The human body achieves muscle and strength development through adaptation as a result of physiological stress applied to the body through...
The human body achieves muscle and strength development through adaptation as a result of physiological stress applied to the body through exercise. Of course, every person has a limited capacity to gain muscle. On the other hand, although there is a genetic limit to muscle gain, we can never know what this limit is. Brad Schoenfeld, one of the world's leading experts on muscle development, states the following in an article published on his blog on this subject: “It is true that we have an upper limit genetically, but we can never know what this limit is. “As we have seen in my own studies and other scientific studies, we see that highly experienced weight training athletes can still gain muscle even at these levels.” In addition, it is clearly known that individuals who train for many years approach their genetic potential and their gains are potentially less with each passing year.
Experts such as Alan Aragon, Eric Helms, Lyle McDonald, Casey But have developed many formulas to estimate the maximum muscle mass that can be achieved for an individual with a natural bodybuilding goal. Of course, these formulas are only estimates. We will discuss these formulas in the later part of our article, but now let's take a look at the factors that affect how much muscle a person can build naturally!
Our muscle cells are quite unique in that they are one of the few cells in our body that contain multiple nuclei. The main reason for this is that, compared to normal body cells, our muscle cells are actually significantly larger, as some experts say. (3,10) According to a theory called “Nuclear Domain Theory”, large cells need more than one nucleus. This theory states that a cell nucleus can only control a limited portion of the cell. Therefore, it is extremely important for a cell going through a growth phase to have more nuclei in order for the cell to maintain its proper function. One of the main ways our muscles respond to resistance training by providing long-term growth adaptations is through the activity of satellite cells in our muscles. Muscle satellite cells can donate their nuclei to the muscle cell to create new growth. Muscle cells that increase the number of nuclei are necessary for growth due to the “Nuclear Domain Theory”, which basically states that a cell nucleus can only control a limited amount of cell space. Therefore, if a cell plans to grow, it will need more nuclei to help maintain proper function.
This core-increasing process is a precursor to muscle growth. (11,15) Most of our muscles contain satellite cells, which are usually located around the muscle cell to assist in tissue repair when needed. When strength training begins, these satellite cells donate their nuclei to muscle cells. This creates a suitable environment for cell growth, and more nuclei result in greater protein synthesis, which will cause more growth in the cell.
Studies show that subjects respond very differently to training programs and that these responses are highly influenced by satellite cells. (16,21) This shows that some individuals respond better to training, that is, they may have more satellite cells, while some individuals respond less to training, that is, they may have fewer satellite cells.
TESTOSTERONE HORMONE AND MYOSTATIN PROTEIN
When it comes to muscle development, certain genes can cause more production of various proteins or hormones. Testosterone is the most important of these hormones. Testosterone is the main anabolic hormone produced by our body. Researchers observed that subjects with high levels of the hormone testosterone had higher satellite cell activity. (22,23) The natural production of testosterone by the human body varies between 300-1000 ng on average. The surprising thing is that testosterone fluctuations within the normal range do not seem to affect muscle growth much. In other words, as long as it is within normal limits, a little less or more testosterone does not make a direct difference in terms of muscle development. (32) On the other hand, in a study, subjects who received three times the upper limit of normal testosterone level (3244 ng) through external injection were able to build muscle even without training. (33) There are many other different genes that play a role in human performance, but probably the most well-known of these are the testosterone hormone and the protein called myostatin. (24) ( Myostatin is a myokine, a protein produced and released by myocytes that acts on muscle cells to inhibit muscle cell growth.) In addition, it is thought that myostatin and testosterone hormone may mediate the activity of other genes involved in muscle growth. (25)
Myostatin can directly affect an individual's capacity to build muscle. Genetic mutations can cause myostatin disruptions, which can result in decreased myostatin signaling or levels of muscle hypertrophy that are much greater than normal. (26) In a cattle species called Belgian Blue Cattle, which can be an example of this situation, excessive muscularity may occur due to lack of myostatin levels.
If, after reading the information above, a sentence like "Yes, that's why I am/am not muscular" immediately pops into your mind, I advise you not to act in a hurry. Because people generally cannot create a training/nutrition/rest routine that will give them maximum efficiency. In order to get closer to the genetic potential, a correct diet and a correct training application must be followed with serious discipline for a really long period of time.
Again on this subject, Brad Schoenfeld, referring to people who have been doing the same training routine for years and claim that they can no longer improve: “ The problem is that the more you continue to provide similar stimuli to the body through training, the less the need for adaptation in the future. “Further growth can only occur when your muscles are subjected to a new overload stimulus.” he said. The body is always adapting to different stimuli, at this point you should review whether you have really thought well about the exercise program for continued development.
The question of how much muscle we can build naturally is a question with an unclear answer. There is a consensus among sports and exercise genetics researchers that genetic testing has no role in determining talent or prescribing individualized training to maximize performance. (27) Because building muscle is affected by a large number of physiological parameters.
Another point that will take our perspective on the subject to another dimension is to examine two physical characteristics that affect how much muscle a person can build. These:
- Bone structure.
- Muscle structure.
RELATIONSHIP BONE STRUCTURE AND MUSCLE GAIN
Some studies have shown that people with higher bone density may have the capacity to build more muscle (28,30) and have higher testosterone levels. (29) In fact, there is a chapter like this in the book called “The Sports Gene”, one of the best-selling sports books of 2014. “Measurements made on elite athletes from football, weightlifting, judo, rugby and many other sports have found that each kilogram of bone supports five kilograms of muscle.”
Muscle structure is another point that can give an idea about how much muscle a person can build. Our muscles consist of " tendons" located at the starting and ending points and the " belly " part where the main growth will occur . (Muscle belly) Tendons are fibrous tissues, so they are not suitable for growth. The main part of our muscles where growth will occur is the part other than the tendons.
Each person's tendon and muscle structure is different. Let's simply think about the structure of our biceps brachii, that is, our forearm muscles, and briefly examine it. When some people tighten their biceps, they form a ball and are pulled upwards, while some people, when they tighten their biceps muscles, they look longer and spread out over the entire arm.
Take, for example, the biceps brachii muscles of the two fighters above. You can see that the athlete on the right has a biceps muscle that is distributed evenly throughout the arm, while the athlete on the left has a more concentrated biceps muscle. This is how all the muscles in the body have different starting and ending points. The longer our muscles are compared to our tendons, the more muscle we have the potential to build. Individuals with longer tendons and shorter muscles have the potential to build less muscle.
If your biceps tendon is long enough to reduce its maximum muscle building capacity, there is nothing to fear. Because this is the case for your biceps muscles, it does not mean that the same situation exists for all your muscles.
As we said before, there is no perfect formula to calculate how much muscle we can build. However, the opinions of scientists who have tried to answer this question in recent years help us to form more concrete thoughts on this subject.
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