Maximum Muscle: The Science of Intelligent Physique Training
Cliff notes: Building Muscle Mass: A Quick Look at Muscular Growth and Hypertrophy<div>
(Matthew Perryman @ Maximum Muscle,191)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">HYPERTROPHY-SPECIFIC TRAINING
Hypertrophy-Specific Training (HST) is a perfect example of the linear model applied over the short-term, in a way that's oriented towards bodybuilding. Thus the 'hypertrophy-specific' title.
It's about as basic an arrangement as you can think of. The base routine is three full-body workouts on nonconsecutive days, like the 5x5 and undulating routines I've mentioned. You choose exercises for each body part, instead of just a handful of lifts to improve.
The periodization method is an eight-week linear cycle. You start with 15 reps, then 10, then 5, and then eccentric-only training, with each phase lasting two weeks. During each phase, you start with light weights and add 5-10 lbs per session until you're at maximums by the last workout of the cycle. So if you know that your 15RM is 100 lbs and you want to make 5 lb jumps each workout, you'd subtract 25 lbs (5 lbs * 5 jumps) to start out with 75 lbs.
In practice, HST can be hit or miss. When done to the letter, a lot of people report getting stronger, but they don't necessarily get larger.
However I do see HST as being useful, even in principle, as an accumulation phase. The trick would be to stay with 15s and 10s for 4-6 weeks, then switch into a heavier strength phase. Instead of focusing on blind progression, you could use a wave-like progression – add weight for 3-4 workouts, then drop the weights back and start over.
I will say that a few years back, I did exactly that using 10 reps per session. I wasn't using the linear progression approach, however; I just waved the weights up and down every few workouts. After about four weeks, I switched into a Westside-type routine and managed to net quite a bit of size. Yes, that's pure anecdote and there could well be other variables involved, but it does at least follow.
In any event, the linear version could be useful for beginners or those otherwise in a situation that would call for a relatively easy linear program. The accumulation version is an option as well. The basic principles of HST are sound in any event: frequent training, adequate stimulus, and progressive overload.</div><div>
(Matthew Perryman @ Maximum Muscle,200)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Max-Stimulation and Myo-Reps
I'm listing these under the same heading due to their similarity, though they're different routines. Both of these approaches use frequent full-body training sessions similar to Hypertrophy-Specific Training.
Max-Stimulation (Max-Stim) was developed by Dan Moore based on the research into muscle growth. Dan decided that fatigue was compromising performance and thus limiting the exposure to growth stimulus in each workout. With that in mind, Max-Stim uses cluster sets based around 'M-time' or the rest interval between each rep, which will vary from 10 to 20 seconds. The idea is to rack up a substantial workload with heavy weights, more than you'd be able to accomplish with the regular sets-to-fatigue approach.
Dan's website can be found at www.hypertrophy-research.com
Myo-Reps is a variation on the same concept, incorporating elements of both the rest-pause set and the cluster set methods, suggested by the Nordic beauty Borge Fagerli. Where Max-Stim avoids fatigue entirely, Myo-Reps makes use of it. You’d start out with an 'activation set', which is just your standard set to failure-or-highexertion with a target of maybe 8-12 reps. As with the rest-pause method, you’d rack the bar and take a few breaths.
The set now becomes a cluster. You'd knock off sets of maybe 3-4 reps, keeping the rest intervals brief – around 10 seconds or so at first. Once those start to grind, you'd drop the reps to 2-3 and extend the rest period to 20 seconds. When you fatigue here, you're done.
Fatigue here is defined by the RPE score and rep speed. Smooth reps are the goal. Once a set starts to grind – and the RPE goes up – fatigue has set in and it's time to stop.
If you’re feeling frisky, you can add weight drops as you start to fatigue. Say you do your activation set of 6 reps, then knock off say 5 singles before the reps start to grind. At that point you can knock the weight down say 10kg (or 20 lbs) and keep the cluster set going with higher reps.
The beauty of this system, like the other auto-regulating approaches, is that it combines both high-load and high-volume training into one method by using fatigue management principles. You get some of the fatigue/exhaustion effect while simultaneously racking up a large workload.
That's the gist of it, anyway. You can read more on Borge's website at www.myrevolution.no (it's mostly in Norwegian, but Google translator makes it reasonably readable in English).
It doesn't take much creativity to adjust this approach to make it applicable for either high intensity or high volume phases. By varying the starting weight (you’ll get more total reps with 75% than with 85%), and by toying with both the rest interval (10 second rests will fatigue you faster than 20 second rests) and the number weight drops, you can customize this method for pretty much anything.</div>
Cliff notes: Building Muscle Mass: A Quick Look at Muscular Growth and Hypertrophy<div>
(Matthew Perryman @ Maximum Muscle,191)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">HYPERTROPHY-SPECIFIC TRAINING
Hypertrophy-Specific Training (HST) is a perfect example of the linear model applied over the short-term, in a way that's oriented towards bodybuilding. Thus the 'hypertrophy-specific' title.
It's about as basic an arrangement as you can think of. The base routine is three full-body workouts on nonconsecutive days, like the 5x5 and undulating routines I've mentioned. You choose exercises for each body part, instead of just a handful of lifts to improve.
The periodization method is an eight-week linear cycle. You start with 15 reps, then 10, then 5, and then eccentric-only training, with each phase lasting two weeks. During each phase, you start with light weights and add 5-10 lbs per session until you're at maximums by the last workout of the cycle. So if you know that your 15RM is 100 lbs and you want to make 5 lb jumps each workout, you'd subtract 25 lbs (5 lbs * 5 jumps) to start out with 75 lbs.
In practice, HST can be hit or miss. When done to the letter, a lot of people report getting stronger, but they don't necessarily get larger.
However I do see HST as being useful, even in principle, as an accumulation phase. The trick would be to stay with 15s and 10s for 4-6 weeks, then switch into a heavier strength phase. Instead of focusing on blind progression, you could use a wave-like progression – add weight for 3-4 workouts, then drop the weights back and start over.
I will say that a few years back, I did exactly that using 10 reps per session. I wasn't using the linear progression approach, however; I just waved the weights up and down every few workouts. After about four weeks, I switched into a Westside-type routine and managed to net quite a bit of size. Yes, that's pure anecdote and there could well be other variables involved, but it does at least follow.
In any event, the linear version could be useful for beginners or those otherwise in a situation that would call for a relatively easy linear program. The accumulation version is an option as well. The basic principles of HST are sound in any event: frequent training, adequate stimulus, and progressive overload.</div><div>
(Matthew Perryman @ Maximum Muscle,200)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Max-Stimulation and Myo-Reps
I'm listing these under the same heading due to their similarity, though they're different routines. Both of these approaches use frequent full-body training sessions similar to Hypertrophy-Specific Training.
Max-Stimulation (Max-Stim) was developed by Dan Moore based on the research into muscle growth. Dan decided that fatigue was compromising performance and thus limiting the exposure to growth stimulus in each workout. With that in mind, Max-Stim uses cluster sets based around 'M-time' or the rest interval between each rep, which will vary from 10 to 20 seconds. The idea is to rack up a substantial workload with heavy weights, more than you'd be able to accomplish with the regular sets-to-fatigue approach.
Dan's website can be found at www.hypertrophy-research.com
Myo-Reps is a variation on the same concept, incorporating elements of both the rest-pause set and the cluster set methods, suggested by the Nordic beauty Borge Fagerli. Where Max-Stim avoids fatigue entirely, Myo-Reps makes use of it. You’d start out with an 'activation set', which is just your standard set to failure-or-highexertion with a target of maybe 8-12 reps. As with the rest-pause method, you’d rack the bar and take a few breaths.
The set now becomes a cluster. You'd knock off sets of maybe 3-4 reps, keeping the rest intervals brief – around 10 seconds or so at first. Once those start to grind, you'd drop the reps to 2-3 and extend the rest period to 20 seconds. When you fatigue here, you're done.
Fatigue here is defined by the RPE score and rep speed. Smooth reps are the goal. Once a set starts to grind – and the RPE goes up – fatigue has set in and it's time to stop.
If you’re feeling frisky, you can add weight drops as you start to fatigue. Say you do your activation set of 6 reps, then knock off say 5 singles before the reps start to grind. At that point you can knock the weight down say 10kg (or 20 lbs) and keep the cluster set going with higher reps.
The beauty of this system, like the other auto-regulating approaches, is that it combines both high-load and high-volume training into one method by using fatigue management principles. You get some of the fatigue/exhaustion effect while simultaneously racking up a large workload.
That's the gist of it, anyway. You can read more on Borge's website at www.myrevolution.no (it's mostly in Norwegian, but Google translator makes it reasonably readable in English).
It doesn't take much creativity to adjust this approach to make it applicable for either high intensity or high volume phases. By varying the starting weight (you’ll get more total reps with 75% than with 85%), and by toying with both the rest interval (10 second rests will fatigue you faster than 20 second rests) and the number weight drops, you can customize this method for pretty much anything.</div>
