What Is Hypertrophy?
Definitely not rocket science! It is defined as the increase in the size of your tissues through the enlargement of cells. Sounded like surgery? You will be happy to know it’s not.
There are two types of hypertrophy:
The first is called Myofibrillar hypertrophy And the second is called Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
You really don’t need to do extensive research in the theory of muscle building to figure out if these two are significant in the scheme of things or have any relevance in training.
So, what is better? Let’s find out!
The word ‘Myo’ basically means “muscle” and the word ‘fibril’ stands for a threadlike cellular structure.
Myofibrils are made up of protein. And as you know proteins allow your muscles to function. In your body, each muscle contains a lot of myofibrils.
The word ‘Myo’ basically means “muscle” and the word ‘fibril’ stands for a threadlike cellular structure.
Myofibrils are made up of protein. And as you know proteins allow your muscles to function. In your body, each muscle contains a lot of myofibrils.
Let’s discuss Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, next.
The word ‘Sarco’ means “flesh”. And the word ‘plasmic’ means plasma, which is a gel-like substance. These are important to sustaining life. Because these cells include proteins, glycogen, water, and collagen, plus other substantial substances.
But if you have been working out, you must know by now that you can temporarily increase sarcoplasmic volume by various things like eating loads of carbohydrates, loading on creatine, or creating damage to your muscles.
Opinions differ across different people. What is the truth? But do we believe that hypertrophy is just a myth?
“How can you explain a 180-pound powerlifter who can out-squat a 240-pound bodybuilder?” You can’t! Because we think that the difference in the size and strength of a bodybuilder leads to valid proof that sarcoplasmic hypertrophy can happen without hypertrophy.
The most probable answer is that, through a distinct style of training, bodybuilders can stimulate hypertrophy, which in return increases muscle size but not actual strength.
That’s probably the reason why some athletes are disproportionately big for their level of strength.
The problem with this logic is that it overlooks a simpler explanation.
The fact that strength training doesn’t just involve heavier weights than bodybuilding–it also involves squatting, bench pressing, military pressing, and deadlifting.
This is important because, as with any physical activity, the more frequently you perform an exercise, the better you get at it. And the better you get at an exercise, the better you can handle heavier weights.
This helps explain why many bodybuilders rapidly gain strength when they switch to strength training programs. All of a sudden their “big-weak” muscles get really strong, really fast.
There are three ways we Stimulate Hypertrophy or build our muscles really fast!
BY PROGRESSIVE TENSION BEING OVERLOADED
The best way to do this is to increase the amount of weight you have been lifting over time.
BY GENERATING MUSCLE DAMAGE
This refers to actual damage caused to your muscles.
BY CREATING METABOLIC STRESS
This refers to working out your muscles to their metabolic limits by repeating actions.
Working with lighter weights with higher rep ranges emphasizes metabolic stress (especially when the rest times in between sets are relatively short).
Research shows that out of each of these pathways, progressive tension overload is the most important for muscle growth.
In other words, if you want to build muscle as quickly as possible, you want to ensure you’re progressively adding weight to the bar over time.
That’s why your main goal as a natural weightlifter should be to get stronger.
And especially on exercises like the squat, deadlift, bench press, and military press in particular.
Here are real muscle-building workouts that can work for you
THE FIVE-DAY WORKOUT
DAY 1 DO YOUR CHEST and ABS
- The Incline Barbell Bench Press: warm-up sets and then do three working sets
- The Incline Dumbbell Bench Press : 3 working sets
- The Flat Barbell Bench Press : 3 working sets
- The Face Pull : 3 working sets of 8 to 10 reps per set with about 2 minutes of rest in between the lighter sets the lighter sets
- 3 AB circuits
DAY 2 DO YOUR BACK and CALVES
- The Barbell Deadlift: Warm up and then do three working sets
- The Barbell Row: Three working sets
- Wide-Grip Pull-Up or Chin-Up includes three working weighted sets.
- You can do an optional, Close Grip Lat Pulldown which should be at least three working sets
DAY 3 DO YOUR SHOULDERS and ABS
- The Seated or Standing Barbell Military Press: Do warm-ups plus three working sets
- The Side Lateral Raises include three working sets
- The Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise also includes three working sets
DAY 4 DO YOUR LEGS
- The Barbell Squat: Warmup sets plus three working sets
- The Leg Press includes three working sets
- The Romanian Deadlift also includes three working sets
DAY 5 DO YOUR UPPER BODY & ABS
- The Incline Barbell Bench Press: Start with warmups plus three sets of 8 / 10 reps per set with 1 or 2 minutes of rest in between.
- The Barbell Curl: Start with Warm-up sets and then do three working sets
- The Close Grip Bench Press Start with three working sets (you don’t need to warm up after chest pressing)
- The Alternating Dumbbell Curl: Do three working sets
- The Seated Triceps Press: Do three working sets
HERE IS THE 4-DAY WORKOUT
DAY 1
DO YOUR CHEST PLUS TRICEPS PLUS CALVES
- The Incline Barbell Bench Press Do Warm-up sets and then do three working sets
- The Flat Barbell Bench Press: Do 3three working sets
- The Dip with Chest Variation and weighted plus do three working sets
- The Seated Triceps Press: Do three working sets
DAY 2
DO YOUR BACK PLUS BICEPS PLUS ABS
- The Barbell Deadlift: start with warm-up sets and then do three working sets
- The Barbell Row: Just do three working sets
- The Wide-Grip Pull-Up or Chin-Up: Do three working sets that are weighted
- The Barbell Curl: Do three working sets
DAY 3
DO YOUR UPPER BODY PLUS CALVES
- The Incline Barbell Bench Press: Do Warm-up sets and then do three sets of 8/10 reps per set with 1 or 2 minutes of rest.
- The Seated or Standing Barbell Military Press. Do warm-up sets and then do three working sets
- The Side Lateral Raise: Just do three working sets
- The Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise just do three working sets
DAY 4
DO YOUR LEGS PLUS AB
- The Barbell Squat. Start with warm-up sets and then do three working sets
- The Leg Press: Do three working sets
- The Romanian Deadlift Do at least three working sets
We recommend the Five-day workout for sure!
