March 28, 2024

How do muscles get bigger is important to anyone lifting weights or playing sports. Getting bigger muscles is the top priority of anyone working out with weights.

Lets look at how your muscles get bigger and then you can figure out what it will take for you to increase your muscle gains. If you have ever wondered how to grow bigger muscles, then I hope this will answer your questions.

Muscle Hypertrophy – The Growing of Muscle Cells

how do muscles get biggerMuscle hypertrophy is when your muscles cells get thicker. You muscle cells will thicken but not lengthen and it is still up in the air as to whether your muscles cell will actually split or divide to get larger.

The best way to cause muscle hypertrophy is to put pressure on your muscles so that they expect to need to push more .

Another form of muscle building is Muscle Hyperplasia and this is the actual splitting of muscle cells.

Anyone that has seen a giant bodybuilder has to wonder if we all have the same number of cells

Resistance Training

build muscleResistance training is simply lifting weights. This is really how do muscles get bigger. It is just about that simple.

What you really want is to make yourself stronger by making your body more able to handle heavier and heavier weight for at least four reps.

Power lifters as you have probably seen in the Olympics are not the biggest guys and that is because their goal is to lift the most for exactly one rep.

To fool your muscles into thinking that they have to be able to lift more they will need to do a few reps at the higher weight. Your body will then get used to this higher weight by increasing the strength of the individual muscle cells

How BIG Should Your Workout Be?

There are many strategies to get stronger and the idea behind all of these strategies is to be able to lift more for a few reps a month from now then your are doing now.

You have a few options to alter over time in the gym and they are these

  • Number of reps per set
  • Number of sets per exercise
  • Number of exercises per muscle group
  • Amount of rest between workouts

All of these parameters are a little too much to cover in this article so I will cover them later,  but for now just think about how you are structuring your workouts and frequency of workouts.

How do muscles get bigger

I hope that this info helps you understand how do muscles get bigger and better at working out always, if you have any questions then you can of course leave comments here as well.

52 thoughts on “How Do Muscles Get Bigger?

  1. I am been trying for two months now and only gained about 5lbs of muscle then platoe what do I do I can’t get any bigger in the chest and tighter in the core
    If anyone can help LMK

    1. I doubt very much that you have platoed so to speak giving the fact you have only been lifting for such a short amount of time. First off if you have just started lifting ie two months ago then your body is starting to relax a little bit and getting more adapted to the routine you have. You can most likely keep this routine for some time and see growth but I would recommend changing it up some. If you want gains then your going to have to work hard and concentrate on certain areas during certain days such as Mondays doing chest and abs and Tuesdays Bi’s and Tri’s, you get the picture. If you are already doing this great now to step it up, don’t do this frequently but do supersets every so often and what I mean is go in working the entire body with lower on the cable and bars and pump out to max but no rest moving on to the next routine immediately following (research this for a routine) now on regular days if you are doing 3 sets of 12 thats fine but to get bigger you will need to alter that and increase the and do something like 3 sets of 4-6 on occosionally max out with 1 rep to find out a measuring point so you can follow your progression. You will get bigger and stronger doing the 10-12 but true gains come from heavier s but its up to you because of your end goal. Work in some cardio to burn some calories but don’t do this on days you do a super set.

  2. Stay away from protein shakes unless you are prepared to risk the potential of kidney stones. Also make sure you have enough rest between training and make sure you do lots of compound exercises instead of wasting your time on isolated ones. Eat properly, drink properly and train your legs! Squats are a must!

  3. “Resistance training is doing s. this is really how do muscles get bigger. It is just about that simple. What you really want is to make yourself stronger by making your body more able to handle heavier and heavier for at least four reps”.

    So you you can only build muscle and get lean from lifting gym s? I always thought those gymnasts looked weedy.

  4. Hello guys,

    I’m 19 years old and I’ve been going to the gym 4 times a week sometimes more since the age of 17, I’ve got much stronger and much bigger but I’ve seem to have hit a brick wall and cannot get further than I am at the moment, I just want my muscles to gain size and become much bigger, I eat healthy and do 2 protein shakes a day. Has anyone got any suggestions on how to gain more size what protein shakes to use or creatine even steroids. Thanks guys

    1. k creatine is an anabolic which will make you stronger and make your muscle grow…. i say take creatine or if you want a mass gainer take RUSSIAN bear 5000. Another important thing that you have to look at in your diet is a lot of vitamins and minerals . Try to eat carbs before your workout and protein after

    2. Heavier Weights / Fewer Reps= Bulk or Buff… Five or six reps then failure…
      you should be lifting so much that on your 6th or 7th rep you go to failure ( meaning you cannot lift the any further for that set)
      Lighter s / More reps in a set (say 20 reps) that gets your muscles Toned or Defined
      If you are trying to build up then I suggest heavier s first… then after a few months after you reach your desired size go for the toning with lighter s.

  5. Hey man!

    Thanks for the info. above really helped, but any ways I just wanted to ask what I should do once I reach a plateau. I know you have to mix it up, but can I just put on heavier s on the dumbbells? will that solve my plateau?

    Because I don’t know how to mix it up for biceps, they are all the same. I don’t know any other ways to build the biceps except for the normal curls and hammer curls, concentration curls etc..

    And also when mixing it up can I just do it a different day? for example if I always did biceps on Mondays, should I change it to, lets say Tuesday or Wednesday?

    Thank You so much and I hope you can answer my question 🙂

    -Anthony

  6. i hear that you have to workout one day and the next day you have to take a break and thats the fast way to gat bulit but im not sure if thats true so someone plzzz tell if that true or not

    1. depends

      if you workout your biceps for example on monday, you should give them 1-2 days rest. so within tuesday and wednesday while your biceps rest, workout triceps and chest. its the resting stage in which your muscles get bigger

    2. Your muscles need 48hrs to repair. So if you work out biceps monday at 6pm you shouldnt work them out again until Wednesday (preferably at 6pm). Unless you’re on steroids which will allow you to work out harder and rest less.

  7. hello friends i take GYM for last five months but my muscles easy little tight i tjink there will be no change my muscles
    I do two excerise one of biceps and another of chest i take it continue daily one another my mean one day biceps and next day chest
    There will be no change
    I take five sets of each excercise
    Please say anybody in wha way i will make big muscles please

    1. well it sounds like you should change your workout routine because your muscles will adapt to your workout and you will hit a plateau. also, make sure you let your muscles rest, they need it if you work them out hard enough. you could also try looking into any protein supplements or lifting pills they do help alot

  8. I do 4 sets of 4 different exercises on the same muscle for that day (Mon.-Fri.) of 10 reps. Going up in each set. I’ve been working out for about 2 years. I see very little results. Am I over training or need any supplements? I see everyone else getting bigger and I’m staying at 145 lb. 5″9. It sucks. I’m 18 years of age. Could someone help me out? Thanks

    1. I think there are several problems that you are dealing with Niko but i would love to help you and anyone else out that would like it 🙂 One of your first problems that occured to me is your training. i use to do sets of 10 also which is more like a bodybuilders workout but then i had a friend intoduce me to powerlifting and i dropped down to sets of 3 to 5 and just by doing that my strength has skyrocketed, before i started lifting with this guy who introduced me to powerlifting i couldn’t even do 315 for a sets of 3 of rack pulls, but now about 5 months later i just hit about 500 the other night so again just by dropping the reps down i increased that much! Another big problem that may be holding you back is your eating. that same powerlifting frined told me 5 to 6 meals a day, 50 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbs if you wanna get bigger. so switch up your routine a bit, drop down the reps and start eating more and i can assure you that you will see some results 🙂 if anyone wants a great powerlifter program i have one all you gotta do is ask and i would be more than willing to share 🙂 Remember tho, there is no magic pill or protein shake that will give you huge muscles, it 50 50. 50% is your lifting and 50% is your eating so make sure that you are doing both right and i can assure you that you will see noticable results. But just so i don’t get anyone’s hopes too high it also depends on genetics on how big you will get but i know guys in the gym that use to be about your size in high school and now this guy is about 200 pounds of muscle so it’s not impossible but it may be harder for you than others. I am your age and i have been doing this for about 6 or 7 years now and i know exactly what you mean but don’t give up if you want it bad enough i know you can do it! if anyone wants that powerlift workout just post a comment and i’ll get it up for ya and updates on the lifting would be great! Rock on my frineds! Happy Lifting!

    2. Niko, the most important thing to realise when wanting to get bigger is it’s not how much you lift but how you lift it (form). Also, the amount of rest you take in between sets and how often you change your workout.

      If you’re not changing your workout every 6 weeks then your body/muscles get used to the routine and you ‘plateau’. Google “periodization” with respect to workouts to get a good idea of how to change up your workouts effectively. If you’re keen you could also read “Serious Strength Training” by Tudor Bompa, however, there are probably more up to date books on periodization now.

      To get bigger lift slowly – 2-3 seconds on the contraction and 3-5 seconds on the extension (or way down if you’re lifting free s). Do 3 sets of every exercise and take short, 30-45 second rests, after each set. For example, bicep curls – 8-12 reps with good form (don’t jerk the body and go slowly), rest 30-45 seconds and do another 8-12 reps, rest 30-45 seconds, and do your final set.

      Quality is more important than quantity and look into a split routine if you’re serious about getting bigger. Protein supplements are a waste of money. I know many will disagree with me, however, ask any dietitian and they will tell you the same thing.

      1. i hear that you have to work out one day and the next day you have to take it easy and thats how you’ll get bulit. i not sure if thats true so please someone tell how that works.

  9. This is great info thanks. The best way that I have found to build muscle is to stick to a decent training program. I also found that not going overboard on protein is important too

  10. All i do right now is do s, also i eat the right foods for example; Rice, pasta, chicken…etc, also i drink plenty of water and to think at being only 15 and only started my Bodybuilding at 14, i’m in pretty good shape. I haven’t started using protein shakes yet but when i turn 16 that will be one of the first things i’m gonna buy, I really want to take this Bodybuilding seriously, It’s my Passion 🙂

  11. I followed the directions for using the “Dr Max Powers Anabolic Stack” and it gave me the results I was searching for. I was a bit skeptical at first since the results were not as obvious as I had hoped for in the first week. The second week I was very pleased with my progress. Overall, I gained about 10 pounds of lean muscle while training 4 days/week while in college. I noticed that my endurance increased and my strength overcame the plateau that I was struggling with.

    Its a great product. I saw visible results in about 10 days without any side effects. I have tried many products over the years and this is by far the best and most affordable. At the price on their website, it is worth a try instead of wasting your money on something that will not work and only costs $5-$10 less. Highly recommended.

  12. If you hit a plateau in your training, definitely do what Radio Controlled Boats said and vary your workouts greatly. I was stuck doing the same thing day in and day out and never had many gains. I was working out like a mad man. I fight MMA so I switched my workouts more for athletics and my muscles ended up getting huge because of the new work out routine. I know go back and forth with the routines.
    Great article!

  13. I would agree with Radio Controlled Boats in that variety is the spice of life..including exercise. Muscle confusion now a days is overshadowed by using too heavy a . Must be an ego thing.

  14. The key to any fitness and training is to vary your workouts to cause muscle confusion. This is when you start to get real results faster than doing the same traditional training. Breaking the routine is essential.

    Andy

  15. i used to go the gym when i was younger. Though i did not really develop those big muscles, i manage to improve my physique from being skinny to a more fit built. It’s been more than 10 years ago since the last time i’ve been to the gym. I’m well past 30 and though my chest seems to retain its shape except for some sagging, my tummy however have grown big even if i don’t drink beer or alcohol.

    is it too late for me to get back in shape? thanx. 😀

  16. thanks this helps alot i’m too skinny. i’m in high school but i still want to be bigger so i can get that football scholarship or that UFC debut i’ve dreamed about

  17. getting bigger muscles take time. supplements like protein shakes do not work. its 80% food and 20% workout.

  18. Muscle building seems to be really overlooked by many women over fears of getting “big”. It is unfortunate as the only way to get that lean sculpted body is through some type of resistance training.

  19. our lax trainers are always on our backs about being careful not to go too hard when we’re working out. my friend and i started using some supplements that boost your muscles recovery so that there’s less chance of getting hurt lifting. good so far, we’ll see how it works out for a whole 4 months of lifting and playing.

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