Weight Training: How Do Muscles Grow?

How do Muscles Grow?

Is it possible to build a house without knowing anything of carpentry?

Of course, you can't.

As they say, knowledge is power, and to be able complete any task satisfactorily, you should have, at the very least, some rudimentary know-how of the task at hand.

Your new mantra should be "Work smart; not hard.".

Unfortunately, this mantra is completely overlooked by thousands of wannabe bodybuilders who throng gyms all over the country everyday, attempting to build muscle and lose fat.

To verify my statement, just ask any of them a simple question: "How do muscles grow?" All you'll get in response is a blank stare. "They will look back at you with a blank stare.

Bodybuilding isn't an art, it's a science.

Now, don't get worried; you don't need a doctorate in biology to build big guns, but knowing the basics of how muscles grow will help you to efficiently meet your muscle building goals.

You must be asking by now "How do muscles grow?".

Well, the process of muscle growth is complex and involves a large number of biological steps.

You don't need to know it all as a bodybuilder, just the basic steps of muscle building.

Eager to know how muscles grow? Let's take a look. Let us find out.

As you train, you should understand that every single action and process within your body has a single purpose: to keep you alive and healthy.

When it comes to Mother Nature, in fact, we humans have just one purpose: to pass on our DNA and procreate.

Yep, that's all there is to it.

So exactly how do muscles grow?

We are the result of millions of years of evolution, and the human body has evolved to create natural alarm systems that sound in response to stress, to be able to ensure our survival.

Think about how you feel hungry if you don't eat, how you feel thirsty if you don't drink, how you feel pain when something hurts you, and how you tan when you are exposed to the sun; these are all instances of the natural alarms going off.

The process of muscle growth should also be thought of in the same way.

In scientific terms, the muscle building process is called "hypertrophy.".

When you work out at the gym, what you're doing is placing your muscles under stress by lifting weights.

Your muscles come closer to failure with every repetition, which means at one point, they will "give out," and you will not be able to do any more reps, regardless of hard you try.

As they come towards failure, these reps create deeper and deeper inroads through the muscle fiber, resulting in what we call "micro-tears.".

What this actually means is that you're inflicting damage on the muscle fibers and breaking them down.

When the body is damaged, the survival system will kick in, and the body will react by repairing the muscles.

The repair process starts when the stress ceases, or when you stop working out.

Since the body's ultimate aim is to keep you alive and healthy, it will rebuild itself bigger and stronger to be able to protect itself against the same threat in the future.

So this increased size and strength is a natural evolutionary response to the micro-tears, and the body tries to repair damaged tissue caused by resistance training.

Understanding this concept may seem simple, but it's very important for muscle building success.

When you overuse the skin on your hands of feet, your body forms calluses on the skin; the entire muscle building process is very similar.

Like a callus on the hands, muscles are like calluses for the body, and grow more and more with constant use.

Finally, how do muscles grow?

For the process of muscle building to kick in, your body must perceive the weight you lift in the gym as a threat to survival, as a result of which it will initiate a process of adaptation designed to help it cope with this stress.

Let me say this once more: Your workout must be hard enough for your body to see it as a threat to its survival and ability to cope.

So now you see why a nonchalant attitude will not do you any good in the gym.

The body will only perceive a threat when your workout is high in intensity.

How do muscles grow?

Now that you know the basics, it's time to use your knowledge to fuel your muscles for massive growth; visit the following website to find out how.

By Don Demarco. Don has years of experience in body building and writes a fitness column read by thousands every week. Ever wondered how to get wash board abs? Visit Men's Workout Rock Hard Six Pack Abs You may also sign up for a FREE Muscle Building Course