Muscular Strength

A friend of mine had asked me about muscle growth the other day. He said that he had upped the amount of weight at the gym and still hasn't gained any on his body. He wanted to know how long it takes for muscles to grow. Well Chris here is your answer. 
The muscular system is extremely complex, we have muscles everywhere in our bodies. Just to give a few examples, we have a tiny muscle called the Arrector pili in the middle layer of our skin, one can only guess that it is used to raise the hairs on our body. This is the muscles only purpose. We also have muscles in the iris of our eyes and even in our blood cell walls. 
But enough about microscopic muscles lets get back to the big guns. Muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth) varies from person to person. This is because no one is built the same. Some people produce more amino acids, protein builders, than others. But don't fret this has a lot to do with the kinda of foods we eat. The more protein a person eats the faster a muscle will grow. Plus, protein helps fight off fatigue. To get the full effect of protein you should try to consume roughly 20 grams of it within 30 minutes of completing your workout. Two protein bars or a glass of chocolate milk and a peanut butter sandwich should do the trick.  
As we get older it is more difficult to build muscles, because our bodies stop naturally growing in our late teens and early twenties. Therefore one must know how to work their muscles in order to gain mass. Muscle memory is a term used when you do something so much that is just becomes automatic to your body. We see this a lot in sports, when the pros make things look easy and natural. This can also happen when you are in the gym lifting. Your muscles will become accustomed to doing the same lifts, and the lift will stop affecting muscle hypertrophy. You need variety in your workouts. Don't do bench press every time you lift upper body. Try it instead with just dumbbells, or do reverse bench press. If you get to the point where you can do 15 reps without getting tired the wight is too light (for muscular strength that is).
If you start to increase your weights and you don't see a noticeable difference after the first couple weeks don't be alarmed. Muscles grow slowly. On average it takes about two weeks for a workout to affect your muscles, sometimes longer. This all depends on your food intake, and what you do the day after. 
Muscles can be complicated. If you need some advice on alternative workouts or eating habits for gaining weight just post a comment! I will be happy to help in anyway that I can! 

Stay positive. 

-Sonya