Published on December 14, 2023
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“I’m not losing weight because I’m building muscle.”
. . . says the client who only recently started working out at the gym!
Here’s the reality, folks:
Building muscle takes much longer than most people realize. It’s a slow — almost excruciatingly slow — process.
While there are several factors that affect one’s ability to build muscle mass, two key strength training concepts play an integral role: frequency and volume. Frequency refers to how often you train a muscle or muscle group, while volume refers to the total load you stress a muscle with.
Building muscle involves the repair of micro-traumas in your muscle fibers. Here’s a breakdown of this extremely complex process:
1️⃣ Each muscle is made up of thousands of tiny muscle fibers.
2️⃣ When you lift weights (or do body weight exercises), your muscles endure tiny injuries (those are the micro-traumas) throughout their fibers.
3️⃣ Then, when you rest your muscles, your body begins repairing your damaged muscle cells.
4️⃣ The repair process involves fusing torn muscle fibers back together, as well as laying down new proteins within each muscle cell.
5️⃣ Your muscles become bigger and stronger because of the repair process.
The above is a very, very simplified version of what happens in your body after a weight training workout. In reality, the process includes more than just your muscles; your nervous system, circulatory system and endocrine system all contribute to muscle repair and growth.
Generally, it’s easy to tell if you’re gaining muscle. When you gain muscle, you’ll notice they’ll look more defined and are more visible. They’d also be larger in size or feel “harder.”
Gaining muscle is a lot harder and requires a lot more work than the average Joe and Jane put into it and who uses it as an excuse as to why they aren’t seeing weight loss on the scale. You must progressively overload your muscles by lifting weights and continually challenging yourself over time.
