When hyperplasia is usually mentioned, you get all sorts of responses. Some people claim that it is possible, others say it's not and some people just sit there with a dumb look on their face. So it's time to clear it up, once and for all.
If you've been reading any information on how to build your muscles, chances are you've been reading about achieving hypertrophy. All this means is you make your muscle fibres bigger. Well, hyperplasia isn't about the size of muscle fibres, but the number of muscle fibres.
You see, we are all born with a certain number of muscle fibres. As we grow, they also grow. Now, while mainstream science says growing more muscle fibres is not possible, but there are some people who disagree.
They suggest that just as your muscles grow in response to stress (hypertrophy), if enough stress is put on the muscle continually, then new muscle fibres will grow (hyperplasia).
There have been scientific studies conducted that prove that hyperplasia occurs in animals. One experiment I heard about was done on birds. The scientist hung weights on the wings of the birds for a certain amount of time. Once the birds were put out of their misery, their muscles were looked at and it was found that they had extra muscle fibres.
Now, while it is easy to experiment with animals to find out the truth about hyperplasia for muscle building, it's a whole other story when talking about humans. Can you imagine what would happen if scientists hung weights from peoples arms for long periods of time? I certainly wouldn't be putting my hand up for that!
And even if they could do that, they couldn't very well put a person down to dissect their body afterwards, could they? So this leaves us to guess whether hyperplasia for muscle building really does exist in humans.
Some people have also suggested that once muscle fibres get too big, they split and create more muscle fibres, just like your body's fat cells. However, there is no evidence to suggest that this happens. Another problem with this theory is that most people would never get to this point without chemical assistance, i.e steroids.
So when it comes to hyperplasia for muscle building, you are really left to your own devices. Whether or not is exists is still hard to say. But what we do know suggests that it probably isn't responsible for as much muscle growth as some think, so it's not that much of a worry. Whatever side of the fence you sit on doesn't matter, the principles of muscle building or muscle creating are essentially the same. If you need a guide on how to do this the most efficient way, I recommend either browsing through this site or picking up a copy of Sean Nalewanyjs best selling book.
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