This is a tough one to write as I don’t like to over complicate muscle building or fat loss. Everyone can build muscle, and everyone can lose fat, therefore, how can it be that difficult?
In its simplest form, muscle building occurs when you train hard consistently and eat in a calorie surplus. You could tell the majority of the population to go away and lift weights in the 6-12 rep range for 6 months, with the aim to get stronger each week whilst eating in a surplus and the majority would come back with new muscle. You don’t have to explain to them the science behind it.
With that said, if you want that extra 3-4 % gain then you probably do need (or even want) to know about the science behind building muscle.
Building muscle actually has a scientific name; ‘Hypertrophy’. This means that there is an increase in the volume of fibres in the muscle, specifically myofibrils which are proteins that make up the cells in the muscle. We see growth as a biological response to intense exercise.
During an intense session, what we are essentially doing is breaking down these fibres. It's important to note that these fibres will only be broken down if they are exposed to a stimulus they haven’t had before. This is why progressive overload is so important. In order to grow, we must use a heavier weight than the previous session or perform more reps at the same weight. Outside of the session is where the magic happens. We do not grow during the training session, remember that. Once the hard work in the gym is done, the real hard work begins! I say this because you have to be much more disciplined to be able to consistently eat a healthy diet and sleep a quality 7-8 hours every night, whilst staying as stress free as possible. Training is the fun part, recovering not much so.
Once our work in the gym is done, the body instantly starts to repair itself;
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White blood cells are instantly sent to the muscles worked in order to reduce the inflammation caused from the workout
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Cell signalling proteins are released which help the white blood cells and also trigger what’s known as satellite cells. Cells that play a huge role in how much muscle we can build.
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These satellite cells start the process of repairing and growing our muscles.
This process is repeated throughout your whole fitness journey, crazy right?
It's also important to know what factors affect muscle growth.
Muscular tension – Your muscles are under tension as soon as you pick up a weight. The tension continues through the negative portion of the lift and positive. Progressively lifting heavier and placing your muscles under more tension is a key to hypertrophy
Time under tension – The amount of time you place your muscles under tension. For hypertrophy, you want to be aiming for around 45 – 60 seconds.
The muscle pump – There is mixed reviews around whether a pump actually helps muscle growth. Getting as pump can be dependent on many things and I personally believe it can play an important role in maximising your muscle gains. You don’t need to get a pump after every exercise but doing what’s known as a ‘pump set’ at the end of each workout can help deliver a large amount of blood filled with oxygen and nutrients to the area that has been trained.
Other factors that may influence it are genetics, age, training experience, nutrition and hormones.
Now go build some muscle, you little nerd.
