- sets =
- reps =
- in any set taken to failure, there is only about 4-6 'stimulating' reps which are important to muscle growth
The Stimulating Reps Model
As we've touched on previously, to train with an emphasis on hypertrophy means Our muscles experience the highest degrees of mechanical tension according to something known as the force-velocity curve.
In essence, what this is telling us is that our muscles experience the highest degree of mechanical tension when they are involuntarily moving the slowest. Imagine an individual, ‘squeezing out’ the last few repetitions of an exercise. They will be moving slowly, right? There is no way the speed of the first rep matches the speed of the last rep. That’s the muscles experiencing high levels of mechanical tension. The research has shown that in any set, the last 5 or so repetitions are the most stimulating for hypertrophy. These sets will be the ones in closest proximity to failure. The rest - the reps far from failure - are known as ‘junk reps’, or ‘junk volume’.
In essence, growing muscle comes down to training to failure.
When we resistance train, this force of mechanical tension is often due to an external load (unless we’re doing calisthenics).
Let me spell it out for you. When we expose our muscles to abnormal levels of mechanical tension, it signals to our body that they need to grow! So it makes sense to continually expose our body to abnormal levels of mechanical tension. This introduces a concept known as progressive overload.
Progressive overload
Progressive overload is simply, over time, doing more. This might mean more repetitions, or more weight on a particular exercise. Progressive overload is continually exposing our muscles to the same levels of mechanical tension.
Our bodies are adaptive machines. To grow bigger muscles, we need to signal to our body that we need bigger muscles.
But as a muscle grows and gets stronger, it is able to handle the same loads or weights without experiencing as much mechanical tension. So we’ll need to continually aim to lift higher and higher weights, or lift these heavy weights for higher and higher reps.
Progressive overload, ensuring we are training to failure, should be our number one goal in the gym.
Debunking common 'hypertropy' myths
Some common factors which do not improve hypertrophy are:
- Time Under Tension (TUT)
- Accumulating metabolic stress
- Doing more sets or higher reps
- Muscles need to be 'confused'
- Dropsets (when compared to doing straight sets)
For more info, feel free to check the references. But for now, you can just take my word for it.