[tri-med] Re: muscle tone

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "jwaite"
> Thoughts or information?????

Not sure if I have understood the question correctly but here goes.

Muscle tone has nothing to do with muscle strength.
Muscle mass has little to do with muscle strength.

When you are born you are born with X amount of muscle fibres, and there are
different kinds of muscle fibres. Some people have more IA fibres and others
have others fibres (too late at night and too long ago to remember the
names - sorry, I can look them up if you need)

The type of muscle fibre you have determines the type of sport you are best
at. eg some people have muscle fibres that are best for sprinting type
sports - the respond quickly to stimulation but lack the ability to maintain
that. Other people however have muscle
fibres that use energy slower and are able to maintain that for longer -
these are your marathon type people.

So for example I think its type IIB fibres that I have (from memory) - best
suited for endurance - eg distance and cross country. I could sprint (once
upon a time) but it wasnt my best performance. Distance running,
particularly 1500 metres was the distance my muscles performed best at.

You can't increase the number of fibres after birth - you are born with them
and thats all you get. You can lose some, but you cant get them back.

I know that children with T-18 are born with reduced
muscle mass - that is less muscle fibres than typical kids. I would guess
its the same with some of the other flavours. I have no idea what particular
type of fibres are predominant but I suspect that it has no relation to 
trisomy - muscle fibre type is usually inhereded from the parents.

Thats why I know that Alex will always be stick legs - there just aint any
muscles there.

So when you train you are not increasing the number of muscle fibres you are
increasing the bulk of the muscles. Fattening them up by using them so to
speak. The muscle fibre type determines how fat they can get.

So yes there comes a point where you simply can't get any stronger. You may
be able to push yourself a little further, but if you keep pushing then you
will just damage the muscle.

I suspect that there are two problems here. The first is that he "improved" 
when he was doing the sit up because he kept working at it and probably as 
much because he was determined to be able to. I suspect that the problem is 
not that he got better or stronger as much as his own personal will to do it 
got better.

Secondly you are talking about two very different types of exercise. One is 
using upper body strength alone and the other (push ups) is also using the 
abdomen and the legs. I suspect that the stronger lower limb muscles are 
compensating for the upper body.

The new exercise are not only upper limb exercises but they also require 
them to be done whilst stabilising the trunk and joints. I know that US Alex 
has hypermobile joints and can just imagine how much effort is going into 
keeping the joints stable instead of in lifting the weights etc. That is he 
is expending energy on what we take for granted. I would imagine that he is 
marginally better at the bench presses than the arm curls etc because the 
bench would at least be stabilising the scapula for him.

Hope that makes sense
"It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not 
how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving."
 ~ ~ Mother Teresa ~ ~

Keep Looking For Rainbows!!
   _--_|\
 /Karen \
 \ _.--._ /
          v Karen, Mum to Alex (10 years, T-18 Mosaic)
http://members.optushome.com.au/karens


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