Muscle Contraction and Recovery Ability
Strenuous muscular work does not build muscle. If it did, the hardest workers, particularly those who start in childhood, would be the biggest and strongest people. But the reverse is actually the case, because strenuous training and hard labour actually break down the muscular tissue.
We know that there are the rare cases of men who are able to train strenuously and show good physical development. But such persons are possessed of extraordinary powers of recuperation and they would get better results from more scientific methods of training. Some men are vitally strong enough to withstand several years of hard wear and tear on the organs, and it is these rare cases that are held up by advocates of strenuous training as proof of the efficacy of such training.
However, few people have the time or inclination for such unnatural methods, and it has been proven that by reasonable methods everyone is able to gain and maintain their full potentialities in health, strength and muscular development. I use the word maintain because only when a natural method is used can the training be continued throughout life. - Court Saldo
Intro
My Framework
Changing Things Slightly
Recovery Ability
Wrap Up
Intro
The quote above was from the guy on the far right, Court Saldo. I couldn’t find any adult photos of him all I could find was one of him from his teenage years. But he was part of a school of training throughout the early and mid-20th century that sought to train the body by having a basis in the ability to efficiently contract and relax certain muscles.
This school of training called, “Maxalding” was created by his pops, Monte Saldo and his friend Maxick. Maxick is the main one who discovered, practiced, and perfected this form of training from childhood. The reason Maxick trained in such a fashion was that he was a sickly child and his parents forbade him to do any sort of physical training/lifting.
The way they would train and teach others to train was by contracting individual muscles in their most shortened position.
Done with consistency over time this would increase the strength of the muscles as well as increase their size but not to the steroid/performance-enhancing physiques we have today. This ability would then be integrated with dynamic movement to not only enhance one’s strength but also test one’s ability to relax and contract the various muscles involved in a movement.
There are advantages and disadvantages to engaging in such a form of training. The shortened position for muscle contraction, although not ideal for tendon strength and crossover to dynamic performance, does have it’s perks.
My FrameWork
The question I like to ask myself is…
“If I’m a dad on my little homestead far from the open-air gulags they call cities and I have a boatload of kids, how can I train to best maintain or improve my capabilities in a time/energy efficient manner?”
In addition to this, what form of training will keep me strong well into old age?
*Circa 2064*
WEF Soldiers - “Sir, you need to give up your cow as eating meat has been outlawed to save the planet. HAND IT OVER!!!!”
Me - “Come and take it Son!!!!!!!”
Therefore, I like to train in a more minimalist fashion where the hours I devote to training, the hours I devote to recovery, and the money I devote to my training/nutrition decrease.
Because of this, I like to train mainly with overcoming isometrics(OCI) as my foundation and when I train in this fashion I focus on the more lengthened position as this has a few benefits. Training in this fashion still causes some degree of muscle soreness depending on how one utilizes it but not to the degree of dynamic training as I explain in this video.
Changing Things Up
This past week I took a few days to somewhat combine some concepts from my OCI training with Maxick’s approach. Instead of the lengthened position I did a few workouts with just the shortened position the result being that I felt a little more energized and my muscles a little less jaded.
“The reasons for storing energy are manifold, but indicate first and foremost, the possibility of future action. Energy would be quite unnecessary were it not for the idea of action and its subsequent use.” (Maxick, 1911)
I’ve talked about this concept in the past what I refer to as potential energy. I’ve experienced it through OCIs at certain joint angles especially the lengthened one. But due to age or how long one may have been out of physical training, I recommend people start slow and pick one OCI posture/joint position to start with. If one wishes to perform multiple OCI postures when the working muscles are at their shortest there is still benefit to this. Just as long as over time you play around with exerting force at longer muscle lengths.
Recovery Ability
The quote I had at the beginning of the article I find is somewhat related to a quote from a bodybuilder by the name of Mike Mentzer. Mike Mentzer believed that not all humans have the same recovery ability. Two individuals engaging in the same leg day workout might have different recovery requirements one being fully recovered over the next two days the other taking most of the week. This could be due to our environment more than our genetics. Age might also be a factor. A possible difference between 1 X 20 one-legged squats now and back, when I was in college, might be my recovery ability.
The things that might affect recovery ability are…
Age
Stress
Your Phone and Wifi
Food or "Food”
Sleep
The duration/intensity of the workout
Nissan Altimas
But Maxick and his students were able to accomplish impressive things by focusing on the shortened position for muscle contractions. In their writings, they often talk about triggering muscle growth or, “Healthy Muscular Tissue” without the normal methods that would drive one into the dirt. Maybe the shortened position can be leveraged in certain ways to bring this about. But there aren’t any scientific research papers that can back this up (#going in blind) so I’ll need to do some testing on my own body. More on this in the future.
Due to a person’s age and environment, their recovery ability might be significantly hindered. Therefore, a method that is more conservative in muscle tissue damage might be favorable.
“Hold on Pall!!!!! You go from lengthened partial bodyweight exercises and OCIs and now you're talking about the benefits of OCIs in the shortened position. What’s next… standing in the middle of the room thinking myself to greater strength and muscle?”
Me -
Every form of training is a tool. Due to one’s circumstances knowing the pros and cons of various tools can mean the difference in one’s success. Lengthened position OCIs may work during a certain part of the year/life and the middle or short may work better at other times.
Can’t I just do all of them during one workout?
Absolutely. If I had all the time in the world(or retired) and was stuck on an island by myself I’d probably be performing all the OCIs at all the joint angles. However, due to certain buildings making Americans poorer by the second influencing how much we need to work to stay afloat, I like to find ways to help myself and others be more efficient with their training time.
Wrap Up
Many things factor into one’s recovery ability. The more I try and chase my white whale the more this becomes apparent.
Thank you for making it to the end and let me know your thoughts below.
Until next time…