Brodie Giesbrecht
The Best Way To Train For Muscle Growth
Updated: 6 days ago
Gaining muscle seems simple, but the process is actually guided by specific mechanisms. Learning what these mechanisms are can help you use your time more effectively in the gym by focusing on what matters most.
The method behind building muscle is simple at its core: train, eat, sleep, and grow. However, the science behind growth is one of the most sought-after topics in the fitness industry, with often differing methods to help aspiring lifters get the results they want.
The goal of this article is to simplify and summarize the key things you should focus on if your goal is muscle hypertrophy, ie. muscle growth.
Mechanisms of Muscular Hypertrophy
Muscle growth comes from a specific stimulus. In order to increase your muscle size, it's important to first understand which mechanisms are believed to play a role:
Mechanical Tension
Metabolic Stress
Muscle Damage
You can think of these as muscle growth “pathways,” and they can be heightened or lessened by how you train. For example, heavy weightlifting emphasizes progressive mechanical tension and muscle damage. Working with lighter weights and higher rep ranges, however, emphasizes metabolic stress, especially when the rest times in between sets are relatively short.
Mechanical Tension
The primary stimulus for muscle growth is sufficiently high and prolonged tension