The 2 Types of Muscle Growth and How to Get the Most Out of Your Strength Training Efforts

What is your goal, are you trying to become strong or get big? Do you want definition or are you just focused on size? Size does matter with some things but you don't want that bulky look where you have trouble fitting into your clothes, because you are so big.
Who wants that? Would you prefer to look like one of the guys on the cover of a bodybuilding magazine or like Hollywood stars like Ryan Reynolds or Taylor Lautner? There are basically two types of muscle growth.
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar hypertrophy.
Knowing the difference will help you get great results in the gym.
Muscle hypertrophy refers to the growth and increase in the size of muscle cells.
So what are the two types of muscle growth? Glad you asked.
1) Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy - With sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, the amount of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cells increase without the increase of muscle strength.
In layman's terms.
You get bigger but not stronger.
So with sarcoplasmic hypertrophy you can have massive biceps or triceps but not be strong.
2) Myofibrillar hypertrophy - With myofibrallar hypertrophy, the myofibrils (part of muscle fibers), which is made of actin and myosin (both muscle proteins), increase in number and add strength along with a slight increase in muscle size.
Don't let that last sentence confuse you with the medical terms.
Again in layman's terms with myofibrillar hypertrophy you become strong and bigger.
This is the ideal approach to strength training.
Creating Cumulative Fatigue If you are after strength gains you need to check your ego at the door.
Your ego can be one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when trying to gain strength.
Do not follow the keeping up with the Jones's mindset in the gym.
Don't be so obsessed with numbers.
Focus on creating cumulative muscle fatigue instead of how much you are lifting.
How do you do that? By decreasing the amount of rest in between sets.
Every set, builds on the last set and this causes a gradual fatigue on the particular muscle you are working on.
It might appear that you are weaker than other guys in the gym that are taking longer breaks than you but that is far from the truth.
You might even have to use lighter weights but it will pay off in the long run.
This will help you get bigger strength gains.
Depending on your goals, you should take a different approach with what muscle growth you want to shoot for.
But if you want to get defined muscle with decent size sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is what you should go after.
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy will not get you on the cover of a bodybuilding mag, but it will help you get that lean Hollywood action star look.