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Smaller Lean muscle, bulky muscle, strong or endurance, is it all the same?

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Cylphin60
Cylphin60 Posts: 863 Member
edited December 2016 in Debate Club
I saw this batted around a bit and can't find the article I read, but...muscle is just muscle right? No various types etc? If you have huge, strong muscles, it's because at some point you had no muscle, or smaller and built on that. Is that correct? I understand different goals can be worked towards, such as strength or endurance, but this is about actual muscle types/categories.

The article implied strongly that some people feel that different "types" of muscle can be worked towards, and the author vehemently disagreed with that assertion.

I was just curious what mfp peeps say about it, or if there's really any debate at all, all just "broscience".

Cheers

edit: Found the article.

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/lean-bulky-toned-muscle/
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Replies

  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
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    Fast twitch and slow twitch are real, we are born with more of one or the other but can train to build on what we have. AFA looks? I don't know. Probably form follows function.
  • Lizarking
    Lizarking Posts: 507 Member
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    Are you asking if people get large muscles from lifting weights?
  • Cylphin60
    Cylphin60 Posts: 863 Member
    edited December 2016
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    robininfl wrote: »
    Fast twitch and slow twitch are real, we are born with more of one or the other but can train to build on what we have. AFA looks? I don't know. Probably form follows function.
    I'm somewhat familiar with fast and slow twitch. Still learning, but that aspect makes sense to me.
    Lizarking wrote: »
    Are you asking if people get large muscles from lifting weights?

    I'm trying to find that article I read - should have bookmarked it. The author was talking specifically about people who ask to have a certain type of build, and are assuming that different builds each require a different muscle type. "Muscle type" being the term the author used.

    I'll post that if I can find it, getting frustrated with myself here lol.

    found it - added link above.

    I'm just posting this for discussions sake by the way. I'm more focused on the slow and fast twitch that robininfl mentioned.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    This? http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/lean-bulky-toned-muscle/

    Also Bret Contreras talking about something similar: https://bretcontreras.com/long-lean-muscles-oh-irony/
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Oh, you found it before I did.
  • Cylphin60
    Cylphin60 Posts: 863 Member
    edited December 2016
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    This? http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/lean-bulky-toned-muscle/

    Also Bret Contreras talking about something similar: https://bretcontreras.com/long-lean-muscles-oh-irony/
    Yes - you must have been posting when I edited :) Thanks.

    edit: Good read you posted too, thanks

  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
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    I read the long lean muscles oh irony post, and some of the comments under it.

    I think long lean muscle look is more of a body type than a what kind of exercise question. I am tall and built lean and sort of spare, so what I end up with is more elongated looking no matter what I do. One of my yoga teachers is short and built like a bodybuilder, when she is strong and fit she looks thicker and bulkier, it's just how she is built.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    robininfl wrote: »
    I read the long lean muscles oh irony post, and some of the comments under it.

    I think long lean muscle look is more of a body type than a what kind of exercise question. I am tall and built lean and sort of spare, so what I end up with is more elongated looking no matter what I do. One of my yoga teachers is short and built like a bodybuilder, when she is strong and fit she looks thicker and bulkier, it's just how she is built.

    I agree with this to some extent. It sounds like more of a qualitative description of someones physique. Leaness, muscle mass and water retention levels will all affect someones "look".

    For example; competitive bodybuilders can look flat and watery with little definition the night before a show but look full, lean and vascular the day of. It is all to do with manipulation rather than the muscle being different.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    robininfl wrote: »
    I read the long lean muscles oh irony post, and some of the comments under it.

    I think long lean muscle look is more of a body type than a what kind of exercise question. I am tall and built lean and sort of spare, so what I end up with is more elongated looking no matter what I do. One of my yoga teachers is short and built like a bodybuilder, when she is strong and fit she looks thicker and bulkier, it's just how she is built.

    Yup, how long your muscles are depends on how they attach to your skeleton, and no amount of exercise can change that, you can only increase the volume.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    When you say big muscles, do you mean big strong muscles, or big puffy muscles.

    Beach/gympretty muscles aren't bodybuilding muscles aren't powerlifting muscles aren't Martial arts muscles.

    Although there can be overlap.
  • Cylphin60
    Cylphin60 Posts: 863 Member
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    myfitpqlstan136 wrote: »
    When you say big muscles, do you mean big strong muscles, or big puffy muscles.

    Beach/gympretty muscles aren't bodybuilding muscles aren't powerlifting muscles aren't Martial arts muscles.

    Although there can be overlap.
    Well, that question is what the article I added to the 1st post specifically addresses, and, although not super knowledgeable, I tend to agree with that author.

    robininfl also brought up the point of long and lean or other, but it's still simply muscle, unless someone has a source countering that....I'm just here to learn...
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    myfitpqlstan136 wrote: »
    When you say big muscles, do you mean big strong muscles, or big puffy muscles.

    Beach/gympretty muscles aren't bodybuilding muscles aren't powerlifting muscles aren't Martial arts muscles.

    Although there can be overlap.

    I'm doing all those things. Are my muscles some sort of freaky hybrid?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Cylphin60 wrote: »
    I saw this batted around a bit and can't find the article I read, but...muscle is just muscle right? No various types etc? If you have huge, strong muscles, it's because at some point you had no muscle, or smaller and built on that. Is that correct? I understand different goals can be worked towards, such as strength or endurance, but this is about actual muscle types/categories.

    The article implied strongly that some people feel that different "types" of muscle can be worked towards, and the author vehemently disagreed with that assertion.

    I was just curious what mfp peeps say about it, or if there's really any debate at all, all just "broscience".

    Cheers

    edit: Found the article.

    http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/lean-bulky-toned-muscle/


    Yes, muscle is muscle...as the article states:
    it has everything to do with the AMOUNT of muscle a person has built along with the amount of FAT they do or do not have covering it.

    That’s the “smoke and mirrors” of this muscle illusion.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited December 2016
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    myfitpqlstan136 wrote: »
    When you say big muscles, do you mean big strong muscles, or big puffy muscles.

    Beach/gympretty muscles aren't bodybuilding muscles aren't powerlifting muscles aren't Martial arts muscles.

    Although there can be overlap.

    Yet all those muscles are the exact same. If you biopsied each of them, you'd find the same composition in each.

    Bodybuilders have more mass and are very lean. "Beach/gym pretty muscles" are much the same, but usually with less mass and not quite as lean. I've seen powerlifters and martial artists range everywhere from extremely lean/ripped (a la Bruce Lee) to hugely obese.

    What you're seeing as differences in muscle type is actually a) differences in bodyfat percentage, b) differences in the amount of muscle mass, and c) differences in neuromuscular adaptation due to training specificity. Bodybuilders don't train like powerlifters, and powerlifters don't train like martial artists, and martial artists don't train like ballerinas - and so on.
  • Cylphin60
    Cylphin60 Posts: 863 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Cylphin60 wrote: »
    I saw this batted around a bit and can't find the article I read, but...muscle is just muscle right? No various types etc? If you have huge, strong muscles, it's because at some point you had no muscle, or smaller and built on that. Is that correct? I understand different goals can be worked towards, such as strength or endurance, but this is about actual muscle types/categories.

    The article implied strongly that some people feel that different "types" of muscle can be worked towards, and the author vehemently disagreed with that assertion.

    I was just curious what mfp peeps say about it, or if there's really any debate at all, all just "broscience".

    Cheers

    edit: Found the article.

    http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/lean-bulky-toned-muscle/


    Yes, muscle is muscle...as the article states:
    it has everything to do with the AMOUNT of muscle a person has built along with the amount of FAT they do or do not have covering it.

    That’s the “smoke and mirrors” of this muscle illusion.

    Yeah I pretty much got that - as stated I was more curious if any debate would start over it, like @myfitpqlstan136 appeared to be going for. The articles author gave the impression that it's rather common to run into...
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,523 Member
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    myfitpqlstan136 wrote: »
    When you say big muscles, do you mean big strong muscles, or big puffy muscles.

    Beach/gympretty muscles aren't bodybuilding muscles aren't powerlifting muscles aren't Martial arts muscles.

    Although there can be overlap.
    The muscles are the same. Volume and how they look are based on how someone trains, eats and how much body fat they have covering them.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    That's provably false
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    myfitpqlstan136 wrote: »
    That's provably false

    Then do it.
  • Cylphin60
    Cylphin60 Posts: 863 Member
    edited December 2016
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    myfitpqlstan136 wrote: »
    That's provably false

    Could you provide a source for your information please?

    edit: Are you using information like this?
    https://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/hypertrophy/muscle-fiber-type/

    If so, he's simply classifying fast and slow twitch fibers as "types". I'm only guessing that's in the ballpark of where you're getting your info from though. Please respond....

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