Hypertrophy involves the growth and increase of your muscle cells. However, this enhancement of your muscular size is gotten through exercise.
While going about with your workout session, if you are looking to improve or tone your muscle definition, then you should try lifting weights as it is a very effective way to boost hypertrophy.
Muscular Hypertrophy
When it comes to muscular hypertrophy, it is divided into two.
They include;
Sarcoplasmic
This has to do with the increment of muscle glycogen storage
Myofibrillar
This involves the enhancement of your muscle contraction parts
Based on your fitness goals, you can choose which of these workouts to follow through. The myofibrillar workout will help improve your speed and strength by activating your contractor muscles.
The sarcoplasmic workout ensures that your body has more sustained endurance and energy for athletic events by activating the storage of glycogen in your muscles.
When it comes to lifting of weight, it is advisable to do a lot of reps (repetitions) with a lighter weight, or you can opt to lift a heavier weight with lesser reps; your way of lifting the weight is a deciding factor of how your muscles change and grow.
For instance, if you are looking to develop your muscle tone by using a lighter weight, you would need to perform a higher number of reps to enhance the effectiveness of your muscle fibers.
You can also perform many reps until you reach a point where you are fatigued, but this would not do any significant work for your muscle definition.
However, if you want to stimulate the definition and growth in your muscle fibers effectively, you would have to work with a heavier weight. If you do not have enough time on your hands, then this is the way to carry out your workout sessions.
How to build muscle and increase muscle size
If you want to build your muscle by lifting weights, it is required that you have two factors, which include metabolic fatigue and mechanical damage.
This mechanical damage experienced by the muscle proteins would then stimulate a response that involves repairs in your body. The increase in muscle size that you get is as a result of the damaged fibers in muscle proteins.
Mechanical fatigue is what happens when your muscle fibers use up the existing amount of ATP. ATP is the energy element that is vital for the contraction of muscles.
At this point, they would no longer be capable of fueling further muscular contractions and cannot ensure that the weight is lifted appropriately. This, in turn, can also result in muscle gain.
Metabolic fatigue and mechanical damage are two essential factors to have if you want to achieve muscular hypertrophy.
However, it is not necessary to keep working your muscles until you get to the point that is known as “failure.” When this happens, you will no longer be able to continue with a rep to get your desired result.
Research has shown that if you want to get significant gains, it is required that there is a considerable amount of metabolic stress on your muscles along with a subtle amount of tension on the muscle.
These researchers also noticed that exercises that include eccentric movements at slow speeds (about 2 to 4 seconds) and concentric movements at a relatively faster speed (about 1 to 3 seconds) are very effective.
A good definition of a movement that is concentric is when you raise the weight while performing a bicep curl towards your shoulder. Then an eccentric movement would be returning to the initial position.
Rules for muscular hypertrophy
These are some of the rules you should follow for muscular hypertrophy;
Focus your training on frequency instead of volume
While it is important to ensure that there is volume in your training, the frequency of the training is more essential if you want to achieve muscular hypertrophy. Ensure you perform some simple compound movements about two times per week.
If you want optimal results, you can try going three times per week. Your muscles will be repaired within 48 hours of your workout, and that is the same period it takes for you to stop growing, even if you still feel that your muscles are sore after five days.
So, ensure your training includes the basic movements about three times per week so that your muscles can keep growing for the whole week.
Get enough sleep
While you are sleeping, your muscles repair better. This is why it is advisable to get at least 6 hours of sleep. While getting 8 hours of sleep is the optimal time for resting.
How frequently you should lift to get muscular hypertrophy
Once you have set your goals, it is now left for you to work towards it and know the frequency of lifting you should work with.
However, these are some of the schedules for weight-lifting you should consider;
Lift two days per week
Based on your level of fitness, you can try out this weightlifting schedule.
Lift three days per week
During this plan, try to lift heavy weight more. Lifting three days per week also gives you one day of rest between workouts, which would promote recovery of your muscles.
Switching between lower-body lifting and upper-body lifting
You can alternate between these two types of body lifting for separate days. Doing this would ensure that you are working on the lower body muscles as you give the upper body muscles time to recover and rest. It also works the other way round.
Tips to improve the efficiency of your workout sessions
Lift an adequate weight
You should not use a weight that is too light for your workout; this is because it would not give you the required muscle definition or gain.
Make your activities and exercises different
If you choose to alter your exercises, it will ensure that a lot of muscle fibers are fired up while you are doing the same circuit or movement.
A trainer might be helpful
If you feel like you may not be able to reach your goals on your own due to some reasons, you can consider hiring a certified trainer. These are people that can help you map out a perfect program for weightlifting.
Incorporate a reps-and-rest system
It is important to note that these muscles you strain during a workout can adapt fast. This is why it is advisable to keep challenging the muscles to improve definition and growth.
To ensure your safety, it is recommended that you do not raise the mass of weight you are using for your workout too fast. Rather, you can gradually increase the weight every week.
Myostatin-related muscular hypertrophy
It has already been established that you can achieve muscular hypertrophy by exercising. However, you can be faced with a medical condition known as myostatin-related muscular hypertrophy.
This is a sporadic genetic condition. People that have this condition are normally faced with increased muscular size and decreased body fat.
It is not a devastating condition as, in most cases, the patients don’t usually notice medical problems of any kind. This condition usually happens due to certain mutations that occur in the MSTN gene.
These are most likely the only symptoms that people with this condition are faced with;
- An increase in muscular strength
- A decrease in the amount of body fat
To measure your body fat, a caliper or ultrasound is required.
If you feel like you have myostatin-related muscular hypertrophy, visit your healthcare provider as they will carry out clinical genetic testing before making a diagnosis.
This testing is typically accessible only for a stipulated time. So, if you are noticing symptoms, ensure you talk to your doctor to know if genetic testing is needed.
Conclusion
It is a well-known fact that by lifting weights at the gym, you can achieve muscular hypertrophy. However, it is important to note that for you to notice the growth of your muscles, you need to challenge and break them down constantly.
If you also want to improve your muscle growth effectively, you should consider following a diet that is rich in protein.
It would be best if you opt for sources of lean protein such as lean meat, fish, chicken, and plant-based protein powder. About 30 minutes after your workout, ensure you drink or eat a protein source.
Also, it would be best if you discussed it with your healthcare provider before you take on a new exercise plan. This is because they would be able to tell you whether or not it is safe for you to lift heavy weights.
