Use these methods to optimise your training and make your time in the gym more productive.
Having more muscle mass can provide several benefits to your overall health and well-being. Here are some key advantages of having increased muscle mass:
Enhanced Metabolism: Muscles are metabolically active tissues, meaning they require more energy to maintain. Having more muscle mass can increase your basal metabolic rate (BMR), leading to a higher calorie burn even at rest. This can facilitate weight management and make it easier to maintain a healthy body weight.
Increased Strength and Physical Performance: Building muscle mass improves overall strength and physical performance. It allows you to perform everyday tasks more efficiently and with less effort. Whether you’re lifting heavy objects, participating in sports, or engaging in recreational activities, having more muscle mass can enhance your performance and reduce the risk of injuries.
Improved Body Composition: Increasing muscle mass while reducing body fat levels can lead to a more favourable body composition. This can result in a toned and sculpted appearance, with a higher muscle-to-fat ratio. Improving body composition not only enhances aesthetics but also contributes to better overall health.
Bone Health: Regular resistance training and building muscle mass have been linked to improved bone density and reduced risk of osteoporosis. Resistance exercises stimulate bone remodelling, which helps maintain bone strength and prevents age-related bone loss.
Metabolic Health: Increased muscle mass can have positive effects on metabolic health markers. It is associated with improved insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism, and lipid profile. Having more muscle mass can help reduce the risk of developing metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Joint Stability and Injury Prevention: Strengthening muscles around joints can provide added support and stability, reducing the risk of joint injuries. Well-developed muscles act as protective buffers, absorbing impact forces and protecting the joints from excessive strain during physical activities.
Longevity and Aging: Maintaining or increasing muscle mass as you age is crucial for maintaining independence and functional ability. Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, is associated with an increased risk of falls, fractures, and functional limitations. Having more muscle mass can help counteract the effects of sarcopenia and promote healthy aging.
It’s important to note that building muscle mass requires regular resistance training, a well-balanced diet with adequate protein, and sufficient rest and recovery.
Muscle hypertrophy refers to the process of increasing the size and volume of skeletal muscle fibres. It occurs in response to a combination of resistance training, adequate nutrition, and sufficient recovery.
When you engage in resistance exercises, such as weightlifting or bodyweight exercises, it creates mechanical stress on your muscles. This stress triggers a series of physiological responses that ultimately lead to muscle growth and hypertrophy.
During resistance training, microscopic damage occurs to muscle fibres, particularly the myofibrils within them. This damage signals the body to initiate a repair and adaptation process. The damaged muscle fibres recruit satellite cells, which are dormant cells located on the surface of muscle fibres. These satellite cells then fuse with the damaged muscle fibres and donate their nuclei to aid in repair and protein synthesis.
The repair process involves the activation of various growth factors, hormones, and signaling pathways, such as insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs). These factors stimulate the synthesis of new proteins, primarily actin and myosin, which are the contractile proteins responsible for muscle contraction. As a result, the muscle fibres increase in size and volume, leading to muscle hypertrophy.
Muscle hypertrophy can occur through two main mechanisms:
Sarcomere Hypertrophy: This involves an increase in the number of contractile units, called sarcomeres, within the muscle fibres. Sarcomere hypertrophy leads to an increase in the thickness and diameter of the individual muscle fibres, resulting in visible muscle growth.
Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy: This refers to an increase in the non-contractile components of the muscle fibres, such as glycogen, water content, and other cellular structures. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy contributes to muscle size and volume but may not necessarily enhance muscle strength to the same extent as sarcomere hypertrophy.
It’s important to note that muscle hypertrophy is influenced by various factors, including genetics, hormone levels, nutrition, training volume and intensity, and recovery.
To maximize muscle hypertrophy, it is crucial to engage in regular resistance training that targets different muscle groups, consume a balanced diet with sufficient protein to support muscle growth, and allow for proper rest and recovery between workouts. Additionally, progressively increasing the intensity and difficulty of your workouts over time can further stimulate muscle hypertrophy.
Progressive overload is a fundamental principle in strength training and exercise physiology. It involves gradually increasing the demands placed on your muscles and body over time to stimulate continuous improvements in strength, muscle mass, and overall fitness. The concept of progressive overload can be applied to various aspects of your training, including resistance, volume, intensity, and frequency.
To achieve progressive overload, you need to consistently challenge your muscles by incrementally increasing the difficulty of your workouts. This can be done in several ways:
Resistance: Increase the amount of weight or resistance you lift during exercises. For example, if you’re performing a barbell squat with 100 pounds, gradually increase the weight to 105 pounds or more over time.
By consistently applying progressive overload, your muscles are continually exposed to new challenges, forcing them to adapt and grow stronger. This adaptation occurs as your body strives to meet the increased demands placed upon it, leading to improvements in muscle strength, size, and overall fitness.
However, it’s important to note that progressive overload should be implemented gradually and progressively to prevent overtraining and minimize the risk of injury. Proper technique, adequate rest and recovery, and listening to your body are essential for sustainable progress and long-term success.
Additionally, progressive overload is not limited to just strength training. It can also be applied to cardiovascular exercises, flexibility training, and other forms of physical activity to promote continuous improvements in various aspects of fitness.
Increasing the amount of weight that you lift over time is a key component of progressive overload, and it stimulates muscle growth through several physiological mechanisms:
It’s important to note that simply increasing the weight you lift is not the sole factor for muscle growth. Proper form, technique, and range of motion are crucial for targeting the intended muscles effectively and minimizing the risk of injury.
Adding more repetitions (reps) over time can also contribute to muscle growth and stimulate muscle hypertrophy.
Here’s why:
Increasing the number of sets that you perform during your workouts can contribute to muscle hypertrophy and stimulate muscle growth through the following mechanisms:
Increased Volume and Total Work: Performing more sets means you are increasing the total volume of work you’re doing for a specific muscle or muscle group. Volume is a key driver of muscle growth and hypertrophy. By increasing the number of sets, you are exposing your muscles to a greater overall workload, which provides a stronger stimulus for muscle adaptation and growth.
Cumulative Fatigue: As you add more sets, your muscles experience cumulative fatigue throughout the workout. This cumulative fatigue further challenges your muscles and forces them to adapt by growing stronger and larger. It increases the overall stress and demand placed on the muscles, leading to greater muscle fibre recruitment and activation.
Extended Time Under Tension: Performing additional sets prolongs the time under tension for the muscles. Time under tension refers to the duration that the muscle is actively engaged and contracting during a set. By increasing the number of sets, you extend the total time the muscle fibres are under tension, which can enhance muscle fibre recruitment and stimulate muscle hypertrophy.
Increased Metabolic Stress: Performing multiple sets creates metabolic stress within the muscles. Metabolic stress occurs due to the accumulation of metabolic byproducts, such as lactic acid and other metabolites, during prolonged exercise. This metabolic stress triggers various physiological responses that contribute to muscle growth, including the release of anabolic hormones, improved blood flow to the muscles, and the production of growth factors.
Enhanced Protein Synthesis: Additional sets provide an extended period of stimulation for muscle protein synthesis, the process by which new proteins are synthesized within the muscles. Protein synthesis is a crucial factor in muscle repair, recovery, and growth. By increasing the number of sets, you prolong the anabolic stimulus on the muscles, promoting protein synthesis and facilitating muscle hypertrophy.
Slowing down the movement when lifting weights, often referred to as eccentric or negative training, can be an effective technique for stimulating muscle growth and hypertrophy. Here’s how it works:
Jeremy Ethier
is a certified personal trainer and strength and conditioning specialist who provides evidence-based fitness information, workout routines, and nutrition advice. Jeremy’s channel gained popularity for its science-based approach to fitness, where he breaks down complex concepts into easily understandable videos.
On his YouTube channel, Jeremy covers a wide range of topics related to fitness, including muscle building, fat loss, workout programming, nutrition strategies, and exercise technique. He often references scientific studies and research to support his claims and aims to debunk common fitness myths.