Interesting observation

ossuary said:
@FreudsMother Other than the training he does in the show, punching and bracing plays a big part in developing traps.
With the high intensity fights he does, it’s actually reasonable for Goku to have large trap muscles.

The same can be seen in real life fighters, just not to the same extent.

ossuary said:
@FreudsMother Are you saying this because you are familiar with anatomy, or is it just an uninformed guess?

ossuary said:
@FreudsMother Many fighters are on steroids, however, you stated “you can’t unironically think that punching builds muscle.”
This belief is incorrect, as building muscle is not solely a result of mechanical tension through weighted training.
Muscle growth is a result of metabolic stress, mechanical tension, and muscle damage.
Weight training is just especially good at triggering these things, but it isn’t the only way.

Punching generates mechanical tension specifically when hitting things with resistance, which is common in dragon ball fights.
Sustained fights will also create metabolic stress, primarily in the deltoids, triceps, and upper back.
-It is important to note that the degree is lower than in muscle training, but with the extremes of the fights in dragon ball, it’s not surprising that it would put your body under more tension than training.

Muscle tearing also plays a role, but you are correct in thinking it has little to do with muscle growth. (It’s only a minor factor, and beneficial in small scales)

FreudsMother said:

I think you should stop asking chatgpt for your answers and go look at some actual studies yourself. Muscle damage has long been disproven as a driver for hypertrophy. Currently the most widely accepted driver is mechanical tension. And there is no data whatsoever that shows muscle gains from pure physical strain rather than weight training.

As for the high gravity argument, you're talking theoretically. You can't prove theory as a fact without practical basis. And also, stabilization is not hypertrophic. Idk where you got this bullshit.