Ed Tank

The nervous system is incredible. After 4 weeks of elbow flexor training on both arms (3 sessions per week at 75% 1-RM), continuing to train only one arm (at 90% 1-RM) for the next 4 weeks: - Further increased strength of the other (non-trained) elbow flexors by 7.2% - But was not sufficient to stop the loss of muscle size This “cross-education” effect could be leveraged to slow detraining effects (of strength) after short-term training periods when continued training of one limb is not possible. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3880…

With muscle disuse, the “functional” aspects of fitness suffer the most. These include VO2max and muscle strength. This analysis of 47 studies found muscle strength declined 2.5 times more than muscle mass with disuse (mainly bed rest of between 5 to 84 days). This suggests: - Prehabilitative programs (before periods of planned disuse) should prioritise strength over muscle hypertrophy to limit functional decline - For unplanned periods of disuse (e.g., injury), the focus should be on maintaining muscle strength via neural factors (e.g., via possible “cross-education” effects of training the other limb) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…