What is it?
Hypertrophy is the process of increasing the bulk of muscle fiber. It is a relatively simple recipe to execute that takes only three ingredients. Resistance training, sufficient protein intake (the amino acids from protein to be more exact) and time. It is not hard per se, but it is inevitable. Our bodies are literally programmed by evolution to grow under these three conditions.
Why do I want it?
While the aesthetics of muscle building are a worthy pursuit in their own right that goes back thousands of years, building muscle is also about a long and healthy life.
In fact, keeping adequate muscle on our bodies, especially as we age, is as important as almost anything else. Study after study has shown that resistance training can delay or even eliminate sarcopenia (the process of muscle wasting as we age). Study after study has shown that sarcopenia is often the precursor to osteopenia/osteoporosis. So resistance training drives beneficial adaptations in our skeletal system as well as our muscular system.
But even beyond helping us defy some of the insults of chronological age, resistance training can help us to live fuller lives as we age. It will affect everything from how long you can live independently in your own home, to what you can do with your grandkids and great grandkids, to how far and how long you can travel in retirement. And being well muscled may also save your life, because it helps prevent falls and cushions our bones in the event of a fall. According to the CDC, unintentional injury (the leading cause of which in the elderly are falls) is the third leading cause of death to older adults. In short, this is not just about looking good, it’s about living longer and better lives.
How do I train it?
While it takes effort and consistency, building muscle is far from difficult or painful. There are literally dozen of ways to skin the proverbial cat for each essential element.
First, all that is really required in training is to provide increasing levels of stimulus to your muscles that gives them a signal to get bigger. For those just starting out, it may be enough (at least for a time) to simply practice getting up off a chair over and over again! When we pass beyond that initial stage there are literally dozens of exercises to choose from. We can do high reps and light weights, low reps and high weights, variable weight schemes that keep you engaged, full body workouts or single muscle focused workouts, workouts that will get your heart rate up and your waist line down, workouts simply focused on heavy lifting, workouts that burn in the muscle or workouts that make the muscle feel open and elongated. Basically, lots of solutions.
Second, particular about your proteins? We have lots of options here. For example, you don’t eat meat? Totally fine. Did you know that soy protein actually has a higher level of Leucine (the grand daddy amino acid for muscle protein synthesis) than pretty much any other food? Can’t eat lots of saturated fat for health reasons? Well, the lean meats are great sources of the amino acids you need. Don’t have time to cook a high protein meal and proteins are too expensive? Well, we’ll teach you how to make a healthy shake in 5 minutes that ticks all the boxes you need to tick and costs about $2.
Third, don’t have enough time? You’d be shocked at how fast we can get you into and out of the gym while still creating the stimulus necessary to grow muscle, especially in the early days. But if you have the time and want to go super long and hard, we have programs for that too.
The key is what will you do consistently over time? We’ll find out and build the program around it.