Tips On Natural Bodybuilding
Natural bodybuilding is not easy. Nature designed our muscles, bones, and tendons to work together as a unit. Muscles are able to generate the greatest force when they are trained on their ideal planes of motion, so you should always work your muscles along these planes. Exercising muscles at odd angles does not stimulate more growth or change the shape of your muscles. Athletes also risk injury when they resort to these unusual positions.
Muscles allow the body to stand upright and move in a coordinated fashion. Each muscle connects two bones, and the entire network of skeletal muscles and bones is called the "bony lever system." Muscles are connected to the outer coating of the bones by tendons, which are strong and densely constructed connective tissues that allow the force of muscular contraction to be transmitted from the muscle cells to the outer reaches of the bones. These muscles, bones, and tendons work together as a unit to allow a wide variety of physical movements.
The point at which the tendon connects to the relatively stable part of the skeleton is called the muscle's origin. The point where the tendon attaches to the bone that performs the movement is known as the insertion. The locations of these origins and insertions are permanent, and cannot be modified through training. Therefore, if a person has a genetically short biceps, this muscle trait will always remain. The biceps can increase in size through muscle growth, but it cannot grow outward by changing its connection points to the bones. This is one of the "givens" that we all have to live with even you’d like to get muscle fast naturally.
Sometimes athletes are told that they can change the shape of their muscles by performing unusual movements. For example, you may have heard that rotating your ankles inward while doing a calf raise will work the outer part of your calf muscles. Unfortunately, this "technique" is erroneous. The tendons for the two calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) are both attached to the back of the foot, not the sides. The function of the calf muscles is to raise the body to the tiptoe position, not to rotate the ankles inward and outward. (Other muscles are involved in these movements). Since the calves are not recruited for these rotations, they cannot be a factor in calf growth. However, when you perform a calf raise with these odd positions, you do bring into play a number of smaller muscles that are more easily strained. This increases the risk of injury without improving the growth potential of your calves one iota. This is a lose-lose situation that you should definitely avoid if you want to build muscle naturally.
The chest, back, and shoulder muscles are able to operate on broader planes of motion. For instance, the main chest muscle (pectoralis major) can move the arm in a variety of directions because it has many points of origin along the breastbone. However, for most muscles there is only a single point of origin and insertion and, as a result, one ideal way to lift a weight. Muscles are able to generate the greatest force when they are trained on these ideal planes of motion, so you should always work your muscles along these planes. It is here that the mechanical advantage for lifting is the greatest and the muscles are most "comfortable" at performing their function.
Athletes usually recognize when they are training a muscle in a disadvantageous position. They frequently get warning signals from their muscles or tendons in the form of pain or unusual sensations informing them that their technique is off. Yet, athletes sometimes interpret these signals as a call to action. They recall the "no pain, no gain" credo and figure that if it hurts, it must be valuable for getting muscle naturally. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your body is trying to keep you from injuring yourself, so listen to the warnings it is giving you. Your muscles and your mind have to work together. When they do, you win with a new spurt of muscle growth and you are able to build muscle.
