Hypertrophy, strength, tracking vs programming- what 40 plus years taught me

[coachcalande]

Good Morning.

This thread is all based on my own opinions and experiences (40 plus years) as a natural recreational bodybuilder and a coach who’s trained hundreds of athletes. This also includes experiences and observations as a fitness instructor and studies as an exercise physiology major.

Hypertrophy is often the goal of recreational bodybuilders. When I was a student I once told one of my professors that “I really don’t train for strength…” as I was trying to explain that I trained for hypertrophy like so many others. The exercise scientist replied “oh bull#$*&!”

Just remember that as you read my thoughts in this thread.

[coachcalande]

1-What can a lifter do to gain size and is strength likely to be the side effect?
2-What can a lifter do to gain strength and is size likely to be the side effect?

Go ahead and answer those questions for yourself, here are my experiences and observations….

1- size gains will come from a combined effort to eat a calorie surplus, eat with protein as the central focus, eat with plenty of carbs to keep muscles feeling swole, strong, energetic and powered to train hard. The food efforts combined with INTENSE effort in the gym to CONSTANTLY CHALLENGE muscles through many sets in a workout will gradually allow for muscle growth with strength changes over time. In my experience, NONE OF IT MaKES YOU SMALLER and while I have my own preferred rep ranges for specific movements, the key factor for growth in my experience is training effort within work sets. The muscle must be challenged. I’m not talking about a beginner , but a dedicated trainee who is pushing for growth. So, let’s take dumbbell flyes for the chest as an example, stopping a set before the muscle is challenged will NOT LIKELY yield the same benefits as pushing the set to failure, taxing the muscle fully each set. Does it make a difference if it’s 8 reps, 10 reps or 12 reps? I don’t believe it does. Ultimately over time, the muscle will be larger and the lifter can reach for heavier weights for a new challenge.

[coachcalande]

2-What can a lifter do to gain strength and is size likely to be the side effect?

*this forum is so buggy! Hard to write without some balking or deleted posts.

Choosing strength programs - the personal choice to do things like “the Texas method “ for strength will in fact bring hypertrophy . There are many ways to track and progress ONLY AS THE BODY ADAPTS. I have stated this before, your body determines progression, not your programming. Ultimately if you choose strength as goal one, beyond neurological adaptations and motor coordination changes, skill in practice of movement patterns, the body’s strength gains will result in larger muscles related to the specific movement. Take deadlift for example, you simply will not achieve a 500 -600 lb deadlift without muscle gain in the posterior chain.

EATING for strength gains…I promise you, eating well beyond maintenance will bring with it strength gains. Many “stalls” are the results of under eating. I have seen this play out THOUSANDS of times.

[coachcalande]

The next question then, is it necessary to track and plan progression?

I don’t believe it’s a requirement at all. Is it beneficial? Is it useful? Is it motivating? Those are actually more pertinent questions.

Millions of great physiques are built without training logs. That said I do think it’s a useful tool for analysis of your results in terms of strength changes over time which are in fact a very good indicator of GROWTH.

For example if a trainee has records such as 225x15 on bench press and over time notes reps gained to 225x25 there is certainly cause to believe that hypertrophy has also occurred. Something to consider is that REP SPEED and the actual time it takes to complete the set (time the muscles spend under tension) can be manipulated to cause a change in rep count.

Now why would I say that tracking and planning progression are not required? Let’s go back to my statement that NONE OF IT MAKES YOU SMALLER…As a rule, science has shown that repeated doses of training sets taken to volitional failure using resistance set at 60-85% of 1 RM causes adaptations that result in hypertrophy and strength gains. This allows a trainee freedom to choose a wide rep range and varied resistance levels. Additionally even 40-50% of 1rm sets pushed to failure cause metabolic stress and mechanical tension during near failure reps that also allow for hypertrophy and strength gains.

This observation…it’s easier to gain a rep or two training at 65% of a 1 rm vs 85% of a 1 rm makes higher rep training a useful tool for breaking plateaus. It’s worth considerations.

Ultimately if a lifter is pushing and pulling weights that are allowing for “challenging sets” and eating enough for recovery, they will reap the benefits of strength gains shown through gained reps and poundages. They will also see and feel size changes and performance changes. The fact is training by feel allows the lifter to respond to feedback from performance. Is more weight or more reps required to keep the set challenging? That’s really the only question that must be answered to allow the trainee to continue to grow and progress.

Biorhythms, nutrition, sleep, hormones, stress, wellness …all of these things can also impact performance on any given day without any actual muscle strength or hypertrophy changes. So this is why I am most in favor of a “listen to your body” more auto regulated approach to selection of volume, intensity and resistance.

[coachcalande]

Frequency of stimulation is an important consideration for CONSISTENT progression.

How often must a muscle be stimulated? I believe there are individuals that benefit from greater frequency and others who benefit from additional rest between bouts. Why? Recovery rates vary between individuals. This means that within reason an individual must find what works best for him.

My 16 year old son made great progress early on with a three day a week program.

Monday - upper
Wednesday- lower
Friday- upper
Monday- lower
Wednesday- upper
Friday- lower

So his frequency involved two bouts in a single week, then 1 bout the next. This emphasis on recovery allowed for great volume and intensity as a beginner. This is much different than a beginner who is doing much lower volume but greater frequency. (Say 3 bouts a week)

My son has progressed in volume, learned how to apply effort and has increased frequency slightly to this:

Upper
Off
Lower
Off
Upper
Off
Lower
Off

Etc.

This is the approach I use as well. For both of us, we found that the spacing was perfect for recovery. We have matched hard sets and overall training volume to best practice for recovery. Each “split” offers something and each lifter must determine for himself frequency, volume, intensity and recovery methods that fit best and promote progress.


It’s interesting to see the great strength changes in this young lad who’s already a 1000 lb club kid after less than two years of consistent training.

He’s benefiting from learning from me and avoiding the early training mistakes that I made obviously.

[coachcalande]

So for me and my son alike, we have both found that a muscle can handle basic obliteration every four days or twice in an eight day period (vs twice a week which is commonly referred to as gospel) and neither of us concern ourselves with “overtraining “ each preferring 12-15 sets for large muscles like chest/back/quads and 8-12 sets for bis /tris. Volume must be matched to frequency and intensity. I’m 55, he’s 16, we have the same frequency, similar volume and comparable intensity of effort. One area where we differ greatly at the moment is that he prefers to start with 3 reps in his compound movements and gradually increase reps (training to failure when he has a spotter) and increasing resistance when he can perform 8 reps. For example squats 335x3, aiming for 335x8 …I trained that way using 5-8 as my guide. Nowadays, I’m a pyramid guy, starting light, adding plates and piling up sets. 12-10-8-6-4 for example. I just listen to my body and decide…do or do not…when it comes to trying more weight on my next set.

Both methods are productive. We both push sets close to failure.

For me, in a calorie deficit, I am less obsessed with “more weight “ and instead want more quality contractions and enough weight to do the job.

[coachcalande]

Variety in movements is nice as well but again, not fully necessary. Whatever you aren’t doing also works!

For example if you trained your chest with bench, db inclines and flat flyes for a year, changed to dips and flat dbs with cable inclines…you’d probably see new growth. Changing workout to workout is enjoyable and can work too with adequate stimulation. Adequate stimulation and sufficient recovery are the end game no matter what movements you enjoy.

My advice is to do the ones that keep you safe! Injury will prevent gains.

[PTzFree]

That's a lot to read and I skimmed most of it.
I will second the emphasis on intensity.

I didn't start seeing changes until I started following a guy on YouTube named Ryan Humiston and I compared his approach to comments I've heard from guys like Chris Bumstead about defining a "working set". Then it clicked for me. Now I don't count sets until I reach a weight that takes me to failure. My goal is now 3-4 sets of no-BS 90 to 100% max effort - I want to be as close to failing on that last rep as possible each time. It's the first time I ever understood why you hear people working in rep ranges rather than a set rep amount.

I've had noticeable gains in strength and size.

[Filmbuff81]

Are you saying programming doesn’t determine strength gains or are you talking about for hypertrophy?

I agree for hypertrophy the program is of little consequence once there’s a base in place since hypertrophy doesn’t require any sort of special periodization and just requires consistent effort over many years.

But for strength gains that’s definitely a large quibble I would have, if that’s your statement.

The whole “eat more” thing would be my other issue with your claims about busting strength plateaus; especially for weight class athletes.

Which is why appropriate programming for strength outcomes is important. Especially since some athletes are actually cutting weight heading into competition.

Sure someone can eat more, gain weight, and lift more absolute weight but that doesn’t necessarily mean they got stronger. They may have just got fatter.

[pinfante]

Good stuff man. I always say the most anabolic supplement is 'experience'.

What works for one does not always translate to another but there is a lot of value in what you laid out. - Bravo

[FurtadoZ9]

Always interesting to hear the perspective of someone who's been in the iron game for decades. Thank you for sharing.

I do agree for bodybuilding specifics, structured programming may not be as important compared to strength orientated goals.

I also think you can go to failure more often if size is your goal because the % of 1RM being utilized is on the lower end. Higher reps, using tempos, shorter rest periods, and super/drop sets dictate lower intensity.