Skeletal muscle is one of the most adaptable types of tissue in the human body, and muscle growth is a complex biological process that occurs at the cell’s molecular level. It involves the interplay between many cellular organelles (parts of a cell) and the growth factors (hormone and hormone-like compounds) that stimulate them. Studied for centuries, only recently have scientists come to fully understand this complex process of muscle growth technically referred to as hypertrophy.
Growth in muscle mass, essentially, is the by-product of the damage incurred by the tissue during resistance or weight training. When you exercise, thousands of microscopic tears of the muscle tissue occur, disrupting the cell’s organelles, or cell parts. One type of organelles, called satellite cells and located on the surface area of the muscle fiber, then begins migrating to the site of the tissue damage and begins to fuse to each other and the damaged muscle fibers. This eventually leads to increased muscle fiber across the damaged area.
The growth of muscle tissue is also predicated by the active role that various growth hormones take. While strength training, the anterior section of the brain’s pituitary gland is is stimulated and release growth hormones. This activity triggers the fat metabolic process, generating energy for the muscle to use as the growing process occurs. The intensity of the strength or resistance training workout determines how much growth hormones is released. The hormones also stimulate amino acids to be taken up and used by skeletal muscle protein.
The hormone testosterone also plays a direct role in stimulating muscle growth. They serve to increase the presence of neurotransmitters at the site of the damaged muscle fiber, which further helps to activate tissue development. Testosterone is also suspected to apply some degree of regulation to satellite cell activity.
Muscle growth occurs when the muscle synthesizes protein at a rate greater than the rate of muscle protein breakdown. Although resistance exercises can really stimulate muscle cell growth, the growth is generally relatively slow. Sometimes it takes several weeks or months for the growth to become apparent.
Both men and women respond to strength training in very similar ways. However, due to gender differences in body composition, body size, and hormone levels, far different degrees of muscle development can occur than what had hoped to realize. Aging, another factor playing a direct role in muscle development, causes muscle mass to diminish over time as you get older. The good news, though, is that this natural loss of muscle mass – called sarcopenia – is reversible by following a regular regimen of weight training. Regular training is also beneficial from the standpoint that it can help you prevent injury and speed rehabilitation, as it has the effect of strengthening the connective tissue surrounding skeletal muscle.
If you can build a regimen around a well planned, complementary diet and the proper weight training exercises, you can maximize the amount of muscle development you can realistically expect to achieve.
The author Darrin Paulsent writes about building body muscle for the beginning weight trainer. Click here for many more simple tips and techniques to build muscle how the experts do.
