This blog going to be about the basics of Hypertrophy Training. There is so much more that goes into this topic, but this is a good start.
What is HYPERTROPHY?
Hypertrophy is the enlargement of an organ or tissue from the increase in size of its cells. This means that one would use hypertrophy training to grow (muscles of course!).
There are two essential components necessary for muscle growth. One, is stimulation, which occurs during the contraction of the muscle. You contract muscles while you exercise. Each time you exercise or contract your muscle, you are causing damage to the internal muscle fibers, also know as breaking down your muscles. After breaking down your muscles through your workouts, your muscles are ready to be repaired.
That brings us to the second essential component for muscle growth, which is muscle repair. Muscle repair occurs while at REST! New muscle fibers are produced to help repair the damaged muscle fibers. This is when the muscle growth occurs.
Quinn, Elizabeth. “What is the Definition of Muscle Hypertrophy.”
May 09, 2016. verywell.com.
Ways to Create Hypertrophy in Your Training:
There are three basic things that have to be implicated when promoting exercise-induced muscle hypertrophy: muscle/mechanical tension, muscle damage, and muscle/metabolic stress.
Mechanical Tension is the intensity (load) and duration (time under tension). A combo of the two will maximize motor unit recruitment. This will cause fatigue, which will create a hypertrophic response. You create muscle tension by progressively lifting heavier weights than your body is used to. This tension on the muscle causes changes in the chemistry of the muscle, allowing growth factors that include mTOR activation and satellite cell activation. [mTOR = mammalian target of rapamycin : Protein synthesis occurs when you force a muscle to contract against a load. This response is controlled by a series of events orchestrated by a protein called mTOR. Satellite cell = A mononuclear undifferentiated cell that is found in skeletal muscle fivers and promotes their growth, repair, and regeneration.]
Muscle Damage occurs during your workout. Afterwards, your body needs to repair and replace the damaged muscle fibers. These repaired fibers increase in thickness and number, creating growth (muscle hypertrophy). The repairing process happens while you rest.
Muscle/Metabolic Stress is also know as the burn or pump that you get during a workout. Muscle stress causes cell swelling around the muscle. This is called sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, meaning you appear to have larger muscles without increasing strength. This is why bodybuilders “pump” up before going on stage.
Schoenfeld, Brad. “The Use of Specialized Training to Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy.” lookgreatnaked.com.
Leyva, John. “How Do Muscles Grow? The Science of Muscle Growth.”
May 05, 2017. builtlean.com.
Meadows, John; Willis, Bill (PhD). “Maximize Protein Synthesis.” October 17, 2011. t-nation.com.
Training Techniques:
There are quite a few different techniques you can use while doing hypertrophy training, such as, forced reps, drop sets, supersets, and heavy negatives.
Forced reps help get you past sticking points, and get in more reps. This will cause fatigue and metabolic stress.
Drop sets are similar to forced reps because they really push you. Drop sets promote muscle hypertrophy because it increases the time under tension during an exercise.
Supersets increase training density.
Heavy negatives are when you focus on the eccentric part of the exercise, and you have a partner or spotter assist you back up (the concentric part). Human studies show greater skeletal muscle protein synthesis following bouts of maximal eccentric training than concentric training.
Bunn, Jennifer. “Eccentric Resistance Training and Muscle Hypertrophy.” omicsonline.org.
Importance of Hypertrophy Training:
Hypertrophy training is important for strength athletes, as well as bodybuilders. The larger a muscle, the stronger a muscle. Hypertrophy is also better for tendons and ligaments, which are the “weak links,” when it comes to strength training.
“Why Building Muscle is Important for Athletes, Not Just Bodybuilders.” January 22, 2016. stack.com
Hypertrophy training is also great because, it can elevate your metabolism. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn naturally. This is why men tend to be leaner than women. Hypertrophy training, like mentioned above, helps build up weak body parts and/or areas. If you are able to strengthen the smaller and weaker body parts, you will be that much stronger when it comes to compound movements.
How to Structure:
When it comes to structuring a program, it all depends on YOUR goals, how well you recover, your schedule, etc. Personally, I would recommend you do a 6-8 week block of hypertrophy work. After that, I would say to do about 4 weeks of strength training. The reason for this is to keep fast twitch muscle fibers. Another thing that plays a huge role in structuring your programming is whether or not you have a competition coming up (powerlifting meet or bodybuilding show).
At the end of each training block, I would re-asses. How is training going? Are you making progress? Seeing results? How does your body feel? Are you recovering?
I have linked a video below explaining training frequency. Just like everything else, you want to work your way up, slowly progress. This video will help you understand how to set up your training week to week.
Here are some basic numbers to help you set up your workouts:
MAIN MOVEMENTS: 6-10 REPS
ACCESSARY WORK: 8-15 REPS
ISOLATION WORK: 10-25 (aka. Pump Sets)
3-5 SETS
*Start off with the least amount of work and progress week to week.
—>You can go up in weight, reps, or sets.
Here is a sample week of training:
Monday (lower body quad focus):
-Leg Ext ss/ Leg Curls – 3x15 each exercise
-Squats – 4x6
-Hack Squat Machine – 10x, 8x, 6x, 1 drop set x AMRAP
-Split Squats – 3x12 each leg
-Jump Squats – 3x20 ss/ Leg Lifts – 3x15
Tuesday (upper body back focus):
-Lat Pulldowns ss/ Band Rows – 3x10-12 each exercise
-Bent Over Barbell Rows – 4x8
-Meadow Rows or Single DB Rows – 3x8-10 each arm
-DB Hammer Curls 3x10 each arm ss/ BB Cable Curls 3x12
-Pull Ups – 3 x AMRAP (can be assisted if needed)
Wednesday (upper body chest focus):
-Incline DB Flys ss/ Incline DB Rear Delts – 3x10-12 each exercise
-Bench Press – 3x8
-Incline Neutral DB BP – 3x12
-Skullcrushers 3x10 ss/ Dips x AMRAP
-Wide BB Upright Rows – 3x10-15
Thursday (rest day):
Can do light cardio or an outdoor activity
Friday (lower body hamstring focus):
-Split Squats 3x8-10 each leg ss/ Hip Circle Squats or Abductor Machine 3x15
-Deadlifts – 4x6
-Leg Press (feet high on platform) – 12x, 10x, 8x, 6x
-Leg Curls – 5x10
-Walking Lunges – 3x10 each leg ss/ Plank – 3 x 1 minute
Saturday (upper body shoulders focus):
-DB Front Raise ss/ Band Pull Aparts – 3x10-15 each exercise
-Standing BB OHP – 2x8, 2x6
-Seated DB Side Raises – 3x12 ss/ Face Pulls – 3x15
-Single DB OHP – 3x8-10 each arm
-Single Cable Side Raise – 3x10 each arm ss/ Upright Rows – 3x20
Sunday (rest day):
Can do light cardio or an outdoor activity
LET ME KNOW HOW IT GOES :)