ARE YOU THE MUSCLE MAN?
Weight lifting workouts are mostly an anaerobic activity. The term "muscular" is often used to indicate weight lifting as an anaerobic workout. Muscular fitness is the canopy term for several muscular fitness components. These include muscular power, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. Each specific muscular fitness component is different one from each other.
Commonly, anaerobic fitness components are developed during activities that at least 51% of the total energy is produced without oxygen as part of the process (anaerobic energy production), which are usually 120 seconds or shorter (two minutes or less). Lifting weights in many cases meet these criteria.
Advertisement
Muscular strength is an anaerobic muscular fitness component that is dedicated to allowing the skeletal muscle/s to develop maximal strength without any constraints of time. In other words, the skeletal muscle is given "endless time" to develop as much muscular force as possible. For example, tasking a person with chest-pressing 150 lbs. Notice that there is no indication as to how fast it needs to happen; Just that it needs to happen.
Muscular power is an anaerobic muscular fitness component that is dedicated to the skeletal muscles developing as much force as possible within minimal time. In other words, the skeletal muscle is given very little time to develop as much muscular force as possible. For example, tasking a person with chest-pressing 150 lbs within 2-3 seconds. Notice that there is a clear indication as to how fast it needs to happen. While the skeletal muscle may develop great force, the question is can it develop its true maximal force in such short time? - most-likely not; Yet it can be close to its maximal force production capacity.
Muscular endurance is an anaerobic muscular fitness component that is dedicated to the skeletal muscles developing relatively low levels of force over a prolonged period of time; Sustaining muscle work for 30-120 seconds. Muscular endurance allows multiple repetitive movements with weights at relative low RT intensity (with little weight/resistance). It is the "prolonged" version of weight lifting.
Integrating what we have learned in another post about the repetition maximum (RM) scale and the knowledge given here, development of maximal power or maximal strength means working a t the 1RM level (100% RT intensity), while working at high intensity yet not maximal RT intensity would be a 2Rm - 8RM RT intensity workout. Muscular endurance usually includes weight lifting workouts at the 20RM or more RT (resistance training) intensity. The range of 9rm - 19rm indicates a workout of medium RT intensity.
The higher the RT intensity of the workout, the greater the quality of the workout, and the more the emphasis is on increasing muscle mass (hypertrophy), and vice versa. The lower the RT intensity of the workout, the lower the quality of the workout, and the more the emphasis is sustain muscle work with limited increased muscle mass (limited hypertrophy).
Lifting weights consistently for more than 120 seconds straight would cause the workout to begin as anaerobic muscular work and transition to aerobic muscular work. This is due to the fact that though the work out is weight lifting, the dominant energy production processes shifts towards aerobic energy production past the two minute "mark".
Advertisement
Comments