Know Your Lifts Lifting is a numbers game. Different levels of weight, or any resistance, can result in a different hypertrophic effect on the body. A lifter can work on their skills for strength, hypertrophy, or endurance to become a better athlete. Each category of lifting yields different results based on the …
Unilateral Movements for Maximal Hypertrophy Gains
When training for size, most casual and experienced lifters know that there’s an optimal rep range (approx. 6-12) that elicits a hypertrophic (muscle growth) response. Further, specific movements are often used to get just the right angle on the tricep, delt, or serratus…picture folks who camp out at the cable columns, here. In my …
Which Comes First: Strength or Hypertrophy?
Are Isolation Movements Better for Muscle Growth? | Which Comes First: Strength or Hypertrophy? | Do I Need Rest Days? | Overtraining vs.Overreaching | How to Balance Volume and Intensity | The Power of Autoregulation In our pursuit to become our strongest, most jacked selves, is it better to train using heavy weights for fewer repetitions? Or should we be …
Muscular Hypertrophy: This Is How You Grow
Muscular Hypertrophy | Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy | Muscle Fibers | Nutrition for Muscle Growth The most important, innovative work happening in bodybuilding isn’t just taking place in the lab; much of it is exploring the line between hard science and so-called “bro-science,” or what has been shown in the gym to work for generations. In …
Ask the Muscle Doc: Is Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy Real?
Q: Is sarcoplasmic hypertrophy a real thing and, if so, is it affected by the type of training that I perform? The sarcoplasmic hypertrophy theory has been around for decades and continues to be a source of controversy. The key to understanding it begins with a little muscle physiology. Skeletal muscle …
3 Essential Principles for Insane Muscle Hypertrophy
Summer is normally shredding season, but if you’re stuck at home, maybe it’s time to flip the script and pursue your muscle-building goals. If you want to start putting on some serious size, the name of the game is hypertrophy, and the best way to stimulate it is by doing resistance exercises, which may …
Hypertrophy Training for the Off-Season Strongman
In most sports, there is a time and place for training specificity and a time to focus on muscle growth. The sport of strongman is no different. You may think you need to be practicing the specific competition movements year-round—and always with maximal weights—but any sport that asks you to get stronger requires periodization. …