Fitness Instinct
Have you ever imagined what scientific name is used to describe muscle growth? You probably ran out of thought. But don’t sweat on it; the name is called “hypertrophy”.
Hypertrophy exists in two forms, and it is important for you to know the difference. The forms include sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar hypertrophy.
Since the objective of regular fitness fanatics and athletes is increasing strength and general hypertrophy, it is also good to know about how the procedure works.
Though the precise science of muscle development has still not been completed, we know what it takes to achieve hypertrophy through nutrition, training, and other muscle enhancing factors.
Evidence has revealed that different rep ranges could determine the kind of hypertrophy you will experience, whether it is more for strength output or muscle growth.
If you are a strength athlete, you should always train diversely than someone wanting to get more pure body size gains.
You might have to experiment to see if you experience two different kinds of hypertrophy based on your training method.
What Is Hypertrophy?
Well, we already know it is an increase in muscle mass and volume. However, to dig deeper.
Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is elaborated as the sarcoplasm that increases in size within a cell to generate more space between your muscle fibers.
This type of hypertrophy promotes general visual muscle size. This muscle growth theory isn’t pure science.
Myofibrillar Hypertrophy
Myofibrillar hypertrophy happens when myofibrils split off and create more contractile units in muscle fibers. This kind of hypertrophy is better for strength athletes since it is good for better strength output.
How Does Hypertrophy Work?
Whenever you train, you typically tear down your muscle fibers, and muscle growth happens as a result of several factors such as your nutrition, anabolic levels, optimum nuclei, and recovery.
Science has revealed that the muscle fibers grow in size due to myonuclei (Regulates muscle fibers center) multiplication in muscle fibers.
PRO TIP: Make use of our Bulking Calories Calculator to determine the exact amount of calories required to build muscle with minimal fat gain.
The amount of muscle you can grow depends on the number of myonuclei you have. Myonuclei are made from satellite cells which provide nuclei to your muscle for repair after a hard training session.
Who Can Benefit from Hypertrophy?
The answer is, everyone can!
Who does not want muscle growth and increased strength? Some Individuals love being small, and there is nothing wrong with that.
- Strength athletes – Training pattern is vital for any strength athlete (That’s if science is right about the myofibril hypertrophy theory). This is the reason why power and strength athletes can potentially benefit more from hypertrophy training.
Strength or power athletes depend on contractile units and muscle density to recruit more muscle fibers.
- Bodybuilders – An increase in muscle size is the goal of all bodybuilders. Although as a bodybuilder you can greatly benefit from the right myofibrillar hypertrophy, the science behind sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is to build muscular size.
However, sarcoplasmic hypertrophy training has not been established as an exact science. But, someone looking to gain more size will benefit from an exact or similar scientific theory of training.
[Related Reading: The Ultimate Weight Training Guide for Beginners]
What Are The Advantages of Hypertrophy Training?
There are several benefits of hypertrophy training. And in case you’re wondering what you can expect from undertaking a hypertrophy training program, here are some of the advantages:
- Enhanced muscular development
- Fewer chances of injury
- Increased power and strength
Muscle growth is a crystal clear benefit of hypertrophy, and that’s the aim of many athletes and gym-goers.
More so, hypertrophy reduces the risk of injuries and improves muscular functioning.
Again, hypertrophy is extremely beneficial for power athletes who are performing at a high level due to better power output.
These same power athletes can greatly benefit from adopting some sarcoplasmic hypertrophy training also.
Moderate resistance and reps can increase muscle strength, size and prepare an athlete for further training.
Also, higher reps can allow for improved nutrient transfer to your muscle cells, improve the capacity of functional muscle tissue and prevent injury.
These benefits have for long been debated on and believed to be the reason why bodybuilders experience the number of size gains they do.
The “pump” might not allow for muscle growth to occur on its own, however, the shuttling of nutrients from an increased blood flow level is known to be a major contributor to muscle growth.
Are There Any Side Effects of Hypertrophy Training?
There are side effects to everything and hypertrophy isn’t an exception, (Though the positives are more than the negatives tenfold) as muscle growth is such an amazing gift to mankind.
But, the maximal power output of a strength athlete can tremendously decrease when utilizing little rest and higher reps in between sets (More of the reason why low reps are perfect for maximum strength).
Maximum energy resources have to be reserved for heavy and short bursts of power, thus this makes perfect sense for a power athlete.
Besides the side effects, there is no reason to be bothered when deciding to start a hypertrophy training program.
Hypertrophy training is the answer to muscle and strength growth.
So whenever we workout, we are stimulating hypertrophy whether it is in the form of myofibrillar or sarcoplasmic.
It is a complex procedure but at the same time, we have come a very long way in how we understand the concept behind strength and muscular growth.
Irrespective of what your training preferences are, we all try to strive for our ideal of physical capability.
The two kinds of hypertrophy (Myofibrillar and Sarcoplasmic) have to be researched and tested more to get the precise idea of their working principle.
However, we could conclude that a similar procedure potentially happens based on scientific evidence.
Hypertrophy is genuine and you need to come up with your theory on how it works best for you since we all respond differently.
Hence, whether you are a strength or power athlete, or you are more concerned about your muscle size volume, know that hypertrophy training is essential for whatever your objectives might be!
