By this time, most of you are probably wondering how much muscle you have lost during this whole quarantine thing. You are probably dreading stepping back in the gym to see how pathetic your body is going to feel. I understand. However, it doesn’t need to be this way! You can still maintain muscle even if you don’t have access to a plethora of weights and equipment. Before I explain how, let me give a little background on the process of muscle development. In 2010, Dr. Brad Schoenfield, world renowned researcher on muscle growth, revealed in a study three primary mechanisms thought to be responsible for inducing muscle hypertrophy: mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage. Since the aspect of muscle damage hasn’t been fully validated in further research concerning muscle growth, I will leave that out of this article discussion and discuss the other two.
Mechanical tension will be the mechanism most likely impacted during your hiatus away from the gym. It will be negatively affected because it relates to lifting heavier weight. Unless you have copious amounts of weight lying around your home, you most likely won’t be able to load your muscle fibers with enough stress to cause a response within the cells for muscular adaptations. As a result, this type of training might have to be put on the backburner for now, but can be full steam ahead once the doors to the gym open back up.
Metabolic stress, however, is an area that can be fully taken advantage of during your quarantine training as it can require little or no equipment. Metabolic stress, in simple terms, is the “pump”. Popularized by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the “pump” is the feeling you get when you are training your muscles and they start to fill up with blood and they feel like they are going to explode. More blood is coming into the muscle than leaving it, therefore causing fluid accumulation within the muscle’s interstitial and intracellular spaces. “Pump workouts typically involve rep ranges from 8-20 or more reps, short rest periods, and multiple sets for the same muscle group or opposing muscle groups. They can also include advanced training techniques such as: drop sets, burns, partials, negatives, peak contractions, and forced reps” (Source: https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ivan5.htm).
Some examples of exercises that follow this logic are included below. You might have to go through these sequences two or three times while training close to failure, but they will ultimately provide the necessary stress to pump you up!!
Bicep Curl 21’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjIEXtVuRNo
Three Way Shoulder Raises (Paul Carter): https://www.instagram.com/p/B_A1IgQDydf/
Push Ups (Decline, Regular, Incline): http://nicktumminello.com/2012/03/2-triple-threat-push-up-workout-protocols/
Split Squat 1.5 reps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM-wcLIvn9Q
Tricep Finisher: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-the-ultimate-triceps-finisher
Glute Finisher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXNcoKeGvUA
3-Way Band Pull-Apart (Back): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcOpf1MMfxQ
Nevertheless, I hope this article gives you a little hope that your hard earned muscle can still be present when you get back to the gym. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns as I will be glad to help. Take care and as always…SETTLE DOWN SLACKERSSSS!!!!