What Causes Muscle Growth?

In order for muscles to grow, three things are required:

1. Stimulus - exercise is needed to make the muscles work, use energy and cause microscopic damage to the fibers.

2. Nutrition - after intense exercise the muscles need to replenish their stores of fuel.

3. Rest - it is during the rest or recovery phase that the muscles repair the microscopic damage and grow.

Muscle size increases due to hypertrophic adaptation and an increase in the cross section area of individual muscle fibers. Intensive exercise impacts more on the strength influencing fast twitch type II fibers, therefore the increase in muscle size is accompanied by greater strength.

This will deplete the muscle's energy stores and cause microscopic damage to the muscle tissue. During recovery, these stores of glycogen and phosphocreatine will replenish from carbohydrates and creatine ingested as food or supplements. Amino acids supplied in the diet will trigger the protein synthesis that repairs the damaged muscle and lead to the creation of bigger muscle fibers.

To achieve continuous improvement you will need to keep reaching for higher levels of training intensity otherwise the improvement process will grind to a halt. Fortunately, this is relatively easy to plan for provided certain basic principles and rules are clearly followed. Just be sure to build sufficient rest into your training program otherwise the hard work will go to waste. For many bodybuilders and athletes generally, it is the rest element that seems most difficult. Subsequent articles in this series will examine these principles in detail.

In the meantime you can find out more about building muscle by visiting the site listed below.

Richard Mitchell is the creator of the The Bodybuilding Blog website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to What Builds Muscles [http://www.bodybuilding-blog.com/bodybuilding-nutrition/what-builds-muscles] to learn more about the issues covered in this article.

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How To Gain Muscle Mass - 4 Points People Forget

1. Perform the right exercises

Whilst most exercises, if performed for long enough will help you build muscle, some exercises are more effective than others if you are looking to bulk up. Big, compound exercises such as bench press, squats, deadlift and wide arm pull ups target a variety of different muscle groups. These exercises also tend to target the bigger muscle groups in the body- the deadlift for example works your lower back, hamstrings and glutes. By working these muscle groups hard, not only will you see the greatest gains to your all round strength, you will also get the greatest hormonal response.

2. Lift Heavy Weights at the right number of repetitions

Heavy weights and low number of reps are they key to putting on muscle mass. Sets of between 5 and 8 reps are very much the standard if you want to build muscle tissue. This is because lifting a heavy weight fewer times causes comparatively more micro-tears in your muscle fibres than lifting a light weight frequently. It is these micro tears that ultimately cause your body to overcompensate when it repairs your muscle tissue, leading to gains in size and strength.

3. Nutrition

There are reasons that regular gym goers drink protein shakes. Protein is the building block for new muscle tissue- it doesn't really matter which form you take it in (shakes or in your meals), the important thing is to have a lot of it in your diet. Timing is also important- try and get a high protein meal or shake in within 20 minutes of your workout.

Protein is not the only relevant aspect of your diet- carbohydrates are also important- they give you the energy to perform well in the gym, and are also a vital part in providing the energy for your body to build new muscle tissue.

4. Sleep

Rest is often overlooked- lifting heavy weights puts your central nervous system under a lot of strain, and regular sleep cycles will help you recover for your next session. Muscles grow when your body tries to repair micro tears in your muscles- hitting the gym is essential, but the recovery process is equally vital. Furthermore, failure to rest enough will leave you lethargic and lacking motivation for your gym sessions. Gym hard, eat properly, but also give your body time to recover- this process is key if you want to build muscle in the long run.

PhysicalElite.com is a site devoted to educating people about the gym- find great training articles and product reviews to increase your strength and fitness levels.

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