By Amy King
If you look at different athletes from different training disciplines, you will notice the diversity of muscular development you can have.
For instance, most powerlifting men are rugged, while most gymnasts and sprinters look rather athletic and different to say a team sportsperson.
This brings a question to mind - Are there different types of muscle growth and is more always better?
In this article, we’ll go over the two different types of muscle growth and explain which one you should focus on stimulating, depending on your goal.
If you look at a muscle group, you will find that it comprises of separate muscle units, called myofibrils (muscle fibers).
These are the active, contractile components of your musculature, that make moving possible.
Around the myofibrils, there is a jelly-like fluid that contains non-contractile elements.
This is called the “sarcoplasm’ and is used for energy during muscular activity.
Now, there are two types of muscle growth we can look into:
Myofibrillar hypertrophy is the growth in the size of the separate muscle units, called myofibrils.
This type of growth is mostly sought after by strength athletes, like powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters.
The main adaptations that occur when myofibrillar hypertrophy is stimulated, are increases in relative strength and improved efficiency of the nervous system.
For this type of adaptation, bulk muscle growth is a secondary adaptation.
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, on the other hand, is the growth in the size of the jelly-like fluid around the muscle fibers, which we mentioned previously.
This can be referred to as “bulk muscle growth” - something that bodybuilders and physique athletes typically seek.
The end results of this type of stimulation, are increases in bulk muscle growth, along with relative strength.
In this case, increases in maximum strength are a secondary adaptation.
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If you’re not a competitive athlete that needs to focus on developing a bunch of physical properties, your best bet is to mix different types of stimulation.
As always, your training approach should be specific to your goals.
For instance, if your goal is to improve your maximum and relative strength then your primary focus will be on stimulating myofibrillar hypertrophy.
To do this, train in the powerlifting rep range of 1-5 repetitions, and also add in 6-15 rep sets every now and then to stimulate other adaptations.
If your goal is oriented towards sculpting a bodybuilder-like physique, then rep ranges of 6-15 repetitions will work well. Adding in multiple sets to increase the intensity, volume and overall workload of your workout is also a good idea.
As well as combining low reps, high reps, slow reps, fast reps, and so on. In other words, for better results consider including a mixture of different temps and time under tension.
To achieve an overall functional, and aesthetically pleasing physique, then incorporating all kinds of stimuli into your workouts and periodization, which we have covered previously will help.
What we see on the outside as muscles that make us look good, is actually a complex, adaptable system (the muscular system).
The two main types of growth that can occur in the muscular system, are myofibrillar & sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
The way you set up your training parameters and workout as a whole, will determine which type of growth will occur.
If you are looking for the best overall development, however, you should carefully mix your workouts and utilize different types of stimuli.
Amy King is the founder of AKE Fitness & Nutrition. When she’s not serving her clients, she is pursuing her corporate career in mining, bodybuilding and spending time with loved ones. She calls Perth, Western Australia home.
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