I understand that you train low rep, high weight for strength, low weight high rep for endurance, and hypertrophy is somewhere in the middle. But what actually happens in the body to cause these differences in muscle growths due to different rep ranges?
In: Biology
strength requires (in addition to neurological adaptation) and increase in contractile fibers, aka muscle fibers. this increase in muscle fibers is one aspect of hypertophy. these changes are not that big in appearance, so you can get a lot stronger at single repetitions without necessarily getting big.
endurance is aided by sarcoplasm, which is a fluid containing water and sugars that your muscles can use for energy. this is stored near the muscle fibers for them to use, and though it does not contribute to contractile force, it helps the contractile fibers work over time (eg for high rep sets). this fluid occupies a lot of volume, and will contribute significantly to a “swollen” appearance, or the visual aspect of hypertrophy.
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