Hard vs. Soft Muscles - Also Speed Reps ve Slow:

[EPROM]

Two things:

(1) Hard Muscle vs. Soft Muscle (Bicep as an Example)

I have been training hard all of my life. I usually have a much better build than most people, but there have been declines now that I'm 47. From my 20's all the way to now I have what I call "Soft Muscles". When I flex a big ol' Bicep ...it's kinda soft. You can crunch it. Most people have rock hard biceps ...but mine are never rock hard. I usually have better volume and size than most of these people, yet they always have the rock hard bicep. Why is this? ...and should I have a certain type of workout/training method based on my muscle type? (i.e., is "lower weight - higher reps" better for this muscle type or "low rep - higher weight"?)

(2) Speed reps vs. Slow and Determined

I have always understood that you quickly lift heavy weight upward (one second) and lower the weight slowly and determine (3 to 5 seconds). For instance, If I am doing curls I curl lift the weight quickly up - slowly back down to positive failure. Then I immediately drop the weigh a certain percentage and keep going to positive failure. I do this one more time for a total of three breakdows to positive failure. I consider this all "One Set of Curls". I may do 5 sets of this type of breakdown curls during a workout.

However, every time I see a video clip of a professional bodybuilder s/he is doing reps just as quickly as friggin possible! ...I see them getting 8 to 12 curls in like 10 seconds! I always thought this was the WRONG way to do this? have workouts changed over the years and somehow I missed it? What's up with all the "speed lifting"?

Birdman

 

[desmond]

Yeah bump re: question 2.

Why do (a lot, not all) pros lift like this? Is it because they are the genetic eliete, and are comparable to 100m sprinters with mainly fast twitched muscles?

Two things:

(1) Hard Muscle vs. Soft Muscle (Bicep as an Example)

I have been training hard all of my life. I usually have a much better build than most people, but there have been declines now that I'm 47. From my 20's all the way to now I have what I call "Soft Muscles". When I flex a big ol' Bicep ...it's kinda soft. You can crunch it. Most people have rock hard biceps ...but mine are never rock hard. I usually have better volume and size than most of these people, yet they always have the rock hard bicep. Why is this? ...and should I have a certain type of workout/training method based on my muscle type? (i.e., is "lower weight - higher reps" better for this muscle type or "low rep - higher weight"?)

(2) Speed reps vs. Slow and Determined

I have always understood that you quickly lift heavy weight upward (one second) and lower the weight slowly and determine (3 to 5 seconds). For instance, If I am doing curls I curl lift the weight quickly up - slowly back down to positive failure. Then I immediately drop the weigh a certain percentage and keep going to positive failure. I do this one more time for a total of three breakdows to positive failure. I consider this all "One Set of Curls". I may do 5 sets of this type of breakdown curls during a workout.

However, every time I see a video clip of a professional bodybuilder s/he is doing reps just as quickly as friggin possible! ...I see them getting 8 to 12 curls in like 10 seconds! I always thought this was the WRONG way to do this? have workouts changed over the years and somehow I missed it? What's up with all the "speed lifting"?

Birdman

 

[timtim]

i wouldnt look to pros for any training advice. maybe some exercises to target muscles at different angles (Charles Glass) but their training is usually not the best. i see king kamali 3 or 4 times a week. monstorously huge but his intensity and exercises are shit. i rarely ever see him use free weights. he is beyond huge though. there is the genetic response to the aas and he probably eats 6k calories a day.


rep speed varies. explosive for fast twitch, short sets. the long, slow reps are for hypertrophy and to activate deeper muscle tissue. both should be used in a periodized plan.

 

[EPROM]

So why are my "guns" softer than others? How's come I can squeeze them? They're big ...but soft.

Other people's muscles are this way too.

Should we workout differently based on our curious muscle type?

 

[mmo115]

i wonder the same

 

[NJL52]

There is no such thing as hard muscle or soft muscle. It is called fat.

 

[EPROM]

There is no such thing as hard muscle or soft muscle. It is called fat.

That is NOT what is going on here. I am not alone on this either. On CERTAIN people (and it must be a minority) no matter how lean you make yourself, when you flex a muscle ...it's soft. "Soft" means that you can crunch my bicep no matter how hard I flex it. It is a nice, big bicep with a nice vein on top ...but you can crunch it. Other people's muscles can't be crunched so easily. ...It's NOT FAT!!!

Maybe if a few other "Softies" would chime in on this we can have a concensus. ...I know they are out there! It's a muscular condition and NOT fat!

Birdman

 

[OneBreath]

That is NOT what is going on here. I am not alone on this either. On CERTAIN people (and it must be a minority) no matter how lean you make yourself, when you flex a muscle ...it's soft. "Soft" means that you can crunch my bicep no matter how hard I flex it. It is a nice, big bicep with a nice vein on top ...but you can crunch it. Other people's muscles can't be crunched so easily. ...It's NOT FAT!!!

Maybe if a few other "Softies" would chime in on this we can have a concensus. ...I know they are out there! It's a muscular condition and NOT fat!

Birdman

Actually it might be intramuscular fat. Check this out:

Intramuscular fat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[SaiBoT]

Actually it might be intramuscular fat. Check this out:

Intramuscular fat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's intramuscular fat! Pumping a muscle will not give the hardness you are looking for Eprom, so the problem about your biceps is more training related... you should as heavy as you can and keep your muscle under tension thoughout the set, going all the way up on any type of curl will make you lose the contraction point. Also you don't need drop sets... You need a routine?

 

[EPROM]

It's intramuscular fat! Pumping a muscle will not give the hardness you are looking for Eprom, so the problem about your biceps is more training related... you should as heavy as you can and keep your muscle under tension thoughout the set, going all the way up on any type of curl will make you lose the contraction point. Also you don't need drop sets... You need a routine?

SaiBot,

First, thanks for your input! I have been lifting for probably 30 years. I have a variety of routines tried and tested over the past thirty years. if what you say is true, then there is no way this "IM fat" will ever go away ...because one time I did nothing but protein shakes and heavy, hard-hitting training until I dropped down to 160 pounds at 5'11". I was thin, but MAN I WAS CUT!! There wasn't a thimble full of fat on me and my vascularity was insane.

Yet (((STILL))) ...my biceps and other muscles are soft when flexed. It really pissed me off, too.

I think there is a muscualr condition that is seldom talked about or something to do with the straition of the muscle tissue that makes this happen.

Have you ever seen those wierd people who can stretch the skin on their cheeks like a foot away from their face? I can only pull mine away about an inch. These people have something STRANGE going on. I'm thinking there is a similar strange thing going on with my muscle tissue, too.

BTW: I am not alone on this. I've googled and read the posts where other people are asking the same question. I also see their frustration because they get the same answers and THEY KNOW something else is going on.

You probably don't hear much about this condition because it falls in the "small dick" category. ....Nobody wants to fess up and admit that they are made this way. They would rather just keep silent and hope they can glean an answer from some brave fucker's post (like mine).

I appreciate your response ....but my 160lbs experiment says otherwise. My body fat was like onion skin thin - almost to the point of being sick-looking.

Birdman