Factors Essential For Muscle Growth
1. Training
2. Proper nutrition
3. Protein
4. Rest
Factors Affecting Muscle Growth
Recognizing the variables that affect muscle-mass development is essential before learning the most efficient ways to add size and growth to the muscles. The genotype (an individual's genetic code) and the phenotype (their observable physical traits) are the two types of factors that have an impact on the process of muscle growth. Sex and genetic make-up are sub-factors associated with genotype. Sub-factors influencing phenotype, or how genotype and environment interact, include:
- Age at which training began
- Training load
- Training duration
- Training frequency and recovery from training
- Training history/physical activity during childhood
- Carbohydrate and protein intake-
- Caloric intake
- Hydration-
- Hormonal influences
The genotype factors—genetics and sex—cannot be altered or modified. The changes in hormones that occur as we age are also beyond our control (barring pharmaceutical and/or medical intervention). However, we can control the beginning of training, the total amount of training, its length and frequency, and daily eating patterns. Depending on their genotype (or genetic code found in their DNA), some people have a predisposition to naturally gaining a lot of muscular mass. Others don't have the same innate talent.
The maximum amount of muscle mass that any one person can have is determined by genetics. In other words, your genes, which you are unable to change, play a major role in how much and how rapidly muscle grows. A 20-year-old male, for instance, with high genetic potential and a high proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers (those that respond to growth the quickest), may add lean mass at a rate of 2 pounds each month. That rate will eventually decline as his lifting expertise advances, his hormonal profile alters, and his body adjusts. The rate of muscle growth may just be one-half pound each month for someone with a different genetic makeup and body shape.
Everyone has the potential to gain strength and bulk with the right diet and exercise routine, yet the rate at which a person will gain muscle mass is unpredictable.
How Muscle and Strength Grow
Specific physiological adaptations are brought about by strength exercise. Due to something called neural adaptability—an increase in the activation of motor units—noticeable increases are obtained during the initial phase of a strength-training program. More force is created as the nervous system becomes more effective and recruits more motor units. These early adjustments are sometimes misinterpreted as gains in muscle growth.
However, the body continues to adapt and the growth of new muscle tissue rises with consistent and deliberate training. At this point, muscle or mass hypertrophy is seen. The receptivity of muscle tissue to strength training, however, is still influenced by a person's genetic makeup. Having stated that, the typical wait time for this adaption is three to six months.
