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from Rick Mayo's Blog

Train like Tarzan-Look like Jane!

I often address concerns with ladies who understand that weight training is beneficial for weight loss, but they do not want to gain any muscle size. They simply feel that lifting too heavy will result in a “weight lifters” body and not the lean, slender look they desire. A simple explanation as to why this is not a concern usually involves an explanation of the relationship between the density of fat and muscle. Muscle is denser and thus takes up much less space than fat. Additionally, an increase in lean tissue will raise your metabolic rate and result in fewer fat cells (smaller body).

Let’s take a closer look at how to structure your weight training sessions to achieve a leaner, slimmer body.

First, let’s explore the ways we gain muscle. We must first understand the muscle growth (hypertrophy) principles, as well as the factors which affect it. Hypertrophy is the increase in muscle size as overcompensation for micro-trauma due to overuse. In other words, how your muscles respond to the stimulus of weight lifting. The two principal types of hypertrophy are myofibrillar hypertrophy, and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

Myofibrillar hypertrophy- is an enlargement of the contractile fibers (myofibrils). This type of hypertrophy is accompanied by the ability to exert muscular strength and is developed with low rep/heavy weight training (1-5 reps). This type of hypertrophy results in a much more dense and strong (functional) muscle.

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, on the other hand is the increase in the volume of the non-contractile muscle cell fluid, sarcoplasm. This type of hypertrophy is accompanied by an increased resistance to muscular fatigue which is the result of a bodybuilding based routine (multiple sets/10-15 reps per set). This cell fluid accounts for 20-30% of the muscle size. This is type of hypertrophy may be desirable if you compete in bodybuilding but may not give you the ideal body for an evening gown. Unfortunately, most women’s programs are based on this type of protocol.

Based on the ways that our body gains muscle, women should aim for a lower volume, lower rep range (heavy weight) program as opposed to the typically prescribed low weight, high reps protocol.

Rick Mayo