What makes muscles grow?

Have you noticed how some people have really strong and big muscles while others don’t?

Muscles play a vital role in the movement of our body. There are about 600 types of them within our body. Each and every minor movement of our body is governed by the working of muscles. Even though some of us may not lift enough to make them pop-out, our attention is somehow always directed towards their functioning.

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What is the connection between muscles and the brain?

It is the interlink between our muscles and our brain that renders our movement possible.

For example, if you’re trying to open a door, the motor neurons within your arms first receive a signal from the brain. This reaction thereafter makes the muscles contract and relax. This contraction pulls the bones and thus the required movement is successful.

The increasing level of difficulty determines the kind of signal sent by the brain, which in turn relates to how many motor units will engage in accomplishing the task.

if the necessary movement isn’t achieved easily, the brain sends further signals to the body to utilize other muscles as well to ease the process involved.

What happens to the muscles after working hard?

Every task completed by the muscles puts them under a lot of stress which causes some minor damage to them. Don’t worry, these changes are actually required for the growth of your muscles.

Once the damage has occurred, the cracks so created or the injuries so resulted in release Cytokines i.e. inflammatory molecules. These molecules are responsible for calling onto the immune system to make reparations for the damages. The following reparation process is what causes the muscles to grow more. Therefore, the amount of damage experienced by the muscle tissues is directly proportional to how much repair is needed.

The continuous process of damage and repair is linked to how strong and big your muscles will grow into being.

Hypertrophy vs Muscular Atrophy?

Our muscles have grown accustomed to our daily chores, therefore, they need to expend a greater amount of effort in order to grow stronger.

As a means to gain more strength, our muscles need to engage in hypertrophy. In simple words, it means that you need to spend some time training your muscles through exercise and work out. Moreover, it’s necessary to do this as if you don’t expose your muscles to more resistance training, then your muscle will start contracting to such an extent that no strength will be left in them, leading to another process known as Muscular Atrophy.

Other factors affecting muscle growth

Exercise isn’t enough for their growth. A regular healthy diet and proper rest are some other factors that ensure the same. Our damaged muscle fibers can only facilitate their reparation if we allow the body to rest at regular intervals since this process usually takes place during our sleep.

By taking in protein we allow a regular supply of amino acids, which are needed for the new tissues.

You might’ve noticed how it’s easier for men to build muscles, it’s because testosterone (a hormone produced mainly in men) helps speed up this process.

Your genes also play an important role here as your body’s metabolism and the speed at which it finishes repairing the damaged tissues are linked to them.

All this can be ensured by exercising regularly, a healthy and balanced diet along with enough rest intervals. Ultimately, a healthy lifestyle aids muscle growth, so it is in fact all up to you.