during maximal contraction do they all fire simultaneously. In a less-than-maximal movement
only a certain number of motor units respond at one time, depending upon the force and motor skills
required.
Each repetition of a muscle contraction comprises three phases:

The concentric contraction (lifting the weight)

The transition (holding the weight at the top of concentric contraction)

The eccentric contraction (lowering the weight).

Let The Rep Begin

Picture yourself getting ready to do your favorite exercise be it a squat, a bench press, a tricep
extension, or a bicep curl, doesn't matter. Focus on the muscle to be worked. The initial motion flexes
the muscle and is called a concentric contraction. Here the working muscle shortens by pulling the
bones on either side of the joint being used closer together. To initiate a concentric muscle contraction,
the brain sends an electrical impulse, a signal through the Nervous System to your muscle fibers. This
causes them to release Calcium which initiates the movement of the contractile protein inside the
muscle fiber known as Myosin to pull on the other protein Actin. The end result muscle contracts and
pulls on the bone it is attached to in order to create movement. (A more thorough description of this
mechanism is described in chapter Flexing Muscles). So, when you curl a dumbbell, picture your
forearm and upper arm coming together the bicep muscle gets shorter and thicker.

At the start of this concentric contraction, only a small number of motor units are activated, generating
minimal force. As more force is required, additional motor units are called upon. If the weight being
lifted is relatively light, many motor units will remain inactive; only a fraction of the total muscle
contracts. However, if the weight is heavy, the muscle is fatigued, or both, the muscle must recruit as
many motor units (and fibers) as possible to accommodate the demands being placed upon it. The
amount of force that a muscle is able to generate increases with the number of motor units that are
utilized. For most exercises, the concentric phase comes first, although on exercises such as the squat
and bench press, you actually descend through the eccentric half to assume the real start position.
Reaching Your Peak
At the end of the concentric contraction, a muscle is in its shortest position. Some exercise
physiologists, sports coaches and many bodybuilders recommend that you pause here for a second or
two to contract the working muscle as intensely as possible, a technique called Peak Contraction. For
example, holding something like a triceps extension at the bottom, as opposed to just lightly 'tapping'
there, adds to the total Time Under Tension (TUT) which has a lot of physiological benefits in terms of
activating hard-to-hit muscle fibers, establishing new neural pathways and so forth. (There is a lot
more to be said about TUT, and you can find it all out by going to chapter Muscle Power Time Under
Tension.)
Others question the need to stop at any point during the rep. Steven Fleck, PhD, CSCS, former head of
the physical conditioning program for the U.S. Olympic Committee, believes that using the appropriate
resistance is more important than generating a peak contraction. "If the weight is light, you can never
reach maximal contraction," he says. "But if you manage the resistance right, you'll get near-maximal
contraction at some point during the range of motion." Your best bet is probably to include Peak
Contraction as a tool without relying on it entirely to produce maximum growth stimulation. Heavy
weights are better known to promote the highest levels of stimuli, activate the more motor units and
hence fatigue your muscles to a much greater extent than 'peaking' while going light.
What Goes Up Must Come Down
Before another concentric contraction can be made again, the muscle has to relax and lengthen. This
happens in eccentric contraction. As you lower a dumbbell during a curl, for example, the bicep
lengthens, even though it's still contracted to some degree. A common misconception is that a muscle
contracts during the first half of the movement and then relaxes as you return the weight to the start
position. In fact, a muscle contracts during both phases. The difference is that the muscle shortens
during the concentric half and lengthens during the eccentric half. During the eccentric phase, nerve
impulses continue to signal motor units to fire, even though fewer motor units are used here than
during the concentric contraction. As a result, more stress is placed upon each of the activated muscle
fibers.
Unfortunately, this eccentric half of the repetition many bodybuilders mistakenly treat as an
afterthought. Research confirms that the eccentric component of a lift may be just as important, or
even more important than the concentric phase for promoting muscle growth. What not too many are
aware of is that this negative portion of a rep causes more tissue breakdown and has important
implications for muscle soreness - key issues in muscle-building. Since during an eccentric contraction
you lower the same weight with fewer muscle fibers, each fiber involved has to sustain greater force.
Therefore, a higher percentage is damaged which could lead to increased growth.
Muscle Contraction Types
So, muscles can contract in the following ways:
Isometric - a contraction where force is applied, but there is no movement or change in length of the
muscle, even though the tissues are tensed. This happens because the load on the muscle exceeds the
tension generated by the contracting muscle and occurs when a muscle attempts to push or pull an
immovable object. (When I said that you actually don't even need to move to contract a muscle I was
referring to the Isometric contraction).
Isotonic - a contraction in which movement does take place, because the tension generated by the
contracting muscle exceeds the load on the muscle. This occurs when you use your muscles to
successfully push or pull an object.
Isotonic contractions are further divided into two types:

Concentric - a contraction in which the muscle decreases in length (shortens) against an

opposing load, such as lifting a weight up. During a concentric contraction, the muscles that are
shortening serve as the agonists and hence do all of the work.

Eccentric - a contraction in which the muscle increases in length (lengthens) as it resists a

load, such as preventing the weight from dropping down by the force of gravity. During an
eccentric contraction the muscles that are lengthening serve as the agonists (and do all of the
work).

Full Range of Motion

Combining the concentric and eccentric phases of the rep produces an exercise's range of motion. For
maximal contraction and muscle fiber recruitment, you want to fully utilize this. Exercising through a
full range of motion is safe as long as the rep is slow and under control. Also, taking the weight
through the full Range Of Motion (ROM) will promote joint flexibility. Movements that fall short at either
end will limit the number of muscle fibers involved, and may actually lead to decreased flexibility.
Limiting factors can include individual joint mobility and structure as well as body composition, both of
which will serve as a natural "stopper" letting you know when you've taken a movement far enough.
Maintain tension (contraction) in the working muscle during the entire movement. While you don't have
to stop at the midpoint of the rep to accentuate the contraction, don't hesitate to do it if it feels good.
Muscle Groups
During each repetition the brain sends signals down through the Nervous System to the muscles
necessary to make the motion which requires actions by more then one muscle. In this very complex
and well-orchestrated event some muscles must shorten (contract) and pull, others must relax to allow
the movement to happen, and still others work to stabilise the primary movement. When muscles
cause a limb to move through the joint's Range Of Motion, they usually act in the following cooperating
groups:

Agonists create the normal range of movement in a joint by contracting. Agonists are also
referred to as prime movers since they are the muscles that are primarily responsible for
generating the movement.

Antagonists act in opposition to the movement generated by the agonists and are responsible
for returning a limb to its initial position.

Synergists assist in performing the movement executed by agonists and make sure that the
force generated works within the desired plane of motion. Synergists are sometimes referred to
as neutralizers because they help 'neutralize' or cancel out the extra motion from the agonists.

Fixators or stabilizers, provide the necessary support to assist in holding the rest of the body in
place while the movement occurs. Fixators are also

Agonists and antagonists are usually located on opposite sides of the affected joint (like your
hamstrings and quadriceps, or your triceps and biceps), while synergists are usually located on the
same side of the joint near the agonists. Larger muscles often call upon their smaller neighbors to
function as synergists.
When an agonist contracts, in order to cause the desired motion, it usually forces the
antagonists to relax. This phenomenon is called reciprocal inhibition because the antagonists are
inhibited from contracting. As an example, when you flex your knee, your hamstring serves as the
agonist, or prime mover which contracts. Meanwhile, the antagonist quadricep is relaxed and
lengthened somewhat. The calf and lower buttocks serve as the synergists.
Interestingly enough, reciprocal inhibition of the antagonistic muscles does not always happen and is
not necessary to produce contraction. In fact, co-contraction can occur. For example, when you sit
down or perform a squat, or do a set of lunges, you could assume that the agonists (hamstrings and
glutes) of the back upper thigh inhibit the contraction of the muscles in the front (your quads). Not so.
In this particular instance the antagonists also contract, except they contract eccentrically. Similar
situation is seen in performing sit-ups for abs all muscles around your waist, including the
abdominals and spinal erectors co-contract. This is one reason why sit-ups are good for strengthening
the back as well as the stomach.

The following is a list of commonly used agonist/antagonist muscle pairs:

Chest/pectorals and Back/latissimus dorsi (pecs and lats)

Front/anterior shoulder, Back/posterior shoulder (front & back deltoids)

Upper-mid back/trapezius and Shoulder/deltoids

Stomach/abdominals and Spinal erectors/lower-back

Left and Right external obliques (sides of the waist)

Front thigh/quadriceps and Back thigh/hamstrings

Front-lower leg/shins and Back-lower leg/calves

Front-upper arm/biceps and Back-upper arm/triceps

Forearm flexors and extensors

The High Quality Repetition

A quality rep is performed by raising and lowering the weight in a deliberate, controlled manner. When
you perform a typical weight-bearing repetition, use a speed at which the movement is completely
controlled with no swinging. If you let momentum do some of the work for you, you won't use as many
muscle fibers to lift the weight which makes the exercise less productive and less efficient. Lifting a
weight in a rapid, explosive fashion also exposes your muscles, joint structures and connective tissue
to potentially dangerous forces which magnify the likelihood of an injury.
In most cases it should take about 2 seconds to lift the weight in the concentric phase and 4 seconds
to lower the weight back to the starting/stretched position during the eccentric portion. This speed will
guarantee that you're exercising in a safe, efficient manner. But don't take this as a gospel changing
the speed of repetitions has astonishing muscle-building potential. (I dedicated a chapter called
Repetition Speed with over 10 pages of information on the subject to barely cover the basics... and
you'll love reading it.)
Breathing is another important aspect of any rep.
"Listen, are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?" (Mary Oliver)
Remember to breathe naturally and execute movements through a full ROM in a slow, controlled
manner. Now you are thinking - weight plate goes up, weight plate goes down, when do you inhale and
exhale throughout all this?
"Learn how to exhale, the inhale will take care of itself" (Carla Melucci Ardito).
As a rule of thumb, exhale during the concentric contraction, the period of greatest exertion, and take
deep breaths in during the eccentric or relaxing phase. I like to think about it as exhaling the effort
as if pushing the air out of the lungs helps to push or pull the weight from its original position. For
example, when you are training your chest on a bench press, exhale as you bring the bar up from the
chest, then inhale as the bar is lowered down.
Concentrate on your breathing as you do each rep and try to make each breath steady, smooth, deep
and calm. Breathing too fast or too slow can make you hyperventilate or dizzy. Always control the
intake of breath, keeping it smooth and deep. This will prevent gulping air which in turn regulates the
oxygen levels in your blood.
Breathe from your belly or diaphragm, not your chest. Drawing the belly out brings the diaphragm
down, inflating the lungs. Next, the ribcage is expanded to draw in more air. Finally, the shoulders and
clavicles are drawn back to bring in the final small increase in lung volume. The reverse action takes
place during exhalation. Pay attention to your breath not only when you train, but during any time of
the day. Many people keep their stomachs sucked in and tight continuously, thereby depriving
themselves of the belly-expanding major portion of each breath. This very shallow breath using only
the shoulders/clavicles and the ribcage for inhalation and exhalation will keep you alive, but may

deprive you of energy-giving oxygen. When you breathe through your chest, only a small volume of air
is drawn in which results in your energy levels plummeting. At the end of a training session, do a few
slow controlled breathing exercises - this will help to move the metabolic wastes and even speed up
healing. A very effective strategy is to use slow deep breaths during the cool-down and stretching.
By Elena Voropay