all posts post new thread

Old Forum Hypertrophy Training

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)

Siemen

Level 3 Valued Member
I was reading this beautiful book called Power to the People. It was all centered around strength. I got the most usefull, detailed and well-informed explanation about strength in such an easy language that you just have to grow strong just reading the book. Strength is now more clear than ever. We've all seen numerous people achieving great results with the formula of PTTP. Then I read another book: Enter the Kettlebell. This book laid out in front of me the benefits of kettlebell training and its most well-known effect on conditioning and fat-burning. At that time, I started using kettlebells. The conditioning with kettlebells was explained well to me, not in the sense of PTTP (my opinion), but I still got enough information. Strength and conditioning were now ours to take and us was given the opportunity now to achieve great results.

But there was something I was missing. Although I really love to be very strong (wich I'm not now, but training for it), I would like to add a little mass too. Now, not in the sense of Arnold or those guys, but more army-style like, greek statue style. A little solid meat can't hurt a guy I think. Like I don't like being weak, I don't like looking weak. But when I'm looking for information on hypertrophy, I don't find much usefull information. I see everywhere do this, do that, don't train kettlebells, you won't add mass and so on. But I never see the why of their answer. Why do you have to do this? Why not this? I'm missing the PTTP approach to hypertrophy.

So now I'm looking for some answers here that will help my understanding of hypertrophy:

What is hypertrophy? When is hypertrophy achieved?

How do you train hypertrophy? What kind of training? Full body or isolation (hope not that)? Compound, training, complex training? Sets and reps? Weight? Rest? Progression? Percentage of 1RM?

Are barbells only good to go for hypertrophy, or can you also use bodyweight or kettlebell or whatever?

Hox about sleep? Conditioning?

Nutrition? Calorie intake? Fat?

And so on.

 

I just try to understand this fenomenon. PTTP explained strength to me in a beautiful way. It explained me the why. So please give me the why in your answer, so I can get a better understanding of it. Doing it is one thing, knowing why you do it, is completely another thing, but most essentiall.
 
Hypertrophy is discussed, albeit briefly, in ETK and elsewhere in Pavel's books.  The approach is simple - take a program like the Rite of Passage in ETK, do it with minimal rest periods and you will maximize hypertrophy.  Do it with long rest periods between rungs and even longer rests between ladders and you will maximize the neural aspects of strength and minimize hypertrophy.  Or stop at any point along the continuum you choose that's in keeping with your personal goals.  The program does not choose for you; you choose for yourself.

If you get a muscle pump with a heavy weight, you'll get bigger, and if you try to avoid that, you generally won't.

Last but not least, certain exercises lend themselves to bigger neural-based improvements in performance than others - the deadlift often yields big neural-based improvements but the press does not, hence a pressing program that features much higher volume.  Even if you take maximal rest periods, the sheer volume of the ROP program's heavy days will put a little meat on your shoulders and triceps, and that's as it should be for that lift.

-S-
 
 

Hypertrophy is muscle growth.  Ok I'm no scientist but I think it occurs as your body's way of adapting to demands placed on it.

For whatever it is worth, when I followed the ROP from ETK I know I gained some mass.  Not the collection of useless body parts like a body builder but enough where people started asking me if I had been "lifting"..... I think muscled in the right places is the way to describe it, traps, mid back, hips.

Getting a pump with a heavy weight (short rest periods) and adequate volume will make you grow.  I assume that any form of exercise will work but each tool will have its own protocol.  Barbells make it easy to add resistance.  With bells (dumbbells or kettlebells) you can play around with rest periods.

Train hard heaves heavily as you can, eat well, rest and grow if that's what you're looking for.
 
Since you already have PTTP, review the Russian Bear program described in it.  It is a higher volume, lesser frequency program that the straight PTTP, with less rest between sets.
 
Thanks for the answers guys.

Another question: is it possible to combine a hypertrophy workout with grease the groove-style of training? Besides my regular workout training for strength? Or does that threaten my rest?
 
If you do lots of sets with a heavy or heavyish weight and perfect technique, with little rest, you will 'grease the groove' as well as 'getting a pump with a heavy weight'. Strength gains come very quickly. The PTTP 'bear' can work for this, as can Staley's EDT and Bryce lane's 50/20 protocols.
 
Don't forget diet... Increase protein grams per day along with PttP Bear Deadlifts and Bench Presses are a sure fire recipe to pack on size in a hurry.

 
 
So according to PTTP and ETK. Muscle building is just getting a pump with a heavy weight, wich means reducing the rest between sets? Less than a minute rest is suitable for muscle building?

So complex training is ideal for hypertrophy?

Note: By saying adding muscle, I don't mean bulking up. Maybe that makes a difference.

 
 
PttP Bear is a bulking program. ETK ROP is a Stregth and Conditioning program. There is a big difference. Size may result from following the ROP, but it will not deliver like building volume in barbell Deads and Presses.

And yes, complexes can work too and could be utilized in the next training cycle when the Bear program stops or slows in adding muscle.

Shawn

 

 

 

 
 
I'm doing Russian Bear now.  1 day on, two days off. Barbell Overhead Press and Back Squat.

will report back in 6 weeks.
 
It sounds like you've been bitten by a love for Pavel's writing. Welcome to the club. I understand EXACTLY what you mean about "Power To The People". With that in mind and due to me not having anything useful of my own to offer, I'd remind you of Pavel's hypertrophy book "Beyond Bodybuilding". I have not read it, but maybe others have and can report. Other high-quality offerings that would be in keeping with the principles of StrongFirst would be Dan John's "Mass Made Simple" which I haven't read and Geoff Neupert's "Kettlebell Muscle", which I have read and found excellent. Geoff explains much about the physiological response that's necessary for hypertrophy and how his (hard...very hard) program achieves said response. Geoff is soon to offer updated material in this area called "Kettlebell Strong", but we just missed his intro and there's now a waiting list.
 
Siemen, thank you for your kind words about my books!

Given that your hypertrophy goals are moderate, either PTP or ETK (or a combination—PTP DLs plus ETK ROP KB MPs) will get you where you want to be—provided you eat enough.  I would hold off on complexes until you have very good and stable KB technique.

At this point of the game your challenge is stick to one program for months and not getting distracted.
 
Thank you Bill and Pavel. Bill, Geoffs books are very nice, but mostly double KB's. I'm not there yet. I'm lacking the strength for that. Need to work on that.

Pavel, Complexes may still be too difficult for me like you say. Karen Smith here sent me a program to do with TGU's, MP's, Pull-Ups and Front Squats. I'm adding Power Swings now for some extra explosive work. Going to work on that for some weeks, months now. I already see some results in strength, wich is the best. then I'm going to try ETK ROP with my 24kg KB.
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom