Muscle maturity and density

[MikeC]

Is muscle maturity and density a real thing? I don't see it taking place with IFBB bodybuilders. Do their natural counterparts really display extra density, or is this simply an illusion stemming from the addition of a few extra pounds of muscle? I see this term tossed around and don't know if it's legit.

[5kgLifter]

Originally Posted by MikeC

Is muscle maturity and density a real thing? I don't see it taking place with IFBB bodybuilders. Do their natural counterparts really display extra density, or is this simply an illusion stemming from the addition of a few extra pounds of muscle? I see this term tossed around and don't know if it's legit.

Not sure if this is the sort of thing you're looking for or if I misinterpreted the question, but...

I watched a programme on TV, a while back, about a young Russian (?) female lifter who was training for strength and had been since she was younger...now in her teens...they did scans or whatever it was to examine what effects the training had on her body and it turned out that she had much denser muscle fibres (crossovers/ webbing/structure etc ??) than other girls her age that didn't lift or had not been lifting for as long as her.

If I could remember her name, I'd post it up.

[BendtheBar]

Interesting Babs.

I haven't researched this topic.

[BendtheBar]

Moo! Found this quote:

In April 2007, the Department of Animal and Food Science conducted a study examining the tenderness and oxidative stability of post-mortem muscles from cows of various ages. The researchers confirmed meat is most tender in young animals and muscle fibers become tough and hard when subject to a lot of muscular action; according to biopsies obtained from necks and leg tissue. Advanced maturation not only intensified cow meat toughness but also lowered its oxidative stability. Collagen, the basic substance of the connective tissue bundling groups of muscle fibers together, is known to breakdown easier in young and tender muscle tissue, when boiled in water. This fibrous protein gets tougher with age due to an increasing number and type of cross-links. In this respect, muscle maturity could refer to a change in the muscle tissue’s architecture; more specifically, a change in collagen solubility.