hypertrophy

blah

New Member
okay thx calkid for the simplified explaination of HST :) but how do u hypertrophy? i go for mass so i do 6-8 reps for each muscle.and workout 4 days a week. i hope my question makes sense to u experts.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]how do u hypertrophy?

Good question. I will try to keep this brief.

When you lift a weight, the muscle tissue experiences tension. This tension triggers chemical signals within each muscle cell. This process is called “mechanotransduction.” Mechanotransduction is the process by which cells convert mechanical stimuli into biochemical signals. In our case the “mechanical stimuli” is lifting, holding, and lowering the weights.

Muscle cells are called “mechanocytes”. This is sort of a general term applied to any cell which responds to mechanical stimuli. As a mechanocyte, you can take a muscle cell out of a muscle and put it in a dish. If you then tie each end to something that can stretch it, you will find that this alone will make it grow. All it needs is amino acids. It doesn’t need the rest of the body or even any other cells in order to grow when you stretch it.

When muscle cells are stretched (either passively or actively) it triggers protein synthesis inside of the cell. This increase in protein synthesis will lead to a net gain of protein if protein breakdown doesn’t keep pace with it. If protein synthesis is greater than protein breakdown you are in an “anabolic” state.

Now true hypertrophy (i.e. muscle growth) requires more than just an increase in protein synthesis. After all, you will get an increase in protein synthesis just from eating a big protein meal.

In addition to an increase in protein synthesis inside the cell, there must also be a remodeling of the cell in order to accommodate more contractile proteins. These are the proteins that produce muscle contraction.

A muscle cell’s size (i.e. volume) is limited by the number of nuclei that it has. Luckily, a muscle cell can get more nuclei from “satellite cells” (think of them as muscle stem cells) that sit quietly around the muscle cells until they are called into action.

What calls satellite cells into action? Muscle damage from high levels of mechanical tension. When a muscle cell experiences “microtrauma” from tension levels that it is unaccustomed to, it will release (they ooze out really) growth factors that cause satellite cells to donate their nuclei to the traumatized muscle cell. With these additional nuclei, the muscle cell can then grow larger than it could before in order to accommodate these new high levels of tension.

So, in summary, hypertrophy involves:
1) Tipping the scales of protein synthesis and protein breakdown to favor protein synthesis.
2) Cellular microtrauma that leads to the activation of satellite cells and the donation of their nuclei to damaged cells.

Of course this leaves unadressed many many variables that might also play a role, such as training methods, nutrition (substrate availability), hormones, supplements, and genes.
 
thx bryan that really helped, i dont think i can get a good mass size for my body since im asian :( because i dont have genes thats other races have and its hard to gain mass for me. ive been working out for over 6 months and i can tell changes, but its not a real drastic (to me anyways) so im tryin out HSN. ive heard HST works from the people at cuttingedgemuscle.com. I'd appreciate it your help and support
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (blah @ July 07 2004,1:51)]thx bryan that really helped, i dont think i can get a good mass size for my body since im asian
sad.gif
because i dont have genes thats other races have and its hard to gain mass for me. ive been working out for over 6 months and i can tell changes, but its not a real drastic (to me anyways) so im tryin out HSN. ive heard HST works from the people at cuttingedgemuscle.com. I'd appreciate it your help and support
Welcome to the forums. Don't think your genetics is too much of a limiting factor, I've known some asian guys who could smush me, and I'm 6'4" and 300lbs. Eat and exercise right and you'll see gains. Just keep in mind what's "right" varies somewhat from person to person.
 
thx ive been doing this, what i usually do is 4 days a week, 1 day off, 1 day back's (4 sets of 6-8 per muscle x 3 other excercises) and bi's (4 sets of 6-8 per muscle x 3 other excercises). day 2 chest and tris (same as day 1 sets). day 3 rest. day 4 legs and abs (same sets). day 4 shoulders , traps , and forearmes (same amount of sets). Do u think thats good?
 
"So, in summary, hypertrophy involves:
1) Tipping the scales of protein synthesis and protein breakdown to favor protein synthesis.
2) Cellular microtrauma that leads to the activation of satellite cells and the donation of their nuclei to damaged cells" - Bryan

I under stand the second (2) point, but a little confused on the first point (1)


What exactly is "protein synthesis" in layman terms? "Protein breakdown" I'm guess is the body breaking down the protein into something the body can use?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (budec @ July 07 2004,1:20)]What exactly is "protein synthesis" in layman terms? "Protein breakdown" I'm guess is the body breaking down the protein into something the body can use?
Protein synthesis is the process of hooking amino acids together to make proteins. Protein breakdown is the oposite process.

The body is making and breaking down proteins continually in virtually every tissue in the body (the teeth being an exception). All we are concerned about is muscle tissue, and more specifically, contractile proteins such as myosin, actin, and various other structural components of muscle cells. Those proteins go into production as a result of resistance exercise and hormonally induced mRNA production.

During protein breakdown, the resulting amino acids can be used again for new proteins or they may simply be broken down further and used for other metabolic pathways.

When reading research, "3-Methylhistidine" is the marker of muscle protein breakdown.
 
This is really quite a good thread for beginners and veterans alike. I've long thought that a glossary would be a valuable addition to the forum. Particularly useful for those of us who have little science background, but try to plow through the research anyway. My dictionary doesn't always give the best explanations. Just a suggestion, but a good one, I think. :)
 
Back
Top