Best Way To Build Strength, Best Way To Build Muscle Mass

What’s the best way to build muscle strength? It depends on whether you want to build muscles, or build strength. No, they are not the same thing. Researchers at Loughborough University in the U.K. recently compared the benefits of explosive contractions lasting less than one second with those of sustained contractions lasting three seconds. A Loughborough University news release reports that the researchers studied the changes in participants’ quadriceps muscles, located on the front of the thigh, after they did each type of exercise. One group did the explosive contractions, one group did the sustained contractions, and a third group acted as a control group. The participants trained with 40 contractions repeated three times a week for three months. Ready? The envelope please…..The researchers found that explosive contractions are an easier and less tiring way of increasing strength and functional capacity of the muscles, while the more traditional sustained contractions – which demand a lot of effort and soon become tiring – are a better way to build muscle mass. Your choice: strength or muscles mass.