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Muscle Hypertrophy vs Muscle Hyperplasia When we talk about muscle growth, we almost always are speaking about muscle fibre hypertrophy. However, there is another controversial term called Hyperplasia. They sound similar, and they look the same on the outside, but the process is quite different. What's the difference? Muscle fibre hypertrophy is the increase in the diameter of a muscle fibre. Diameter fibres grow by increasing the size of contractile proteins or increasing fluid or enzymes in muscle cells. This growth results in an increase in the cross-sectional area of the muscle. Hyperplasia is the increase in the number of muscle fibres resulting in similar growth. Aesthetically, both would look the same, appearing as larger muscles.  Does Hyperplasia actually exist? The term hyperplasia is often associated with tumour growth via uncontrolled cellular Hyperplasia, but skeletal muscle hyperplasia has no association with tumour growth. 20-25 years ago, skeletal muscle hyperplasia