IS THE MUSCLE DAMAGE PATHWAY

FOR EVERYBODY? 
Back to: The science of Hypertrophy

The muscle damage pathway can no doubt be effective at stimulating growth, but it will not work well for everybody:

 It is the hardest approach to recover from. People with the ACTN3 XX (or ACTN3 rX) type are likely not going to grow
optimally from that approach because they recover very slowly from muscle damage.
 People with a weak immune system might have a hard time recovering and growing from this approach. Either people with a
naturally weak immune system or people who are fighting an illness might be better served to utilize a different approach. Note that
chronically elevated cortisol inhibits the immune system and might very well interfere with your capacity to grow from this approach.
 Those with a lower ratio of fast-twitch fibers will have a much smaller and slower growth from the muscle damage pathway
because the fast-twitch fibers respond better to this method than other fibers.

– Individuals preferring to stick to the same exercises over and over will see their gain potential from this approach significantly decrease
after a few weeks; being better adapted to the exercises will decrease muscle damage and thus how much muscle growth you stimulate.

More on ACTN3

Alpha-actinin skeletal muscle isoform 3 (ACTN3).

The ACTN3 gene affects muscle fiber make-up, performance, and recovery. An ACTN3 RX genotype (most common) normally has a
pretty mixed ratio of fast, slow and intermediate fibers. An ACTN3 RR genotype has a higher of fast-twitch fibers and is thus more
explosive and potentially stronger.  The ACTN3 XX variant has more slow twitch fibers and better endurance.

Furthermore, the ACTN3 RR genotype has a greater muscle growth potential, a better tolerance to mechanical stress (recovers faster)
and a higher level of mTOR activation (more protein synthesis).

The ACTN3 XX genotype has more slow-twitch fibers, a lower potential for hypertrophy because of both the fiber type and lesser mTOR
responsiveness. They are more prone to muscle damage, thus recovery at a slower pace and are more prone to injuries.

Depending on the population the proportion of each of these two variants varies between 4 and 20%.

As much as 85% of a population is ACTN3 RX (and the Rx and RX variations).

As we saw earlier those with the ACTN3 RR and ACTN3 Rx will be those who can use the muscle damage approach the most
successfully.