My friend, Brendan, asked me if he could “build too much muscle”. Knowing him, it was not a serious question, but, perhaps worth addressing. There are essentially two approaches to building muscle: myofibrillar hypertrophy and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy—or more simply put: functional v. aesthetic. “Too much muscle” can be subjective, but it can also be a matter of practicality.
Bodybuilding, as a sport, has changed over the years—for better or for worse (this is quite subjective). It has always been a sport of aesthetics. More recently, size has taken on a greater emphasis. If you are apprehensive about lifting weights because you “don’t want big, bulky muscles”, don’t worry. You are not likely willing to put in the time and effort it takes to grow such muscles.
Strength comes from myofibrillar hypertrophy. By definition, strength is the ability to lift maximal amounts of weight (e.g., one-repetition maximum or 1-RM). While there is some corresponding increase in muscle size strength-specific training (high-intensity, low-volume) generally leads to less sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (increased muscle volume) than one sees with hypertrophy-specific training (moderate-intensity, high-volume).
So, the question really becomes “what is too much muscle?” For an athlete in a weight dependent sport (e.g., wrestling or Olympic weightlifting), too muscle could force the athlete to compete in a higher weight class. Here the goal would be to maximize strength above size. To an offensive lineman in football, however, muscle mass is an essential need to perform at a maximal level. Thus, “what is too much muscle?” is a question of need. So, yes, one can build too much muscle—albeit unlikely in most scenarios.
Muscle mass has a high metabolic requirement. Thus, the body will work against maintaining unnecessary muscle mass (“use it or lose it”). This is why bodybuilders, during massing phases, have to eat uncomfortable amounts of food. As such, “too much muscle” is quite unlikely.
From a functional point of view, “too much muscle” is more a matter of need. Beyond aesthetics, muscle is about performance. So the question becomes: “Can I be too strong?” My answer to this would be “yes and no”. Yes from the standpoint of the effort and the stress training to build and maintain extremes of strength. No from the standpoint of one might never know when that strength may be necessary. But, “too strong” is different than “too much muscle”. Again, how much is entirely individual.
The better question to ask is: “Can I have too little muscle mass?” The answer here is “Absolutely.” Indeed, most of us probably do. As we age we tend to see a significant loss of muscle mass after the age of 25 years. (The most dramatic loss is between 50 and 80 years.) With this loss of muscle comes a significant loss of strength and function. So, for most of us, we don’t have to worry about building too much. We do need to worry about losing too much. Thus, the goal should be to build and sustain an appropriate amount of muscle mass through efficient and effective resistance training exercise and diet.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!!