Adaptations to Resistance Training (Muscular)

    Gym bros across the country are like Brucie in the Longest Yard for this article. You know when Brucie comes in the game to kick the onside kick and yell "Brucie time to shine!" Yes, gym bro this article is dedicated to you and how to get big "Yea bro you lift heavy and eat protein. Thats how you get swole!!" To a degree they are correct. However, the process of building muscle is a bit more complicated. For starters, hypertrophy (getting swole for the gym bros) takes a longer process for as you remember Neural adaptations takes place first. Depending on your genetics, training history, hormonal response (patience.... we will get to hormonal responses), nutrition, and stress of training. Newbie gains are a real thing so if your brand new or a novice lifter you're going to make strides in the weight room faster than a more trained lifter. A more trained lifter already has neural adaptations in place and has to further adapt to elicit more adaptations. Nutrition boils down to carbohydrate and protein consumption to replace glycogen lost and repair damaged muscle tissue. Stress of training pertains to the intensity of the workout. Continued increase volume of workouts will induce more adaptations and increased muscle tissue.

    So, what does happen after neural adaptations? Deep into muscle tissue lay a sheath of muscle fibers called Myofibrils. Within Myofibrils lay two proteins Myosin and Actin. Myosin and actin are the key to muscle contraction. They operate like pistons in an engine consistency moving to produce movement. through a process called the Sliding Filament Theory.

Cross section of a Muscle Tissue.

    As you damage cells through a process called Exercise Induced Muscle Damage (EIMD). Through nutrition the cells grow back thicker and stronger. This is called protein synthesis; in order to have protein synthesis you have to have a net positive of protein intake. In laymen's terms you have to eat enough protein to rebuild these cells. After a workout the muscle cells are sensitive to protein synthesis for 48 hours. In addition to increased thickness of Myosin and Actin more myofibrils are added to your cell increasing the overall diameter of the muscle thus increasing the size (bigger muscles). This entire process is called myogenesis. Now, I am oversimplifying the entire process, but you get the gist. Another process is expressed in the fitness community called Hyperplasia. Hyperplasia is where the muscle splits and grows. This, however, is only a theory and has not been proven in humans. Animals (outside of humans) are thought to grow muscle tissue through Hyperplasia. 

       Ultimately, hypertrophy depends on a few factors that center around the training stimulus. Going to the gym and performing the same rep count with the same weight will not provide intense enough stimulus for the body to adapt. Strategic periodization will lead to continued growth-meaning lifting arms everyday may not be enough to stimulate bicep size. Increasing mechanical factors such as volume (reps and sets) and metabolic stimuli (stressing various energy systems) will lead to getting "swole"