When a muscle hypertrophies, it gets bigger and increases in size. That said, we must understand that this process is induced, that is, it cannot occur without our actively participating through training. In other words, a muscle is never going to randomly hypertrophy.
In this article We explain the mechanisms that give rise to this phenomenon and the details you need to understand this concept more deeply.
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What does it mean and what does it mean for a muscle to hypertrophy?
As we said, hypertrophy does not happen by chance and we must participate actively so that this process takes place thanks to the stimulus offered by the training.
Hypertrophy implies growth or increase in size of something, in this case of the muscle cell. Technically it is said to involve an increase in the cross section of the muscle, that is, an increase in the diameter of the muscle fibers.
This hypertrophy of the muscle cell includes two types of hypertrophy: sarcoplasmic and sarcomeric. This differentiation is more theoretical than practical since at the moment of truth the contribution that both make to total hypertrophy is practically the same.
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy involves growth in the non-contractile elements of the muscle (plasma in general, calcium ions, hemoglobin …) and sarcomeric in contractiles. As we said, this is more a theoretical question than a practical one.
How does hypertrophy occur?
To understand hypertrophy we must understand the three mechanisms that are most accepted today and that can explain it. They are mechanical stress, metabolic stress and muscle damage, although mechanical stress is considered to be the primary one and that thanks to this the other two can occur. It may be more complex than this but in general terms it is.
What is mechanical stress?
Mechanical stress is defined as the tension that our muscle fibers endure when they contract to produce force against resistance. This mechanical stress not only explains muscle hypertrophy but also good muscle health and functionality since muscle tissue that is not exposed to mechanical stress over time, atrophies. It is one of the ills that you can suffer if you spend time bedridden in the hospital, for example.
It is theorized that the mechanical stress that we can suffer during training disturbs the integrity of the muscle, causing a cascade of reactions at the molecular and cellular level of a mechano-chemical nature. which ultimately lead to hypertrophic adaptations.
What is metabolic stress?
Metabolic stress could be defined as a background process that takes place in parallel to mechanical stress. It would be the logical result at the metabolic level of exercise (weight in this case) that is based on anaerobic glycolysis at the energy level. Metabolic stress would contribute to the accumulation of metabolites such as lactate, hydrogen ions, inorganic phosphate, creatine and others.
Some studies have speculated that the accumulation of metabolites may be more important than high force productions in optimizing the hypertrophic response to training. This would be explained thanks to the alterations produced at the hormonal level (cellular swelling, production of free radicals, transcription factors aimed at hypertrophy …).
What is muscle damage?
Muscle damage is structural damage to muscle tissue during strength training.
When there is muscle damage at the microscopic level, different cells of the immune system such as neutrophils flock to the area to eliminate damaged cell debris. This process releases cytokines that help maintain muscle fiber structure.. It is theorized that this leads to the release of different growth factors that regulate the proliferation of satellite cells that will promote hypertrophy.
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