Scientists have learned a lot about the causes of muscle growth, but research continues today. Find out why muscle growth is in bodybuilding. Scientists continue to study the mechanisms of muscle tissue growth. All the factors and their interaction necessary for this have not yet been established. Much can already be said about the effects on muscle growth of hormones, genes and other factors that are necessary to support the growth of muscle fibers. However, there is still a large number of secrets to be revealed in order to fully comprehend this process. Today we will try to summarize all the known facts and understand why muscles grow in bodybuilding.
It is well known that repetitions and working weight have a big influence on muscle growth. Even a child understands that in order to have large muscles, it is necessary to lift weights and do it often. This training method is usually called rehearsal. Lifting weights is necessary to stimulate muscle growth, as heavy loads can injure muscle tissue.
It is this factor that causes the subsequent adaptive reaction of the body, aimed at restoring injured tissues with a margin. Actually, it is this reserve that makes the muscles increase in size. Of course, when lifting weights eight times, muscle tissue is injured more than it would be possible with six repetitions with the same working weight. This also explains the need to perform more repetitions.
However, there is an inverse relationship between reps and weight. Everyone understands that for more lifts, the weight of the weights should be less. This knowledge can be used in different ways, but no one will deny the need to reduce weight to perform a large number of repetitions.
The maximum possible weight can be lifted once. After some rest, you can do it again, but only after the body has recovered. The cause of exhaustion in this case lies in the central nervous system. To put it simply, the brain and nerves are reluctant to tell the muscles to do the work to their maximum capacity.
If you lift the maximum weight, the nervous system uses its resources even before the muscle tissue is injured. For this reason, it is necessary to find such a ratio between the number of repetitions and the weight in order to ensure tissue growth.
Athletes use a wide variety of training systems and there should always be a place for exercises with a low load, but with a large number of repetitions of exercises.
It doesn't really matter what you want to develop - strength, endurance, or build more muscle mass. Without variety in the training process, you will not achieve your goals. Some training systems are focused on working on certain muscle groups, while others involve the use of high working weights and intense training.
What is the secret to muscle growth?
When it comes to why muscles grow in bodybuilding, we can say for sure that this happens only during rest. In training sessions, you can only injure muscle tissue, and already at the time of recovery, they will grow.
Simply put, strength training is a boost to muscle growth. The result obtained will directly depend on the quality of the rest and the nutrition program. Do not expect great results if you often do not get enough sleep or eat foods that are low in protein compounds.
Even if you train intensely and variedly, the body will not be able to build muscle mass. If you do not follow the diet and rest regimen, and exercise often to increase the effectiveness of the exercises, then you will only overtrain your body. This will slow down progress, and then completely stop it. To resume the growth of muscle tissue, in this case, you will need to skip at least a week of classes in order for the body to recover. And to do this without proper rest and food is very problematic. You must remember that you need to sleep from 7 to 9 hours during the day.
If, in addition to bodybuilding, you are also involved in other sports with a high intensity of exercise, then you need to give the body a week of rest from all loads at least once every three months. After training, athletes constantly have a feeling of discomfort, fatigue, and pain in the muscles. This is quite normal, because without pain there will be no progress.
However, pain can be different, and you must learn to distinguish between natural pain associated with training and harmful to your body. Normal pain comes from exercise. With each repetition, lifting the equipment becomes more difficult and painful. This is due to the accumulation of lactic acid in the muscle tissues. This leads to an acid imbalance and you must complete the exercise.
But there may be painful sensations that are dangerous to you. First of all, they should include a sharp pain in the joints and muscles. This could signal a possible stretching or rupture. In this situation, you should immediately consult a doctor and conduct a study.
It is important to remember that pain does not necessarily appear immediately. This can happen one to two days after the completion of the training session. Almost always, they are the result of minor tears in muscles or connective tissue. Such pains do not pose a health hazard.
This problem is always faced by novice athletes. For this reason, during the first month of training, you should not force the load. Work with moderate weight. If the pain does not go away even after reducing the load, then it is worth giving the body a rest for one week.
For more information on muscle growth theories, see this video by Denis Borisov:
