SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

Don't pre-order yet: We don't know if you are a 'responder' and even if you are whether your gains will actually benefit from allegedly increased muscle activity (eventually it's not even clear that high EMG = high motor unit activity, cf. Vigotsky 2017 ). The promise of achieving greater muscle activity at lower weights while embracing the strengths of barbells (stability, easily rackable) and dumbbells (natural/optimal movement pattern) is yet intriguing, I must admit 😏. The "good old barbell" is just that. It's "good" and it's "old" and it has proven its efficacy for generations of bodybuilders and strength athletes. So why would you even consider replacing it with a barbel-ish new device? Maybe because of the results of a recent study from the  University of Cassino and Southern Lazio  which promise increased muscle activation at lower loads and correspondingly reduced injury risk? Sounds good? Well, we'll see... ...

An extreme arch as it can be seen in this female lifter was not allowed in the study at hand. Speaking of female lifters. There were no women among the subjects of the study at hand, but there's also no reason to believe that there are fundamental sex differences in muscle activity. No, this is not the first article on the effect of bench angle and grip width on one's ability to actually target the pectoralis muscle during the bench press, here at the SuppVersity . It is, however, the first one to be based on data from "elite bench press athletes". More specifically, the subjects in Saeterbakken's latest study were twelve bench press athletes competing at national and international level (mean age 34.3 ± 14.1 years, body mass 97.6 ± 18.3 kg, stature 1.73 ± 0.12 m | personal best ranged from 130 in a 56kg guy to 240 in an athlete competing in the <82.6kg class). All participants competed in the bench press, four athletes participated in all three competiti...

Image 1: The m. triceps brachii . As if you did not know where to find your "horseshoes" ;-) After last week's issue on leg training, devoting a whole issue of the SuppVersity EMG Series to a three headed muscle of your upper arm appears kind of unthrifty... well, maybe we should say "extravagant" and thus acknowledge that a well-built triceps unquestionably contributes to the muscular, athletic look most trainees are trying to achieve - especially if you are wearing one of those short-sleeved business shirts and complement them with appropriately muscled forearms ;-) As its name already implies the triceps consists of three heads, the long head , caput longum , which arises from the infraglenoid tubercle of the scapula and extends distally anterior to the teres minor and posterior to the teres major, and the two short heads , of which the caput mediale and the caput laterale which run along the rear side of the humerus. Being the antagonist of the...

Image 1: The biceps brachii attaches directly to the shoulder joint ( Användare:Chriz @ Wikipedia) As its name already implies, the bi-ceps (lat. for "two-heads") brachii is made up of two muscle strands, both of which attach to different parts of the shoulder joint: the caput longum (long head), which attaches to the tuberculum supraglenoidale scapulae and facilitates internal rotation and abduction of the arm, and the caput breve (short head), which attaches to the processus coacoideus and facilitates anteversion and adduction of the arm Their individual kinetic functions aside, both heads of the biceps brachii work synergistically during basic curl movements and more complex movements such as the supination of your palm. In that, the individual position of the hands determines, which of the two heads of the biceps carry the main load of the movement. Chest Biceps Back Core L...