Planning Your MSE Section

Muscular Strength and Endurance
Resistance training includes any exercise that causes you muscles to contract against and external resistance, with the aim to increase muscular tone/mass/endurance. This external resistance can be in the form of free weights, resistance machines, your own bodyweight, resistance bands or any weighted object used to make your muscles contract.
In simple terms, resistance training works by microscopically tearing muscle fibres for them to be repaired and regenerated, growing back stronger- anabolism. During this regeneration process nutrients as well as testosterone, protein and growth hormone move in to help repair the muscles during the recovery period after MSE training.
Benefits of MSE Training:
+ increase muscle strength and tone
+ increase metabolic rate, helping to maintain weight
+ increase bone strength, reducing risk of osteoporosis
+ can reduce blood pressure
+ maintain muscular strength throughout life- after age of 30 muscle fibre size and type 2 muscle fibre quantity decreases.

Strength Training for Hypertrophy:
Muscular hypertrophy refers to increasing size, so bulking for large muscles. For this type of training you need to be looking higher weights/resistance that cause your muscles to fatigue by around the 6th-8th rep, and this should be done for 2-3 sets. This is a very general overview of reps/sets to start strength training on, and we shall go in to more detail on more specific training methods and plans in the future.
Muscular Endurance Training:
This type of training is aimed more at increasing muscle ‘tone’ and definition without focusing on grain large muscle size. (Again, not to stereotype! But ladies, this is often a popular choice for you when your looking to improve muscle shape and tone without bulking). For this you need to be looking at lower weights/resistance but working the muscles for longer. For example to the point of fatigue setting in more around the 12th-15th rep, for 2-3 sets. Still, this is again a very general overview of reps/sets to start on and we shall look in to more specific plans in the future.

Categories of Muscular Training:
Isotonic
Isotonic contractions create movement by the muscles contracting and shortening.
+ good for movements/actions relative to your sport
+ strengthens your muscles throughout a range of movement
- can cause muscle soreness through stress whilst lengthening
- the strength gains are not evenly distributed throughout the action
Isometric
Isometric training involves contracting the muscle without it shorting, therefore giving no movement. e.g the plank. This should be done as well as isotonic training.
+ develops static strength, e.g used in pushing/pulling/holding up a heavy object
+ they’re quick
+ can be done anywhere
+ no expensive equipment needed
- can cause temporary raises in blood pressure and be risky for those with heart conditions
- the muscles worked only gain strength at the angle it is used during the exercise.
Isokinetic Training
Isokinetic training involves constant speed of muscle contraction throughout the action, as opposed to isotonic contractions where the contraction is usually slower at the start and gets easier as the resistance comes closer to the body.
+ even strength gains throughout range of movement
+ fastest way to increase muscle strength
- very expensive gym equipment