Increasing Muscle Strength With Weight Training
There are two very distinct types of weight training: strength training and bodybuilding, and both are useful for increasing muscle strength.
It is thought that the human body is comprised of a whole spectrum of muscle fibres, from so-called ‘slow twitch’ to ‘fast twitch.’ And, different muscle fibres are responsible for different types of movement.
For instance, in the 100m sprint, fast twitch muscle fibres would be used; the movement is short-lived, fast and explosive. On the other hand, long-distance running would use slow-twitch muscle fibres; it’s not explosive, it’s a steady, long, sustained movement.
Therefore, there are different methods you can employ in weight training for increasing muscle strength – strength training, and bodybuilding.
Strength training is low repetition, heavy weight. It’s explosive, and if you are looking to build explosive muscle strength, I would suggest you take up strength training as it will allow you to hit your goals.
Bodybuilding, while it doesn’t have to be for physique/show purposes, can also help to increase muscle strength, but in a different way. Bodybuilding tends to be far less explosive, with higher numbers of repetitions and sets being performed, generally building better endurance.
Whether the theory behind fast and slow twitch muscle fibres is real or not, it is certainly factual that common bodybuilding practices will help you to develop higher levels of endurance strength, while strength training will help you to develop more explosive strength.
Many lifters incorporate the two into their programs to give them the best of both worlds.
