How Do Our Muscles Get Stronger?
Have you ever wondered how your muscles get stronger? It's fascinating to think about how our bodies can become more powerful and capable. This article will explain the incredible process of building muscular strength and how it all works. Get ready to dive into the world of muscles and discover the secrets behind their incredible capacity strength!
I will go in-depth on the process below, but if you are looking for some practical tips, make you way down to the Strength Workout section of the article!
The Science
How Muscles Work
Muscles are fascinating! At their core, muscles are composed of muscle fibers. When we want to move a body part, our brain sends signals to the specific muscles involved. These signals travel through our nervous system and reach the muscle fibers. The muscle fibers then receive the signal and contract, which means they shorten and become tighter.
When we engage in activities like strength training or resistance exercises, our muscles contract and relax over and over, causing small tears or damage at the cellular level. This damage is actually a good thing because they trigger our body's repair process. Specialized cells come to the rescue, repairing and rebuilding the damaged muscle fibers.
As the muscle fibers repair, they become thicker and stronger. Our muscles adapt to the demands of the exercise and become stronger to better handle the demands. With consistent strength training and progressive overload (in other words, increasingly challenging workouts), the muscle fibers continue to adapt and grow, becoming even stronger over time.
Let’s talk more about how and why this happens.
-
At their core, muscles are composed of specialized cells called muscle fibers. Our muscle fibers range from small to large in size.
Each muscle fiber contains smaller structures called myofibrils, which are made up of even tinier units called sarcomeres.
The contraction of muscle fibers is made possible by two important proteins called actin and myosin. These proteins interact and slide past each other within the sarcomeres, causing the sarcomeres to shorten.
As the sarcomeres contract, the entire muscle fiber contracts, leading to the movement of the associated body part.
Brain & Muscle
Our brain and our muscles work together during strength training, a concept explained by Hebbian theory. When we exercise, our brain sends signals to our muscles, telling them what to do. Hebbian theory says that when we repeat an exercise or movement over and over again, our brain cells responsible for controlling those muscles form stronger connections with each other.
Therefore, our brain and muscles become a better team as we train. So, next time you're working out, remember that you're not only training your muscles but also building a stronger connection between your brain and muscles, making you even better at what you do!
-
Think of it like building a highway in your brain. At first, the road might be bumpy and not very efficient. But the more you practice the exercise, the more the brain cells communicate and work together, like smoothing out the road and making it faster. This improved communication between brain cells helps our muscles perform the exercise more effectively.
As a result, the more we practice a specific movement, the stronger the connections between the brain cells become. It's like strengthening the pathway in our brain that controls those muscles. This is why consistent practice is key for getting stronger and improving our performance.
Muscle & Strength
Henneman's size principle states that our muscles recruit or activate the smallest muscle fibers first when we start an exercise. These small fibers are easier to activate and don't require as much effort. As we continue with the exercise and the demand for force increases, our brain recruits bigger muscle fibers as well. These larger fibers have more strength and power, but they are also harder to activate.
So, as we lift heavier weights or perform more challenging exercises, our brain signals our muscles to engage more and more muscle fibers, starting from the smaller ones and gradually involving the larger ones. It's like calling in the reinforcements as the task becomes more difficult.
By following this principle, our muscles become more efficient and adapt to the demands of the exercise. Over time, as we keep training, the smaller muscle fibers also get stronger and can handle more load. This is why progressive overload, gradually increasing the challenge of our workouts, is important for building muscle strength.
-
progressive overload is key to improving your strength. The idea is to make sure every single workout is challenging (but still doable)!
As a rule of thumb, your last few reps - with good form, of course - should always be of moderate to hard difficulty.
If you finish all your sets and think, “I could definitely do another one!” then it’s time to bump it up and make your next workout more challenging.
New research is changing the way we think about our resistance training workouts. One study found that one group of participants who did minimal damage to their muscles fibers saw the same strength gains as the other group.
Strength Workout
I’ve pulled this next bit of information directly from the Pure Strength workout developed by Hampton himself:
This is for those that want to get as strong as possible without putting on size.
Repetition Speed:
2 Seconds Down, 1 Second Pause, 2 Seconds Up, 1 Second Pause
Rest Times:
2-3 Minutes between sets.
5 Minutes between separate exercises
Choose an exercise that you can do 5-8 repetitions of if pushed.
Do 1-2 repetitions per set.
Do several sets throughout the day.
Use harder exercises as you get stronger.
Don't do the eccentric portion of the dynamic exercise. For example, during pullups, we don't have to lower ourselves from the bar after pulling up. Just hop down (safely) and pull up again. The goal is to stay "fresh" so that high-intensity exercises can be done at optimum capacity for more repetitions overall compared to other programs.
This is because most muscle damage and soreness comes from the eccentric portion of a movement, where the muscles are lengthening under tension. This time under tension can be excellent for hypertrophy, but is a hindrance if we’re trying to get as many reps as possible without fatigue. I still recommend doing the full movements (including eccentrics) at least once a week.
-
For “pure” strength training, there is very little benefit to moving the sets and exercises closer together. Precedence should be given to each repetition being better and stronger.
Therefore, rest times have been optimized so the individual can come back to each set feeling refreshed from the last one.
Rest times are still limited so body stays primed for the exercise. Sitting down and resting for too long may have a negative effect on following sets. Don’t stress about this though. Just do the sets when you can.
Rest days are given so individuals may avoid central nervous system fatigue. Experienced individuals can experiment with gradually removing rest days if desired.
Tendons and ligaments play just as big a role in how we move!
Tendons, Ligaments, and Bones
I have two more theories here that you might find interesting.
Davis's law is a rule that helps us understand how our body's connective tissues, like tendons and ligaments, respond to stress and movement. These tissues are like strong bands that hold our bones and muscles together. According to Davis's law, when we use these connective tissues regularly and put them under stress, they become stronger and more flexible.
It's similar to how when we stretch a rubber band, it becomes more elastic and can stretch even further. When we move and exercise, our tendons and ligaments adapt to the demands placed upon them, becoming more resilient and better able to handle movement and pressure. So, by staying active and moving our bodies, we help these connective tissues stay healthy and become even stronger.
Wolff's law is a rule that tells us how our bones respond to strength training. You see, our bones are not just hard and stiff structures. They are living tissues that can adapt and change when we put them under stress.
When we do strength training exercises like lifting weights or jumping, our bones feel the pressure and strain. In response, our bones get stronger and denser. It's like they're saying, "Hey, we need to be stronger to handle this activity!" So, they grow thicker and more solid over time. It's similar to how our muscles get stronger with exercise, but this time it's our bones that become tougher and better able to support our bodies. This is why strength training is not just good for our muscles, but also for making our bones stronger too.
Nutrition
When we do strength training exercises, our muscles work hard and need extra energy to perform well. That's where nutrition comes in!
Eating a balanced diet with healthy foods gives our bodies the right nutrients to support our muscles. We need foods that are rich in protein, like chicken, eggs, and beans. Protein helps our muscles repair and grow stronger after exercise.
We also need carbohydrates, which are found in foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Carbohydrates give us energy to fuel our workouts and keep us going. They're like the gas that powers a car!
In addition, our bodies need vitamins and minerals, like those found in fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. These nutrients help keep our muscles and bones healthy. They are like the special ingredients that help our bodies function properly.
It's also important to drink plenty of water before, during, and after exercise. Water keeps us hydrated and helps our muscles work efficiently.
So, by eating a balanced diet with protein, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, and drinking enough water, we give our bodies the best chance to get stronger through strength training. Good nutrition helps our muscles grow, repair, and perform at their best. So, remember to eat well and stay hydrated to support your strength training goals!
Summary
In summary, our muscles get stronger through a process called hypertrophy. They repair and rebuild after experiencing small tears or damage during strength training, resulting in thicker and stronger muscle fibers.
Our nervous system adapts through neural adaptations, improving communication between our brain and muscles, making movements more efficient and powerful.
Consistent training and challenging workouts are key to gradually building strength and unlocking our full potential for physical performance.
Remember: stay consistent, challenge your body, and take your rest days!
