The Body Type Myths

So What Determines How You Put on Muscle?

The question then remains, if body type is not really indicative of how easily or quickly we can put on muscle, what is?

Muscles only grow as strong and powerful as the anchoring points allow them to and those anchoring points are tendons and bones. Strong tendons and strong bones make for strong, powerful muscles. Because bones and tendons get stronger through physical activity which exercises the muscles this is a little bit of a catch-22.

At this point nutrition comes in. Bones require calcium and calcium has to be present in the diet. A combination of enough calcium and sufficient high-impact exercise to frequently generate 4G forces (about four times the weight of your own body applied to your muscles and bones) begins to affect the density of the bones. As bones get denser they can support greater exertion from the muscles more easily, so muscles can now begin to grow faster.

The recipe for building muscles then is what it has always been and it’s the same for everyone:

• Good nutrition
• Regular exercise that challenges the muscle groups you want to get stronger
• Sufficient sleep (for the body to restore muscle fiber damage and build new muscle)

People with bones that are already dense because of their lifestyle, will find it easier to put on muscle at any rate. Women, whose bones are generally not as dense as men’s will have to work a lot harder to see results.

READ: 6 Types Of Body Fat And How To Get Rid Of It

How much each person burns at their base metabolic rate (BMR) will depend on their weight, muscle-to-fat ratio, physical and mental activity levels (the brain requires 20% of the blood’s total blood supply), their height, the type of foods we generally eat (i.e. fast-release carbohydrates like sugars or slow-release carbohydrates like unprocessed rice and brown pasta, etc).

This means that with the proper combination of training and nutrition anyone can put on muscle regardless of their size, but not everyone can put on the same amount of muscle, at the same speed. The formula for losing or gaining weight is the same for everyone regardless: eat more than you burn to put weight on and eat less than you burn to lose weight. You can’t escape basic science, it seems.

SOURCE: DAREBEE.COM