Does pulling a muscle make you stronger?

Question:

If I pulled a muscle, say My hamstring, would it make my hamstring stronger when it was healed? I understand stretching decreases the likelyhood of pulling a muscle, but if you do pull a muscle, is it bad for you?

Answers:
"Pulling a muscle" is different from what you're thinking of, which is "tearing down a muscle." When you "tear down" a muscle, you're breaking the bonds between muscle cells at a molecular level, and when they rejoin, they get stronger. They also produce lactic acid, which if not flushed out, will make your muscles sore. This is why people confuse injuring their muscles with the same pain that is experienced when you "tear down" a muscle and have muscle soreness the next day.

"Pulling a muscle" is actually an injury called a "strain" where you stretch a muscle beyond where it is supposed to be stretched. Symptoms of a strain are swelling, soreness, and sometimes bruising, but without the bruises it would be easy to dismiss a strain as post-workout soreness.

The main difference in the pain is that with a strain, the pain is immediate, while your pain from your tear down will happen later on, as the lactic acid builds up in your muscles.

Yes, pulling a muscle is bad for you.

Because the muscle is pulled, you will, therefore, be less capable of exercising it. Because you are decreasing the use of that particular muscle, you will not become stronger.

Although some say that injuring yourself increases your strength, it has not been proven true, and it will cause you pain, as well as limiting your athletic ability.

If you pull a muscle, you will know immediatly that it is bad. You can get a cramp in the muscle and it will hurt if you try to move the muscle. It can't make you stronger, just more painful. So try not to extend your exercise TOO much.

Does pulling a muscle make you stronger?

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