Victor Forge
Muscle growth, or hypertrophy, occurs when muscle fibres are damaged and repaired, increasing the mass and size of the muscles. This can be induced by strength exercise, hormones, and genetics. Different body types also grow muscle at different rates, with mesomorphic body types tending to build muscle mass more quickly than ectomorphic or endomorphic body types.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Muscle growth | Generation of new syncytial fibres, addition of nuclei from muscle stem cells to existing fibres, increase in cytoplasmic volume/nucleus |
| Muscle hypertrophy | Enlargement of individual muscle fibres |
| Muscle growth triggers | Contractile activity, strength exercise, specific hormones, resistance or weight |
| Muscle growth rates | Different for different body types and sexes |
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What You'll Learn
How to build muscle with a workout partner
Working out with a friend is a great way to build muscle. A workout partner can help you stay motivated and make working out more fun.
First, it's important to warm up and stretch for 5-10 minutes before engaging in strength or cardio activities. You can then begin with light weights and increase the weight or resistance level gradually. It's important to carry out all exercises using the correct form, breathing techniques, and controlled movement.
You can also pair certain muscle groups together to make your workouts more efficient. For example, you can target your chest with bench presses, push-ups, and chest presses, and your back with deadlifts, lat pulldowns, and dumbbell rows.
If you have plenty of muscle but it's covered in a layer of fat, try incorporating more high-intensity elements into your workout. You can do this by creating supersets (doing two exercises back-to-back), shortening your rest periods, or doing explosive versions of traditional exercises (e.g. weighted jump squats instead of goblet squats).
You can also lead off every workout with an exercise that lets you train low-rep. For example, do four sets of three to five reps on your first exercise, then do three sets of 10 to 12 reps for every move after that.
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How to lose fat covering muscle
To lose fat covering muscle, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn. This is known as body recomposition, which is the process of changing your ratio of fat mass to lean mass. This can be achieved by eating a high-protein diet, doing resistance training, and scheduling recovery time. It's also important to incorporate aerobic (cardiovascular) exercises with resistance training to benefit fat loss while preserving muscle mass.
Unlike traditional methods of weight loss, there is no real protocol for body recomposition. However, basic guidelines include eating a healthy diet and doing cardiovascular exercise, or combined cardio and resistance exercise.
It's important to note that your body shouldn't naturally go for muscle first in weight loss. If you're not eating, your body will first go for carbs (glucose) for energy, and if that's not available, it will go for glycogen, which is glucose stored in the liver and muscles.
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How to create supersets
Skeletal muscle can grow in three ways: by generation of new syncytial fibres, addition of nuclei from muscle stem cells to existing fibres, or an increase in cytoplasmic volume/nucleus. The latter two processes are induced by exercise. Muscle growth occurs when the overall rates of protein synthesis exceed the rates of protein degradation. This process is known as muscle hypertrophy.
Supersets are a great way to get the most out of your gym time. They allow you to work all your muscle groups while still getting enough recovery. A superset is when two or more exercises hitting different muscle groups are performed in a row without rest between them. For example, if you're squatting heavy, you might normally take a couple of minutes of rest before your next set, but in supersetting, you can use that time to do another exercise, like bench pressing.
There are many ways to create supersets, but they should all include synergy between the two movements. The movements should be strategically placed together to work off each other. This creates a novel training environment for muscular strength, growth, and metabolic stresses in targeted tissues.
When creating your own supersets, it's important to consider the planes of motion that your body moves through. If you're pairing two big compound movements together, it's best to place the pull-emphasised movement first in the superset. You can also create a non-competing superset, which is great if you're limited on time. Good combinations for this include a lower body push and an upper body pull, or vice versa. For example, perform four to five sets of each, resting three minutes between each exercise. This will get you a solid full-body session in thirty minutes. Another great way to pair exercises together is by having a strength exercise with a mobility or corrective exercise.
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How to shorten rest periods
I'm not sure what you mean by 'how does muscle friend with', but I can tell you how to shorten rest periods to build muscle.
Shortening rest periods between sets can be an effective way to build muscle, particularly when combined with moderate-intensity sets. Research has shown that short rest intervals of 20 seconds to 1 minute can lead to greater repetition velocities and higher total torque during a high-intensity cycle test, which indirectly demonstrates the benefits of short rest intervals for gains in muscular endurance.
The National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends 30-second rest intervals between sets to improve muscular endurance. This is part of a linear, periodized program consisting of muscular endurance, hypertrophy, strength, and power. Muscular endurance programs typically involve short rest intervals of 20-60 seconds, with a higher volume of reps performed with a lower amount of weight.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is another training method that can be beneficial for achieving muscular endurance. This involves creating supersets by doing two exercises back-to-back, shortening rest periods, or doing explosive versions of traditional exercises (e.g. weighted jump squats instead of goblet squats).
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How to do explosive exercises
Skeletal muscle can grow in three ways: by generation of new syncytial fibres, addition of nuclei from muscle stem cells to existing fibres, or an increase in cytoplasmic volume/nucleus. Evidence suggests the latter two processes contribute to exercise-induced growth.
Muscle growth occurs when a person continually challenges their muscles to deal with higher levels of resistance or weight. This process is known as muscle hypertrophy. Muscle hypertrophy occurs when the fibres of the muscles sustain damage or injury. The body repairs damaged fibres by fusing them, which increases the mass and size of the muscles.
Explosive exercises are a great way to build muscle and improve athletic performance. They combine speed, strength, and power training into functional movements that allow you to generate force quickly or decelerate quickly.
- Choose movements that allow you to move moderate loads quickly (50-70% of your 1-rep max).
- Try exercises like plyometrics, medicine ball throw variations, and Olympic weightlifting variations.
- You can also use different types of movements, tempo, and rep ranges to increase either speed, power, or both.
- Remember to train with specificity in mind if you are exercising to improve your sports performance, and include all three types of training (speed, power, and strength) in your programming for the best results.
- Tuck jumps are an agility exercise that helps enhance power, athletic performance, and calorie burn in HIIT workouts.
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Frequently asked questions
Muscle growth, or hypertrophy, occurs when the fibres of the muscles sustain damage or injury. The body repairs damaged fibres by fusing them, which increases the mass and size of the muscles.
Skeletal muscle can grow in three ways: by generation of new syncytial fibres, addition of nuclei from muscle stem cells to existing fibres, or an increase in cytoplasmic volume/nucleus.
High-force exercises are a particularly effective growth stimulus. Strength exercises, such as resistance training, are also effective.
Androgens and β-adrenergic agonists are hormones that can help induce muscle growth.
Age, sex, genetics, and body type can all affect the rate at which a person can grow muscle.
