Question

Explain the process of muscular hypertrophy and its influence in muscular strength.

Answer 1

Muscle hypertrophy involves an increase in size of skeletal muscle through a growth in size of its component cells. Two factors contribute to hypertrophy: sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which focuses more on increased muscle glycogen storage; and myofibrillar hypertrophy, which focuses more on increased myofibril size.

Hypertrophy Process :

When you start exercising a muscle there is first an increase in the nerve impulses that cause muscle contraction. This alone often results in strength gains without any noticeable change in muscle size. As you continue to exercise, there is a complex interaction of nervous system responses that result in an increase in protein synthesis over months and the muscle cells begin to grow larger and stronger.

There are two essential components necessary for the growth of muscles—stimulation and repair. Stimulation occurs during the contraction of the muscle, or during the actual exercising of the muscle. Each time that a muscle is exercised, contraction occurs. This repeated contraction during a workout causes damage to the internal muscle fibers. These muscle fibers are broken down throughout the course of a workout. Once damaged, these fibers are then ready to be repaired. This is where muscle growth occurs.

Muscle fiber repair occurs after the workout while the muscles are in resting mode. New muscle fibers are produced to help replace and repair the damaged ones. More fibers are produced to make up for the damaged ones, and this is where the actual muscle growth takes place.

Third important component—peripheral fatigue.Peripheral fatigue occurs when you are unable to complete exercises and it may occur at the end of strenuous activity. Studies are ongoing but scientists believe that the more peripheral fatigue you can induce, the harder the muscles have to work and the more the muscle that is stimulated, the more hypertrophy occurs.

Hypertrophy influence in muscular strength:

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is greater in the muscles of bodybuilders because studies suggest sarcoplasmic hypertrophy shows a greater increase in muscle size while myofibrillar hypertrophy proves to increase overall muscular strength making it more dominant in Olympic weightlifters.