Battle Of The Giants

[[old] donm79]

Fat is non-contractile tissue! It does not help you pull the handle. The reason some heavyweights carry a bit of extra fat is that it is easier to gain/maintain muscle mass when bodyfat is not very low. <br><br>Remember that Redgrave in Sydney was getting on in years, and in his younger days was extremely lean. He was also a diabetic. When your body doesn't manage its own insulin production properly, it is extremely difficult to get lean. Pinsent is another heavyweight who is looking less lean these days. He seems to be carrying some extra fat, but look at him 5-10 years ago and he was extremely lean.<br><br>In rowing you can get away with carrying extra weight because the body is supported and the only negative influences on pace are the drag on the hull and the slight bit of extra effort it takes to move a few extra pounds up and down the slide. On an erg you don't even have to worry about drag on the hull.<br><br>Fat gain offers no direct advantage for rowing. There might, however, be an advantage to carrying a few extra pounds of fat if that would allow you to carry more muscle tissue. <br><br>Paul - Heavyweights in general have LARGER motor units than lightweights, but not MORE motor units. 100kg giants aren't likely to have more nerves innervating their muscles than 70kg lightweights.

[[old] Carl Henrik]

Just a question:<br>Wouldn't it be easier to become a 100kg muscle guy if one was born with more motor units? And because of this, is it not more likely that a 100kg muscle guy has more muscle units than a 70kg guy? Just asking.

[[old] PaulS]

<!--QuoteBegin-donm79+Jun 10 2004, 08:52 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'><span class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></span> (donm79 @ Jun 10 2004, 08:52 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Paul - Heavyweights in general have LARGER motor units than lightweights, but not MORE motor units. 100kg giants aren't likely to have more nerves innervating their muscles than 70kg lightweights. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><br> Excellent point, I think there can be a greater number of motor units based on genetics, however once that number has been determined we only get to change the size and shape of the muscle cells. I'm not sure about the inervation of the tissue, but practice seems to be required to coordinate things to optimum levels.<br><br>"100kg Giants"?, Now I really feel 'undertall' <br><br>- Paul Smith

[[old] donm79]

As you guys both point out, people do vary with respect to the number of motor units but, as far as I know this number is set at birth. To increase your number of motor units, you would have to grow a whole new motor neuron and new muscle fibres for it to innervate, and I don't think that happens. Since hyperplasia (muscle fibre splitting, resulting in an increase in number of fibres) is uncommon, I wouldn't think that an increase in the number of MUs happens very often. I'm not sure if larger guys have more MUs, or just more sarcomere (contractile proteins) per MU. We need a physiologist!

[[old] Jim Barry]

Here is some article on hypertrophy vs Hyperplasia. Interesting. <br><br><a href='http://home.hia.no/~stephens/hypplas.htm' target='_blank'>http://home.hia.no/~stephens/hypplas.htm</a>