PHYSIOLOGY
Have you ever thought what happens to your muscle fibers after a workout?
It goes through a process of repair, with proper nutrients the muscles go through a process to form new muscle fibers. When the process of muscle growth is greater repair than breakdown it’s called hypertrophy or muscle growth. And this happens while you rest. Not lifting weights or training.
Below is a basic guide of how you could maximize muscle growth, bear in mind that muscle growth is not gaining fat mass. We all need muscle growth as some degree. And the ladies who are reading this, you need it more than anybody to maintain healthy body weight and to improve performance.
EXERCISE SELECTION
There are many different beliefs, some talk about theories like muscle confusion or more. With reference to the most common findings following the basics is the key for clean muscle growth.
So what are the basic exercises!
Those compound big exercises! If you want to me to talk about the key ones!
PUSH - PULL - LIFT - SQUAT - LUNGE - HINGE … give it a go with the barbells, dumbbells but NOT the machines!!!!
TRAINING VOLUME
Though there is a direct relationship with training volume and muscle growth, it is hard for anyone to say the optimal training volume. Having the ability to stuff yourself with proper nutrients you should consider to increase volume without compromising quality.
I would suggest hitting up twice weekly for large muscle groups, in a zone where your intensity varies from a 12RM to a 1RM. You maybe surprised why I am referring to a 1RM here. Majority of proven research confirms that training with a wider intensity zone (rep ranges) stimulates muscle growth more significantly.
Adaptation to higher volume is growth.
PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
Make your muscle work is the key principle here!
This does not mean you should be continuously breaking your spotter or trainers back making them do the work for you.
When executing exercises you should be continuously increasing the load of the exercise to put more demand on the working muscles. Every set should put in some extra demand and stimuli to the target muscle. I’d like to put it this way!
On the big exercises like squats, presses, rows, deadlifts (compound exercises) start from a 12RM weight and try to push yourself up to a 1RM. Simply 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 … maybe you could push to do few 1RM sets, i like to try loading the 1.25kg weight plates to test myself (make sure its not assisted, and its controlled).
SPECIFIC ADAPTATION TO IMPOSED DEMANDS (S.A.I.D)
A basic concept of sports and exercise science. I will try to put it in very simple words.
“if and when your body is placed under any form of stress, the body starts to adapt and learn, in time your body becomes better at doing it”
For muscle growth the idea is to give them load, feed them with adequate nutrients and adapt. Muscle growth will be guaranteed.
CONCLUSION
In this post my highlight is to address muscle growth but not bodybuilding.
Where muscles growth is a necessity for everybody and bodybuilding is a competitive sport which should be trained in sports specifics.
Muscle growth and hypertrophy is a necessity for performance.
Comments