How to just maintain muscle?

[SouthernBell]

First question, Does muscle soreness have anything to do with your muscle fibers ripping and that whole process of rebuilding more muscle fibers?

My delima is I don't want to add any more muscle to my lower body as of right now because my upper body lags far behind. But it does not matter what weight I use I am still very sore the next two or sometimes three days. Does this mean I am still ripping the muscle fiber? And if so do I want to do this even though I don't want any more size right now?

For instance yesterday was leg day. I started with squats, I found that 135lbs is a happy medium for me to squat. I can easily do 10reps on my last set so should I increase? (I know that I wont get big and bulky, that is the last of my worries.) But right now all I want to do is maintain what I have? All of my other exercises stay constant in weight even though I feel I can probably do more weight. I just want my upper body to catch up then go from there with a more balanced Physique.

How do you know when you are lifting adequate weight for maintence? Or is there even such a thing ?

love

 

[JJFigure]

You know, I had that same thought during my last diet cycle. My legs are fuller than my upper body - always have been. So, I decided quit doing real leg workouts - I'd do sprints every once in a while, walking lunges with bodyweight, that type of thing, but I quit heavy squatting, DLs - basically, anything that resembled a real leg workout. Did I notice any change to my lower body? No. Did my upper body magically catch up to my lower body? No.

So, I went back to training legs (focusing more strength) - something I actually missed. I worked with my PL friend, and we've been concentrating on strengthening my hamstrings, fixing my DL form, and experimenting with different versions of the squat. Are my legs bigger than they used to be? No. Are my hams stronger? Definitely. I also think they're looking nicer, and the split between my quad and hams is getting more pronounced.

Bottom line is my legs seem fuller than my upper body primarily because that's where I store more bodyfat - not because my lower body has SO much more muscle than my upper body does. That's why I'm doing a longer diet cycle this time - dropping more fat from my lower body will make me look more proportionate. The trick is going to be keeping my upper body from dropping too much muscle at the same time.

Continuing to work in a 10 rep range probably isn't your answer, since that's the range most likely to enduce hypertrophy. Maybe you can change your focus to more of a strength approach, which may help you builder denser lower body mass, but not necessarily larger lower body mass - especially if you're not eating the kcals required to be adding muscle mass.

 

[SouthernBell]

JJ- What would you consider a strength range, 3-4 reps on last set? how many sets? When I dieted down last summer I lost most of my upper body and my lower body looked great, so my focus turned to build upper body maintain lower. I know I carry some fat in my legs but I still find My muscle proportion is off. I have always worked my legs even before I took weight lifting serious just by activities I did ex. I was a catcher in Softball, Constant up and down squating, Karate- lunges lots of leg exercises grappling etc. Therefore my legs are more advanced. if there is such a thing. I find they just respond great.

What would you consider denser lower body mass as compared to larger lower body mass, and how does strength training give density rather than size?

I understand your approach as far as holding fat, and I totaly agree, That is part of my problem. I just don't understand how strenght training will help me become denser.

 

[JJFigure]

Here's an excerpt from website http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/haycock/training-01.htm explaining the difference between sarcoplasmic and sarcomere hypertrophy:

"With sarcoplasmic hypertrophy the volume of non-contractile protein and semi fluid between the muscle fibers increases. Although the CSA of the muscle increases there is not a proportional increase in voluntary muscle strength. It is this type of hypertrophy that has lead to the assumption that bodybuilders are in large part (no pun intended), weaker than their Olympic lifting and power lifting counterparts.

Sarcomere hypertrophy involves an increase in the number and size of the sarcomeres which comprise the myofibrils. These are added in series and/or in parallel with the existing myofibrils. It should be noted that only parallel growth will lead to an increase in the ability to produce tension. In contrast to sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, with sarcomere hypertrophy there is an increase in myofibril density and a significantly greater ability to exert muscular strength. The type of hypertrophy that you experience from your training depends on the manner in which you train. High volume/moderate rep(8-12) training leads to more sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, while lower volume/low rep(1-6) training leads to more sarcomere hypertrophy (Nikituk & Samoilov, 1990)."

Spatts has discussed this topic a couple of times by mentioning the weight differences between female bodybuilders who've never powerlifted and powerlifters who have competed in bodybuilding. The powerlifters tend to have heavier weights at the same size, due to both greater muscle and bone density.

 

[SouthernBell]

Thanks JJ, I briefly read over the article but I am printing to study it more. Very interesting reading.

So in a nutshell, by lowering my reps and sets and upping my weights I may reduce the size of the muscle but not the defintion or the strength. . I have tried with higher weights but never droped the amount of reps that I did them at. I always shot for at least 3 sets of 10 reps.

I think I remeber Spatts talking about this some time ago now that you metion it, And if i am not mistaken She posted a pic. I will do a search and see if I can find it.


thanks JJ

love

 

[newgirl-chargeback]

JJ -- you mentioned above that you wanted to drop bodyfat but more so from your lower body.....

How does one accomplish that? By way of my physical makeup/shape, my upper body is far leaner than the rest of me and I have always been told that you cannot spot reduce. I would love any suggestions you could offer.

And I totally hear you on the muscle density (in my neck of the woods we call muscle maturity)....as my husband has gotten more efficient in his gym time, he seemingly has muscles that are far more dense and have a better overall look (as opposed to just bigger) even though he has not dropped his bodyfat. I remember the pics and thread you refer to -- it trully was amazing to see the bber and the bber/pler's different mass but overall size the same.

 

[JJFigure]

That's the problem, newgirl, you really can't spot reduce. If you're losing fat, you're losing it all over; if you're losing muscle, you're losing it all over. The trick is finding the fine line between the two portions of your body - that point where you actually look proportionate. Supposedly, according to the people who've given me feedback, if I drop another 5-10 lbs., I will look better proportioned. I have no idea if I really will or not, but I'm giving it my best shot. I can say each competition I've entered, I've looked better proportioned, and each competition I've entered, I've come in a little lighter in weight.

Keep in mind, when you are lean, you actually look bigger. I'm hoping I have enough muscle all around, so even when I lose some of it, I'll still look like I have some decent size. This is all theory right now though. We'll see if that theory pans out in about 8 weeks.

 

[newgirl-chargeback]

Indeed keep us posted....I am always curious to your posts -- you seem to be very detialed and open for discussion.

I failed to mention it earlier but good luck!

 

[valerie]

Lowering carbs is what hits the lower body fat. This means going low for quite sometime. This is why some competitors will diet for 16-20 weeks as opposed to the standard 12 weeks. I'm not saying keto or no carbs.-valerie

 

[valerie]

I wanted to add that we just about always carry more fat in the lower part of our bodies and less in the upper. Different type fat I think.

I've noticed that the longer I train, (5 years now) the less fat I store in both areas. Still at times it is more than what I want.