Everyone wants instant gratification and proof of their hard work. You finish working out, have spent time lifting weights for the past hour, and then head to the mirror to see the fruits of your reps.
Are yourarm muscles bigger than they’ve been in the past? Have the muscles in your legs gotten even more defined after the past hour or doing squats? Just how long does it take to build muscle anyway? Today, we’ll cover the science behind muscle growth and strength training.
How Does Muscle Gain Work?
You already have many muscles in your body. However, building up those muscle groups and making them stronger actually consists of five separate steps.
The Muscle-Building Steps
Step One
Your muscles are made up of thousands of tiny fibers that can’t be seen with the naked eye. Before you begin any workout routine, your muscles are in a resting state. They are not very actively used and may be a little lax.
Step Two
You start a training program, lifting weights or using your own body weight as a tool. When you do this, those tiny muscle fibers get slightly damaged in the process. Even though this sounds like a bad thing, it’s a positive step in the right direction.
Step Three
Rest days are very important to incorporate into your weight training routine. When you’re at rest, your body is repairing itself. It will take care of those damaged muscles and everything else that is feeling sore after a long session in the gym.
Step Four
During the repair process, your muscle fibers will get fused back in place, making them look (microscopically, that is) as they were before they were damaged. During this part of the process, your muscles get a little bigger.
Your body is adding new proteins to your cells and muscle fibers, creating bulk. This is when upping your protein intake with post-workout supplements can give you a boost.
Step Five
Eventually, you will see significant muscle growth if you go through this process. You’ll notice that all that hard work at the gym has paid off. However, it can take a bit to get to this point.
The Science of Muscle Growth
The process of building muscle mass in this manner is called hypertrophy. Essentially, you’re damaging part of your body, albeit not in a bad way, to make it grow. The act of building muscle comes from a bodily response called stimulation and repair. This happens in parts two through four of the muscle-building steps.
For stimulation and repair to go right, your body needs to react in two ways. First, it creates an inflammatory reaction to the damage you inflicted on your muscles by lifting heavier weights. This is a repair response that makes your muscles grow by adding extra proteins to the fibers.
Second, your body must push your hormones to jump into action. Testosterone (which both men and women have), along with cortisol, works to create the proteins that go into your muscle cells and fibers.
Which Exercises Will Help You Build Muscle?
To build muscle mass, you need to do strength training exercises. These exercises use weight — either your own body weight or weighted equipment. Moving or lifting these weights creates stress on the targeted muscles groups, damaging the muscles. Examples of strength training exercises include:
Floor Work
These types of exercise rarely use any equipment and rely on body weight to build strength. You just need floor space. A bodyweight exercise routine might include pushups, sit-ups, stomach crunches, lunges, and pull-ups.
These kinds of exercises are also called body weight exercises because you’re pushing your body away from something.
Lifting Free Weights
Free weights are exactly what they sound like. They are weights that aren’t connected to any kind of machine. Examples include kettlebells, dumbbells, and more. These weights come in many different shapes, sizes, and weights. Free weight exercises are great for building upper body strength through exercises like the chest press, bicep curl, and shoulder press.
Barbell Workouts
Barbells are thin, weighted metal bars that you often see with large, round weights attached. Common exercises with this equipment include bench presses, deadlifts, and overhead presses. With any barbell strength training program, be sure you have a spotter to help you with any weights that might get too heavy.
Resistance Band Exercises
Resistance bands look like giant rubber bands. They can be used in many different ways to target different muscle groups. They are often used to make familiar, easy exercises more intense and difficult. Resistance band exercises can include glute bridges, lateral raises, and banded front squats.
Weight Machine Exercises
Weight machines are good for people who need to work on their form or want to lift weights without a spotter. Each type of machine exercises a different part of the body, from the upper arms to the lower legs. With adjustable seats and many different weights to choose from (just put the pin in the one that you want), these machines are very easy to use.
What About Cardio?
Many people who want to build bigger muscles claim that cardio isn’t important. They think that lifting weights or doing resistance exercises are the only ways to go. This isn’t true at all.
Not only can cardio help youlose weight, as it assists in ridding your body of fat, but it also keeps your muscles on their toes with new types of movement. Let’s break this down.
Cardio Equals Weight Loss
You can spend all of the time that you want in the gym, but if you’re not doing anything to help you lose weight, you’ll never be able to see the muscles that you’re trying to grow. Cardio is designed to assist you in burning off the calories that you eat, taking care of your body’s fat stores in the process.
If you only lift weights every time that you’re in the gym and don’t take care of the weight loss portion of your workouts, then those new muscles will remain hidden under layers of fat. To see them and show them off, you’ll need to lose some body fat to increase your muscle definition — and continue your workout plan to increase muscle size.
Cardio Works Your Muscles Differently
Cardio andweight lifting are very different. With weightlifting, you end up doing a lot of repetitions and jerky movements as you try to boost your muscles through resistance. Cardio, on the other hand, is much smoother.
Compare a treadmill or exercise bike to lifting weights, and you’ll see where the differences lie. Since cardio uses different muscles (or the same muscles, just differently), you’ll end up getting an all-around workout when you do it. You’ll even gain mass in muscles that you didn’t target through your weightlifting sessions.
The Importance of Rest Days
Rest days are important when it comes to building muscle. On those days off, your muscles will start to repair themselves, making them grow, as we explained above. If you never rest, this won’t happen, and you’ll keep breaking down your muscle fibers until you end up injured.
How Long Does It Take To Build Muscle Mass?
In reality, it can take between eight and 12 weeks to build up significant muscle mass. You need to remember that the process takes time, and your body can only do so much at a time.
If you truly want to see progress in the mirror, you’ll need to lose weight as well, which involves getting on ameal plan with a certain amount of calorie intake and macronutrients (grams of protein, fat, and carbs) and sticking to it. With time and patience, you’ll see some progress in how much lean muscle you build.
Final Thoughts on How To Build Muscle
Building muscle mass requires you to damage your muscle fibers so that they can be built back up by your body. During this process, the body leaves additional proteins in the muscle cells, hefting them up. This is one of the main reasons why bodybuilders emphasize eating enough protein in their diets. Additional protein helps the body grow bigger and stronger muscles.
You will need to commit to ahealthy diet and exercise regimen and keep at it until your muscles meet your goals. Persistence is the key!
What it really comes down to is patience. Muscle building takes time and rest. While it's important to exercise, you need to let your body repair so that you don’t injure yourself.
Sources:
What You Should Know About Building Muscle Mass and Tone | Healthline
How Long Does It Really Take to Build Muscle? | CNET
Human Muscle System | Functions, Diagram, & Facts | Britannica