ACTIVATING HUGE
MUSCLE GAINS
More Recruitment, Less Momentum.
A
s bodybuilders, we
are searching to add
as much muscle to
our body’s as possi-
ble. Gaining muscle is a hard
and lengthy task, involving
numerous applied principles
to achieve this goal.
We need quality nutrition and
enough calories to feed new and
growing muscle tissue. We need
adequate rest to allow recovery and
growth to occur from the stimulus
that has caused our muscles to
respond by adaptation. So, as body-
builders, we should know the
intricate details and requirements
that are needed to perform this
task.
Understanding how to grow
muscle: to cause hypertrophy is
essential. Here, we will look at one
of the variables in how to achieve
muscular gains, this being the
correct stimulus, which is properly
executing resistance training.
Resistance or Weight training can
be broken down into its various
applications. We have many tech-
niques to elicit varying outcomes. As
bodybuilders, our desired outcome
is, of course, muscle growth.
So, what is muscle growth and
how do we achieve this?
Let’s look at the science of muscle
gains!
The body is an organism which
undergoes adaptive changes in
124
FLEX | APRIL 2018
///
BY JOHN BUCKLAND
///
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULES GODFREY
THIS IS HOW PRO ATHLETES CAN GROW SO MUCH
MUSCLE TISSUE, HERE IS THE KEY TO UNLOCK YOUR
MUSCLE GROWTH POTENTIAL AND PACK ON THAT
SIZE AND STRENGTH YOU FAILED TO GAIN BEFORE.
order to be better prepared for the
same stress in the future. The body
is reluctant to invest resources into
an adaptation unless it is perceived
as a direct threat to survival. Which
means we need to work hard!!
Provided that the intensity of
effort is high, strength training will
fool the body into believing that
there is a direct threat to survival,
and this will force an adaptive
change – along with many other
adaptive changes, two, being
increased strength and muscle size.
It can be simplified like this:
ORGANISM
STIMULUS
RESPONSE
RECOVERY
ADAPTATION
Different types of training, can bring
different results and types of
muscle gains.
Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy:
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, is an
increase in the volume of the
non-contractile muscle cell fluid,
sarcoplasm. This fluid accounts for
25-30% of the muscle’s size.