All About Muscle

For all you workout at-home warriors, lets talk about the factors influencing muscle growth. How to speed up this process? What about metabolism and why some people struggle to build muscle?

Research shows that the amount of muscle fibers depends on genetics and practically does not change throughout life. What we label muscle growth is actually the volume increase in sarcoplasmic hypertrophy of tissues. The sarcoplasmic reticulum is a nourishing fluid that fills the space between the muscle fibers and connective tissue . One can say that mainly contains glycogen (carbohydrate reserve) and fats, amino acids and enzymes.

Skeletal Muscle

Energy for Working Muscles

For muscles working in active mode, they need to get quick energy. It is important to always have reserves of nutrients in the body: we expend about 100 to 150 grams of carbohydrates, from our body during strength training. After training, our body recovers sending carbohydrates consumed (the sarcoplasm) to the muscles, this process is called the metabolic window. It is important to consume carbohydrates for 2-3 hours post-workout, as glycogen stores are minimal.

Connective Tissue

This tissue surrounds and protects muscle fibers and also attaches muscles to bones. Under the influence of strength training, there are small tears in the tissue, and healing and growth that leads to increased mass and muscle fibers. The fact is that muscle fibers are distinguished by type and different types of training influence one or the other type of fibers, which implies different tissue reactions.

The Post-Workout Recovery

The recovery process of muscle fibers begins 3-4 hours after training and ends 36-48 hours later. For this exact reason we don’t exercise the same muscle group too often. The best tools for recovery are good sleep and good nutrition. If the body does not get enough protein and calcium, then the tissue healing process takes longer, minimizing the growth of muscles.

The Role of Training in Growth

The workouts and strength exercises require us to carry more weight, causing tiny ruptures in the muscle tissue and then consecutive increase tissue size. Besides this, this type of training increases the production of hormones which influence the growth of muscles.
Cardio exercises make the blood run faster in the body, which allows removal of toxic byproducts as a result of the regeneration of tissue, which also has a positive impact on the speed of recovery after – training.

An Athlete Metabolism

It was once thought that with the increase in muscle mass, more energy is needed for maintenance. However, it was demonstrated that one kilogram of muscles requires 50 Kcal per day for simple maintenance. Athletes are accustomed to empty glycogen stores during training, thereby increasing the expense of carbohydrates. In addition, the body learns to use the proteins in foods more effectively.

People who do not exercise, tend not to spend the glycogen stores, which makes it more likely that the body converts the energy into fat. The conclusion is that the more you are exercising, your body better manage energy.

In this article, we have studied the topic of muscle growth . In the second part of the article discusses the influence of resistance exercise on the growth of the mass, about the most effective workouts to increase strength and muscle volume. Stay tuned for more at-home workouts advice and information from ProTrainerLive.com.

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