Strength... muscle type?

[JaguarMike]

A friend of mine that plays D1 double A football has huge muscles that have fat in them, not overkill, but not fatless muscle like these roided out guys I see at the gym. He is just huge though.

What is a more efficient form of strength? "Marbeled" muscles, or heavily defined muscle with little fat? Hope Diesel responds to this.

*A visual of what I am talking about is Arnold in his prime (defined muscle), and a russian bear wrestler (more "marbeled" muscle).

 

[MindOverMatter]

think about it.

Mike has 17 inch biceps with 9% bodyfat.
Rick has 17 inch biceps with 20% bodyfat.

obviously Mike will have more muscle tissue, as a large portion of Rick's 17 inch biceps includes excess fat, which Mike does not have.

as for strength, strength is not dependant on muscle size, but rather the density of the muscle. every big gym has at least one normal looking guy who can bench 300+.

 

[green69]

How do you get muscle size, and how do you get muscle density?

 

[MindOverMatter]

different training methods, different rep ranges, different diet, etc.

check out some strongman forums.

 

[semag]

Originally posted by JaguarMike
\ Hope Diesel responds to this.

DIESEL isn't anymore.

Not saying there aren't people here that know their stuff, in fact, I would like to see some discussions between the new guys, and the old guys... (DIESEL, Industry, Wheelin&Dealin) although it would just turn into flaming i think

they all knew their stuff, just in different sections.

MOM, alex, double, lifeforce, gav... there's a lot of info around, and people with experience.

 

[Create Reality]

This is a cross-section of a muscle fiber...

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/muscle3.jpg

I would think a more compact muscle with more fibers and less fat cells would be superior. The efficiency of the muscle is PROBABLY increased.

 

[JaguarMike]

Thanks Create, you gave me some Reality

 

[Create Reality]

np

 

[Warboss Alex]

You people really should stop worrying about muscle density and fast/slow twitch fibres and concentrate on proper form, progressively heavier and a solid diet .. do this consistently for six months and I promise you, the only thing you'll be worrying about is a new wardrobe ..

 

[Warboss Alex]

Incidentally, powerlifters have the thickest (strongest) muscle I'd say - watch a super heavy powerlifter diet down to 8% bodyfat and he'll blow bodybuilders out of the water.

 

[MindOverMatter]

Originally posted by Warboss Alex
Incidentally, powerlifters have the thickest (strongest) muscle I'd say - watch a super heavy powerlifter diet down to 8% bodyfat and he'll blow bodybuilders out of the water.

yeah but how many dumbbell kickbacks can he do bro.

 

[Heizen]

Originally posted by MindOverMatter
think about it.

Mike has 17 inch biceps with 9% bodyfat.
Rick has 17 inch biceps with 20% bodyfat.

obviously Mike will have more muscle tissue, as a large portion of Rick's 17 inch biceps includes excess fat, which Mike does not have.

as for strength, strength is not dependant on muscle size, but rather the density of the muscle. every big gym has at least one normal looking guy who can bench 300+.

Thats CNS efficency, not density.

 

[sempor]

MindOverMatter was right about different rep ranges. When you do low reps(5 or less) with alot of weight you train your nervous system to be more efficient(like Heizen said), which means you'll get more control over your muscles, which means more power. With low reps you won't get much muscle gain though. If you do a bit higher reps (+- 8-12) you'll primarily be developing muscle mass, but offcourse also some strength. It's best to vary your reps though, also with even higher reps because this will train every organelle in your muscle cells, causing them all to grow, instead of just some of them which are used with a certain amount of reps.

About JaguarMike's question: I don't think you can really tell how strong someone is by the amount of muscle they have. Bodybuilders get made fun of by powerlifters alot, because the powerlifters feel that the bodybuilders are only developing useless muscle, purely for show. Even though some of these bodybuilders may look way more muscular, it's very possible they're weaker than a well trained powerlifter who doesn't look so muscular. It's because he's trained his nervous system, and thus has more control over his muscles, which makes him stronger. The amount of fat around the muscle also doesn't matter as long as it isn't there instead of extra muscle tissue. So neither "Marbeled" muscle, or heavily defined muscle is a more efficient form of strength than the other.