Sunday, February 15, 2009

Natural Muscle Growth – What Causes Muscles To Grow?


If you are reading this article then you are probably interested in bulking up and building muscle mass. But have you ever wondered what causes muscles to grow? In other words, have you ever wondered why it is that the body builds muscle in response to lifting heavy weights repetitiously? Or why some people seem to develop muscle mass easily while others seem to struggle?

There are actually a variety of reasons that determine how fast your muscles will develop and how strong you can become. Of these the important reasons are your genes, the amount of growth hormones present in your body, types and quantity of food consumed, and the type and intensity of exercises performed.

Within the individual muscle fibers are cells involved in a process called protein turnover. Under normal circumstances your body is actively engaged in breaking down muscle tissue and building the tissue back up again. Exactly how and when your body performs protein turnover is regulated by your genes and unless interrupted by some other factor such as exercise keeps the muscle tissue and fibers at more or less the same mass and strength level.

Your genetic structure acts like a blueprint and designs the conditions for your specific physiology and there is little that can be done to reconfigure your body's basic architecture. However, by learning how your body is genetically hardwired you can determine how to reliably use other factors such as diet and exercise. If, for example, you are hardwired to have slow metabolism then you will require less eating and supplements then someone with high metabolism.

Growth hormones like testosterone act like messengers within the body and give messages to individual cells to repair themselves. When the amount of physical activity is increased there is a corresponding increase in the level of hormones present in the body. Muscles start to grow faster as the level of growth hormones rises.

Protein and water are the main ingredients required for muscle growth. This being the case you need to always make sure you supply your body with an adequate amount of high protein food and also keep your body properly hydrated. Protein is to muscles what a foundation is to a home or building. If the foundation is made from poor materials or built improperly the building will be very weak. Likewise, if you don't consume high quality protein or not enough then your muscles will be very weak.

To maintain proper hydration levels drink at least 3 tall glasses of water each day and when working out replace every ounce of lost body weight with 2 ounces of water.


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