Muscles. We have over 600 of them.
They make up between 1/3 and 1/2 of our
body weight, and along with connective tissue, they bind us together, hold us
up, and help us move. And whether or not body building is your hobby, muscles
need your constant attention because the way you treat them on a daily basis
determines whether they will wither or grow. Say you're standing in front of a
door, ready to pull it open. Your brain and muscles are perfectly poised to help
you achieve this goal. First, your brain sends a signal to motor neurons inside
your arm. When they receive this message, they fire, causing muscles to
contract and relax, which pull on the bones in your arm and generate the needed
movement. The bigger the challenge becomes, the bigger the brain's signal
grows, and the more motor units it rallies to help you achieve your task. But
what if the door is made of solid iron? At this point, your arm muscles alone
won't be able to generate enough tension to pull it open, so your brain appeals to
other muscles for help. You plant your feet, tighten your belly, and tense your
back, generating enough force to yank it open. Your nervous system has just
leveraged the resources you already have, other muscles, to meet the demand.
While all this is happening, your muscle fibers undergo another kind of cellular
change. As you expose them to stress, they experience microscopic damage,
which, in this context, is a good thing. In response, the injured cells release
inflammatory molecules called cytokines that activate the immune system to
repair the injury. This is when the muscle-building magic happens. The greater
the damage to the muscle tissue, the more your body will need to repair itself.
The resulting cycle of damage and repair eventually makes muscles bigger and
stronger as they adapt to progressively greater demands. Since our bodies have
already adapted to most everyday activities, those generally don't produce
enough stress to stimulate new muscle growth. So, to build new muscle, a
process called hypertrophy, our cells need to be exposed to higher workloads
than they are used to. In fact, if you don't continuously expose your muscles to
some resistance, they will shrink, a process known as muscular atrophy. In
contrast, exposing the muscle to a high-degree of tension, especially while the
muscle is lengthening, also called an eccentric contraction, generates effective
conditions for new growth. However, muscles rely on more than just activity to
grow. Without proper nutrition, hormones, and rest, your body would never be
able to repair damaged muscle fibers. Protein in our diet preserves muscle mass
by providing the building blocks for new tissue in the form of amino acids.
Adequate protein intake, along with naturally occurring hormones, like
insulin-like growth factor and testosterone, help shift the body into a state where
tissue is repaired and grown. This vital repair process mainly occurs when we're
resting, especially at night while sleeping. Gender and age affect this repair
mechanism, which is why young men with more testosterone have a leg up in
the muscle building game. Genetic factors also play a role in one's ability to
grow muscle. Some people have more robust immune reactions to muscle
damage, and are better able to repair and replace damaged muscle fibers,
increasing their muscle-building potential. The body responds to the demands
you place on it. If you tear your muscles up, eat right, rest and repeat, you'll
create the conditions to make your muscles as big and strong as possible. It is
with muscles as it is with life: Meaningful growth requires challenge and stress.
