3 ms·
In all the newbie lifting programs (Starting Strength, StrongLifts etc) you'll see that untrained individuals can achieve almost linear growth for the first cou
by zawerf 8y ago
In all the newbie lifting programs (Starting Strength, StrongLifts etc) you'll see that untrained individuals can achieve almost linear growth for the first couple of months. Their size are definitely not growing linearly though. Most of the gains is from what they call "Motor Unit Recruitment" where your brain learns how to activate muscles you already have to complete increasingly heavier lifts.
In that sense the experiment here makes sense. You're just making sure you still remember how to fully utilize the muscles even if they are in cast. I doubt there's any difference in terms of muscle atrophy (and of course don't believe just thinking about it can lead to hypertrophy).
- psychedelic 8y agoThis. I coached powerlifters for a time and you even see this when athletes have taken long breaks from hard workouts. Motor movement, like everything else, is a learned and perishable skill.
- mlevental 8y agonothing like newb gains. but I'll say (and this is really just a random comment) that it's possible to reproduce those gains later in your career given good nutrition. I first did starting strength over a decade ago (circa age 18) but last year I decided to really invest in nutrition (read: a double scoop protein shake with every meal) and I had "linear growth" for 6 months (5-10 lbs every lift every week). I've plateaued now and so I'm cutting but man was it fun to stack plates again.