Weight Gain / Muscle Mass
Want to get bulk?
To get bigger and stronger?
To have a big beach body?
Just lacking in Motivation?
Muscle gain or
weight gain can occur as a result of exercise or bodybuilding, in which muscle
size is increased through strength training.
If enough
weight is gained by way of increased body fat deposits, one may become
overweight or fat, generally defined as having more body fat (adipose tissue)
than is optimally healthy.
Weight gain
has a latency period. The effect that eating has on weight gain can vary greatly
depending on the following factors: energy (calorie) density of foods, exercise
regimen, amount of water intake, amount of salt contained in the food, time of
day eaten, age of individual, individual's country of origin, individual's
overall stress level, and amount of water retention in ankles/feet. Typical
latency periods vary from three days to two weeks after
ingestion.
Being fat is
a common condition, especially where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles
are sedentary. As much as 64% of the United States adult population is
considered either overweight or obese, and this percentage has increased over
the last four decades.
Gaining
weight can cause the following effects, dependent on the variable listed above,
but are generally limited to:
Increase in
body fat percentage
Increase in
muscle mass
Increase in
body hydration levels
Increase in
breast size
In more
extreme cases:
A noticeably
larger stomach
The abdomen
will bulge outward and upward, creating a distended
midsection
Muscle
is a soft tissue found in most animals. Muscle cells contain protein filaments
that slide past one another, producing a contraction that changes both the
length and the shape of the cell. Muscles function to produce force and motion.
They are primarily responsible for maintenance of and changes in posture,
locomotion of the organism itself, as well as movement of internal organs, such
as the contraction of the heart and movement of food through the digestive
system via peristalsis.
Muscle
tissues are derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ
cells in a process known as myogenesis. There are three types of muscle;
classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. These types of muscles are
split down into two more different classifications: voluntary and involuntary.
Cardiac and smooth muscle contraction muscles occur without conscious thought
and are thought to be essential for survival.
Muscles are
predominantly powered by the oxidation of fats and carbohydrates, but
anaerobic chemical reactions are also used, particularly by fast twitch fibers.
These chemical reactions produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules which
are used to power the movement of the myosin heads.
The term
muscle is derived from the Latin musculus meaning "little mouse" perhaps
because of the shape of certain muscles or because contracting muscles look like
mice moving under the skin.
Exercise
Physical exercise
Exercise is
often recommended as a means of improving motor skills,
fitness, muscle and
bone strength, and joint function. Exercise has several effects upon muscles,
connective tissue,
bone, and the nerves that stimulate the muscles. One such effect is muscle
hypertrophy, an
increase in size. This is used in bodybuilding.
Various exercises require a
predominance of certain muscle fiber utilization over another. Aerobic exercise
involves long, low levels of exertion in which the muscles are used at well
below their maximal contraction strength for long periods of time (the most
classic example being the marathon). Aerobic events, which rely primarily on the
aerobic (with oxygen) system, use a higher percentage of Type I (or slow-twitch)
muscle fibers, consume a mixture of fat, protein and carbohydrates for energy,
consume large amounts of oxygen and produce little lactic acid. Anaerobic
exercise involves short bursts of higher intensity contractions at a much
greater percentage of their maximum contraction strength. Examples of anaerobic
exercise include sprinting and weight lifting. The anaerobic energy delivery
system uses predominantly Type II or fast-twitch muscle fibers, relies mainly on
ATP or glucose for fuel, consumes relatively little oxygen, protein and fat,
produces large amounts of lactic acid and can not be sustained for as long a
period as aerobic exercise. Many exercises are partially aerobic and partially
anaerobic; for example, soccer involves a combination of both.
The presence of lactric acid has
an inhibitory effect on ATP generation within the muscle; though not producing
fatigue, it can inhibit or even stop performance if the intracellular
concentration becomes too high. However, long-term training causes
neovascularization within the muscle, increasing the ability to move waste
products out of the muscles and maintain contraction. Once moved out of muscles
with high concentrations within the sarcomere, lactic acid can be used by other
muscles or body tissues as a source of energy, or transported to the liver where
it is converted back to pyruvate. In addition to increasing the level of lactic
acid, strenuous exercise causes the loss of potassium ions in muscle and causing
an increase in potassium ion concentrations close to the muscle fibres, in the
interstitium. Acidification by lactic acid may allow recovery of force so that
acidosis may protect against fatigue rather than being a cause of fatigue.
Delayed onset muscle
soreness is pain or discomfort that may be felt one to three days after
exercising and subsides generally within two to three days later. Once thought
to be caused by lactic acid buildup, a more recent theory is that it is caused
by tiny tears in the muscle fibers caused by eccentric contraction, or
unaccustomed training levels. Since lactic acid disperses fairly rapidly, it
could not explain pain experienced days after exercise.
To get bigger and stronger?
To have a big beach body?
Just lacking in Motivation?
Muscle gain or
weight gain can occur as a result of exercise or bodybuilding, in which muscle
size is increased through strength training.
If enough
weight is gained by way of increased body fat deposits, one may become
overweight or fat, generally defined as having more body fat (adipose tissue)
than is optimally healthy.
Weight gain
has a latency period. The effect that eating has on weight gain can vary greatly
depending on the following factors: energy (calorie) density of foods, exercise
regimen, amount of water intake, amount of salt contained in the food, time of
day eaten, age of individual, individual's country of origin, individual's
overall stress level, and amount of water retention in ankles/feet. Typical
latency periods vary from three days to two weeks after
ingestion.
Being fat is
a common condition, especially where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles
are sedentary. As much as 64% of the United States adult population is
considered either overweight or obese, and this percentage has increased over
the last four decades.
Gaining
weight can cause the following effects, dependent on the variable listed above,
but are generally limited to:
Increase in
body fat percentage
Increase in
muscle mass
Increase in
body hydration levels
Increase in
breast size
In more
extreme cases:
A noticeably
larger stomach
The abdomen
will bulge outward and upward, creating a distended
midsection
Muscle
is a soft tissue found in most animals. Muscle cells contain protein filaments
that slide past one another, producing a contraction that changes both the
length and the shape of the cell. Muscles function to produce force and motion.
They are primarily responsible for maintenance of and changes in posture,
locomotion of the organism itself, as well as movement of internal organs, such
as the contraction of the heart and movement of food through the digestive
system via peristalsis.
Muscle
tissues are derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ
cells in a process known as myogenesis. There are three types of muscle;
classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. These types of muscles are
split down into two more different classifications: voluntary and involuntary.
Cardiac and smooth muscle contraction muscles occur without conscious thought
and are thought to be essential for survival.
Muscles are
predominantly powered by the oxidation of fats and carbohydrates, but
anaerobic chemical reactions are also used, particularly by fast twitch fibers.
These chemical reactions produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules which
are used to power the movement of the myosin heads.
The term
muscle is derived from the Latin musculus meaning "little mouse" perhaps
because of the shape of certain muscles or because contracting muscles look like
mice moving under the skin.
Exercise
Physical exercise
Exercise is
often recommended as a means of improving motor skills,
fitness, muscle and
bone strength, and joint function. Exercise has several effects upon muscles,
connective tissue,
bone, and the nerves that stimulate the muscles. One such effect is muscle
hypertrophy, an
increase in size. This is used in bodybuilding.
Various exercises require a
predominance of certain muscle fiber utilization over another. Aerobic exercise
involves long, low levels of exertion in which the muscles are used at well
below their maximal contraction strength for long periods of time (the most
classic example being the marathon). Aerobic events, which rely primarily on the
aerobic (with oxygen) system, use a higher percentage of Type I (or slow-twitch)
muscle fibers, consume a mixture of fat, protein and carbohydrates for energy,
consume large amounts of oxygen and produce little lactic acid. Anaerobic
exercise involves short bursts of higher intensity contractions at a much
greater percentage of their maximum contraction strength. Examples of anaerobic
exercise include sprinting and weight lifting. The anaerobic energy delivery
system uses predominantly Type II or fast-twitch muscle fibers, relies mainly on
ATP or glucose for fuel, consumes relatively little oxygen, protein and fat,
produces large amounts of lactic acid and can not be sustained for as long a
period as aerobic exercise. Many exercises are partially aerobic and partially
anaerobic; for example, soccer involves a combination of both.
The presence of lactric acid has
an inhibitory effect on ATP generation within the muscle; though not producing
fatigue, it can inhibit or even stop performance if the intracellular
concentration becomes too high. However, long-term training causes
neovascularization within the muscle, increasing the ability to move waste
products out of the muscles and maintain contraction. Once moved out of muscles
with high concentrations within the sarcomere, lactic acid can be used by other
muscles or body tissues as a source of energy, or transported to the liver where
it is converted back to pyruvate. In addition to increasing the level of lactic
acid, strenuous exercise causes the loss of potassium ions in muscle and causing
an increase in potassium ion concentrations close to the muscle fibres, in the
interstitium. Acidification by lactic acid may allow recovery of force so that
acidosis may protect against fatigue rather than being a cause of fatigue.
Delayed onset muscle
soreness is pain or discomfort that may be felt one to three days after
exercising and subsides generally within two to three days later. Once thought
to be caused by lactic acid buildup, a more recent theory is that it is caused
by tiny tears in the muscle fibers caused by eccentric contraction, or
unaccustomed training levels. Since lactic acid disperses fairly rapidly, it
could not explain pain experienced days after exercise.
