Focusing skills based on body composition?

So I've read in a few places that one's muscle belly-to-tendon ratio can have significant effects on their potential strength development. A specific example being "longer muscle belly produces larger and stronger muscles."

First of all, I'm wondering if anyone here has any good information on this topic; whether or not it's true, any myths, etc....

Secondly, While still training the body in a balanced fashion ( I'm not trying to skip any exercises here, believe me), would it make sense to focus more on skills that would fit your particular muscle/tendon composition? 

Lastly, assuming that there's any value in this theory/idea/whatever, what would different types want to focus on? For example, long tendon-short muscle belly (like me...) versus long MB and short tendons.....? If you're the former, would you want to add any specific exercises or do more of certain exercises for tendon and connective tissue strength? Supplementary exercises? Go easier on specific exercises....? Height, general weight-to-height, and everyone's individual recovery capabilities seem like pretty straightforward factors, but does anyone have any thoughts or knowledge on this composition stuff? 

Thanks!

oh yeah, if the GB system covers this or would negate the need to train in the specific way(s) I'm asking about, then of course I'm all for it....

Hi there,

This topic seems more theoretical than practical, which typically doesn't go over well on these forums where we like to emphasize training over talking about training.   That said, I also imagine that, being organic tissue, both tendons and muscle bellies would adapt, albeit at a slow rate, to the movement loads placed upon them. So strength training along with flexibility work should help maximize your genetic potential, whether that's "ideal" or not.

Best,

Chris

oh yeah, if the GB system covers this or would negate the need to train in the specific way(s) I'm asking about, then of course I'm all for it....

 

Basically this. 

In reality, other than being interesting information, on the practical level, worrying about your muscle composition is fairly useless. If you were a soviet talent scout taking biopsies it might be helpful, but otherwise as a trainee what you need is a progressive program that takes nature into account, that's what the GB system is.

Yeah that's basically the conclusion I was coming to myself. Being interested in physiology, nutrition, and "how can I optimize my performance?"  I was wondering if it worked that way, or was even worth being worked that way.

gunslinger_burrito said:

Yeah that's basically the conclusion I was coming to myself. Being interested in physiology, nutrition, and "how can I optimize my performance?"  I was wondering if it worked that way, or was even worth being worked that way.

I don't have time to hunt down a link just now, but Coach has written or commented on other people's writings a little before about Chinese and Russian elite selection procedures, including body metrics, and in seminar gave us some insight into body proportion in relation to apparatus specialisation. It was thoroughly interesting, but all theory and pretty much out of one's hands