Best Routine for Hypertrophy

Bigger Stronger Leaner
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What is the best proven routine for building muscle?

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5/3/1 Building the Monolith

Super Squats

DoggCrapp

Westside Barbell for Skinny Bastards

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To which I’ll add:

Mountaindog Training

Fortitude Training

Max-OT

Big Beyond Belief

German Volume Training

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FST 7

I’m not doing anything else ever again.

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Understanding The Concepts

Understanding the concepts will allow you to write an effective training program to increase muscle mass.

With that in mind, let look the mechanism for…

Optimal Hypertrophy Training

Research by Dr Brad Schoenfeld determined three mechanism that promote muscle growth. Thus, for optimal hypertrophy, all three need to be incorporated into a well written training program.

  1. Mechanical Tension: This means training that increases Limit Strength, you 1 Repetition Max.

  2. Metabolic Stress: This is also know as, “The Pump”. A Traditional Bodybuilding Hypertrophy Training Program elicits this effect.

  3. Muscle Damage: Placing stress/trauma on the muscle evokes this via: Pushing to failure or near failure infrequently, Eccentric Training, and Loaded Stretching between sets.

Kenny Croxdale

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I really like Dorian Yates approach to training. Basically, he modified what Mike Mentzer/Arthur Jones had created. Short training time (4 times a week less than an hour each) with high intensity (forced reps, extra negatives, etc). You can watch him train like no other.

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Which of the ones you picked did you enjoy the most for Hypertrophy goals?

Also, on the Westside For SB which one did you run he has three of them?

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They all work but best go v2 or 3 depending on goals/like jumps athletic work etc. Read all the articles tho to get full context

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I enjoyed none of them. Training for hypertrophy is brutal. However, I found them all effective.

I used version 1, but that’s because version 2 and 3 did not exist at the time. I’d run version 3 now if I had the choice.

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HIT, High Intensity Training

This method has it place on the training table. It works to a degree.

However, it will only take you so far.

Hypertrophy Research

Research as well as empirical data based on Bodybuilding Training has demonstrated that multiple sets are more effective for Hypertrophy (increasing muscle mass) than HIT’s on set to failure with an exercise.

Dorian Yates

Yates developed his physique via multiple set, volume training.

Yates’ HIT Training Session simply maintained what he built; maintaining something is easier than building it.

The same applies with Mike Mentzer.

Arthur Jones’ Colorado Experiment

One of Jones experiments with HIT/Nautilus was with Casey Viator.

Viator literally gained an unbelievable of muscle mass with in a short period of time, weeks.

Two main reason emerged from Viator’s unbelievable muscle gain.

  1. Viator was a season bodybuilder who had quite training, lost the muscle mass that he had gain with the traditional multi set, high volume training.

  2. Viator, like most freak Bodybuilders, was a “Super-Responder” to resistance training; gaining muscle easily.

Viator simply regained muscle that he had lost due to not training an a mediocre diet.

Take Home Message

  1. Yates, Mentzer and Viator all built their physiques with traditional Hypertrophy Bodybuilding Training with multiple sets and high volume.

  2. HIT Training allows them to maintain or in Viator’s case gain back what he had lost due to not training and a mediocre diet.

What We Learned From HIT

  1. Intensity Matters: At some point in a training program cycle, you need to push it to the limit. Thus, if you are on a 4 week training cycle, push it to the limit on your 4th and final week.

  2. Chronic Injuries From HIT: Yates had multiple injuries from constantly training to failure too frequently with HIT.

The Purpose of Training

The purpose of training is to stress muscle then provide them with recovery time; recovery is where muscle growth occurs./

Chronic HIT Resistance Training every session lead eventually lead to Overtraining and injuries.

“Wound Healing”

Research simply verified Common Sense.

The greater the trauma placed on the body (training, injury, disease, etc), the longer the recover time required.

That is the reason and purpose behind Periodization Training: planned Training Session that are light and easy that promote healing and period of pushing the intensity limit.

Kenny Croxdale

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