Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbon here. If you think that getting stronger means
Speaker 1: slinging around a bunch of iron at the local gym,
Speaker 1: I think again. And if you think building muscle is
Speaker 1: only for buff guys and tight tank tops, that think
Speaker 1: again again. Building muscle is for everyone at just about
Speaker 1: every stage of life. It's a critical part of staying healthy.
Speaker 1: And you don't need to pump iron to do it.
Speaker 1: You don't need bulging veins, you don't even need to
Speaker 1: know the difference between a trapezius and a deltoid. Today,
Speaker 1: let's talk about the science of building muscle, also known
Speaker 1: as muscle hypertrophy. For the article of this episode is
Speaker 1: based on how Stuff Works. Spoke with doctor Brad Schoenfeld,
Speaker 1: the graduate director of the Human Performance and Fitness Program
Speaker 1: at Lehman College. He said, it's not only about growing muscle,
Speaker 1: it's losing If you don't resistance train, whereby you're looking
Speaker 1: to build muscle, it's really a static choice because you
Speaker 1: end up losing muscle. Resistance training is just working your
Speaker 1: muscles against some kind of resistance. That resistance can come
Speaker 1: in the form of weight, stretchy bands commonly called resistance
Speaker 1: bans or exercise bands, or even your own body weight.
Speaker 1: If you're doing a push up, you're using your body
Speaker 1: weight to force certain muscles to work, and that counts.
Speaker 1: Schellenfeld said, after about the age of thirty five, the
Speaker 1: average person who's not lifting weights is going to lose
Speaker 1: roughly a half percent of their muscle mass per year,
Speaker 1: and that percentage starts to accelerate when you get into
Speaker 1: your late fifties early sixties, and then it's exponential after that.
Speaker 1: Being physically active, which by definition means building and maintaining
Speaker 1: healthy muscles, does a lot for US humans, including improving
Speaker 1: mental health, lowering the risk of stroke, improving cognitive function
Speaker 1: and sleep, increasing joint flexibility and improving balance, thereby reducing
Speaker 1: the risk of falls and the elderly. Stronger muscles help
Speaker 1: strengthen bones and control blood sugar and cholesterol levels too.
Speaker 1: Muscle hypertrophy is a much research subject because while any
Speaker 1: exercise is better than none, how to go about building
Speaker 1: muscle most efficiently and safely has long been a matter
Speaker 1: of myth and debate. There are a number of factors
Speaker 1: to consider in building a workout, including not just the
Speaker 1: actual level of resistance that is, the weight placed on
Speaker 1: a barbell or the amount of tension in a resistance band.
Speaker 1: You also have to consider the number of repetitions of
Speaker 1: a particular movement in a set and the number of
Speaker 1: those sets done in a session, plus how that movement
Speaker 1: and those sets fit together with other exercises to form
Speaker 1: a balanced program. Schollenfeld said, I think there are misperceptions
Speaker 1: about what actually builds. A lot of times people think
Speaker 1: they have to lift heavy weights to build muscle. There's
Speaker 1: actually a lot of good research showing that muscle growth
Speaker 1: can be developed over a wide array of repetition ranges.
Speaker 1: A debate that's rumbled on for years is about whether
Speaker 1: a lot of resistance and a low number of repetitions
Speaker 1: is better or less resistance and a lot of repetitions.
Speaker 1: The old notion that a lot of us grew up
Speaker 1: with is that big weights build big, strong muscles no
Speaker 1: matter how few times you lift them, whereas smaller weights
Speaker 1: and more reps build lean, toned muscles. What's more important
Speaker 1: than any of the raw numbers you're dealing with is
Speaker 1: paying attention to what your body is telling you during
Speaker 1: the workout. You can get equally full muscles without pushing
Speaker 1: eye bulging amounts of weight. As long as you do
Speaker 1: enough reps that the final ones are challenging to complete,
Speaker 1: you'll start slowing down and eventually your muscles will just
Speaker 1: refuse to do another rep. Important note here you should
Speaker 1: always stop a set while you can still maintain the
Speaker 1: proper posture and movement for the exercise that you're doing.
Speaker 1: You risk injury if you continue past that point. One
Speaker 1: benefit of using less weight is that it's easier to
Speaker 1: realize when you're approaching your limit. In the end, the
Speaker 1: goal is to literally, on a cellular level, build more muscle.
Speaker 1: Oh When muscles are exercised enough, cellular level damage occurs,
Speaker 1: triggering a process in which proteins are dispatched to repair
Speaker 1: or replace the damaged cells. That process builds on existing structures,
Speaker 1: and over time a bigger muscle is born, which, yes,
Speaker 1: can help you look better in a favorite shirt, or
Speaker 1: keep your blood sugar in check, or just get down
Speaker 1: the stairs without taking a tumble. The National Institute on
Speaker 1: Aging suggests a strength building exercise session two or more
Speaker 1: days a week without working the same muscle group two
Speaker 1: days in a row. If you don't have a set
Speaker 1: of weights or gym membership, you can start with one
Speaker 1: thing you're guaranteed to have sitting around at home, your
Speaker 1: own body. Body Weight exercises are ones that use the
Speaker 1: resistance of your own weight to work your muscles, things
Speaker 1: like squats, lunges, and toe stands. Schowenfeld said using weights
Speaker 1: is one of the best ways to do it. The
Speaker 1: way that you're going to ultimately over time build muscle
Speaker 1: is by consistently challenging your body, But you can just
Speaker 1: do push ups and other body weight exercises that will
Speaker 1: at least early on have positive effects on strength and
Speaker 1: muscle growth. Over time, it gets harder to challenge your muscles,
Speaker 1: but there's ways if you're inventive, that you can just
Speaker 1: use body weight or resistance bans. There are lots and
Speaker 1: lots of guides online for getting started. Taking a few
Speaker 1: classes or talking with a licensed personal trainer can also
Speaker 1: help you make sure that your form is on point
Speaker 1: and not likely to lead to accidental injury. And of course,
Speaker 1: building muscle goes hand in hand with good nutrition. Trends
Speaker 1: are really pushing high protein diets these days, but carbohydrates
Speaker 1: and fat are also important for maintaining your hard earned muscles,
Speaker 1: keeping your energy up, and keeping your brain and other
Speaker 1: organs functioning. A varied diet with lots of colorful vegetables,
Speaker 1: whole grains, and leaner proteins is a good starting place,
Speaker 1: and a dietitian or other medical professional can help you
Speaker 1: home in on goals from there. Everybody's body is different,
Speaker 1: which is part of why it's so hard to nail
Speaker 1: down a single most efficient diet and exercise regimen. It
Speaker 1: can take trial and error to find a routine that
Speaker 1: works for you physically and keeps you entertained. But the
Speaker 1: overall message on muscle hypertrophy is clear, and it's not
Speaker 1: something reserved for gym rats and wanna be schwarzeneggers. Building
Speaker 1: muscle is crucial to good health and aging well for
Speaker 1: all of us. Today's episode is based on the article
Speaker 1: the Science and Smarts behind Hypertrophy and Getting Ripped on
Speaker 1: how Stuffworks dot Com, written by John Donovan. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot
Speaker 1: Com and is produced by Tyler Plang. Four more podcasts
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