If I was to lower my bodyweight by decreasing my Muscle mass, would I be decreasing my power output and strength at the same time as losing the muscle???..
Does a loss in muscle mass in the lower body result in a loss of Power???.. or Does a loss in muscle mass result in a loss of Strength??? Or is it neither one???..
Is Strength and Power even the same thing???.. Does a “Bigger” muscle mean you will have a bigger power output or is it solely a strength thing.
I know Kim Collins has a power output that borders on the inhuman.
This is fairly complex area - so forgive me for being pedantic
Strictly speaking - No.
Power is a function of strength and speed NOT muscle mass.
No (again strictly speaking) - Mass does not = strength, Mass is the cross section of the muscle (i.e. Hypertrophy)
It may - but does not have to.
You may have what is known as ‘non-functional’ hypertrophy, where two muscles are the same size but not of equal strength.
No - Power is Strength x Speed
2 people - Tom and Jerry -
Tom and Jerry can bench X kgs as a 1RM.
Tom Benches X kgs in .65 of a sec
Jerry Benches X kgs in .45 of a sec
Jerry is MORE POWERFUL than Tom
To a certain extent muscle hypertrophy(functional structural gains) improves power and power to weight ratio, but this limit is hard to find. As well firing rate of a muscle is controlled by the nervous system so one can be in fact powerful without mass depending on their nervous system. Its a complicated issue, but i recommend you go over to t-mag.com and read the christian t. article, it talks about whatyour asking. As well search forum archives on the subject.
Thats true - but I guess the main point here is that the sports specific improvement that hypertrophy training provides is much less than that which strength and or power trg provides.
Yes I know, Im not saying train specifically for hypertrophy, overall volume of low rep training will allow for maximum functional structural gains because the hypertrophy caused by pwr and strength training is to create a power and strength increase rather than to just get larger.
Hypertrophy training doesn’t improve those qualities yes…but losing muscle mass is a different matter.
Strength and power technically are neurological phenomenon, but you can’t forget that the muscle fiber is what actually does the work. If an athlete has a certain amount of muscle tissue and performs at a given level, you’re very likely not going to see that same athlete remain at that level when muscle mass is lost.
If an athlete has a certain amount of muscle tissue and performs at a given level, you’re very likely not going to see that same athlete remain at that level when muscle mass is lost.
So if an athlete goes through a period of losing muscle mass, Why wouldn’t you see that athlete performing at the same level prior to him losing the mass???.. If he’s losing the mass, What else is he losing for him not to remain on the same level of athletism that he had beforehand when he had the mass???..
Structural gains up to a point are functional(getting bigger and weighing more improves you power to bodyweight ratio up to a certain point, which is different for everyone). Thats why it cant be kept the same unless the athlete was already above their limit of where hypertrophy stops being functional.
If you’re concerned about your strength to weight ratio, losing muscle mass isn’t going to help that at all.
At your height/weight you could very probably add some muscle and end up in increasing the ratio. Hypertrophy isn’t the massive evil that it’s often made out to be; in elite athletes sure, but in beginner to intermediates I wouldn’t worry about it. Added muscle is rarely going to hurt.
I used this analogy elsewhere, but think about it in terms of a car. If you have a little car with a 85hp engine, how can you make it accelerate faster? Well, you could take out the back seats and try to make it lighter, but the real gains will come when you put in a bigger engine and a turbo charger to get more horsepower. Even though the engine will weight more, the car goes faster. Why? Because the extra weight was more than compensated for by the increase in output.
The same thing with muscle mass. If you put on more functional muscle mass, then you will be able to accelerate faster. At 6’ and 147#, you have already taken out the back seat and stripped the doors off the car. Time to put in a bigger engine!