quote:Original post by Heaven What I don''t understand is why you cannot have equal amounts of both. I question your statement that you have to split your capacities. If I bulk up to the level of Arnold, you''re saying I cannot then begin to train as a long distance marathoner? My body is somehow going to deplete my bulk as my muscular endurance/overall stamina increases?
Your bulk would decrease, because when you train as a long distance marathoner, there would be less pumping iron. So your muscles would fade away due to lack of suitable exercise.
quote: Or more specifically perhaps, if I''ve trained by bulking up using high weight/low reps, if I then switch to low weight/high reps I''m going to lose my bulk as fast as I gain muscular stamina? I can imagine a SLIGHT decrease over time but I just can''t see it being a 50/50 thing, where the more I rep the less I bulk.
You can very well increase muscle mass by low weight/high reps. But your muscular composition will change. So for the same muscle mass, you won''t be able to lift as heavy weights as before.
-------------------Our only true limitis our imaginationAim for the horizonbut watch your step
Woops, sorry about that physics mistake. I meant to say momentum but I guess I was really tired when I wrote that post. I definitily should have been more carefull.
Heaven- Look at some sports science books, as they can help not just for game research, but they can help you with your workouts too.
The human muscle system is made up of either type 1 (slow) or type 2a and 2b (fast) muscle fibers. Most people have about a 50/50 distribution of these types of fibers, and some muscles are more of one kind than the other (for example, the hamstrings are predominately fast twitch). Elite athletes tend to have a higher percentage one way or the other of a certain muscle type (endurance athletes have a higher percentage of slow twitch, while power athletes have more fast twitch). There''s currently some studying going on as to whether we can change our genetic disposition to these muscle percentages....in other words, we''re not sure if you can convert slow to fast, or fast to slow.
What you can do is train each type to become more efficient. While we may not be able to change the fiber type, we can change some of the other variables that affect performance. For example, to get stronger, you can increase muscle mass (which will be built in the same ratio as your genetic disposition) through hyperplasia (the splitting of muscle cells into new fibers...which is rare) or hypertrophy (the muscle cell just gets bigger). One can also mentally train himself to improve his neuromuscular efficiency (this is why Bruce Lee, though he was small could generate enormous power). However, there are limits to our efficiency. For example, bodybuilders are advised not to do more than 45minutes of aerobics more than 4 times a week, because if they do, they will actually lose muscle mass, and they may also lose some of their strength.
And that''s a pivotal concept to understand. Muscle mass and strength are only slightly correlated. Just as not every skinny person can run a marathon. There are many other systems that factor into "strength" (which is why I dislike using a simple common term that can mean either generation of total Force, or the how much power one can produce). One''s ATP system that feeds the muscles in short-burst high intensity efforts is important, the mental will to control neuro-muscular firing, and even bone (lever arm) length all affect strength.
I personally think that computers are being woefully underutilized for their simulation capabilities when it comes to RPG''s. In PPRPG''s, having so many variables affect a character would be overkill, but not so for a computer based one. Afterall, if we can simulate jet fighters, why not simulate human beings? Even though humans aren''t as fully understood as other things, we do know quite a bit, and modeling what we do know can create for more consistent and plausible effects.
The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount." - General Omar Bradley
I''ve seen an attempt to model human bodies for RPGs before. It''s quite good actually, in that it is extremely realistic, but it''s also very complex and last time I checked it was still a work in progress. Look for something called the "skill web". I remember reading some really interesting discussions about it in MUD-Dev: https://www.kanga.nu/archives/MUD-Dev-L/
