Muscular stretching tension and muscular contraction tension: focus on anatomical basis.

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Today, in most training programs that you can find, exercises are often determined at random. You quickly fall into the trap of wanting to imitate your neighbor or, worse, your favorite influencers or YouTubers, without taking into consideration their anatomical differences. In other words, Schwarzenegger's workout for his Mr. Olympia preparation will unfortunately not give you his physical condition, even after years of training. One of the factors that can explain this can be found in today's article.

What is the stretch-tension and contraction-tension coupling?

Do you wonder why there are so many exercises in bodybuilding? Or how to explain the infinite variations of certain movements, even though they are intended to work the same muscle? The answer is simple: your morpho-anatomy is unique, so you must respect some basic principles to optimize your progress. Let's focus today on the principle of stretch-tension and contraction-tension.

Simply put, when you do an exercise, your muscle fibers are subjected to tension, both on stretch and contraction. This tension will be different depending on your position (seated, standing, inclined), the equipment you use (dumbbells, machines, pulleys), and the range of motion. An exercise can cause high stretch tension (phase where the muscle is lengthened) or high contraction tension (phase where the muscle is shortened). However, no exercise can cause high stretch and contraction tension at the same time.

But there is a possibility of optimizing this relationship to work your muscle through his full range of motion. By combining both types of tension in the same session, you are certain to work your muscle in his entire range of motion, allowing for optimized muscle development. If you mostly work it with only one type of tension (stretch or contraction), you risk stagnating or even worse regressing over time. This is an argument for turning to a professional sports coach ( www.corentincoachsportif.com ).

Example: Inclined curls on a bench for biceps is an exercise with high stretch tension, while preacher curls cause high contraction tension. If you choose to do only one or the other over the long term, you will make progress on your biceps for a while, but after a certain point, your progress will be slower or nonexistent.

Working on only one type of tension causes an intramuscular imbalance (ability to recruit muscle fibers within a single muscle). This imbalance may not necessarily be visible, but it can stop the progression of a muscle and possibly accentuate the "weak point" effect of a muscle. This is why it is important to work on the entire range of the muscle, both on stretch and contraction, to optimize long-term development.

Concrete case

Now let's take the example of pectorals for exercises with stretch tension. We will focus on developed exercises such as bench press, incline press, and dips, while for exercises with contraction tension, we will use cable crossovers or circular machines such as the pec deck.

Likewise, for the back, for exercises with stretch tension, we will use vertical pulls (pull-up, pull downs) or an inclined pull-over at the high cable, while for exercises with contraction tension, we will opt for horizontal pulls (rows).

For the quadriceps, in stretch tension, we will choose press, squat, or even hack squat, while for exercises with high contraction tension, the leg extension will be the ideal.

For hamstrings, the straight-legged deadlift will be the ideal exercise to respect stretch tension, while we will choose the lying leg curl for contraction tension.

By combining exercises with high stretch tension and high contraction tension, you will work the muscle to its full physiological and anatomical capacity, allowing for optimal muscle growth.

You can use a tension scale diagram to simplify, the programming of your training plan, even though your programming should not only be based on the principle developed today. However, this will help to know how to work on our weak points (often underdeveloped and short) and our strong points (often overdeveloped and long).

Example of tension scale for contraction/stretching exercises for the back muscles.

For muscular weak points, I recommend not forgetting to use exercises with high contraction tension, and for muscular strong points, we will focus on exercises with high stretching tension. Indeed, during an exercise with contraction tension, we will feel our muscle much better than during an exercise with stretching tension where stretching is often less well perceived...

To determine which exercises to favor depending on your morpho-anatomy and thus save some time on your progress, do not hesitate to contact me via my website for personalized coaching at: : www.corentincoachsportif.com

Have a nice workout and see you soon !

Corentin - Coach Sportif