Why can anaerobic exercise increase muscle mass

Anaerobic exercise mainly stimulates muscle fiber micro damage through high-intensity and short-term muscle contractions, thereby triggering the mechanism of excessive muscle recovery to achieve muscle building effects. The process of muscle growth mainly involves physiological mechanisms such as muscle fiber tear repair, accelerated protein synthesis, and increased secretion of testosterone and growth hormone.

1. Repair of muscle fiber micro injury

Resistance training during anaerobic exercise can lead to minor tearing of muscle fibers, which activates the proliferation and differentiation of satellite cells through mechanical tension. Damaged muscle fibers absorb more amino acids for protein synthesis during the repair process, and an increase in the number of myofibrils expands the cross-sectional area of the muscle. Compound movements such as squats and hard pulls can simultaneously activate multiple muscle groups, resulting in more significant micro injury effects.

2. Enhanced protein metabolism

Within two hours after strength training, muscle sensitivity to amino acids significantly increases, and the mTOR signaling pathway is activated to promote myosin synthesis. Supplementing with high-quality protein at this time can provide raw materials for muscle repair, and leucine in whey protein can directly stimulate the rate of muscle protein synthesis. Long term anaerobic training can enhance the ability of muscles to store glycogen, increase the water content in muscle cells, and form visual muscle hypertrophy.

3. Hormonal Environment Changes

Heavy weight training can stimulate an increase in testosterone and growth hormone secretion. Testosterone can reduce muscle protein breakdown and promote myoblast fusion. Growth hormone mediates muscle cell proliferation through insulin-like growth factor. Although women have lower testosterone levels, they can still achieve significant muscle building effects through progressive load training. High intensity interval training can also increase adrenaline secretion and enhance muscle contraction strength.

4. Neural adaptation mechanism

The initial increase in strength is mainly due to the improvement of neural recruitment ability, with the number of activated motor units increasing from 60% to over 90%. As training continues, muscle coordination and power efficiency improve, and the same movement can mobilize more muscle fibers to participate. This neuromuscular adaptation enables trainers to withstand greater loads and form a positive cycle of muscle building.

5. Energy metabolism adjustment

Anaerobic exercise consumes a large amount of muscle glycogen, and during the recovery period, muscle cells increase their glycogen reserve capacity. Each gram of glycogen can combine with 3 grams of water to make the muscle look plump. The creatine phosphate system recovers excessively after training, and the increase in phosphocreatine concentration in muscles can support higher intensity training. Long term trainers experience an increase in muscle capillary density, leading to a significant improvement in nutrient delivery efficiency.

It is recommended to combine a periodic training plan and perform 3-4 compound action training sessions per week for the large muscle group. Rest between groups should be controlled within 60 seconds to maintain metabolic stress. Timely supplement 20-30 grams of easily absorbable protein after training, combined with an appropriate amount of fast carbon to help restore glycogen. Ensure daily protein intake of 1.6-2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight and sleep for no less than 7 hours to optimize hormone secretion. Pay attention to gradually increasing the load to avoid muscle breakdown caused by overtraining. During muscle building, it is advisable to increase healthy fat intake appropriately. Omega-3 fatty acids in foods such as nuts and deep-sea fish can help alleviate post training inflammatory reactions.