Explosive Hypertrophy Development: 5RD Method, Advanced Way for Explosive Hypertrophy, Cases Report Series Research

The bodybuilder is the one who, through a high-calorie diet and training focused on the use of dumbbells and strength machines, aims to increase muscle mass, far exceeding the normal proportions and anthropometric measures found in the average population. The bodybuilder is often confused with the weightlifter but there is a clear difference between the two. Muscular Hypertrophy: Muscle grows significantly when subjected to a stressful stimulus. Overloading represents the specific stimulus that produces hypertrophy, i.e. the increase in muscle mass due to the increase in the size of the individual fibers. Satellite Cells and Muscular Hyperplasia: These are fibers deriving from the mesoderm germinative sheet from which muscle tissue originates. The satellite cells, arranged between the endomysium and muscle fibers, represent a growth reserve that intervenes in the event of damage. The number of satellite cells is genetically pre-determined; they are adjacent to the fast twitch fibers (IIa and IIx). When there is sufficient testosterone in the circulation, the nerve impulse becomes so intense that it forces the muscle to contract beyond a certain threshold. Only in this way the stimulus that tears the connective tissue of the fibers is realized. Hypertrophy is an increase in the size of muscle tissue. This encompasses increases in the contractile elements of a muscle (i.e. the fibers) and a concomitant expansion of the extracellular matrix. When we lift weights a whole bunch of  jiggery-pokery (that’s a technical term used in molecular biology) results in the addition of contractile units in parallel, leading to an increased diameter per fiber and thus an increase in muscle cross sectional area.

Hypertrophy CAN also happen in series to adapt to a new functional length (e.g. in the case of previously immobilized limbs) and as a response to eccentric training. While that might be important for injury prevention and rehab, it’s not really the focus of people getting swole so we won’t get too into that. Similarly, whilst hyperplasia (the addition of new fibers, as opposed to growing existingones) has been demonstrated in some animal models, it doesn’t appear to happen with training. Off the top of my head there was some research showing a greater total number of muscle fibers in bodybuilders than regular folks, but that didn’t demonstrate that the disparity arose as a result of training per-se, rather that bodybuilding might just select for those with higher than average muscular potential. Of some importance, also, is the idea of a “myonuclear domain”. Muscle tissues are multinucleated – the little powerhouses that actually synthesize new proteins distributed along the long muscle cells. Myonuclei can only oversee a given amount of cell volume, and so eventually for growth to occur additional nuclei have to be added. So in addition to the before mentioned jiggery-pokery that allows us to synthesise new muscle tissue, it’s presumed that at some point you need satellite cells to differentiate into additional nuclei to facilitate this, and researchers have found more or less this, with only modest growth possible without the addition of myonuclei.

Quite cool (and again quite irrelevant to the article at hand) is that additional myonuclei appear to stay around even when we atrophy (lose size), which facilitates regain of muscle size (so-called muscle memory). I recently learnt that there’s a bit more to it than that, with some cool epigenetic stuff going on too, but the point is you need enough little muscle-making factories distributed along your muscle fibers to grow and I’ll leave it there. So, hypertrophy is the addition of contractice and non-contractile elements to muscle tissue. In response to training it happens mostly by the addition of contractile elements in parallel. The question is WHY/what causes it. As with everything, our adaptations are fundamentally a response to imposed stressors. We have a baseline level of muscularity, are existing in a nice little homeostatic comfort zone, suffer a perturbation (training), and respond to that by fortifying the systems that weres tressed. There is a threshold of stress required to actually induce adaptation, and as the systems getting resilient that threshold increases. In muscle hypertrophy, 3 major drivers of growth have been identified: Muscle Damage, Mechanical tension, Metabolic stress.

Upper limb electromyographyis a neurological diagnostic test that evaluates all pathologies and abnormalities existing on the peripheral nervous system in correlation with the muscular system of the upper limbs. Electromyography is also indicated by the abbreviation EMG and is a very common diagnostic procedure that investigates the health of muscles in correlation with the nerve cells that control them. This examination is carried out through the application of small electrodes that transmit and detect electrical signals emitted by nerve cells. The electrode is needle-shaped and is inserted into the muscle in order to record the electrical activity that it carries out. Other electrodes will also be applied directly to the skin of the upper limb and which are used to detect the speed and mode of movement of the signals emitted by following a point path. The exam takes place in two phases. The first is used to ascertain the speed with which an electrical stimulus travels a nerve, while the second is inserted into the needle-shaped electrode at rest, in contraction and in maximum contraction of the affected muscle. In body building or other activities Electromyography measures the electrical activity of the muscles during exercise.

Although the EMG does not directly measure muscle tension, the two should be very similar, since the electrical activity that EMG measures is simply a measurement of the signal from the nervous system to the muscles. An increased EMG activity is indicative of the nervous system's attempt to produce more muscle strength. Research indicates that EMG very carefully models muscle strength (tension) with isometric contractions. However, the more dynamic the movement and the more fatigue it triggers, the more the EMG moves away from the tension estimates .Furthermore, with coarse movements and superficial muscles, the surface EMG is quite reliable, but for accurate movements and deep muscles a thorough  EMG is required for accurate estimates.

In our research we used the Deymed EMG, a two-channel electromyograph. The first ever battery-powered EMG system that offers the highest quality nerve conduction, EMG and EP examinations. Modern design with unified elements for practical use and of great aesthetic effect. The fast and easy-to-use software interface combines powerful customizations and preset protocols for immediate use. Deymed’s new ultra-lowcapacity induction charger keeps batteries full when the system is not in use. This ensures the highest signal quality with battery operation during sensitive neurophysiology tests. Optical isolation greatly improves signal quality and patient safety. This feature, combined with longlasting battery operation, offers best-in-class technology for neuro physiological recordings.

Methods

Thirty (30) male participants (age 25±7 years, body mass 80±9 kg, height 182±7cm) with at least 5years resistance training experience (four resistance training sessions per week). All participants were right hand dominant and were divided into 5 groups, we tested the 5RD method for 04 weeks, each group focusing on different muscle group to improve:

Group 1=Shoulders (deltoid).

Group 2=Back (specifically latissimus dorsi, teres major, rhomboids).

Group 3=chest (specifically pectoralis major)

Group 4=biceps & triceps (specifically triceps brachi lateral head)

Group 5=quadriceps and hamstrings (rectus femorisvastuslateralis and vastusmedialis, biceps femoris and semimembranosus).

For the muscle activity measurement, we used Deymed EMG traveler.

Technical specification

Deymed EMG traveler measures muscle response or electrical activity in response to a nerve's stimulation of the muscle, in response to a stimulus from the neuron, a muscle fiber depolarizes as the signal propagates along its surface and the fiber twitches. This depolarization, accompanied by a movement of ions, generates an electric field near each muscle fiber. On the other hand, the muscle may show abnormal electrical activity during contraction. This shows up as an abnormal action potential pattern with changes in the size or shape of the wave. Abnormal EMG results may indicate muscle damage or a problem with the nerves that control the muscle. Before testing our method, we performed tests to identify dysfunctional muscle activity, all participants at the time of the study did not present any pathology (Table 1).

Table 1:

The 5RD method, (the details of the method are under copyrights rules)

For example, the weak part is back muscles and specifically latissimus dorsi, teres major, rhomboids. The good exercise for these muscles is T-bar rows so we performed 4 sets of 8 repetitions and in the last set we performed the 5RD METHOD, the exercise was performed correctly and with total tension and the rest time between sets was 1 minute 30 seconds TO 2 minutes.

Note: This method required a special diet and special supplement regimen as well, before, during and after training and everything was based on scientific methods and specific dosage of everything that changes with every individual.

We performed a comparison test between other popular training methods (drop set and rest pause) with our 5RD METHOD.

1. Greater muscle activation in 5RD than drop set and rest pause.
2. The 5RD resulted in the greatest repetition impulse in comparison with drop set and rest pause.
3. The timing of contractions becomes more coordinated.
4. Neural pathways linking to target muscles become more efficient at transmitting the message (stimulus).
5. The ability to summate (fire a lot of impulses in target muscles all at once) is improved with 5RD.
6. Most important, greater muscle size in shorter time.

With 5RD METHOD we noticed higher signals in desired muscle than other methods, in the last 2 repetitions we noticed a decrease in the frequency components of the EMG signal, typically represented by a fall in the center frequency (fc), and more decrease during biceps curl, during fatigue development muscle length significantly influences the EMG fc, and it may be an important factor to consider when utilizing the EMG fc to detect muscle fatigue also (Figure 1).

Figure 1: