Muscle building and what you need to consider
An athletic body is not only eye-catching. A plus in muscles also ensures better fat burning, stronger bones, and better protection against injuries. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind when training for a particularly effective muscle building.
How muscle building works best
Over the last 20 years, sports science has gained many new insights into the topic of muscle building. Three factors play a decisive role:
- the mechanical tension
- the muscle damage caused by training
- metabolic stress
Methods from bodybuilding
If you want to do something for your muscle building, you should do so-called hypertrophy training. This is a technique that originates from bodybuilding. This does not mean that you have to be a bodybuilder to benefit from this scientifically proven technique. But here are a few tips on what to do and what not to do to stimulate muscle growth.
Tip 1: You need to damage your muscles
If you want to do something for your muscle building, you should do so-called hypertrophy training. This is a technique that originates from bodybuilding. This does not mean that you have to be a bodybuilder to benefit from this scientifically proven technique. But here are a few tips on what to do and what not to do to stimulate muscle growth.
Tip 2: It’s better to use high weights
Muscle damage works best with sufficiently high weights. Therefore, depending on your fitness level, you should train with 75 to 95 percent of your maximum strength. Many repetitions with lower weights also lead to muscle growth, but the hypertrophy stimulus is more insufficient. Important: Beginners should still work with lower weights and learn how to perform the individual exercises technically well. This may take a few weeks of regular training.
Tip 3: The importance of time under tension
In addition to using enough weight to create mechanical tension in the muscle, you also need to maintain this tension sufficiently long. This is called Time under Tension, or TuT for short. The tension causes the production of so-called metabolites: lactate, hydrogen ions, inorganic phosphate, and creatine. This process creates metabolic stress in muscle tissue, triggering muscle growth. Put simply, it involves subjecting the muscle to an unaccustomed load for a while. Studies show that the duration of this stress should be between 30 and 60 seconds.
Tip 4: Concentrate more on eccentric phase
Most strength exercises are divided into concentric and eccentric phases of movement. Here is a brief explanation using the bench press as an example: when you lift the weight upwards, it is the concentric phase; when you lower the weight again, it is the eccentric phase. Time under tension plays a decisive role in both stages. Studies on muscle building have shown the following: The concentric phase maybe a little shorter (one to two seconds). The eccentric phase should be two to three or even four seconds for optimal results. This always depends on the amplitude of the movement. This is naturally greater for squats than for biceps curls, for example.
Tip 5: Multi-set training is more effective
Sets are also crucial for building muscle. Several studies have now shown that training over three to six sets is better than one set training.
Tip 6: The ideal breaks between the sets
Two, three, or even four to five minutes are still the recommendations for pausing between sets during an exercise. You can’t go wrong with this, but the latest findings advise shorter breaks of 60 seconds maximum. This has to do with metabolism. The stress on the muscle is higher with shorter pauses and thus leads to better muscle building.