OzzyA

Yeah, im actually quite surprised no one has asked the question before. I suppose its easier to just go to the gym, lift and get stronger without actually wondering why.. Im actually wondering why i dont do that actually.. all this thinking is starting to hurt my brain :S

You couldn't possible send me a link to that system? Googling the book just gets a lot of fake review websites :/

Link to the strength article

Yeah, I noticed the thread

The strength question will be of interest to a lot of people, that are interested in how itn works, the science behind it, so even if the answer looks simple (which it won't be) it will be a worthwhile question...unlike some of the ones I've seen about things like "10 lettuce leaves" etc.
With the fat/muscle simultaneous question, people will forget that there is a system called "Burn the fat, Feed the muscle" by Tom Venuto, I think, and in theory his system is based on that concept and is not just for newbies, so that kind of shoots down the seemingly illogical concept of it being restricted to a certain time in a person's training.

Discussing the newbie fat gains concept on the forum, will probably lead you to duck for cover and a hard helmet and flack jacket

Not really sure how the strength gains concept thing works concerning the CNS etc. I've even come across articles that suggest 1-3 reps is for true strength gains, others say 1-10, with 5 reps being optimal etc, so there's no real exact science, but more a borderline rep range etc of which each individual needs to find the exact rep range, out of the small variation, that fits them. 15+ is always conisdered endurance, and 5 and below is strength, but 6-12 is considered hypertrophy, although strength also falls close to the 6-10 as well; unless this is where the overlap ocurrs.
The CNS can burn out if overly taxed in any rep range, so I don't know whether strength depends on the efficiency of the CNS; this might be a better question to post so that some of the strength trainers (EKnight, BendtheBar etc) can comment.

I found this, it might help to explain strength v muscle mass a bit better, but not a lot unfortunately:

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/for...-workouts.html

Here's an interesting piece as well:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek8.htm

I don't actually know that much

But anyway, concerning the fat loss and muscle gain not being possible except for during newbie gains, I don't happen to agree with that one. If it is possible during newbie gains then it stands to reason, logically, that it is possible and why people put a time limit on it baffles me; besides I have read of lifters doing exactly that even though they are not new to the game...and it's even logged in my journal that I did the same thing after being at weight training for some time; I lost 1.5 lbs fat and gained 1.5 lbs muscle simultaneously and Doug did the calculation, so it is possible...never let someone tell you it isn't. If it is said that a newbie can do it, that means it is possible, period! To then say it is not possible under all other circumstances is to negate that it is possible at all.

Where muscles become denser, don't forget that strength training continually renews the density and it does not necessarily stand to reason that a muscle must at some time become bigger, although I do agree that there has to be some increase in muscle size due to its use...but I am unable to explain further on this point...no knowlegde as such, one of the other members might be able to explain; however, next week I intend to start a strength based routine, so I'll do some measurements and let you know in about a month, that should be long enough to notice changes, with any luck.

Hope that has helped a bit.

As you state, quite rightly, for size over pure strength, sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is preferred but to get denser stronger muscle that is where myofibrillar hypertrophy comes into play...hence a bodybuilder can look big and strong because the muscles are bigger but it does not follow that they are necessarily stronger. Myofibrillar hypertrophy tends to make the muscle denser whereas sarcoplasmic hypertrophy tends to just puff the muscle up. Obviously there is a degree of overlap in both methods, but the rep range used will ultimately result in one or the other predominating.

Have a good Xmas

Goal Weight: 210lb
Goal Bodyfat: 6%

Current Weight: 182.6lb
Current Bodyfat: 10.5%

Thanks for the rep! Glad I could be help!