Muscle Specific Training Part 3
Time to finish this topic off...
Back
The back contains many different muscles that would take up way too much time and, frankly, I don't think many people are interested all of them.
So I'm going to split this section into the main muscle groups that can be trained, namely the lats, traps & lower back.
Latissimus Dorsi aka Lats
The main function of the lats is shoulder adduction & extension.
The lower part of the lats perform the adduction with the upper part involved in extension - so you need to incorporate both movements to maximise growth.
For shoulder adduction you need your shoulders to be externally rotated while for extension you want the shoulders to be in a neutral position.
An easy way to see if your externally rotating your shoulders is to ensure that your thumb is facing upwards, not down, while doing any type of rowing movement.
For example on straight arm pulldowns, you want to use a V bar rather than a straight bar to maximise growth by having the right shoulder rotation & hand positioning.
In terms of exercises:
Wide grip pullups/pulldowns are a good choice to maximise the growth of your lower lats through shoulder adduction.
For shoulder extension, pretty much any type of row will do provided you take into account the hand positioning I mentioned.
The lats have an equal amount of fast/slow twitch fibers so medium reps of 10-12 are the best choice.
Traps
This is another group where way to many people have inbalances because they focus on the upper traps (that look "aesthetic") and completely ignore the middle & lower traps.
Training the traps is actually pretty simple: depress, retract & elevate your scapulae in equal amounts versus resistance.
The traps are very slow twitch dominant so you need high volume, 15+ reps with an emphasis on slow tempo due to the limited range of motion of the muscles.
In terms of exercises, chin ups are an excellent way to target the mid-low traps as are any row variations that involve going from a high position to a low. For the upper traps, shrugs are the obvious choice.
Lower back
A very important group of muscles in your posterior chain (or "core"), effective training here can maximise all of your compound lifts & save you a lot of headaches with back injuries in the future.
The muscles in the lower back are designed to be stabilizers and NOT participate in any sort of flexion whatsoever. This means, if not performed correctly, moves such as back extensions can cause more harm than good.
The easiest way to train the lower back is through stable moves such as planks & bird dogs (youtube it for a demonstration) but the problem with these moves it that their is a limit to how much you can progress on them.
If your not susceptible to lower back problems, then back extensions are still the best way to optimize growth provided you correct your form.
This involves AVOIDING full flexion of the lumbar spine (this looks a bit like a cat stretching) and instead maintaining a neutral spine by having a slight pelvic tilt. If done properly, your lower back should be stable throughout the move with no flexion whatsoever - an easy way to see if you've done it correctly is to have someone watch your lower back from a vertical position to see if there. If there is, then you need to readjust your form.
For anyone confused about this, PM me and I'll show you a video to demonstrate what I'm describing.
As for reps, the lower back is slow twitch dominant by approximately 6%, so 12-15 reps with a slight hold in the concentric position (2-3 secs) is optimal.
Abs
The rectus abdominis is involved in flexing the spine, the obliques are involved in rotating the spine and the transverse abdominis ("inner abs") are involved in creating intra-abdominal pressure.
This means compound movements like squats and deadlift variations are more than enough stimulation for the obliques and transverse abdominis but not for the rectus abdominis, which would need direct work.
The rectus abdominis is slightly fast twitch dominant and tends to respond best to 8-12 reps with slow eccentrics(3 sec).
However, when it comes to exercise selection things are complicated by the fact that spinal flexion, which is necessary to stimulate the abs, is inherently bad for your lower back & spine.
So my advice would be:
- Stick to planks or McGill curl ups if back health is a bigger priority
- Start doing hanging leg raises if maximum abs stimulation is the aim
- Perform crunches with a slightly tucked in hip to force your lower back to the ground in order to get the best of both worlds - any confusion about this technique please let me know.
Neck
I wasn't going to include this but since I incorporate neck training into my programme, and the neck is the most visible muscle group, I decided to include a short section on it.
The only exercises that will give you sufficient stimulation of the neck are weighted neck extensors & flexors (front, back & both sides). Start with a very little weight for your own safety.
The neck is 65% fast twitch dominant so you may think that low, explosive reps is the most optimal route.
Theoretically, yes but there are 2 major problems here:
- the neck is a very vulnerable body part as it is & I don't think its wise to do low rep high intensity stuff since the slightest error in form and your in a load of trouble.
- the neck also has a very short range of motion that makes it unlikely that you'll achieve enough muscle tension doing low, explosive reps.
Because of these considerations, I recommend 10-15 reps with a moderate tempo throughout the movement. This will allow a heavy enough weight to stimulate the muscle without risking injury.
Hamstrings
Hamstrings are involved in moving the hips during hip extension and knee flexion.
This dual function is key because if the hamstrings are flexed/stretched at the hip AND knee, they become inactive and don't get sufficient stimulation.
This means you need to choose movements that avoid all knee flexion, such as leg curls and straight leg/Romanian deadlifts.
The hamstrings are also EXTREMELY fast twitch dominant at 77% so reps of 5-8 with slow eccentrics is the way to go - forget all your high rep leg curl nonsense.
Glutes
To really emphasize the importance of training your glutes - countless polls conducted by women for women have shown that glutes are the most attractive body part on a male.
So all those men's bodybuilding magazines telling you its all about the chest, arms, etc - bullshit
Too many lifters train the hamstrings & glutes together despite the fact that they have COMPLETELY opposite functions & fibre types. This partially explains why male bodybuilders tend to have really poor glute development and overdeveloped hamstrings.
Both muscles are involved in hip extension but that's where the similarities end.
The glutes are activated when the knees are flexed, the hams are not. So any deadlift variety that involves bent knees, the glutes are being worked rather than hams - contrary to popular belief.
We've seen that the hams are very fast twitch dominant but the glutes are actually slightly (2-3%) slow twitch dominant - another reason why training both simultaneously will mean sacrificing growth in one of them (usually glutes).
Exercises for the glutes need to involve bent knees, so glute bridges & hip extensions are good choices here.
The rep range should be around 10-12 with a 3 second pause in the contracted position for glute isolation moves.
Quads
The quads have 3 heads known as the vastus lateralis (VL), rectus femoris (centre of the quad), and the vastus medialis oblique (VMO - teardrops).
All 3 heads are involved in knee extension but the rectus femoris is also involved in hip extension - this means its inactive on movements extending both the hips & knees (so leg extensions are better than squats here).
I should add that there are other muscles in the front of the thigh such as the adductors (60% slow twitch dominant) and a bunch of other small muscles around the hips that are even in terms of fibre composition - but I wont be going into detail about these.
The quads also have a mix of fibre composition with the VMO slightly slow twitch dominant, the VL 57% fast twitch and the rectus femoris is strongly fast twitch dominant at 65%.
The best thing to do here is use a mixed rep range with a slight emphasis on the low rep range. For example 2 sets of 8-12 with the 3rd & final set at 12-15.
I don't have any specific to say about exercise selection apart from ensuring you follow the rules I highlighted in my previous article.
Before moving on from the legs I want to add that in my experience leg compound moves (squats, lunges, etc) tend to stimulate more growth if the rep range is relatively high, such as 12-15.
I have a few theories as to why this may be but don't want to turn is article into broscience village so...
Calves
I've written so many training programmes for calves that I have all the data, and references, for this section memorized off the top of my head.
The calves can be split into two separate muscles - the soleus & the gastrocnemius.
The soleus is slightly "underneath" the gastroc but both are involved in giving the calves that well developed diamond like shape.
The soleus is approximately 90% slow twitch dominant & is involved in knee flexion.
This means the best way to train this portion of the calves is with donkey/seated calf raises through very high reps (20+) & slow tempo throughout the movement.
The gastroc is fast twitch dominant by a few percent and has a lateral & medial head.
To emphasise different heads of the gastroc you need to alter your foot positioning with toes out focusing on the medial & toes in for the lateral head.
Despite being only slightly fast twitch dominant, in my experience the gastroc responds very well to low reps. So the recommendation is to perform standing calf raises with neutral knee positioning in the 4-6 rep range with a slow (3 secs) eccentric portion.
For more specific information on training the calves - PM me & I'll said you a copy of a few routines I've used with success for my clients.
Conclusion
A few supplementary points to end on:
-An optimal rep range per muscle group is 40-60 reps, twice per week.
You can use this as a guideline to determine how many sets you need in your workout based on your split (5x5, 4x10, 3x12,2x15 etc).
- Optimal training frequency is 2-4x week but you can of course train more than this on cycle due to the enhanced recovery if you wish but I doubt it will add anything significant to your gains.
- Rest periods play a small role in building muscle, which is why I didn't really mention it. In general, you want short rest periods (60-90secs) for the slow twitch dominant & long periods (3-5 mins) for the fast twitch dominant.
Any questions about the techniques described in this article then please PM me and I'll be happy to explain.
References
Changes in muscle morphology in chronic trapezius myalgia. R Lindman, M Hagberg, K A Angqvist, K Soderlund, E Hultman, L E Thornell. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1991 October; 17(5): 347-355
Free to view study:
Changes in muscle morphology in chronic trapezius myalgia. - PubMed - NCBI
Effect of isometric upper-extremity exercises on the activation of core stabilizing muscles. Sami P. Tarnanen, Jari J. Ylinen, Kirsti M. Siekkinen, Esko A. Mälkia, Hannu J. Kautiainen, Arja H. Hakkinen. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2008 March; 89(3): 513-521
Fiber type composition of the vastus lateralis muscle of young men and women. R S Staron, F C Hagerman, R S Hikida, T F Murray, D P Hostler, M T Crill, K E Ragg, K Toma . J Histochem Cytochem. 2000 May; 48(5): 623-629
Fibre types in human abdominal muscles. T Haggmark, A Thorstensson. Acta Physiol Scand. 1979 Dec;107(4): 319-325
Fibre types in human lumbar back muscles. A Thorstensson, H Carlson. Acta Physiol Scand. 1987 October; 131(2): 195-202
Leg extension power and muscle fiber composition. E F Coyle, D L Costill, G R Lesmes. Med Sci Sports. 1979 Spring; 11(1): 12-15
Muscle hypertrophy in bodybuilders. P A Tesch, L Larsson. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1982; 49(3): 301-306
Trunk muscle activation during dynamic weight-training exercises and isometric instability activities. N Hamlyn, D G Behm, W B Young. J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Nov;21(4):1108-1112
