It was Amazon Prime Day this month, and being an immutable spendthrift, I couldn’t help but rummage for a bargain. My one purchase was an aggressively large tub of whey protein (discounted 50%)! Before I pulled the trigger, I conducted some brief Google Scholar research on the effectiveness of protein powder. Is there compelling evidence that protein powder helps non-elite athletes build muscle better than other forms of protein? No, not really. But I bought it anyway. There isn’t evidence the stuff hurts you (if you don't overdo it) and as a protein, it is filling. Moreover, working out feels good, and if you can extend that feeling by putting something in your body that is intended to improve your body, than why not do it? And if protein supplements encourage you to keep up your resistance training, then aren’t they - in effect - helping you build muscle? So rather than criticize the claims of women’s magazines or expound upon the studies showing the inadequacy of protein supplements as muscle builders (because I kind of want to), my stance is go for it.
But still being interested in directly building muscle, what can I do, especially as a woman? Levels of testosterone, which is a steroid hormone produced naturally by Leydig cells, are significantly lower in women than men: we have just 20-30% the amount, a significant biological disadvantage when it comes to building muscle mass. Muscle building happens after muscles are broken down, or hypertrophied. Testosterone enhances this hypertrophy, and because of the increased muscle breakdown, there is consequently more effective rebuilding of the muscle. (Anabolic-androgenic steroids replicate this natural muscle-building effect of testosterone.) Increasing testosterone levels naturally is not very effective in spurring muscle growth, and I’m certainly not advocating steroid use, either. So what’s a girl to do?
Like many things in life, there’s no quick fix. The key to muscle building is commitment and effort. It takes time: one study cited that the very earliest muscle mass increase can be seen is three weeks following a dedicated resistance training regimen. But even before the cross-sectional area of the muscle increases, the muscle architecture actually acclimates. In other words, your muscles start physically gearing up before the actual amplification starts.
That’s not the only adaptation occurring with resistance training: neurological connections between your brain and the muscles are also being enhanced. In fact, following the commencement of resistance training, electromyography (EMG) recordings show increased muscle activation, suggesting that the initial gains in strength are due to neural factors. So before your muscles get bigger, your brain is more effectively recruiting motor units to be involved in the motion. In fact, one study showed that thinking about muscle contraction – without actually doing the physical work – can modulate physical strength! Two healthy groups of individuals underwent immobilization of the wrist, with one of the groups being instructed to think about muscle contraction for the week of immobilization, and one taking no such step. The group that thought about moving their wrist showed significant increases in wrist strength! It was only a week, and "not losing as much strength" isn’t quite the same as "gaining strength". However, mental imagery is known to stimulate cortical areas that are involved with motor behaviors - so who knows - perhaps the effects could be more significant and prove more far-reaching over time.
Well, since I’ve spent this post being a buzz kill, I’ll end with some positive muscle-building evidence. Multiple studies have shown that overloading the muscles (read, repetitions until failure) combined with stretch is the most effective natural stimulus for promoting muscle growth. Stretch+overload builds muscle by adding sarcomeres (the basic unit of muscle), both in parallel and in series. See the chart below for the types of activities that cause the greatest relative recruitment of motor units. Looks like I’m only using about 20% of my muscles rowing, but CrossFit moves like Clean and Jerks and Snatches recruit upwards of 75%. That doesn't mean you should stop doing isolated lifts - in fact, it is easier to build muscle from targeted, upper body muscle resistance training, likely because there is more direct neural activity involved. So get lifting!
But still being interested in directly building muscle, what can I do, especially as a woman? Levels of testosterone, which is a steroid hormone produced naturally by Leydig cells, are significantly lower in women than men: we have just 20-30% the amount, a significant biological disadvantage when it comes to building muscle mass. Muscle building happens after muscles are broken down, or hypertrophied. Testosterone enhances this hypertrophy, and because of the increased muscle breakdown, there is consequently more effective rebuilding of the muscle. (Anabolic-androgenic steroids replicate this natural muscle-building effect of testosterone.) Increasing testosterone levels naturally is not very effective in spurring muscle growth, and I’m certainly not advocating steroid use, either. So what’s a girl to do?
Like many things in life, there’s no quick fix. The key to muscle building is commitment and effort. It takes time: one study cited that the very earliest muscle mass increase can be seen is three weeks following a dedicated resistance training regimen. But even before the cross-sectional area of the muscle increases, the muscle architecture actually acclimates. In other words, your muscles start physically gearing up before the actual amplification starts.
That’s not the only adaptation occurring with resistance training: neurological connections between your brain and the muscles are also being enhanced. In fact, following the commencement of resistance training, electromyography (EMG) recordings show increased muscle activation, suggesting that the initial gains in strength are due to neural factors. So before your muscles get bigger, your brain is more effectively recruiting motor units to be involved in the motion. In fact, one study showed that thinking about muscle contraction – without actually doing the physical work – can modulate physical strength! Two healthy groups of individuals underwent immobilization of the wrist, with one of the groups being instructed to think about muscle contraction for the week of immobilization, and one taking no such step. The group that thought about moving their wrist showed significant increases in wrist strength! It was only a week, and "not losing as much strength" isn’t quite the same as "gaining strength". However, mental imagery is known to stimulate cortical areas that are involved with motor behaviors - so who knows - perhaps the effects could be more significant and prove more far-reaching over time.
Well, since I’ve spent this post being a buzz kill, I’ll end with some positive muscle-building evidence. Multiple studies have shown that overloading the muscles (read, repetitions until failure) combined with stretch is the most effective natural stimulus for promoting muscle growth. Stretch+overload builds muscle by adding sarcomeres (the basic unit of muscle), both in parallel and in series. See the chart below for the types of activities that cause the greatest relative recruitment of motor units. Looks like I’m only using about 20% of my muscles rowing, but CrossFit moves like Clean and Jerks and Snatches recruit upwards of 75%. That doesn't mean you should stop doing isolated lifts - in fact, it is easier to build muscle from targeted, upper body muscle resistance training, likely because there is more direct neural activity involved. So get lifting!
Sources (Coming Soon)
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