Heres an article i read today, it may be a little long but its not a waste of time. Has anyone heard of hyperplasia or experimented with it?
Hyperplasia: The philosopher’s stone and how to come by it
By Michael Sabaces
What would you say if I told you it were possible to put on 2kg of muscle in a month? Not 2kg of muscle in a year, but in a month. My guess would be something along the lines of, “Are you having a laugh?” So, what if I told you it was possible to do that every month? In just a couple of months you could get so profoundly massive as to become awesome. You would not be able to recognise yourself. However, this can only be the case if you trigger hyperplasia. Well, I bring you great tidings - you can do just this.
Bodybuilders are ever absorbed in an adventure: the eternal quest for muscle development. They train, eat and live their life in the name of muscle development, it’s their raison d’être. They all seek a particular philosopher’s stone, the one which will make their dreams come true.
That stone goes by one name: hyperplasia.
But before we look at the issue of hyperplasia in greater detail, we should quickly cover a slightly more fundamental one: the composition of muscle fibres.
Muscle fibres
Bodybuilders in the 21st century cannot train without heeding the information that scientists can provide them. The acknowledgement of such information can lead to greater developments in a shorter space of time. It would be foolish of them to ignore the wealth of information which can allow them to enhance their physique.
The starting point is the crucial recognition that the muscles comprise have more than two types of fibres. They had been claimed to consist of two up until virtually the end of the 20th century, namely the white, fast twitch fibres and the red, slow twitch ones.
Both fibres function in a specific manner. The fast twitch fibres generate great intensity and power but can only do so for a very short time. The muscle employs them when we lift a heavy weight or sprint. However, they quickly tire.
Slow twitch fibres, on the other hand, are restricted in terms of the capacity to contract intensely. They cannot be exhausted easily so, stamina-wise, they are virtually free to contract as long as their owner wishes.
Slow twitch fibres contain a high quantity of haemoglobin, a protein which has a role in transporting the oxygen in the blood to tissue. Fast twitch fibres, however, do not. They differ in colour due to different haemoglobin contents.
Fast twitch fibres can increase in size to a great extent, whereas slow twitch ones cannot. It has always been claimed, therefore, that fast twitch muscle fibres are predominant in bodybuilders and slow twitch ones in marathon runners.
Nothing more than simple observation is required to confirm this. The muscles of powerlifters and bodybuilders, which execute very brief but powerful movements, are huge whereas those of long distance runners, which contract for hours and hours, are a lot smaller.
Runners who concentrate on covering long distances only will end up with nothing but slow twitch fibres in their leg muscles. In the same vein, a bodybuilder who spends years executing short, powerful movements will end up with, in the main, fast twitch fibres. The traditional belief that the body is a product of its operations comes from these findings.
In view of the fact that slow twitch muscle fibres cannot be developed, bodybuilding routines comprised few reps only. Scientists today, however, have come to classify muscle fibres into several groups. Originally, we had type I and type II. Then came fast twitch fibres type II A and II B, which were further classified in terms of colour e.g. pink, pale red, etc. Some scientists have claimed that muscle fibres can specialise and, therefore, turn from one type into another.
Today, as many as five different types of human muscle fast twitch fibres are recognised. This means that in order to fully develop muscles we must execute different types of exercises and rep counts.
Hyper what?
It was assumed until now that muscle development came about only as a result of hypertrophy, an increase in the size of muscle fibres. Much research has been conducted on hypertrophy and the process itself is a familiar one.
Hypertrophy comprises two different operations. Firstly, the body reinforces muscle fibre structures to make them bigger by incorporating extra actin and myosin filaments. Secondly, it increases the fluid content within the muscle fibres as well as substrate reserves to make them bigger. However, whether it is possible for both hypertrophy and hyperplasia to take place has been disputed for many years.
The term, hyperplasia, refers to the multiplication of cells, or rather an increase in the amount of muscle fibres. Some scientists have maintained that both processes develop muscle, hyperplasia as much as hypertrophy. A large section of the scientific community were of the opinion, however, that whilst the muscle fibres could increase in size, they could not do so in number. Put simply, human beings are born with the same quantity of muscle fibres; their muscles do not grow because muscle fibres have multiplied but because they have become bigger.
Nonetheless, a biopsy on the shoulder muscles of a swimmer showed that the number of fibres within had increased. Hyperplasia is possible. It stands to reason that if a bodybuilder can boost the number of fibres forming a muscle, then their muscles stand a greater chance of experiencing hypertrophy and, therefore, developing more.
How is hyperplasia triggered?
It is one thing to accept that there is such a thing as hyperplasia, i.e. that muscle fibres can be multiplied, but knowing how to produce it is another thing.
Experiments on animals have proved beyond doubt that overloading a fully stretched muscle will substantially increase its fibres. Put another way, a fully stretched, overloaded muscle will register a phenomenal surge in the quantity of fibres it comprises and in their development.
Now that the data has been studied, the question is how to train in order to capitalise on it and trigger hyperplasia. If you want to develop the muscle to its full capacity, then you also have to make the fibres bigger. This is the case even if you can multiply them. Remember that the muscles comprise a variety of fibres so you need different types of reps.
At this point I wish to suggest some reps which will help trigger muscle hyperplasia. I refer to them as “partial burn reps” and I devised them after studying the scientific data. I also looked at the training methods used by champions distinguished by the staggering development of some of their muscle groups.
If in animal experimentation, scientists have proved that the stress experienced by an overloaded, fully extended muscle produces hyperplasia, then it makes sense to try this when training. That means overloading the muscle in the same position.
You know something? Twenty years ago, Tom Platz had the best-developed legs in bodybuilding (I think they remain the best ever). I always suspected them to have benefited from some form of hyperplasia for him to have developed them to such an extent. Take a good look at photos of him in his earlier days, there doesn’t seem to be anything special about them in comparison to his other muscle groups. So what did he do to develop his legs to such an extent?
Naturally, he worked them especially hard and did more squats than any other exercise. He also worked the rest of his body hard but it did not develop to the same extent. Interestingly, Tom used to conclude sets of conventional squats with a few partially-executed reps. He would execute them in the starting position, i.e. squatting.
Take a look at how squats are performed. You state with your legs bent and quads at full stretch. After performing as many conventional reps as he was capable, Tom would execute some partial ones in this very position. From the squatting position he would then straighten his legs just an inch or two to experience the final pump and burning sensation indicating the muscle can go no further.
As far as I am concerned, Tom was overloading the fibres in his quads whilst they were fully stretched. Current knowledge of hyperplasia production would suggest he was triggering this very process.
A further, and seemingly obvious example, would be that of Arnold. Some of you may remember that the “Austrian Oak” used to do partial reps at the end of heavy sets of dumbbell flyes. You will, of course, remember that he made it into the Guinness Book of Records for having the largest, most muscular chest in history. His huge, thick pecs must have reaped the full benefits of hyperplasia when they were overloaded and fully stretched in the starting position for dumbbell flyes.
Care for another example? How about Larry Scott? It’s common knowledge that Scott, the first Mr Olympia in history, was not fantastically equipped for bodybuilding in terms of genetics. His muscles and bones were small. Despite this, he used the preacher bench to build biceps which were out of this world. Furthermore, he did so to the extent that even today, at more than 60 years of age and with a lightly muscled physique, his biceps continue to be a cut above the rest.
Incidentally, Larry would do partial preacher curls when he could no longer manage full reps. Such reps cover only an inch or two of the range when the arms are fully extended. They come closest to resembling the hyperplasia experiments on animals. There is no doubt Scott developed his biceps by increasing the quantity of muscle fibres.
With this in mind, I have devised a system to stimulate muscle tissue hyperplasia. The idea is simple. It is a matter of identifying exercises which provide the opportunity to overload muscles when they are fully stretched and to do as many partial reps as possible.
First, you must able to do 8-10 reps with the weight you are lifting. Do a set of standard reps and when you come to the end of it and cannot complete one more full rep, increase the weight you are lifting by 20-30% and do as many partial reps as possible.
Needless to say, the muscles will be scorching once they have been exhausted with conventional reps so you will be able to lift the weight only a fraction of the trajectory. Do not worry, though, for that is the point of the exercise. Hyperplasia, remember, occurs when a muscle is overloaded whilst fully stretched. Simply expressed, the weight needs to cover just an inch or two of the trajectory to trigger it.
Bear in mind the following:
– not all exercises lend themselves well to the execution of partial reps
– sets of such reps should be done in small quantities only or you will overwork the muscle
– partial reps cover only a little of the trajectory
– each muscle group must also be worked with other exercises in the conventional way
– the performance of partial burn reps requires the aid of a spotter
Here are some exercises for different muscle groups which are perfectly designed for the execution of blazing partial reps at the end of a conventional set:
Quads: barbell squats, hack squats, leg extensions and both the vertical and inclined presses
Hams: lying leg curl, seated leg curl and stiff-legged deadlifts
Calves: heel raises of all kinds
Pecs: parallel dips, dumbbell flyes, bench press using dumbbells and bench presses using machines allowing the arms to sink below chest level
Shoulders: bent-over rear raises, shoulder press using dumbbells and machines allowing your hands to sink below shoulder level to stretch the muscle as required
Biceps: preacher curl with either the barbell, dumbbells or cable
Triceps: triceps extensions of all kinds using the barbell, dumbbells or cable
Let’s recap: first do a standard set of the relevant exercise. Then, when you reach the end, increase the weight by enough to do 8-12 partial reps, covering the initial stage of the weight’s trajectory. Your muscles will blaze more than you could imagine (hence, the name ‘burning’ partial reps). Nonetheless, if you forge ahead with them you will develop to a greater extent than you would without benefiting from hyperplasia. The scorched muscles and the agony, therefore, are worth it, believe you me.
Other ways to trigger hyperplasia
It seems a key process related to hyperplasia is the stimulation of satellite cells, which lie quiescently on the periphery of parent cells. The latter are mother cells within the muscle which, when stimulated, create an adult fibre and allow those which have been destroyed to be replaced.
Satellite cells within muscles play a prominent role in regeneration, development and creation of muscle fibres (i.e. they increase the quantity of fibres in the muscle – hyperplasia).
It was not known until recently how they get the signal to come to life from their quiescent state. The use of blocking agents allowed studies to confirm that nitric oxide is chiefly responsible for spurring satellite cells into action. Stimulation was impossible without it.
Nitric oxide (NO) is a small molecule of gas which operates as a secondary neurotransmitter and is produced by several tissues. One of these tissues is muscle. It can be concluded from specific studies that nitric oxide exercises have a huge impact on muscle development. Processes other than the stimulation of satellite cells can also have this impact.
Several recent studies showed nitric oxide’s huge impact on muscle tissue development is due to the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF 1.) Laboratory tests on mice showed that when NO production was hindered, muscle protein synthesis fell considerably. NO, it can be concluded, is important for maximum muscle protein synthesis.
Additional studies witnessed the muscles of laboratory animals grow by as much as 76% in two weeks when overloaded. Scientists overloaded them a second time but hindered the production of NO in the bodies of the animals. This time their muscles experienced 39% hypertrophy, just half that experienced when NO was produced freely.
It seems the anabolic effects of NO are regulated by IGF 1, one of the body’s main anabolic hormones. It is known that weight training does not just influence IGF 1 by boosting its production in certain areas of the body, but also by increasing the number of IGF 1 receptors in muscle tissue, greatly enhancing development.
Scientists have also demonstrated that IGF 1 loses a huge chunk of its anabolic capacity when it is not reinforced by NO It follows then that a plentiful circulation of NO is essential for the purposes of anabolism.
Weight training has little impact without the release of IGF 1. For this reason, it is important to encourage NO release. NO enhances IGF 1 production and activate satellite cells.
NO has been mainly recognised to widen the blood vessels in a process known as vasodilation. This is of continuous benefit to cardiovascular health as well as muscle development. A greater circulation of the blood, of course, amounts to enhanced muscle pumps, the transportation of more nutrients to the muscles and the capacity to clear the body of waste produced by metabolism.
The amino acid, arginine, is NO’s natural precursor. The body, however, requires large quantities to release a suitable amount of NO. (It is thought to require 10-15g.) There is, however, an ester comprising arginine and alpha-ketoglutarate which, in terms of bioavailability, is 10-15 times greater than simple arginine. This is the main substance from which NO is produced.
Future Concepts has developed VM-NOx2, an ergoceutical specifically designed to trigger NO production by various means. It has managed to pack 1500mg of arginine alpha-ketoglutarate into the Advanced Vaso Muscular Matrix included in it. These 1500mg have an almighty impact on NO production.
This magnificent formula contains a unique substance which, until now, had never been introduced into bodybuilding: citrulline malate. The body can synthesise this non-essential amino acid itself from ornithine when the latter is combined with CO2 and NH3. When the citrulline combines with a further NH3 molecule it forms arginine. The citrulline, therefore, promotes the production of NO by increasing arginine deposits in cells. It does so to the extent (as medical scientists have demonstrated) that a lack of citrulline decreases arginine and NO levels, increasing the risk of heart problems.
However, it is citrulline’s capacity to hinder the production of waste products resulting from exercise and to bolster performance which is of most interest to athletes. The combination of arginine alpha-ketoglutarate and citrulline malate within VM-NOx2 fortifies NO production. This results in vasodilation and natural IGF 1 secretion. NO production, in other words, is doubled.
In spite of this, VM-NOx2 does not only boost muscle development and performance in this way. Readers will be aware by now that creatine operates anaerobically to raise levels of energy in the muscles. To produce this effect, it increases phosphocreatine concentration, the muscle’s way of gathering essential phosphate ions. These ions are then immediately available to revive the operations of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the muscle’s main source of fuel. It is from phosphocreatine and glycogen that muscles derives the energy to contract immediately and intensely.
Phosphocreatine is the restrictive factor in this energy production system because it is rapidly depleted. Furthermore, the anaerobic breakdown of the glycogen, glycolysis, quickly comes to a halt due to lactic acid build-up. ATP must then be produced aerobically to maintain energy production. Aerobic energy is produced via several metabolic pathways such as glucose, by-products of glycolysis and fats employed as substrates. It is a particularly complex process.
Citrulline has been nicknamed “aerobic creatine” after studies showed that citrulline and natural malic acid salt (the malate), raised aerobic production ATP by up to 34%. Malic acid itself is employed in the Krebs cycle. The administration of citrulline malate raises your energy level, allowing you to train harder and recover faster from training. It increases ATP production and clears the metabolic waste produced during exercise. Both aerobic and anaerobic stamina increase in the long term. In the process, the citrulline malate boosts NO and IGF 1production. All these effects culminate in the power to execute blazing partial reps, the ones which burn like hell but blow wide open the doors to development.
Future Concepts have incorporated three different types of creatine into the VM-NOx2 Advanced Vaso Muscular Matrix. This is not to bolster strength but also muscle acquisition. The main one in the trio is tricreatine malate, recently developed by combining creatine with malate.
Malate has high bioavailability and, as observed, is an intermediary in the Krebs energy production cycle. This amazing complex supplies 3000mg of this mighty substance to develop gargantuan strength and muscle bulk. The fact that it is 100% bioavailable provides this advanced form of creatine with the special capacity to penetrate muscle cells.
Then there’s HMB creatine. This substance has also been recently developed and is created by uniting creatine and hydroxymethylbutyrate. The latter is a metabolite of leucine, the amino acid. It has been shown to have ability to partially hinder proteolysis and the damage inflicted upon muscle tissues during weight training – hence permitting greater muscle and strength.
Bodybuilders often complain that HMB alone does not produce satisfactory development. The majority of it is broken down in the intestine and very little enters the blood. This means that doses must be of a substantial quality. However, the combination of the HMB and the creatine ensures that all of it reaches the bloodstream.
Creatine monohydrate constitutes the third and final form of creatine contained within VM-NOx2. It is the one most widely studied and used in supplements. This is similarly the case with the amino acid, taurine, which also forms part of the VM-NOx2 formula. Taurine endows muscles with formidable bulk.
Another substance which is making waves in the world of bodybuilding is 4-hydroxyisoleucine. Naturally, you will find it in VM-NOx2.
This substance is the most innovative to have been produced regarding the sugar-free secretion of insulin. Insulin had been recognised to carry creatine, as well as other nutrients, to muscle cells. Before 4-hydroxyisoleucine came about, however, it was important to consume high quantities of carbs in order to provoke insulin secretion. Such consumption carries the risk of lipogenesis (fat formation).
Sugar is not required for 4-hydroxyisoleucine to trigger insulin release. Additionally, this substance heightens the muscle cells receptivity to insulin.
All in all, 4-hydroxyisoleucine ensures all three types of creatine, as in VM-NOx2, penetrate the muscle fibres and your muscles develop more than ever before.
In a nutshell
Hyperplasia, is no longer the stuff of legend. Scientists have proved that there is such a process and have triggered it themselves.
Partial burn reps are easy to incorporate into a training program, though not so easy to perform. They will turn your muscles into fireballs but the resulting development is well worth the pain.
You don’t have to reply on courage alone to do partial reps, you can get strong support from VM-NOx2, the only ergoceutical recognised to stimulate satellite cells and guarantee developments. Performance and natural development will rocket as a result.
Just the thought of Platz’s legs, Arnold’s pecs and… Sorry, forgive the interruption but I have to shoot off, I have a workout to be doing.
