Lightening Wall

What does a picture of lightening have to do with gaining strength without size?

Strength is largely a result of electrical neurological impulses.

  • Weak electrical impulses = weak muscle contractions.
  • Strong electrical impulses = strong muscle contractions.

Have you ever seen a skinny teenager with skinny stick-legs dunk a basketball?

That kid has the neurological equivalent of a lightening bolt shooting down to the muscles of his lower body. . .delivering a fast, powerful contraction.

Compare that to an inactive 35 year old guy who can’t jump over a mud puddle.

AA Battery…which is the neurological equivalent of the power delivered by an AA battery.

Muscle size and fiber type comes into play as well.

For the most part, a larger muscle has more strength potential. The thing is, most of us aren’t maximizing our current muscle size. We are only delivering weak, AA battery level impulses, to our muscles.

How do you generate strong muscle contractions?

The best way is by lifting heavy weights.

This is a common concern for men and women who don’t want to increase muscle size…runway and fashion models for instance.

The thing that builds up a muscle is moderate-to-heavy weight…lifted to failure (or really close to failure).

You can increase muscle size with 3 reps…and you can increase muscle size with 15 reps.

If you are struggling or failing on that last rep, your body will compensate by increasing the size of the muscle group over time.

So the “high reps” for definition and “low reps” for size isn’t necessarily accurate.

Neither is, “To get big simply lift heavy, eat tons of protein, then rest and repeat.”

You are much more likely to hit your fitness goals if you understand how lifting to failure vs lifting short of failure works.

Here’s just a few brief point:

  • When lifting a heavy weight more motor units in a muscle will fire…compared to lifting a lighter weight.
  • Heavier weights require more “voltage” to the muscles being worked…in order to recruit enough motor units to successfully lift the weight.
  • Repeatedly exposing a muscle to this heavier, high-voltage lifting will improve neurological efficiency in that muscle overtime.
  • As a muscle becomes more efficient, the neurological pathways improve and increase over time.
  • True muscle tone is a result of a “partially contracted muscle in a relaxed state”…created by improving neurological pathways to that muscle.