3 Scientifically Proven Ways to Build Muscle
Building muscle is a key aim of many athletic performance programs. Mechanical tension, metabolic stress and muscle damage are the keys that unlock your muscle-building doors.
Strength coaches and athletes often leave performance on the table, with workouts that neglect one or two of these mechanisms. An appreciation that all three can stimulate muscle growth will ensure that you reach your muscle-building potential.
3 Scientifically Proven Ways to Build Muscle
Mechanical Tension
Put simply, mechanical tension is going heavy. It is creating tension throughout your entire system and placing your body under an intense stress. This means low reps and weight at about 90 percent of your one-repetition maximum and above. Mechanical tension usually necessitates longer rest periods with multiple sets of two to five repetitions producing stronger and larger muscles.
Metabolic Stress
Ever gone for the maximum number of reps and felt that lovely burning sensation in your muscles? That’s metabolic stress. Metabolic stress is associated with multiple sets (2 – 4) of higher repetitions (12 – 20), longer time under tension and shorter rest periods.
Best exercises for metabolic stress:
- Exercises that place the muscles under constant tension, such as Lateral Raises, Bicep Curls and exercises like Bench Press where you stop short of a full lock-out;
- Exercises that place the muscles under the most tension when they are at their shortest (think about the “squeeze” part of certain movements). (such as Hip Thrusts and Triceps Extensions).
Muscle Damage
Anyone who has trained will relate to the feeling of soreness a day or two after a tough, new or different session. This is muscle damage, and it can be brought about in several ways. Emphasizing the eccentric (lengthening) portion of a movement creates tension while a muscle is lengthening. This damages the muscle tissue, causing it to adapt and become larger and stronger.
Muscle damage can also occur from doing something completely new. If your body is unaccustomed to something, it gets a shock.
The Optimal Balance
There is a crossover between the three mechanisms. Manipulating movements and training variables such as volume and rest periods will build muscle via more than one mechanism. For example, a slow eccentric Bench Press will produce tremendous mechanical tension and muscle damage due to the heavy weight and eccentric component of the movement. High-rep Dumbbell Stiff-Legged Deadlifts will produce muscle damage and metabolic stress. A high volume of heavy loads with short rest periods could, potentially, tap into all three mechanisms—but that would be a TOUGH session and probably not smart in the short term.