question on muscles

dustin · 12-Aug-04, 04:40 PM

This might sound a bit newbish, but I've always wondered and never got a straight forward answer.

Hypertrophy, is when you build more muscle right? When the muscle gets bigger, do the existing muscles cells simply enlarge, or does the body actually build new ones?

l8r77vette · 12-Aug-04, 05:40 PM

the existing muscle cells stay the same size .. the body just makes more muscle cells. that sould answer the question.

mesomorph · 12-Aug-04, 09:28 PM

Hello???? - mate, what are you saying!? Text book exercise physiology stuff. Hypertrophy occurs to EXISTING muscle fibres (myofibrils) through a complex chemical chain of resynthesis. Dustin, You do not make more muscle cells.
I8r77vette is pulling your leg - I think?

dustin · 12-Aug-04, 10:37 PM

Can anyone settle this?

mesomorph · 12-Aug-04, 11:02 PM

Nothing to settle mate. You do not grow extra muscle "cells"!!!! as 77vette put it.

Hypertrophy occurs in existing muscle fibres. You have what God has given you. It's up to you to make the most of it.

dustin · 12-Aug-04, 11:18 PM

Oh that's kind of disappointing. I thought the body built more muscle cells. So people like Arnold, their cells are a lot bigger than mine I suppose? If that's true, then wouldn't it make sense that a small muscle would be a lot harder (more compact) than Arnold's (in his past years) who's should be kind of squishy (larger cells remember).. I'm confused.

**MAURER** · 12-Aug-04, 11:42 PM

i didn't think cells grew because if they did, the cell would have a harder time fueling itself?

HitManSE · 12-Aug-04, 11:43 PM

Your muscle cell count will not increase or decrease in #, but can (obviously) increase & decrease in size. Dont compare yourself to Arnold, his training methods were far off from what normal people will use to gain. He had a genetic advantage to start with plus he had help.

**MAURER** · 12-Aug-04, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HitManSE

Your muscle cell count will not increase or decrease in #, but can (obviously) increase & decrease in size. Dont compare yourself to Arnold, his training methods were far off from what normal people will use to gain. He had a genetic advantage to start with plus he had help.

thats nto what i learned in biology this year?? :confused: the textbook and my teacher said that cells do not significantly increase in size beucase then all the food and nutrients have a harder time getting to the center of the cell to fuel it. therefore, they divide?

DaRkAnGel · 12-Aug-04, 11:48 PM

Two kinds of hypertrophy: sarcoplasmic and myofibril. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy involves in the increasement of the bodies around the cell such as the mitochandria(mostly energy intensive organisms), while myofibril hypertrophy is an increase in the cell size itself. Hypertrophy is caused by microtears.

Hope this answers your question in black and white.

mesomorph · 12-Aug-04, 11:51 PM

No dustin, it doesn't work like that. Some people, like Arnie, are genetically gifted. Their potential is greater than others. These people truely are big. Their muscles are not "squishy" or softer because they are bigger.They are not inflated!! In fact, because of their size, their muscles can generate much more force than a smaller muscle. Muscle is muscle. It has the same properties and made from the same basic materials. When you put that muscle under stress it will adapt ie get bigger. This is true for everyone. It is just that for some this adaptation process is very efficient (genetics) Do you understand the adaptation process that occurs at the cellular level?

DaRkAnGel · 12-Aug-04, 11:54 PM

You've got a slight misunderstanding meso. Muscle is not always muscle. There is a difference between muscle achieved through myofibril hypertrophy and that through sarcoplasmic.

HitManSE · 13-Aug-04, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAURER

thats nto what i learned in biology this year?? :confused: the textbook and my teacher said that cells do not significantly increase in size beucase then all the food and nutrients have a harder time getting to the center of the cell to fuel it. therefore, they divide?

Well...lol. I dont know what to say, im not going to search for proof. I just know what I know man. Im in no way trying to cause an argument here, just stating what I know. I know for a fact the muscles get small micro tears in them when you work out, once you feed it enough calories & water to repair itself, it heals itself but in a slightly larger form.

I cant say its not possible for the cells to devide, if a large tear occurs, from my understanding it would have to divide to repair itself. How correct this is, im not too sure of. I know the 1st thing I said for a fact though.

I dont do research on muscles, not on a cellular level anyway LOL. All I know is how to break it down, feed it, and make it larger. If im trying to get stronger though, the approach is a bit different and has more to do with the nervous system.

One thing I can tell you guys is this, take 1 solid week off every 6-8 weeks. Your muscles dont recover 100% from being beat on repeatedly, same goes for you CNS (central nervous system). That week off lets you heal 100% and motivates you to hit the weight harder when you come back.

mesomorph · 13-Aug-04, 12:16 AM

DarkAngel, no probs mate. I do understand the processes. It's just that dustin is obviously quite inexperienced judging by his statements and question. So I was just trying to give him a general idea by keeping the answer very simple and basic, couched in non technical terms - or else we could confuse him again. lol

**beefcurry1** · 13-Aug-04, 02:03 AM

i think there is a confusement here in muscle cell and muscle fiber. we have a given number of muscle fibers (as has been stated) but like MAURER said, the cells within the fiber cannot get much bigger due to efficiency. they have to have a large surface area:volume ratio. i think that new cells are grown within the fibers.

-beef-