
1. mid 19th century: from hyper- ‘beyond, exceeding’ + Greek -trophia ‘nourishment.’
2. Happens mainly because of a perfect balance of proper nutrition and training.
3. The goldilocks zone for hypertrophy is between 8 to 12 reps, or between 30 and 70 seconds of work.
4. However, you can train all you want, if nutrition is not up to par, it will catch up sooner or later.
5. The same applies if you under eat, and sometimes, eat so well, that hypertrophy will not happen since you need some type of caloric surplus to gain size.
6. Beginners gain more easily than the advanced trainees.
7. If you can’t work hard, it will be hard to gain size.
7.1 When we say size, it is muscle gains, not just bulking size, as in mostly fat mass and little muscle gains.
8. Does strength equal size? No. Enter the land of diminishing returns. Taking a squat from 150lbs to 300 will make you gain size in your legs, but from 300lbs to 400lbs, you won’t see much. Go back and read point #6.
8.1 To get bigger though, you need to get stronger. It’s complicated…
9. Does genetics make a difference? Oh yes. Although the process of hypertrophy is the same for each and every one of us, the results will vary. Testosterone, bone structure and muscle insertions define the boundaries of muscle growth.
10. A range of stimuli can increase the volume of muscle cells. These changes occur as an adaptive response that serves to increase the ability to generate force or resist fatigue in anaerobic conditions. (Wikipedia)
11. Did the Zoo call you today?
No.. why?
Well they called me and said they wanted their Pythons back.
12. The opposite of hypertrophy is Atrophy, a decrease in muscle size from a lack of use of muscles. FYI
13. You need variety. Changing your routine every 4-6 weeks is recommended.
14. Progressive overload is necessary to gain muscle size and strength. A workout that uses the same weights as the previous one is a workout wasted.
15. How many muscleheads does it take to change a light bulb?
It takes 3; one to change it and two others to stand around saying: “your shoulders are sick bro”
16. Wear a belt at all times. You never know who’s triceps kickback you’ll have to spot.
17. In the gym, it’s all about the angles – bench and body angles, arm angles, and selfie angles. If you must sacrifice, ensure it’s never the first two.
18. Ladies, lifting weights won’t make you bulky, cupcakes will. Lift weights, eat properly for a few months and watch the magic happen. In fact, woman have to train significantly harder to obtain a small amount of muscles. Man have the testosterone advantage, not so much for woman.
19. Text book hypertrophy protocols, as in point #3 is fine, but not limited to. I’ve had sets that lasts more than 2 minutes on the leg press (nauseating) for hypertrophy purposes. I’ve had guys gain a fair amount of muscle mass on strength protocols. Bottom line is, gaining muscle is not only about lifting, it is also about frequency, resting, nutrition, periodization, etc.
20. Bottom line is, gaining muscle is not only about lifting, it is also about frequency, resting, nutrition, periodization, etc.
Coach Eric