Muscle hypertrophy: The fancy name for building muscle

Ever wondered anything about the science behind muscle growth?  How exactly do our muscles grow, anyway? Why does weight-lifting actually work - or why doesn't it?

Here are a few answers to the basic questions of muscular hypertrophy, aka growth.

Muscle hypertrophy, quite simply, is the increase of muscle cells - and consequently, their size.  There are two types of muscular hypertrophy: sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar (aka real increases in strength, not just muscle size).  Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is where the fluid in the muscle cell increases, though strength does not.

Strength training usually results in a combination of the two types of hypertrophy.  Muscle contractions caused by strength training reps causes myofibrillated hypertrophy. Myofibrillated is the type of muscle growth that olympic power lifters and strength athletes focus on.  Bodybuilders and endurance athletes need sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which is the kind that results in size.

Knowing something about the science behind muscle growth is actually very important.  If you know exactly what type of growth you want (size vs. pure strength), you can train more effectively.  Even someone who has no weight-lifting experience can achieve strength gains just by learning to use the muscle properly.

Because testosterone is one of the key hormones involved in growth, it's typically much easier for men to grow muscle. Sometimes, taking additional testosterone in the form of anabolic steroids will increase results, but the side-effects from supplements like these can often cause more issues than they solve.  On top of that, steroids and other supplements are frequently banned in competitions because of their 'cheating' factor.

Effective strength training involves knowing your current strength and lifting ability, your genetic makeup (i.e. what body type you have), and how to properly train your muscles.  Combining effective workouts with a good diet regime (and of course, proper rest) will help you see results fairly quickly, even if you aren't an experienced lifter.