Muscle Hypertrophy – Super hot topic as of recently, and it seems everyone wants to know what is the optimal protocol to FINALLY start looking like Ronnie Coleman. There’s lots and lots of information out there regarding hypertrophy protocols, what is most effective etc – In this post we’ll break down what exactly muscle hypertrophy is, why it’s important and what the main drivers behind it are. **Spoiler alert** like many, many things in the fitness/strength and conditioning industry – the answer comes across a continuum and “optimal protocol” will be dependent on a number of different factors.
So let’s dive in, what exactly is muscle hypertrophy and how is it initiated? When it comes to muscle hypertrophy, it is defined as “an increase in muscular size, which can be achieved through exercise. Two main factors contribute to this physiological phenomenon such as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar hypertrophy.” (Bernardez-Vazquez et al.) – in common terms, muscular hypertrophy is the growth of muscle cross sectional area, the sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar hypertrophy refers to two different functions of muscles and their growth. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy means the muscles capacity to store Muscle Glycogen (CARBS) is increased during hypertrophy – More on this and the downstream metabolic effects in a different post. The Myofibrillar hypertrophy means that you have more actual units of muscle to contract and produce force to move an object! So by inducing muscle hypertrophy you are increasing your bodys capacity to STORE energy for work to be done and it’s capacity to produce force during said work.. It’s a real win win!
OK so the boring stuff is out of the way now, and the real question is; how do we INDUCE muscular hypertrophy? The answer, per usual, has a bit of nuance to it – Resistance training is considered the holy grail for increasing muscle mass, with practicioners playing with three key variables:
So with these 3 key drivers being behind muscle hypertrophy, what is the best mix/composition to accomplish this? Generally, practitioners will play with Volume of work, Intensity of work and Frequency of work in order to accomplish muscle growth. The good news is, there’s a LOT of researchers that have undertaken the painstaking task of trying to figure out which variable is the most important driver of change. In his systematic review, Roberto Bernardez-Vazquez reviewed 14 meta analyses, comprising of 178 primary studies and almost 5000 participants. The TLDR of the entire study was the when volume is equated, volume, frequency and intensity can all be played with in order to induce a hypertrophic response.
The general recommendation for volume is that you should prescribe 2-3 sets per exercise, covering ~10 weekly sets for each muscle group per week (this can include compound lifts etc) – The work in this volume should always be done to within 4-6 RIR (Reps in reserve) AT MINIMUM.
When it comes to frequency and intensity, when volume is equated these variables can be played with in any shape or fashion and hypertrophic response will be induced. General recommendations for hypertrophy training for my clients might look something like this:
Hope this helps everyone understand a bit more the mechanisms behind muscle hypertrophy, some of the variables taken into considerations by coaches when programming for hypertrophy and some protocols and suggestions for your strength training!
As always, if anyone has any questions or are looking for remote training/programming feel free to reach out!
Sources: National Library of Medicine
