We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Settle a debate RE: muscles

missshyeviolett
missshyeviolett Posts: 310 Member
edited January 27 in Fitness and Exercise
My husband is convinced that we cannot grow new muscle- that we only build and strengthen the ones we have.

I think that he's wrong and you can absolutely build new muscle.

Settle this for us please?

Replies

  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
    Like completely grow a new muscle that never existed in your body? No lol.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    He's right.

    You can make the existing ones bigger and stronger with the right nutrition and exercise, but you're not going to sprout new ones.
  • missshyeviolett
    missshyeviolett Posts: 310 Member
    Like completely grow a new muscle that never existed in your body? No lol.

    No, but you can build new tissue that didn't exist before, right?
  • CaptainAmerica1970
    CaptainAmerica1970 Posts: 435
    You can enlarge or grow the muscle you have muscle cells, just as you can grow or enlarge the fat cells you have, however you are not able to create a whole ne muscle group that never existed.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    Like completely grow a new muscle that never existed in your body? No lol.

    No, but you can build new tissue that didn't exist before, right?
    Then yes. When the micro tears are healed under a caloric surplus, there is the possibility for them to repair in a larger state to what they were previously.
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
    Like completely grow a new muscle that never existed in your body? No lol.

    No, but you can build new tissue that didn't exist before, right?

    Sounds more like a difference in semantics then. Build the one's we have and grow new tissue are basically the same thing.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    You don't grow new muscle cells, however you can increase the number of mitochondria and myofibrils within muscle cells, which increases the size of the cell, as well as enabling it to use more oxygen and make more ATP. The number of nuclei inside the cells also increases in response to exercise, which enables the cell to make more actin and myosin, the contractile proteins of muscle.

    So, no, we don't make new muscles, or new muscle cells. The ones we have can become larger and/or more efficient.

    http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/musclesgrowLK.html
  • missshyeviolett
    missshyeviolett Posts: 310 Member
    You don't grow new muscle cells, however you can increase the number of mitochondria and myofibrils within muscle cells, which increases the size of the cell, as well as enabling it to use more oxygen and make more ATP. The number of nuclei inside the cells also increases in response to exercise, which enables the cell to make more actin and myosin, the contractile proteins of muscle.

    http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/musclesgrowLK.html

    Excellent. It's a truce. ;)
This discussion has been closed.

Categories