Introduction
Muscle hypertrophy plays a role in the world of fitness and bodybuilding and it goes beyond looks. It refers to the process that enables your muscles to grow and adapt to the challenges you subject them to. In this guide we will delve into muscle hypertrophy, its occurrence, its connection, with strength the various types of hypertrophy, and how it differs from strength training and provide you with a workout plan focused on muscle hypertrophy to help you achieve your fitness objectives.
What is Muscle Hypertrophy? How Does It Occur?
Muscle hypertrophy in essence refers to the enlargement of muscle cells. This happens as a result of the stress imposed on your muscles during resistance training. Let’s delve into the process;
Resistance Training and Progressive Overload: The primary catalyst for muscle hypertrophy is resistance training. When you engage in weightlifting or any form of resistance exercise you create tears in your muscle fibres. These tears need to be repaired, leading the body to adapt by thickening and strengthening those muscle fibres.
Repairing Muscle Fibres: Once these micro tears occur your body initiates a process to mend and reconstruct the damaged muscle fibres. This involves satellite cells merging with the muscle fibres ultimately increasing the size of muscle cells.
What’s the Relation Between Muscle Size and Strength?
The connection between muscle hypertrophy and strength is complex, as it is not simply a matter of “bigger muscles equal greater strength.” Instead, there is a nuanced relationship that involves various factors
Muscular Cross-Sectional Area: Strength is influenced by the cross-sectional area of muscles, as they generate force through contraction. Generally, larger muscles have a greater cross-sectional area, which can lead to increased force production.
Neural Adaptations: Strength gains can also stem from neural adaptations, where the brain improves its ability to activate the muscle fibers already present. This allows for greater force production, even without significant muscle hypertrophy.
Multiple Factors: While muscle hypertrophy is essential for strength, other factors such as technique, motor skills, and neurological efficiency also contribute significantly to overall strength.
Types of Muscle Growth
1. Myofibrillar Hypertrophy:
While the muscle size is increased, myofibrillar hypertrophy focuses more on the actual strength of the muscle. This method increases the amount of contractile proteins in your muscles. This type of hypertrophy leads to increased muscle density, improved muscle tone, and substantial strength gains. Workouts that prioritize heavier weights with lower repetitions are typically associated with myofibrillar hypertrophy.
2. Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy:
With sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, there’s an increase in the volume of fluid found in your muscles. Meaning if you just want some noticeable size then this is for you.
This type is good for beach season or any time when you need to show off your muscles. However, when it comes to strength gains it may not be as effective.
It’s often linked to shorter rest periods and less intense loads compared to the other type.
Muscle Hypertrophy vs Strength Training
Muscle hypertrophy and strength training aren’t opposites, but they do focus on different things:
Muscle Hypertrophy: This type of training focuses on muscle size and physique. Using a moderate range of reps, 8-12 or more, shorter rest periods, and a strong mind-muscle connection. The goal is to build muscles and sculpt your body.
Strength Training: With heavyweights in mind, strength training prioritizes force production over anything else. Reps are kept low at 1-6, with longer rest periods to keep up with the intensity. The goal here is to lift heavier weights over time and get stronger.
With that said, it’s vital to take a balanced approach. A style that combines them both called hypertrophy-specific strength training works best for building muscle while continually getting stronger.
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 three 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
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to working out. This specific training method is an intricate science that requires a lot of delicate work. It puts your muscles through a strain that allows them to grow cells as they try to adapt. So, it’s important when trying to build a strong body that also looks good you keep this in mind. Just know that how strong you can get also depends on things such as technique and neural adaptations.