The Most Important Concept to Muscle Hypertrophy

[Kcabo]

Progressive Overload.

I thought this was a heavily applied concept, but I have trouble believing the majority of individuals are truly implementing it. I have belonged to several different gyms over the years. The most recent gym I noticed the same faces coming into the gym day after day. That's great. The dedication and consistency is admirable, and a huge step in the right direction.

However, many of these same individuals are moving relatively the same weights they were performing months ago. I believe many individuals in the gym grind fall into the "just going through the motions" type of mind-set.

If you're consistently performing the same type of workout as you were several months to a year ago - you are doing it wrong (especially as a beginner, it's much more difficult for an advanced natty lifter to progress for obvious reasons).

This brings me to the point of this thread:

The most important factor for muscle hypertrophy is progressive overload *if sufficient nutrition is in place*

So what is "progressive overload?"

Progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise training.

How do I execute this concept?

The easiest way is to keep a log of your lifts, and set targets for your next workout. Set goals and strive to increase the amount of weight you’re lifting on each body part. How you decide to execute this concept is ultimately up to you. It can be applied in a number of ways:

Increase the resistance (or weight)
Increase repetitions/volume
Increase sets
Increase exercises
Increase Intensity (decrease rest times, increase bar speed ect.)

I'd like to add that increasing your form quality and or ROM is another way of making progress. Sometimes you'll get 6-7 good reps and 1-2 with slight, acceptable cheating - as long as the weight is still under control and you aren't risking injury. If you manged to get a good 8 reps during the next workout then the progress has been made.

So you've Plateued?:

Q: I've plateaued on (insert exercise here) what should I do?
A: If you've been stuck on at a certain weight on a certain exercise for 3-4 weeks in a row then try this:

- Take a week off, either entirely or of any work on the muscle group in question.
- Drop your weight about 20% from where you were stuck
- Each week add back 5-10 lbs to your lift until you've reached and exceeded your sticking point.
- Also make sure you are eating enough and resting enough.

It's important to keep your form consistent to ensure progress is being made. There are numerous threads on this forum illustrating proper form. Here's a good read on MMC and how to activate certain muscle groups by utilizing proper form. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...le+hypertrophy

Pushing yourself to get more and more weight every workout can be very taxing both physically and mentally. Be sure to include scheduled deloads in your routines. An excellent read on the concept of deloading: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121391461

Proper diet, rest/recovery, a solid routine, while utilizing progressive overload will ensure you are maximizing muscle hypertrophy.

What's a proper diet?

Hit your macros.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=156380403

What's a solid routine?

My favorite is currently a PPL variation. There are countless routines out there. Here are some examples: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=115643271

Rest

Learn your body, and learn to listen to it. Incorporate scheduled off days and deloads into your routine to ensure you are resting/recovering adequately.

"The fitness & nutrition world is a breeding ground for obsessive-compulsive behavior. The irony is that many things people worry about simply have no impact on results either way, and therefore aren’t worth an ounce of concern." - Alan Aragon

There are too many worries about trivial things on this forum. Please aware yourselves of the 80/20 rule:http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=122509811

P.S. You will not be able to progress every single workout.

[-Lucifer]

Good post. I noticed the same thing at my gym - a lot of people would use the same load for several weeks. The only thing that did increase was body fat.

[Qxx]

Couldn't agree more.

[DivaJana]

Nice post. I'd like to add that increasing your form quality and or ROM is another way of making progress. Sometimes you'll get 6-7 good reps and 1-2 with slight, acceptable cheating - as long as the weight is still under control and you aren't risking injury. If you manged to get a good 8 reps during the next workout then the progress has been made.

[JOoa0ky]

Which is the routine that you are using OP?

I'm going to have to disagree with not being able to progress every workout. You can and you will. As long as you program it correctly (hint hint: low volume)

[doughnut91]

Really good post. I can vouch for the information in it as when I began lifting I was wholly guilty of just 'going through the motions' for quite a while. Making note of progress in each training session is vital IMO.

[ThickAsABrick]

I'm going to have to disagree with not being able to progress every workout. You can and you will. As long as you program it correctly (hint hint: low volume)

Let's talk again after you've been lifting for several years.

[-Lucifer]

You can and you will. As long as you program it correctly (hint hint: low volume)

How much do you lift? Please list your starting and current lifts.

[Brenden061]

I'm glad this forum is on the same page for once.

[mikeditka]

Posting to sub

[Xuaxace]

Which is the routine that you are using OP?

I'm going to have to disagree with not being able to progress every workout. You can and you will. As long as you program it correctly (hint hint: low volume)

'

If that was true, we would all be squatting 1000, benching 700, deadlifting 1000.

[JOoa0ky]

'

If that was true, we would all be squatting 1000, benching 700, deadlifting 1000.

I don't mean in the sense of adding weight to the bar every time because that simply does not work and its exactly what you said that keeps SS program as only a 'beginners' program.


I don't train based on fixed reps per sets. ie 3x5 3x8 or along those lines... Its more of a rep range.
Most exercises, I just take 3 sets to failure and add up the reps. Hit a certain # and up the weight.
Doing 1-2 more reps than last time is also progress.

[DivaJana]

I'm glad this forum is on the same page for once.

Wait for it..

[ironwill2008]

I'm going to have to disagree with not being able to progress every workout. You can and you will. As long as you program it correctly (hint hint: low volume)

Really? I sometimes have to toil at an exercise for 3 or even 4 weeks just to gain a single rep.


I must be doinitwrong.

[Kcabo]

Good post. I noticed the same thing at my gym - a lot of people would use the same load for several weeks. The only thing that did increase was body fat.

It's really amazing how complacent some people can become by moving the same weight over and over and over again.

Nice post. I'd like to add that increasing your form quality and or ROM is another way of making progress. Sometimes you'll get 6-7 good reps and 1-2 with slight, acceptable cheating - as long as the weight is still under control and you aren't risking injury. If you manged to get a good 8 reps during the next workout then the progress has been made.

Yes good point, I'll add this to the OP. I'm sure there are a few more holes in the OP as I wrote it right before I went to bed.

Which is the routine that you are using OP?

I'm going to have to disagree with not being able to progress every workout. You can and you will. As long as you program it correctly (hint hint: low volume)

No, once you've trained for years and years the entire idea of progressing becomes much more difficult. For example, I've only added 20 lbs to my bench in almost an entire YEAR of training. Expecting to increase the load every single workout after a certain point of development will (IMO) lead to injuries.

[Segugio]

Good post. I noticed the same thing at my gym - a lot of people would use the same load for several weeks. The only thing that did increase was body fat.

I don't notice this nearly as frequently. A lot of older people / general fitness types usually do the same thing a few times a week, but most young people are overly eager to progress on every workout. Nearly all of my novice trainees get distressed at their first plateau and overreact by thinking they need to change everything in their program.

If anything, I think a lot of people stall because they're hellbent on using fixed programs and expecting identical results. "I added 20 pounds on my bench with this program, why can't I run it four more times and add 100?"

[-Lucifer]

I don't notice this nearly as frequently. A lot of older people / general fitness types usually do the same thing a few times a week, but most young people are overly eager to progress on every workout.

Of course, they want to move more weight, but they stall way too early. An example: some kids would do high squats with 185 (bro-spotting one another). Then they'd go for 225 the next week and do even higher/quarter squats. After that week, they'd do 1/8th squats and so on. This does not help their real squat go up, but in their minds they're getting stronger. If these chaps would just write down what they did during each workout, they would get somewhere.

[Benz1990]

how often should an increase in weight be added?

here 2.5kg is the minimum increase possible, so add it twice for 2 dumbbells, or 2 for bench

every second week add (2.5kg) 5kg?

[Tommy W.]

Which is the routine that you are using OP?

I'm going to have to disagree with not being able to progress every workout. You can and you will. As long as you program it correctly (hint hint: low volume)

So when you've been training you'll be benching 2,100 lbs, huh?

[cagliostro]

I strongly disagree, I quote some older posts I wrote few weeks ago.

For hypertrophy I suggest sets of 10 for compounds and 12 for isolation, forget weight just concentrate on getting good contractions, go the full ROM and avoid muscular failure.

Eventually you'll get bigger, and when you'll be bigger you'll be stronger too.

I mean people are too much obsessed by numbers, numbers of reps and sets, too, sure, but mainly by weights, cause you want to lift to impress other people at the gym and yourself, sacrificing good form.
Actually significant strength gains, real strength gains come slowly along with mass gains. For real strength gain I mean six months ago you were able to squat 200 lbs for 3 sets of 10 with perfect form, now you squat 220 lbs with same ROM, same tempo, same rest time, form, same everything, so you really got stronger at squats.

All this story of linear progression has confused people of what it takes to get stronger, one may be able to close 6 perfect pullups and after a months he does one more plus 3 kipping half reps and he actually thinks to be that stronger. Are you supposed to get huge in month or so? No, so why should you get much stronger in such a short time period?

For me squatting/benching/deadlifting 200 lbs is an exercise, squatting/benching/deadlifting 220 lbs is another exercise. If you want to concentrate purely on hypertrophy you should grab an exercise with a given weight, and master it for MONTHS before you can increase weight. If you always anticipate weights increment you'll sacrifice form and muscle gains.


Other story with powerlifting where the only thing that matters is lifting the bar from position A to position B, regardless of form.

[heinstein]

ITT: most basic concept of getting better at anything detailed.

Are there really that many people who don't understand progressive overload? Or do they just not understand the concept of homeostasis (the reason going through the motions yields zero progress).

[adamdavidson47]

Most of the guys I see at the gym don't keep track of what they are doing. I don't understand it.

[kanis999]

Good article. I think most guys are too lazy to write **** down.

And they're all perpetually stuck on a plateau because they don't realize you have to lower intensity for a few weeks in order to gain momentum before pushing hard through the plateau. It is counter-intuitive, but anyone who is beyond the first year or so should know that intensity needs to be cycled.

[heinstein]

OP you're missing IMO the most important aspect of progressive overload.

The mental overload. If you don't "command" your muscles to grow, they won't.

This is one of the main reasons I have better results when I don't count reps. Instead of counting reps, my progressive overload is strictly mental, how deep can I dig. How many reps can I complete after the pain screams stop. How long can I hold that failure rep before balling up in the fetal position and sucking my thumb crying for mommy.

[kanis999]

I've got some pertinent ideas I'd like to hear a discussion on.

- Let's say you always do compounds before you move on to isolation. If your compounds increased that week, but your isolations decreased slightly, wouldn't that still be considered progress? For example, if I barbell row 5 lbs more than last week, but then curl a rep or 2 shy of last week's performance, can I attribute the loss in curl performance to having put more effort into the compound? I find this happens to me all the time. Compound hits a new PR, the isolations remain stagnant.

- Some isolation movements just don't like to improve. For me, lateral raises and bicep curls almost never progress, but I can see those muscles have grown. My technique and MMC in these exercises seem to improve over time, however. Is it perhaps better to focus on progress in terms of the contraction and concentration on isolation movements, and focus more on progress in weight + reps for compounds? This seems to be working pretty well for me, especially since adding just 5 lbs to the DBs in these exercises equates to some 10-20% increase in weight.

[ironwill2008]

how often should an increase in weight be added?

Whenever you hit your set/rep target for that session, and have done so while still using good form, add just enough weight on the following session to drop you back down to your lower-number rep target. You'll then work to progress the new, heavier weight back up to your higher-number rep target, and so on.

Example: Your target reps for Curls is 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps. Once you are able to Curl the weight for 10 reps across all three sets, add enough weight next time to bust you back down to 8 reps. Then work to get it to 10-across, etc.

Are there really that many people who don't understand progressive overload?

Based on what I see posted all over this site almost by the minute, next to the importance of eating to requirement every day, progression is the most-misunderstood factor in these forums.

I've got some pertinent ideas I'd like to hear a discussion on.

- Let's say you always do compounds before you move on to isolation. If your compounds increased that week, but your isolations decreased slightly, wouldn't that still be considered progress?

Sure.

About the only trainees who might expect everything to move up every session are stone-cold noobs. Put in 20 years of consistent natty training, and you'll do cartwheels every time you're just able to add a single rep to anything.

[adamdavidson47]

I've got some pertinent ideas I'd like to hear a discussion on.

- Let's say you always do compounds before you move on to isolation. If your compounds increased that week, but your isolations decreased slightly, wouldn't that still be considered progress? For example, if I barbell row 5 lbs more than last week, but then curl a rep or 2 shy of last week's performance, can I attribute the loss in curl performance to having put more effort into the compound? I find this happens to me all the time. Compound hits a new PR, the isolations remain stagnant.

- Some isolation movements just don't like to improve. For me, lateral raises and bicep curls almost never progress, but I can see those muscles have grown. My technique and MMC in these exercises seem to improve over time, however. Is it perhaps better to focus on progress in terms of the contraction and concentration on isolation movements, and focus more on progress in weight + reps for compounds? This seems to be working pretty well for me, especially since adding just 5 lbs to the DBs in these exercises equates to some 10-20% increase in weight.

I always care much less about how much my isolations improve week to week. I usually set goals like as soon as I get 8 reps for 3 sets, I'll bump the weight the next week. I switch my isolation exercises a lot, too, so it's hard to gauge progress. Some weeks I'll be the same, or even a rep or two less. It doesn't really bother me, as long as my main lifts are increasing by weight and/or reps.

[kanis999]

I always care much less about how much my isolations improve week to week. I usually set goals like as soon as I get 8 reps for 3 sets, I'll bump the weight the next week. I switch my isolation exercises a lot, too, so it's hard to gauge progress. Some weeks I'll be the same, or even a rep or two less. It doesn't really bother me, as long as my main lifts are increasing by weight and/or reps.

Yeah that's my mentality too. Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

[Jasonk282]

I don't mean in the sense of adding weight to the bar every time because that simply does not work and its exactly what you said that keeps SS program as only a 'beginners' program.


I don't train based on fixed reps per sets. ie 3x5 3x8 or along those lines... Its more of a rep range.
Most exercises, I just take 3 sets to failure and add up the reps. Hit a certain # and up the weight.
Doing 1-2 more reps than last time is also progress.

That's still a progressive overload...so I don't get why you are disagreeing?

OP you're missing IMO the most important aspect of progressive overload.

The mental overload. If you don't "command" your muscles to grow, they won't.

This is one of the main reasons I have better results when I don't count reps. Instead of counting reps, my progressive overload is strictly mental, how deep can I dig. How many reps can I complete after the pain screams stop. How long can I hold that failure rep before balling up in the fetal position and sucking my thumb crying for mommy.

CT Fletcher much?

I always care much less about how much my isolations improve week to week. I usually set goals like as soon as I get 8 reps for 3 sets, I'll bump the weight the next week. I switch my isolation exercises a lot, too, so it's hard to gauge progress. Some weeks I'll be the same, or even a rep or two less. It doesn't really bother me, as long as my main lifts are increasing by weight and/or reps.

^this for sure on my isolation work. I usually keep the weight the same for the cycle then the next cycle I'll up it 5-10 lbs and start the process over again.

[Kcabo]

I strongly disagree, I quote some older posts I wrote few weeks ago.

Based on your quotes, you actually pretty much agree. Briefly reading over your long quotes, you're essentially saying to focus on strength gains/progression while utilizing proper technique/form. Where in my OP do I disagree with this? This isn't really my opinion. This is a concept that has a plethora of evidence supporting it.

ITT: most basic concept of getting better at anything detailed.

Are there really that many people who don't understand progressive overload? Or do they just not understand the concept of homeostasis (the reason going through the motions yields zero progress).

Yes, as someone stated ITT somehow there are still individuals out there that don't understand the concept of progressive overload - just take a gander around these forums. It's quite remarkable the amount of people that don't understand the concept of progressive overload and a caloric surplus to induce muscle hypertrophy.

I've got some pertinent ideas I'd like to hear a discussion on.

- Let's say you always do compounds before you move on to isolation. If your compounds increased that week, but your isolations decreased slightly, wouldn't that still be considered progress? For example, if I barbell row 5 lbs more than last week, but then curl a rep or 2 shy of last week's performance, can I attribute the loss in curl performance to having put more effort into the compound? I find this happens to me all the time. Compound hits a new PR, the isolations remain stagnant.

- Some isolation movements just don't like to improve. For me, lateral raises and bicep curls almost never progress, but I can see those muscles have grown. My technique and MMC in these exercises seem to improve over time, however. Is it perhaps better to focus on progress in terms of the contraction and concentration on isolation movements, and focus more on progress in weight + reps for compounds? This seems to be working pretty well for me, especially since adding just 5 lbs to the DBs in these exercises equates to some 10-20% increase in weight.

Ironwill discussed the first question nicely.

Yes, adding weight to these iso movements can be very difficult. Personally, I strive more for reps, increasing sets, or increasing the intensity on those types of movements. Adding weight to the big compounds is always my "go to" to progressively overload those lifts. Also, just because you're not improving doesn't mean you're not necessarily inducing hypertrophy in these muscles. It just comes to a point where you must progressively overload in order to induce further growth.

Also, if you're not improving on your curls - you may be improving on your back exercises thus inducing hypertrophy through compounds like pull ups.