Hardening muscle

I am 6’1" 205 pounds and have a bodyfat percentage of 10.32%. I was wondering what would cause muscle to become harder even when the muscle was relaxed. I read somewhere that it was just from alot of reps that the hardening would come. But at my current bodyfat I would think that my muscles would be rock solid. What really causes muscles to grow harder?

“Tone” or residual tension in a resting muscle. See Joel Marion’s article in issue number 214

more specific please. Residual tension is not all that changable. Are you referring to something else? Could it be diet causing intramuscular fat loss or injury? explain what is happening with a little more detail please.

I would agree with the recommendation to check out Joel’s article. On a side note, I’m just under 9%, but am not at all happy with my resting muscle tone. It depends a lot on where you carry you. Plus, remember that most bodybuilders are pretty “soft” when they don’t have the pump and aren’t flexing.

a cycle of tren, and perhaps some winny hehe

Yeah, go on a cutting phase and do strength work, like 5 X 5. It’s discussed in issue 214. You want neural activation to be key. The article promises that your “triceps will be ripped to shreds” if you so much as move your arm, which would be great.

On a side note, my girlfriend claims that I feel “harder” (no, not down there) overall, and I’ve been following EDT mixed with ian king legs and a bulking diet. Maybe she meant bigger.

Get your body fat lower and include more low rep, heavy strength work. Joel Marion’s Ripped Rugged and Dense article that was previously mentioned provides good support for strength training, especially while cutting down from a lower starting %BF. Also, 10% is great. It beats most of the population, but it is only a start if you really want to have the rock solid shredded look.

I think you guys have misunderstood the question. Seems to me that KaOS wants to be harder, not more ripped. (Yes?)


If that’s the case, KaOS, you’re doomed to be disappointed. Muscle is soft when unflexed. Sorry. The only thing that might possibly make it “harder” is a lack of stretching, which would engender more problems than it would be worth, IMHO.


As for neckcranked’s GF’s comment, yeah, I’ve received the same sort of comments when bulking, and basically I think that it’s because your skin is stretched more tightly (really!), thus making the underlying tissue seem “harder”. Sort of like a balloon being filled up with more or less air. Doesn’t really mean much in real terms, but it sure is nice to have a woman comment favorably about one’s hardness - no matter what the reason!

The easiest way to get that hardness unless you just naturally have super high androgen levels is to do as suggested by JC # 10 and use some type of steroid. Winstrol seems to really do the job well.

continual low rep, training…

Improving muscle density (i.e. myogenic tone) through hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the contractile proteins will undoubtedly increase your resting “hardness.” This is done by training w/ heavy weights in lower rep ranges.

Also, training the nervous system (nuerogenic tone) will have you looking considerably "harder" while flexing; coupled with increased myogenic tone, the increased "hardness" will be very obvious. However, getting "harder" takes time, just like getting "bigger" does.

-JM

NO, NO, No! A muscle is or appears harder when bulking due to more glycogen and water in the muscles due to the higher carb and calorie intake. So in reality, your muscle IS harder and denser when bulking! It is NOT air!!!

Well, gotta disagree, guys. I know a lot of very large people (not fat, muscularly large) and when they’re relaxed you can stick a finger into their pec or bicep or whatever and it feels pretty soft. Just like mine, in fact! If someone’s in shape, of course, then when they flex they can be hard as diamonds, but not when they’re relaxed.


I’d agree with Joel’s point except for one thing: when you increase hyperplasia, etc., you get bigger. So even though you’re packing more muscle, you’re packing in a larger space, which negates any possible “hardening” effect.


Now, if you’re going to argue that people can become denser through proper training, I’ll agree. But I think that what’s actually happening is that fat is being slowly and systematically replaced by muscle. Since muscle has a greater resting tension than fat, this means that one’s body will be harder than it was before. However, it does not mean that the muscle tissue itself is somehow changing - only that it’s replacing something that wasn’t as hard originally.


Similarly, regarding nuerogenic tone, I think that if there is an observed hardening effect “at rest” (not flexed) it will actually be because the person in question is not actually as relaxed as s/he was before. In other words, this goes back to my comment about stretching, a lack of which will contribute to leaving a sort of residual tension that means the muscle is not really relaxed at all. Think about it: when you walk around your arm is slightly bent at the elbow, yes? This is due to residual biceps flexion, which never -no matter how relaxed you are - completely disappears. We all have probably seen guys who have more flexion in their arms than normal (not the people with Imaginary Lat Syndrome, but just regular guys who happen to be naturally strong) - these are people who have more than the average amount of tension in their bodies. Are their muscles “harder”? Well, yes and no. They might feel harder, but if I contract my biceps slightly to match their “resting” tension, mine will fell just as hard. So it isn’t a question of the muscle tissue itself, but of how relaxed/stretched one’s body normally is.


And to Darren D.: Read my post again. I didn’t say muscles are filled with air for Pete’s sake.

I know a lot of big guys who look soft too; doesn’t mean they can’t do anything about it.

The contractile proteins are the most dense portion of skeletal muscle. Hypertrophy and hyperplasia of these proteins gives you denser muscle, period. A greater mass to volume ratio = greater density.

Nuerogenic tone is only visible when movement occurs, but only the slightest of movements is needed to see the effects of training the nerveous system.

thanks for the response.

Yeah, a lot of guys with big muscles are soft. So what? That doesn’t mean they have to be. A muscle looks and feels cut due to skin thickness (which is genetically predetermined), a low level of bodyfat and a high level of resting tension. Resting tension is an issue of the myofibrillar density and neurostimulation of a muscle. Heavy, low rep training (3-5 reps per set)followed by static flexing/posing is the best way to increase that resting tension in the muscle. And just like gaining X amount of muscle or losing X amount of fat, it takes time to gain X percentage in your degree of resting tension in a muscle.

Residual tone, which is muscle tone when at rest (or not flexing). I would learn Pavel’s Power Breathing techniques if this is your goal. I think you will be pleased

You may want to try isometric contractions(good for raw strength if you workout in three positions too). 6-8 secs small muscle groups, 8-10 secs mid size muscle groups, and 10 - 12 secs larger muscle groups. If I remember reading an article on bodybuilding right from way back. Practising posing and holding the poses as long as possible helps to tighten things up to.
Peace,
Tmofa

WOW,so much mis-information so little time…no matter how you lift or diet you will never achieve the hard defined look so sought after by bodybuilders and models…that is because it is not a training or diet issue,it is a bio-chemical one…when you tilt the androgen/estragen ratio in favor of the androgen something miraculous starts happening…muscles become harder and more dense.estragen is what is keeping you from your look.provided you are lean enough…a guy at my gym comes up to me and says how can I get that hard look you have I have tried everything and you are the only one here that has that look…I liked him so I swore him to secrecy and off we went…in the spring and fall I had him do 90 days of proviron at 50-75 mg a day and bang hard and defined…blew his mind and everyone around him…that is how the models and pro’s stay hard for photo shoots year around…why is tren the most sought after cutting steroid in the world because of its super high androgen content and ability to build high quality muscle mass,not the bloated nasty,oh are those your stretch marks,ruined skin test look…I look like a rock even relaxed…