How do muscles Grow?
Before we jump into building huge muscles we need to know exactly how muscles grow. Why is it that a muscle gets bigger when we lift a heavy weight? Why is it that they get sore? Do you know?
The science of muscle growth
The science behind muscle growth is actually quite complex. If you sit down and read an advanced biology book (like I did) you will see there are lots references to organelles, microfibrils and a whole host of other things that help muscles grow. While it is important for some people to know this detailed information, it is not so vital for us. What we need to know is a basic idea of what makes a muscle grow and how it (roughly) takes place.
If you would like a detailed scientific explanation that shows you how the cells behave when repairing and building muscles then check out good resources.
Muscle growth, more generally speaking
As bodybuilders we need to know how to get the muscles to grow. To do this we do not need to know every little detail. While it might be helpful for some people’s minds to know this things, it is not essential.
The most important thing to understand is that muscle growth takes place when the muscle is damaged by resistance exercise. The body then goes about repairing that muscle and in doing so makes the muscle stronger and bigger. This is the essence of bodybuilding.
Knowing this is important for several reasons:
1. It shows us that we can plateau
If you think about it you will realize that there is a reason why we plateau. If we keep lifting the same weight in the same fashion for months on end the damage (good damage) we do to the muscle fibers will decrease as the body will become used to it. It is therefore vital that we always increase the weight.
2. It provides proof for heavy lifting
Knowing that the tears in the muscle fibers bring about muscle growth is important as it proves that heavy weight is the most effective method of lifting. I will always stick by this except for very few situations.
The importance of protein
This also highlights the importance of protein which is also known as the building blocks of muscle. We will be talking more about the role of protein in a post coming up later in the week.