My Alternative Hypothesis for the Mechanism Behind Muscle Growth
Deadlift, which gets its name from the risk of fatal hemorrhagic stroke, from excessive strain.
Many of us have been told that weightlifting causes micro-tears in the muscles’ fibers, and that these tiny gaps subsequently heal over time, filling in with new muscle tissue. This supposedly-needed healing time is the basis for waiting several days after exercising a specific muscle group, before repeating those same exercises. The tiny tears’ hypothetical formation and healing process is widely considered to be the primary mechanism behind muscle growth. The logical fallacy of consensus gentium, a.k.a, argumentum ad populum—which holds that popular, consensus belief equates to truth—would lead us to fall in-line, and not question the micro-tear hypothesis. If there is a consensus, it must be right, as we all know from the science of COVID-1984 policy.
Seriously though, the microscopic tear hypothesis has pervaded thought, and serves up a glaring example of ‘scientific’ dogmatism, i.e., scientism.
How much actual scientific evidence is there for this hypothesis? Essentially, it has zero supportive evidence. And is it even logically sound? Are we to believe that damage is needed for growth? With only minimal reflection, just above the threshold for conscious, critical consideration, this seems absurd. But now that you’ve considered my premise, you’ve committed a thought crime. Back in line skeptic!
I have an alternative hypothesis: Simply put, muscles need extra energy for cellular elongation, or for cellular multiplication, a.k.a. mitosis. When I say “extra” energy, I mean above and beyond what is required just to maintain the life and size of existing muscle cells. After providing some groundwork, I’ll explain how [I believe] the muscles get this extra energy after we exercise.
We are not taught in school that muscle cells, like other cells, run on electricity. Yes, we are taught that ATP and NADPH are energy sources for the body, and that these two molecules are electron carriers. But what is not articulated properly is that the carried electrons are carried electricity—we run on electricity.
Academia currently divorces electromagnetism from its essential role in biology, and for that matter, from its role in the cosmos. When the gargantuan gravity of this oversight is finally recognized (which will be a gradual awakening process), it will create a paradigm shift that will turn science in a productive direction.
ATP donates an electron to be used as energy for cellular processes, and upon this donation, it becomes ADP. ADP is recycled and again converted to ATP. What is actually going on here?
As Michael Clarage says, “Light and electricity are really two sides of the same coin.” The ATP molecule carries the energy of a photon that was emitted from the Sun, which plants or algae harvested during photosynthesis, to raise an electron to a higher energy state—energy which is used to form the chemical bonds of carbohydrates:
carbon dioxide + water —energy from light—> carbohydrates + oxygen
Photosynthesis captures photons, storing their energy as potential energy held in the chemical bonds of plant carbohydrates.
Then the plant breaks down carbohydrates to extract the stored electrons and create ATP, in the process of cellular respiration (carbohydrates + oxygen + ADP ——> ATP + carbon dioxide + water). The plant uses the electric energy (the electrons) carried by ATP to stay alive, and, it will grow at a pace proportionate to how much extra electrical energy it has.
Of course the plant may be eaten by animals, which then may be eaten by other animals, thus passing along the food chain the electrical energy harvested from the Sun.
NADPH acts in a like manner as ATP. When it donates an electron, it becomes NADP+. The ‘+’ represents the ‘H,’ without its electron. An H (hydrogen) atom is composed of just one electron and one proton; so, without NADPH’s donated electron, what remains of the ‘H’ is just a proton (‘+’), yielding NADP+. You can understand why scientists refer to hydrogen ions as protons—this is important, as you’ll see.
Body builders are well-aware they must eat more for their muscles to grow, to achieve ‘hypertrophy.’ However, they are hyper-focused on the fact that they need to eat proteins, or the amino-acid building blocks of proteins, to provide the structural components of muscle cells. What provides the energy needed to put those structural components together? And what directs that energy into the muscles?—Herein is where my hypothesis comes into play:
As I’ve discussed, the requisite energy for muscle growth is provided by electricity, carried by ATP and NADPH. But what directs this energy into the muscle cells?
When we repeatedly perform an exercise, it causes a burning sensation, as the muscles use up the available oxygen conveyed by red blood cells, more rapidly than the oxygen can be replenished. Lacking oxygen, anaerobic respiration kicks in, producing lactic acid in the muscles. I propose that lactic acid is what directs the extra electrical energy into muscles, as needed for muscle growth.
pH is a measure of the ratio of protons to hydroxide molecules (+ : OH-). When we talk about an acid, we are talking about a solution that has more protons (+) than it has hydroxide molecules (OH-). A solution with pH 7 (pure water) has an equal ratio of ‘+’ to OH-. The ‘+,’ and the ‘-’ that is attached to the OH, combine to form another H, and thereby HOH, a.k.a. H2O. A solution with a pH above 7 has excess hydroxide molecules relative to protons (OH- > +).
But an overlooked, yet equally valid and critically important way of looking at pH, is as a measure of voltage, and in-fact, pH meters can be set to display millivolts (mV), with a reading between +414 mV and -414 mV, instead of a pH reading between pH 0 and pH 14, respectively.
An acidic solution has a positive voltage, whereas an alkaline (a.k.a. basic) solution has a negative voltage. Why is this important?
Lactic acid remains in the muscles after exercise, making you feel sore. It represents positive charge—excess protons. To reiterate: acids have excess positive charge, a.k.a. protons, a.k.a. hydrogen [cat]ions.
But the body can only tolerate a narrow range of pH, and therefore must balance this excess positive charge that is caused by lactic acid in the muscles. ATP and NADPH are thus drawn in, carrying electricity into the muscles, until the muscles return to their requisite negative voltage, i.e., they return to their slightly alkaline pH (specifically, between pH 7.35 and 7.45).
Why is the body slightly alkaline? Well, because we run on electrons, a.k.a. electricity! If our bodies became acidic, it would mean there was no electrical charge for us to run on, and we would be joining our ancestors. On the other hand, ‘Old Sparky’ is an extreme example of the lethal effect of excessive electrical charge.
If you’re still with me, you may be wondering, ‘If the muscles simply return to the same voltage, a.k.a. the same pH, then why would that make them grow?’ Well, voltage is a difference of electrical potential, which can be thought of as electrical pressure, analogous to water pressure in a pipe (though this is an imperfect analogy). Voltage is not representative of the volume of electricity.
Consider sticking a pH meter into solution, as being analogous to a pressure gauge for a pressure cooker. The pressure gauge can tell you nothing about the volume of the cooker, but does tell you about the conditions inside. The pressure inside could be released through an opening to do work, by spinning a turbine, for example. The larger the potential difference—i.e., the more negative or more positive the voltage—the more powerfully electricity will flow, and thus the more work can be done, with a given volume of electricity. Invert our pressure cooker example by imagining a vacuum chamber; air could be let into the vacuum chamber through a turbine, to do work.
Amperage can be accurately thought of as the volume or quantity of electricity, and is analogous to the volume of water supplied by a pipe. The greater the number of available amps, the more work can be done with a given voltage.
Lactic acid lowers the pH, or, in other words, it creates a more positive voltage in muscles, by increasing the total number (volume) of protons in the muscles. The body subsequently balances the resulting low/acidic pH, by supplying electrons carried by ATP and NADPH to the muscle. Thus, once the pH is restored to the range of homeostasis (7.35-7.45), the amperage in the muscles is increased—that is to say, the volume or quantity of electricity is increased. Therefore, the muscles can now grow via cell elongation (growth of existing cells) or cell division (muscle cells multiply), since the extra amperage (quantity of electricity), needed to do the work of growing the muscles, is now present.
Electricity is negative charge. That is not like a negative number in the sense of say, an overdrawn bank account. The negative charge of electricity represents the presence of energy in the form of electrons. High pH (above pH 7) means electricity is present to do the work of keeping the body alive, to do the work of growth, and to allow us to do physical/mental work in the world. Although the confusing concept of “conventional current” (which originally posited that positive charges flow in a wire) is still used in electrical engineering, this concept is incorrect, albeit functional as a model. Electrons are what flow in a wire—wire, by the way, is made of positively charged metals such as copper, which has a 2+ charge—and as we know, electrons are negatively charged. Electrons are electricity.
Well, so there you have it. My harebrained hypothesis can be summarized as: Exercised muscles, full of positively charged lactic acid, take in negatively charged electricity to balance their excess positive charge. In other words, ATP and NADPH deliver electrons to muscles to bring them back up to their proper pH. This works automatically along a voltage-based concentration gradient, like a dry towel soaking up water. That is to say, ‘opposites attract.’ The electrically charged ATP and NADPH molecules flow toward the positive charge of the excess protons of the lactic acid in the muscles, by magnetic attraction. When the pH returns to its proper, slightly alkaline state (i.e., negative voltage), at that point, the total number of electrons (amperage) in the muscles has been increased, thereby supplying the extra quantity of electricity needed for muscle growth.
Thanks for reading. God bless you.
Please share this article and other articles on my page joebender.substack.com, and don’t forget to subscribe.
Also, I encourage you to watch the above-linked video, ‘The Light of Life,’ by Michael Clarage, who is one of my favorite scientists. You will not find a more profound video (re-linked here).