Hypertrophy: Maximum Strength or Maximum Mass?

Article by Eric Rotherman

Hypertrophy: Maximum Strength or Maximum Mass? – Health – Fitness

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Hypertrophy is the process responsible for muscle growth. This is a process that all strength athletes are very interested in, both bodybuilders and weight trainers in general. However there are two types of hypertrophy and these two growth processes both achieve very different results. To maximize your training you need to understand what the two different types of muscle hypertrophy are.

Myofibrillar hypertrophy is the process which increases the strength of the muscle, but only minimally grows the actual physical size of the muscle. If you are a competitive weight lifter this is the process you are most likely going to to be primarily concerned with. To encourage this sort of hypertrophy you will need to be getting a good intake of proteins, so that the exercise of lifting weights can increase the amount of actin and myosin in your muscles. These are the proteins in your muscle which account for a lot of your physical strength. To encourage growth further limit the repetitions you do in each exercise to between 2-6 reps per set. This means that you can work with heavier weights and really concentrate on lifting heavy, instead of using up your energy on lighter weights.

If you are a bodybuilder on the other hand you want your muscles to increase in size and strength is a secondary consideration. The type of hypertrophy you are looking for is called sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and has little or no affect on the actual strength of the muscle. In actual fact you are going to get both types of hypertrophy from your workouts. But in order to concentrate your efforts on sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, so that you can increase muscle mass, you will need to perform around 8 – 12 repetitions per set. Try not to go to heavy as this will cause your muscles to tighten and produces hard rather than growing muscles. Also if you do more than 12 reps per set you will find yourself producing strong and hard muscles, but they won’t be getting the size you want. This is because high reps tend to produce muscles aimed at endurance sport rather than sculptural body bulking.

Another important point is that muscles need rest. In fact muscles do their actual growing when they at rest. So make sure you allow plenty of time between workouts to rest. Each muscle group should have about 48 hours rest time between dedicated workouts. Hence the need to cycle your workouts around so you hit different muscle groups in different workouts. Happy muscle growing!

About the Author

Eric Rotherman

Check out my web pages on how to maximize muscle development and sorting your Muscle Building Diet for more information.

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Hypertrophy Training – What Are The Best Weight Training Routines And Endurance Training For Building Muscle?

Article by Thomas Brodie

Hypertrophy training was firstly introduced in to mainstream muscles building in October of 2000. Bryan Haycock, a workout writer for Think Muscle right then, unleashed a revolutionary process of building muscle which quickly became one of the core rules of body building. In actuality hypertrophy working out is categorized as strength coaching however, its purpose is to cause rapid muscle growth without the threat of introducing anabolic steroid drugs into your routine.

Hypertrophy also mentioned as HST, is also created to maintain the efficiency of the rapidly growing muscles, as it could not be very beneficial to have massive muscles and have them be week. HST was structured around psychological principles and designed to stimulate hypertrophy through certain weight training exercises.

The concepts of HST are narrowed down into four types, the first is Mechanical Load. The Mechanical Load process is a form of endurance instruction which is required for the hypertrophy training to be effective. It consists of loading tension on to the muscle during activity by means of lifting weights. The next hypertrophic standard is Chronic Stimulation. Here the idea of continuous hypertrophy training routines is expressed as crucial. The muscles will begin to recuperate after 48 hours of rest, and will render the previous routine ineffective in building muscle by the next bout. Continuous working out is a strategic key in weight coaching.

The third theory is the idea of Progressive Loads. This principle is a sibling to Mechanical loads, and requires the slow progression of heavier weights throughout the hypertrophy routines, weight training specific. Muscles will adapt over time to the load placed on them and will reduce the effects of mechanical load. Growing the weight forces the muscles to continuously work harder and thus becoming much larger. Strategic De-conditioning is the last stage in hypertrophy training. This de-conditioning lasts somewhere around twelve days and is used as a reversal of the usual weight lifting by halting the use of the heaviest weights for some time.

Aerobic endurance training should also be combined into any training routine. Endurance training enables the cardiovascular and respiratory systems to get more efficient at providing oxygen to the muscles being used during exercise. It also improves the conversion of carbohydrates and fats into valuable energy. There are different methods of aerobic endurance training. Two of them may sound acquainted to veteran gym attendants.

Long Slow Distance Training is the most popular method which allows for the trainee to run long distances as a constant slower pace. This will build the runners ability to run long distances before he must center on his speed. This technique is also used for new weight coaching exercisers. Pace Training contains of training at a higher pace than the normal “race pace” for a lower period of time. This exercise routine concentrates on the runner’s speed potential without the endurance of long distance running and hypertrophy plan weight training. Weight and muscles building routines require a bit of outside help for example protein rich diets and aerobic training. But the core of muscle building remains hypertrophy working out.

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