The Muscle mass is the volume of total body tissue that corresponds to muscle. From the point of view of body composition it corresponds to lean mass, the other two types of components are body fat and water.
There are three types of muscle, the cardiac muscle that is part of the heart, the smooth muscle that is found in the viscera and the skeletal muscle that is the tissue that we know as muscle itself, this has the function of allowing us to carry out the different movements and maintain posture.
Muscle is able to respond to increased demand by increasing its mass, which allows it to achieve greater strength and endurance. This process causes what is known as muscle hypertrophy, which is nothing more than the increase in muscle size as a result of training and that we can see at its best in bodybuilders.
Increasing muscle mass can be achieved through physical training, this will vary depending on the goal you want to achieve. When looking to increase muscular endurance, training focuses on the number of repetitions, while when looking to increase strength, and therefore muscle size, it is necessary to work with more weight or resistance and fewer repetitions.
This training must be accompanied by an adequate supply of nutrients, especially carbohydrates that are the most used energy source by muscle tissue, as well as phosphocreatine. The latter is necessary to increase the working capacity of the muscle in anaerobic conditions as occurs in exercises such as weight lifting, which is achieved by improving muscle performance with less energy consumption avoiding fatigue and the production of lactic acid product of the muscle metabolism that is responsible for post-exercise muscle pain.
Phosphocreatine is produced from various amino acids in organs such as the liver and pancreas, especially after ingestion of foods such as meats, eggs and dairy, it can also be obtained from various supplements.
The opposite extreme of muscle hypertrophy is Sarcopenia, a condition typical of aging characterized by the decrease in muscle mass that results in symptoms such as weakness and decreased strength. This condition occurs in the very thin elderly and can also be seen in cancer patients.
