Saturday, January 4

i think there are specific stages to working out: (i'm sure a lot of ppl know this already, but it is so interesting to me, i will post it anyway)

1) pre-workout stage- this is when your body is flabby, not used to any strenuous exercise, and will be terribly sore and in pain after any significant amount of exercise.

2) break up the muscle stage- this is when you engage in a serious meaningful workout. in the process of working out, your muscle fibers are being strained, stretched, and broken. basically, you are working/injuring your muscles in a slow, steady manner.

3) repair- after that initial workout, your body will heal what damage you caused, and will lay more muscle filaments down, to prepare your muscles for what may be future exercise. however, i think that this initial repair is rather unorganized.

now, lots of muscleheads just cycle and repeat 2 & 3. what results is a swollen, big guy, with huge, swollen muscles.

but, if you are like me, and want your muscle to have some function (help my game in bball), you don't want to be bulky. you want to have strength, but be lithe, quick, and to strike like lightning.

4) organization- this is when all your muscle mass is organized in such a way that it responds maximally.

*whereas 2 is achieved by gradually increasing the wt you are working with, 4 is achieved by maintaing the wt you have decided to go with, and doing lots of repetitions. each stage takes at least a day. and the repair takes a 2-3 days. thus, one wants to work out a muscle group one day, then a different muscle group a diff day, to allow that first group to repair.

*when i work out, i get a little bulky. after a play ball a couple of times, that bulkiness will smooth down, and translate to increased strength. the muscle will be organized. to get bigger after that, i have to work out and engage in step 2, the break up the fibers stage.

*each time one works out, you are kicked up to a different level. so, even if you don't work out for a period of time, it is easier to recover and restart your workout schedule if you have worked out previously, than if you are starting for the first time. thus, even if you regress a little bit because you have not worked out for a while, the previous workouts were not a waste of time.

the human body is absolutely amazing. you can practically MOLD your body for specific functions.

/class

*note: these stages are not based on science (who would want to do that?), but on my own observations while working out*

sorry to bore some of you. i'm sure most guys knew this stuff already, and most girls could care less. oh well. i find it interesting...

yakob at 8:47 PM

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