Flex F_UK_2018_April | Page 126

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.