Weekly Question Thread - Week of 10/1/2018

@devotionspirit At the end of the upper day I hit biceps and triceps for 6 sets each with 2 different variations. I try and fit 6 more sets in at the end of one of the lower days, or an entirely separate arm day.

Shoulders is 4 sets over head dumbbell pressing, 4 sets lateral raises on the upper days. And 6 more sets on the arm day I mentioned before.
 
@devotionspirit Isn't it too much variation? I would just do 1 exercise per muscle group per session for arms, for UL and any other training scheme.

For triceps I would do an overhead extension variation one session and an horizontal extension the other one; for biceps, I would rotate between free weights and machine.
 
@paparazi257 Currently in my bulk and doing upper lower 4 times a week with +- a day or 2 of cardio usually just one. When I transition to cutting I was thinking of doing a 250 cal deficit and adding a cardio session each time weight loss stalls for a week. Opinions on this idea? Or should I just go with 500 deficit and call it a day? I’m worried about losing muscle during my cut because my last cut I lost to much muscle I felt from doing -500 coupled with a heavy job and lifting. No longer doing the heavy job but want to preserve the most muscle as possible.
I’m not competing so time isn’t to big of a concern for me.

Another thing is I plan to keep the same program going. But should I take away any volume once I start eating less, I’m worried about overtraining due to less calories and not being able to recover. I’ll defiantly make sure to try to progress on everything as much as possible. The idea is to stick with whatever help d you build muscle so would it be pointless to change up rep scheme/volume? Thoughts or tips? Thx
 
@devotionspirit That seems like a good start. On the training side I like your thinking, if your performance drops you may need to drop volume a bit but don't drop it until you need to. On the diet side, when weight loss stalls each time, you can drop more food or cardio, whatever is easier for you. Where the deficit comes from shouldn't affect muscle loss.
 
@devotionspirit That's a good start, but sometimes (especially during a diet) you can feel like crap but still not be overtraining. Personally I'd not drop volume until you see performance drop off, so if you keep the weight on the bar or increase a small amount and your reps drop off big time.
 
@paparazi257 What are your go-to training techniques for medial delts?
I have been adding in 3x10 lateral raises either DB or cable variation to the end of all upper body sessions to get some extra volume into my training. I know soreness isn’t an exact indicator of progress but I never seem to get sore in this area at this current level of volume.
What has worked well for you and have you seen the most improvement with - Supersets, straight sets, high reps, heavier weight ?
 
@axlewack Upright rows after lateral cable raises.

Look at that muscle, the delt has 3 anatomical parts but actually it's 7 different parts. In lean individuals you can observe this. Of course all parts of the side delt do the same thing but they are activated differently at different angles. To effectively hit them with side raises you need to do different leaning and arm rotation positions.
 
@commando95 The 3 anatomical parts is just outdated knowledge, in medicine/anatomy we learned that classification and it was correct in the exam but today we know that this was wrong. That would be the only muscle that is classified by it's insertions instead of it's origins.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21118198

The anatomical study demonstrated that the deltoid muscle was divided into seven segments based on the distribution of its intramuscular tendons. The PET study revealed that the intake of FDG was not uniform in the deltoid muscle. The area with high FDG intake corresponded well to the individual muscular segments separated by the intramuscular tendons. We conclude that the deltoid muscle has seven anatomical segments, which seem to represent the functional units of this muscle.
Click to expand...

The acromial part is called lateral delts if you look at someone with cannonball delts and low BF you can see that despite having the same origin (all 3 heads have the same insertion) that muscle is not very homogeneous. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wMZI-Hn1k3A/maxresdefault.jpg

3 tendons at the insertion but 7 at the origin there are muscle fibers that start at the acromion but end in the tendon of the front and rear delt. That makes the side delts a complicated muscle, just moving it always in the same plane won't be as effective as doing a well rounded training for all parts.

It should be obvious that muscle activation changes when you lean forward or backwards since you change the angle between the force vector and the direction of the muscle from origin to insertion. And it's still the same movement that the muscle performs it's just small tweaks that activate it slightly different at slightly different leanings, which shouldn't be controversial.

If you always do the exact same thing you won't be hitting it as effectively as you could, side delts a weak spot for many people and most of them would benefit from a bit of variation.

Upright rows effectively hit the side delts, even more so if you prefatigue/preactivate them with isolation movements. That alone are 2 different tweaks, they are also activated a bit in front and rear delt exercises. Add in another leaning position for lateral raises and you have a full training of the side delt.

Similar stuff applies to the front and rear delt. You need more than just 1 exercise for them.
 
@commando95 Biceps has 2 heads

Triceps 3

Shoulder 7

And innervation patterns... all nerves have multiple motor neurons, most muscles have thousands of motor neurons. No one defines muscles that way. And there are many muscles that are innervated by several nerves.

Especially the back muscles are innervated by multiple nerves.
 
@trumpeter2 I'm not going to even get into this since I've seen from other posts that you are unable to see things from views other than you own. But you're speaking to someone four months away from completing a Doctorate in Physical Therapy, not some Joe smoe bro lifter. In other words, it's my job to be an expert on the human body, and you have some serious gaps in your understanding.
 
@axlewack What I’ve noticed is side delts seem to have a HUGE capacity for volume. I’ll start with 3 or 4 sets of lateral raises, 8-20 reps per set, twice a week. Once I hit the top end of the range range, I’ll start adding more sets. Then, once I’m doing 7 or 8 sets at the top end of the rep range, I’ll start manipulating rest periods. Then I’ll start adding drop sets.
Then and only then, with strict form, I’ll add weight and start over. Just remember the medial delts are a relatively small muscle, which is why 5 pounds may feel like 20.
 
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