All About Building Muscle Mass
How Muscles Grow
Skeletal muscle is the most adaptable tissue in your body. When you stress your muscles, like weightlifting, your muscle fibers undergo trauma, or what is called muscle injury. When your muscles are injured this way, satellite cells on the outside of the muscle fibers become activated. They attempt to repair the damage by joining together and, as a result, increasing the muscle fiber.
Stressing your muscles also release growth hormone from your pituitary gland. How much is released depends on the intensity of the exercise you have done. Growth hormone triggers your metabolism and helps turn amino acids into protein to build muscle.
How to Build Muscle
The good news is that spending hours every week in the gym is not necessary to build muscle. If done correctly, just ten to fifteen minutes a day, or even less depending on your age, is enough to see results. You should try to target all your major muscle groups at least twice throughout your weekly workouts.
While you may not see results right away, even a single strength training session can help promote muscle growth. Exercise stimulates what is called protein synthesis in the 2 to 4 hours after you finish your workout. Your levels may stay elevated for up to a whole day.
How exactly can you tell if your muscles are growing? You may be able to see more muscle definition. If not, you will certainly be able to lift heavier things with greater ease over time.
The old standard approach to building strength was to do between 8 and 15 repetitions in a row, equaling one set. Then wait a minute in between sets to rest. Then complete another set of the same length… then another.
The fit10 method is much different. By using isometrics to pre-fatigue the muscles being worked, only one set of reps is necessary, assuming that the reps conclude with the inability to do more.
Rest is Important
It is best that you do not do strength training on the same muscle group two days in a row. The exception to this is isometric exercise. Sleep also plays a role in both muscle development and recovery. Try to average seven hours of sleep per night.
Women Build Muscle at a Different Rate Than Men
Men and women build muscles differently. That is because testosterone plays a big role in muscle development. While both sexes have testosterone in their bodies, men have more of this hormone. However, studies have shown that both men and women have similar responses to strength training.
Muscle growth is also affected by:
body size
body composition
hormones
Overall, more noticeable changes in muscle mass tend to happen for people of either sex who have more muscle mass to begin with.
Diet and Muscles
The foods you eat may help you build more muscle. Eat a healthy diet that has a good dose of protein. These foods will fuel your workouts and help build muscle through certain amino acids like leucine. Animal sources have the most protein, but vegetable sources can also be sufficient. You can find leucine in animal products like:
beef
lamb
pork
poultry
fish
eggs
milk
milk products, like cheese
Non-animal sources of protein include foods like:
beans
nuts
seeds
Always remember to talk to your doctor before starting a new workout routine, especially if you have a health condition.
