ideal conditions for hypertrophy

J

jwbond

New Member
i am a small business owner and therefore have a unique situation where i can have access to my weights any time of the day, as often as i want.

i was thinking i can keep some dumbells in my office to help increase frequency for my bis and tris. what would be the ideal amount of frequency, rep range, and weight to have the most amountof growth possible?
 
Jw

The best i have heard is twice a day! Going more than that could burn you out!

But man...you the owner of the guns...try out some stuff of your own and see the results.

I have tried every now and again throwing in a few odd sets against time, coming up with stuff like 21's, odd drop sets reaching 30 and more reps...and yes it did help at the end...but it is so subjective...it is really up to you.

I'd rather have a bar where i could either dip or chin often, as that really builds and it includes the bi's or the chest! depending on what your pick is!
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i do chins and dips in my 5x a week routine (alternating between two routines). however i am about 200lbs @ 11% bf. i am benching 275 as my 5RM, but my arms are only about 15 3/4" flexed. i feel they should be bigger at this stage so i am going to increase frequency of my iso work on them since the compounds are already in place often enough.

ill try some high rep stuff throughout the day at work and see how it goes. i recall an hst vet saying the optimum conditions for hypertrophy would be constant load followed by a hospitol bed for hypertrophy. obviously this would be extreme, but why not try to get closer to optimum conditions if you can.
 
Well

Then go for it.

As I said some high rep stuff, some drop sets, high load - low reps/medium load - medium reps/low load high reps - I have tried this before and my arms quickly responede from 13 to 15" in about 90 days or so...

This are just techniques som eof us use, they have nothing to do with HST really but can be used in conjunction with, and as you say at differenmt times during the day.

Cheers
 
13 to 15" in 3 months is amazing!

can you be more specific on what you did to achieve these results? or did it vary whatever you felt like doing in a particular day?
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">can you be more specific on what you did to achieve these results? or did it vary whatever you felt like doing in a particular day?</div>

I was not on a specific program like HST, basically doing my own thing.

One thing I did which I believe worked was, drop sets each day, of seated dumbell curls, I think at the time I did something like 18 Kg for 10 reps/12 Kg for 20 reps/8 kg for 30 reps, this works out 5/10/15 for each side as it was d/bells.

I did this religiously for each day that I went to train, I think it was 5x p/week.

Anyway, at the time i had no idea (1996) what HST was all about in fact it did not exist, but i had read a bit about pyramid training and drop sets and it sure worked!
 
i have had some good progress with little rest time between sets for arms in the past. ill try throwing in some bi and tri drop sets for the next month and let you know how it goes.
 
Remember to rather include these during the 5's or the 2nd week of 10's.

I am using incline d/b curls vs. Skull crushers but with cable instead of the bar, saves time and feel real tough.

I sincerely believe that drop sets with minimal or no rest can get your amrs where you want them to be!
 
This is against the grain but have you considered that the reason your arms are below your expectations is that they are overtrained rather than undertrained? You said your training 5x a week. Doing compound exercises is hard enough on your arms as it is, perhaps they need more rest not more work?

Why don't you try cutting out the isolation exercises altogether? Heavy dips and close grip pull ups are hard enough on the arms in my opinion.

I respect Fausto's opinion
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but believe that more rest, not work is in order.
 
<div>
(style @ Mar. 23 2006,14:16)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">This is against the grain but have you considered that the reason your arms are below your expectations is that they are overtrained rather than undertrained? You said your training 5x a week. Doing compound exercises is hard enough on your arms as it is, perhaps they need more rest not more work?

Why don't you try cutting out the isolation exercises altogether? Heavy dips and close grip pull ups are hard enough on the arms in my opinion.

I respect Fausto's opinion
biggrin.gif
but believe that more rest, not work is in order.</div>
ive done less and the results werent there for me.

at one point i did sets with less weight, and less rest time. that was also when my arms were at their best. i am going to incorporate either drop sets or very little rest time for my arms into my hst routine and see how it goes.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I respect Fausto's opinion    but believe that more rest, not work is in order.</div>

Thank you there Style!
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JW - I'd go by feel, as I said take these extra sets only during the 5's and make sure you're eating up to the mark so that your muscles can grow!

One thing to remember, I am pretty short (5'6&quot;) so, my arms fill out quicker than say a 6'5&quot; dude! Still...put in some frequency and see what happens...if it does not work, then that is not the answer of course!
 
If you increase your frequency a lot...make sure you eat.

I found that high frequency is great for cutting...however if you could pack away enough protein and calories and carbs for 5 days a week who knows?

YOu might just get huge!!!
 
jwbond

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">what studies is hst based on for increased frequency then? the studies you listed seem that 2d/week is best</div>

That link was an article on Danb's site and is an interpretation of the studies done so far. To my knowledge there are no studies to date that show better results with more than 2x or 3x a week frequency. Of course, this may change. The vanilla HST programme is only 3x a week so perhaps this suggests Bryan thought you wouldn't get much better results with a higher frequency. I think HST is based mon/wed/fri so that the muscle is worked every 48 hours when protein synthesis has stopped. Boris Kleine, the professional bodybuilder who uses HST principles works the each muscle (to the best of my knowledge) every 48 hours. Therefore, I would advise training each muscle every 48 hours.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Thank you there Style!</div>

Your welcome, with all that said it Fausto has had great results training more frequently ( I hear he's 5''1 and squats 160kg
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) so why not go for it!
 
Perhaps my Boris Kleine comment was inaccurate, he appears to do every exercise in his routine every other day but is still hitting most muscle groups every day. here's his routine to the best of my knowledge. he does hit his legs, calves and back every 48.

Monday
AM: 2 x bench press, 2 x fly’s, 1-2 Biceps curls
PM: 2x leg curls, 2 x squats, 1-2 x lunges

Tuesday
AM: 2 x bent over rows, 2 x chins, 1 x Dumbbell presses, 1x lateral raises
PM: 2 x close grip bench press, 1x seated calf raises, 1 x Donkey raises (machine)
 
Ideal conditions for growth = steroids..hehe.
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but that is illegal.

So I would say ideal condition would be twice a day 4 days a week, every other day.

Nothing fancy just uping the frequency of workouts!
 
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