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marvel - Can Wolverine build muscle mass?


In previous discussions regarding Wolverine's regenerative capabilities such as When Wolverine regenerates, how does his hair know when to stop growing?, one of the ideas floated around is that his body stores some sort of "snapshot" or "image" which his body effectively restores itself to.


I'm not entirely sure I buy it, but I haven't seen any other plausible theory to explain it.


The basic process for normal muscle building is that a person strains the muscle fiber until it breaks and that the body rebuilds the broken muscle fiber - only stronger (assuming proper rest is allowed and calories provided).


But what about Wolverine?


If he breaks down his muscle fibers, would his body regenerate the muscles back to this supposed snapshot-state, or would they actually regrow stronger than before as with a normal human?


Is there any evidence of him ever building muscle mass once his mutation kicked in fully?


Note that since he was still visibly aging during the events of the Origin storyline, it can be inferred that his healing factor had not reached its normal performance level yet.



Answer



No, it is unlikely Logan can continue to increase his muscle mass through conventional weight training processes. Once Logan reached his adult size and his mutation its maximum development, he has not appeared to have changed in size or mass appreciably in any of his appearances in comics. It makes sense that he would not change size or mass if his body resets to his perceived last state as he appears to do.





  • Though Logan originally started quite small and apparently underdeveloped, it makes sense during his adolescence for his body to go into hormonal overdrive and maximize his physical development.




  • If the Marvel Universe's explanation for these metahuman mutations is accurate, the maximization of such a mutation would include the best physical condition a subject could be in. Think of a tiger or lion, their muscles grow to immense size and physical ability yet there are no Gold's Gyms for Lions out on the Serengeti. Their body's development is encoded in their DNA for maximum performance.




  • Before Logan was laced with adamantium, his healing factor was significantly more powerful and almost any injury healed nearly instantly. We learn this during the years he was without his adamantium after his battle with Magneto who extracted it violently. The removal of his skeleton returned him to an almost bestial state.





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  • Since he cannot tear down or rebuild muscle tissue without immediate regeneration, the standard process for muscle development cannot take place. He is as strong as he will be without a means of neutralizing his mutation.




  • Since the adamantium-lacing his body is a toxic interaction, even if a mutant such as Leech, who could temporarily remove a mutation's active state were available, it is unknown how long Logan could exist before toxicity levels became lethal. So unless there was a means to suppress the toxicity, it is unlikely standard body building techniques could help Logan develop further.





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