Muscle building – how does it work, what do I have to consider?
Muscle building, or in technical terms hypertension training, is any training that leads to an increase in muscle size. The aim is to increase the circumference of the muscle by increasing the thickness of individual muscle fibers. To achieve this goal, some principles must be taken into account.
The first rule is that muscles only build up if they are trained beyond the load they are already used to. The new requirement causes the smallest micro-cracks in the stressed muscle fiber. These can be felt through the so-called sore muscles.
The body begins the repair processes in the 48 hours after that. In the process, it thickens the fibers so that they are better adapted for the next strain. Doctors call this process supercompensation.
However, if the athlete continues training during this regeneration phase (24-48 hours), this does not lead to further muscle growth but to muscle damage. This leads to overtraining, which weakens the body. Therefore, an athlete should not train daily and for hours, but at best 3-5 times for 30-60 minutes each.
The following recommendations apply when determining the weights and number of repetitions: Beginners should do 3 passes with 10 repetitions per exercise; advanced athletes can also try 5 passes with 15 repetitions. Pauses of 1-2 minutes between the runs are important and necessary. The same applies to the weight: it is optimal to do a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 15 repetitions.
To ensure that the muscles are trained in a variety of ways, the exercise selection should be changed after two months at the latest. Only then can the muscles receive new training stimuli. It also increases the motivation of the user.
In addition, the exercises should be selected according to the player-counterplayer method, which always means a back exercise, followed by an abdominal exercise. The last principle deals with the correct nutrition: For muscles to grow, they need sufficient protein/protein with their amino acids. These cannot all be produced by the body, but must be supplied through food.
For example, meat, fish, dairy products, legumes and nuts have a lot of protein. This should be at least 0.8 grams of protein per kilo of body weight per day. If this is not achieved through diet alone, protein shakes or tablets can be helpful.
However, a daily intake of 2 grams should not be exceeded. In addition, you need about 150 grams of carbohydrates daily, e.g. in the form of rice, potatoes, bread or pasta. In addition, the athlete should drink at least 2 liters of water.
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