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With our recent and continued involvement in Iraq, there has been a great deal of discussion concerning collateral damage. Collateral damage relative to air-to-ground warfare is clearly regrettable in loss of life. This is pretty clear but what does this have to do with exercise, you ask? Well, collateral damage is also inflicted in vascular tissue as a direct result of resistance training. Is this vascular damage a good or bad thing? Unlike warfare yes, collateral damage is definitely a good thing! There is a specific cause and effect in regard to weight training inflicted ‘collateral’ vascular damage that will occur regardless of your specific intentions and to a varying degree depending upon training intensity, duration, frequency, and volume. I will also make it clear how you can optimize the benefits of this seldom discussed resistance training result.
Muscle Tissue
Let’s start by discussing the anatomical location where this exercise induced damage occurs. The collateral circulation perfuses the intramuscular areas in the form of microscopic capillaries and veinuels. These small and fragile capillaries transport oxygen and nutrient rich blood from the main arteries to the muscles, while the equally small and fragile veinuels work with the Lymphatic System to carry expelled muscle tissue wastes and oxygen deficient blood back to the main vascular tree. These small vessels facilitate the exchange of nutrients/oxygen and wastes/carbon dioxide on a cellular level. This collateral vascular tissue is quite delicate and branches extensively throughout the muscular areas. There is no doubt that the greater the volume of these intramuscular vessels the greater the health of the surrounding lean tissue. In fact, any body tissue cell that is sufficiently supplied with nutrient rich blood via collateral circulation has the full benefit of the support (cardiorespiratory) system, performing more optimally and living longer than those tissues not readily perfused by collateral blood vessels.
Adipose Tissue
There is also, of course, collateral circulation in other body tissue such as adipose and organ tissue. It is thought by some researchers that the greater the volume of collateral blood provision to fatty tissue the greater the conversion and storage of circulating calories (mostly over-abundant glucose, triglycerides, and fatty acids). This is obviously undesirable where weight maintenance and general health are concerned. While I have not personally read any such research, it does seem practical to think that the greater the calorie rich blood supply in and around fat cells the more likely their increased uptake. It would also be quite interesting, I admit, to know if continued poor eating habits as exhibited in the obese over-eater, influences circulation in and around adipose tissue resulting in the ever growing efficiency in fat storage (unproven). I say this only because it is a biological truism that these microscopic vessels will grow and branch out in intramuscular areas under the right conditions; conditions we will soon discuss. Also, can it be possible that those who have problems with weight loss are, at least in part, genetically predisposed to have greater collateral blood flow in and around adipose tissue? Maybe, but the jury’s still out on that one.
How to Effect Collateral Damage
During resistance exercise that calls on the target muscle to maintain a sustained contraction for prolonged periods is when capillary damage occurs. The longer the duration of sustained contraction, and the greater the intensity of the sustained contraction, the greater the resulting capillary damage. The greater the volume of high rep sets performed, the greater the damage as well. During prolonged contraction the girth of the working tissue increases enough to ‘pinch’ or block the flow of blood to the working muscles much like the act of pinching a garden hose. With this ‘pinching’ comes a back-up of “pressurized” blood not able to enter the working intramuscular region. Upon relaxation the blood quickly perfuses into the now accessible musculature. This pressurized perfusion results in the bursting of already very fragile microscopic capillaries causing an ‘escape’ of blood in and around the working muscles. The extent of the damage will be based on the variables of duration, intensity and most importantly, volume. The repeated performance of high rep sets back to back (volume training) clearly amplifies the rock hard swelling (pump) that is the trademark of high volume/high repetition training. This ‘pump’ occurs due to the collateral veins’ and the Lymphatic System’s inability to capture and then return this exercise induced increase in escaped intramuscular fluid back to the main vascular tree. Not only are wastes removed slower during this “pump” between high repetition sets, but cellular nutrient and oxygen provision to working muscles is adversely effected during the high repetition set as well since contracting muscles’ membranes are impermeable which prevents anything and everything from getting into these muscles. In short, fluids remain in the intramuscular areas for longer periods when experiencing the “pumped” sensation. Since nutrient provision and waste removal are both limited during this pump, and this causes premature contractile failure, it becomes directly prohibitive to size and strength training if performed exclusively. Many resistance trainees with scarce body fat covering a particular working muscle during extremely intense high rep/volume training, can actually see the end result of these bursting capillaries beneath the facia layer in a visual form, apparent bruising!
One can consider the vessel damage to require a fairly long recovery period (same as muscle). Not unlike muscle tissue damage sustained during training, protein is needed to repair these tiny vessels which are they themselves muscle tissue as well. Also, not unlike muscle tissue growth during recovery, when these small vessels are repaired they in turn form new branches. This is the cardiovascular tissue’s way of preparing itself for the next bout of exercise and will also result in a slight increase in muscle size.
While the above would give one reason to think the pump is a bad thing don’t misunderstand. When these vessels fully recover, the newly formed branches act to improve and make more efficient the movement of blood in the intramuscular regions. This increased proficiency will also facilitate greater muscle growth in the long run as well. The effected muscle tissue becomes more efficient which is the ground-work for defining better health for all exercise participants young and old, male or female regardless of individual goals. The burning sensation associated with the pump is unmistakable and is the universal indicator of capillary extension.
The above information is argument enough in favor of phase training, holistic training, periodization, etc. All resistance trainees from the retired executive to the competitive bodybuilder needs a regular dose of high rep training to enhance the exchange of nutrients and wastes on a cellular level. If you are a weight training enthusiast looking for size and strength increase, don’t forget to through in some high rep training once and a while in order to optimize energy provision and improve cellular performance through capillary extension.
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