Training

Jun 26, 2020

Should you use supersets to build muscle faster? Here's what 18 studies say on the subject!

Supersets are a basic building block of classic bodybuilding workouts. You can find them in almost every bodybuilding magazine, every bodybuilding book and every bodybuilding blog and bodybuilders of the golden era such as Franco Columbu, Frank Zane and Arnold swore by supersets.

But how effective are supersets really? And how do they compare to simpler muscle building techniques like increasing volume (reps), frequency or intensity (load)?

Well, the short answer is that supersets are neither inherently good or bad - it all depends on how you use them. Use them correctly and you'll be able to finish your workouts faster without compromising your performance. Use them incorrectly and they will slow down your progress.

Let's start by defining exactly what a superset is.

What is a superset?

A superset is a training technique where you perform two exercises in a row with little or no rest between exercises. For this reason, supersets are sometimes referred to as paired sets.

When more than two exercises are combined in this way, it is usually referred to as a circuit or, in the case of 3 sets, a triple set. You may also have heard of mega sets, which typically describe a circuit of 4 or more exercises.

Sometimes supersets are used to target the same muscle group with the goal of activating all muscle fibers in that muscle group as fully as possible.

An example of this would be a superset consisting of a set of barbell curls and a set of dumbbell hammer curls, both of which target the biceps but load them slightly differently.

Supersets are also often used to target different (usually antagonistic) muscle groups, usually with the aim of saving time.

For example, you could perform a set of bench press supersets with barbell rows to target your pulling and pushing muscles.

After completing a superset, you usually rest for one to two minutes before moving on to the next set, exercise or superset of your training session.

In an arm training session, the use of supersets could look like this:

Barbell curls: 10 - 12 reps.

Immediately followed by

Tricep presses: 10 - 12 reps.

1 to 2 minutes rest

Repeat the whole thing two to three times.

Do supersets help you build muscle faster?

Many people believe that supersets are better for building muscle mass than traditional training methods and their reasoning usually includes one or more of the following points:

"Supersets are heavier and harder than traditional sets"
"Supersets help you complete more repetitions during a training session"
"Supersets give you a stronger pump"
"Supersets stimulate a release of growth hormones and testosterone"

Let's take a look at each of these claims below and see if they stand up to scrutiny (and science).

"Supersets are heavier and harder than traditional sets"

There's no getting around the fact that building a well-developed body takes a lot of hard and unpleasant work.

"No pain, no gain" may not necessarily be advice for practitioners, but this statement isn't completely inaccurate either. If you don't continually push your body and stress your muscles beyond their comfort zone, then you won't get far in your muscle building efforts.

This is the reason why many people believe that supersets are highly effective. They are heavier, more strenuous and more painful than traditional sets. However, this does not necessarily mean that they are better for building muscle.

The main reason supersets feel more strenuous and harder is because of the short rest intervals, which make the weights seem heavier, promote a pump and greatly increase the heart rate (1). However, these things are surprisingly not a powerful muscle-building stimulus (2).

"Supersets help you complete more repetitions during a training session"

This statement is true. By combining exercises into a superset, you can do more work in a shorter period of time and since accumulated volume (total reps) is an important part of muscle building, this sounds good at first glance (3).

The problem, however, is that just as one calorie is not equal to one calorie when it comes to optimizing body composition, one repetition is not equal to one repetition when it comes to optimizing strength and muscle gains.

In other words, there is such a thing as higher and lower quality volume and if you want to build muscle and strength as quickly as possible, then you need to emphasize and prioritize the former as much as possible.

One of the key factors that determines the quality of repetitions you perform is the intensity or amount of weight relative to your one repetition maximum (1RM) that you use. Simply put, if you're not moving heavy enough weights, you're not going to get as much out of your workout as you could.

I don't want to ramble on too much at this point and to make a long story short, scientific research shows that you should focus on weights in the range of 75 to 85% of your 1RM weight if you want to maximize your gains in strength and muscle mass (4).

The only way to achieve this is to make sure you get enough rest between sets, as your performance will decline rapidly if you don't rest long enough between sets (e.g. 1 minute between heavy sets of a strength workout).

If your rests between sets are too short, you will either have to use lighter weights or you will only be able to perform fewer repetitions, which will slow down your progress over time. Scientific research shows that people who rest longer between sets are able to build more strength and muscle mass than those who rest less time between sets (5).

Although supersets can help you increase the volume of your training sessions, they are not usually the type of high quality volume that will have a strong impact on strength and muscle mass gains.

"Supersets give you a stronger pump"

The term pump refers to a temporary increase in muscle size that occurs when you move weights and is particularly strong when you use higher repetitions and shorter rest intervals.

When you contract your muscles, higher concentrations of metabolic by-products such as lactic acid (lactate), hydrogen ions and phosphates accumulate around the muscle cells (6).

In response, your body pumps more blood into the muscle to remove these chemicals and supply the muscle with more oxygen and nutrients. Some of this blood remains "trapped" in the muscle, resulting in a noticeable and visible pump.

However, these chemicals do not only contribute to the pump. Some of them also directly stimulate muscle growth through a process known as metabolic stress (7).

Supersets are good for achieving a strong pump as they usually involve 10 or more repetitions and short rest intervals, which greatly increases the production of metabolic waste products and blood flow to the muscle.

As a result, they also cause more metabolic stress than traditional sets, so it is theorized that they may also stimulate greater muscle growth.

The problem, however, is that metabolic stress is not a strong stimulus for muscle growth (8). This stimulus is not nearly as strong as mechanical stress, for example, which represents how hard your muscles have to contract to move a weight.

In other words, metabolic stress and mechanical tension are two different muscle building pathways (9) and when you train your muscles, both are involved to some extent.

How much one pathway is emphasized over the other depends on what you're doing. Supersets emphasize metabolic stress more than mechanical stress, while heavy strength training emphasizes mechanical stress more than metabolic stress.

This is why relying too heavily on supersets is a mistake - you produce a lot of metabolic stress (which is a weak muscle-building stimulus) at the expense of mechanical tension (which is a stronger muscle-building stimulus).

This has been shown in several studies, including one conducted by researchers at the University of Central Florida that compared a higher repetition "pump" training program to a lower repetition strength training program (10).

Both training programs resulted in the same amount of muscle growth, but there was a small trend towards greater gains in the strength training group.

Similar results were observed in another study conducted by researchers who compared training at 30% of 1RM weight (maximum weight for one repetition) with training at 80% of 1RM weight (11).

They found that even though both groups built roughly the same amount of muscle, the group training at 30% of 1RM weight had higher levels of fatigue that would likely require a longer period of time to fully recover (reducing potential training frequency).

In addition, the more supersets you perform during your workout, the more fatigued you will be, which will reduce your performance when training with heavy weights and reduce the amount of mechanical tension you can expose your muscles to during the rest of your training session.

All of this is why the correct way to use supersets is to save them for less important (isolation) exercises and perform supersets later in the session after you've already done the heavy work of the day.

So even though pump training can produce a good amount of metabolic stress and a weak muscle building stimulus, it's not nearly as effective as increasing mechanical tension (progressive overload) and can furthermore interfere with the type of training that increases mechanical tension.

"Supersets stimulate a release of growth hormone and testosterone"

Scientists have known for some time that shortening rest periods and using higher repetition ranges generally produces a greater increase in levels of anabolic hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone (13).

A good example of this is a study conducted by researchers at Kennesaw State University and published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (14). This study compared the changes in testosterone levels in people who performed supersets with the corresponding changes in people who used traditional sets.

The researchers found that the group that paused for 1 minute between sets (the superset group) had 25% higher testosterone levels immediately after training than the group that paused for 2.5 minutes between sets.

This is why some bodybuilding gurus say you can use supersets to optimize your hormone levels and build muscle faster.

Body and temporary increases in anabolic hormone levels are nice, but how much can they actually affect muscle growth?

Well, while some research suggests that the effects of this are significant (15), the majority of studies conducted to date on the subject say the opposite (16).

In short, a review of the available research on this topic shows quite clearly that temporary, exercise-induced increases in anabolic hormone levels do not significantly contribute to additional gains in strength or muscle mass.

A good example is the study referenced above (14). Ironically, the group that took shorter rests between sets built significantly less strength and muscle mass than the group that took longer rests - even though the group with the shorter rest intervals experienced a stronger increase in anabolic hormone levels after training.

In the second part, we will look at other potential benefits of supersets and then show a better way to use supersets.

References:

Source: https://legionathletics.com/supersets/

By Michael Matthews

Jun 23, 2020

The definitive guide to muscle hypertrophy

After looking at the basics of muscle hypertrophy in the first part of this article, and how different types of training and nutrition affect muscle hypertrophy in the second part, in the final part of this article series we will look at how you can put all of this into practice to maximize your muscle gain.

What is the best way to stimulate muscle hypertrophy?

Although muscle hypertrophy is a hugely complex subject and science is still exploring the nooks and crannies (and will continue to do so for a long time to come), we know enough to say the following:

If you follow these 5 things, you can build plenty of muscle and strength:

Perform a lot of heavy training with multi-joint exercises
Perform a small amount of cardio training
Maintain a small calorie surplus in the region of 10%
Follow a diet high in protein and carbohydrates
Use supplements that have been proven to promote and accelerate muscle growth.

Let's look at these steps one by one.

Step 1: Do a lot of heavy training with multi-joint exercises

There are many ways to train your muscles and if your goal is to build muscle mass and strength as quickly as possible, then nothing can beat a heavy workout with basic exercises.

It's better than training with machines, pump training, bodyweight exercises, yoga, Pilates and anything else you can do to develop your muscle definition.

But what do I mean by "heavy basic exercises"?

By "heavy" I mean that you should primarily work with weights that are in the range of 75 to 85% of your 1RM weight, which generally equates to training in a repetition range of 4 to 12 reps.

By basic or multi-joint exercises, I mean that you should focus your efforts on exercises that work several large muscle groups. The classic examples of this are squats, deadlifts and bench presses.

There are a lot of strength training programs that meet these criteria, but I would recommend you start with a classic like the push pull legs program.

Step 2: Perform a small amount of cardio training

You don't have to do cardio during the muscle building phase, but incorporating small amounts of cardio into your training program can have a positive impact on your recovery, health and body composition.

I personally do the following during the muscle building phase:

I go for a 15-minute walk four to five times a week.
I do two 25-minute training sessions on a cycle ergometer.
I have other hobbies such as playing golf and visiting museums that keep me active.

If you're not sure how much cardio you want to do per week, start with two hours of walking per week.

That's all it takes to reap the benefits of cardio without compromising muscle building.

Step 3: Maintain a slight calorie surplus in the region of 10%

This is enough to maximize your muscle growth without causing unnecessary fat gain. This should allow you to gain 0.5 to 1 pound per week. This target applies to men, while women should aim for half of this.

If you've just started training with weights, you can easily double these numbers for the first three to six months, but after that your gains should level off in the above range.

Step 4: Follow a diet high in protein and carbohydrates

Besides water, protein is the main component of muscle tissue. Therefore, if you are aiming for muscle hypertrophy, you need to provide your body with enough raw material (protein) to build bigger and stronger muscles.

How much exactly?

Well, 2 grams per kilogram of body weight is what most research shows is the optimal amount for most people in most situations (54). Despite what you may have heard or read in the gym, on internet forums or in bodybuilding magazines, there is no need to consume more than this amount of protein during the muscle building phase.

After your protein intake, your next priority is your carbohydrate intake. You will have a much easier time building muscle and strength with a high carbohydrate intake than with a moderate or low carbohydrate intake.

For this reason, during the muscle-building phase, I recommend starting with 4 to 5 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight per day and working your way up from there if you need to increase your calorie intake to continue making gains.

Step 5: Use supplements that are proven to promote and accelerate muscle growth

I saved this for last because, frankly, I believe that supplements are less important than proper nutrition and training. Supplements don't build great bodies - proper training and nutrition do.

But even though supplements are not essential for building muscle and losing fat, there are a few supplements that can help you achieve your goals. Although there is a lot of hype in the supplement market, there are some safe and natural compounds that have been scientifically proven to increase strength, muscle endurance, muscle growth, fat loss and more. Here are some of the most effective supplements for building strength and muscle.

Creatine

Creatine is a substance that occurs naturally in the human body and in foods such as red meat. Creatine is perhaps the most studied molecule in the world of sports supplements. Hundreds, if not thousands, of studies have examined the effects of creatine and the consensus is clear:

Creatine helps to...

Build muscle and increase strength (55)
Increase anaerobic endurance (56)
Reduce muscle damage and soreness (57) Protein powder

You don't need protein supplements to build muscle, but considering how much protein is needed daily to maximize muscle growth, it can be hard to get all that protein from food. This is where a protein supplement can help you get additional high quality protein.

Pre-workout supplements

The right pre-workout supplement can give you the right kick and more energy in the gym. Until recently, pre-workout supplements often consisted primarily of harsh stimulants, but today many manufacturers are focusing on more sustainable products that not only give you a boost, but also promote your performance and muscle building in a more sustainable way.

You should look out for the following ingredients in a pre-workout supplement:

Caffeine: Caffeine can do more than simply provide an energy boost. It can also increase both muscle endurance and strength (58, 59).
Beta-alanine: Beta-alanine is a naturally occurring amino acid that can reduce exercise-induced fatigue, increase anaerobic exercise capacity and accelerate muscle growth (60, 61, 62).
Citrulline malate: Citrulline is an amino acid that can increase muscle endurance, reduce post-workout muscle soreness and increase aerobic performance (63, 64, 65).
Betaine: Betaine is a compound found in plants such as beets. Betaine can increase muscle endurance, increase strength and increase the production of growth hormones and IGF-1 (66, 67, 68).
Theanine: Theanine is an amino acid found primarily in tea. Theanine reduces the effects of mental stress, increases the production of nitric oxide, which increases blood flow and improves attention, focus, memory, mood and the ability to perform mental tasks (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75).

The bottom line on muscle hypertrophy

You can spend hundreds of hours studying the topic of muscle hypertrophy and still only scratch the surface. It's an extremely complex topic that encompasses countless physiological functions and adaptations.

Fortunately, you don't have to be a scientist to understand the underlying science and use it to build muscle quickly and efficiently.

Here's a summary of the key points:

As long as you train with heavy weights and moderate volume, and as long as you go close to muscle failure on most of your sets, you will stimulate both myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
You may - or may not - be able to build new muscle fibers (hyperplasia) after years of strength training. But regardless of this, most of your gains will come from increasing the size of your existing muscle fibers - not from building new muscle fibers.
You don't need different training methods to target different muscle fiber types.
Heavy training with basic exercises is the best way to stimulate muscle hypertrophy.
You need to regularly eat more calories than you burn to maximize your muscle growth.
How much muscle you can build naturally will be determined by your genetic makeup, but you will most likely be able to build more than is necessary to achieve the look you want.

And here are the 5 steps you need to follow to put all this into practice and build as much muscle mass as possible:

Perform a lot of heavy training with multi-joint exercises
Perform a small amount of cardio training
Maintain a small calorie surplus in the region of 10%
Follow a diet high in protein and carbohydrates
Use supplements that have been proven to promote and accelerate muscle growth.

Do these things and you'll have no problem building muscle like clockwork.

References:

Source: https://legionathletics.com/muscle-hypertrophy-podcast/

May 19, 2020

Tips of the week You should know why you are doing squats

Are you training for bodybuilding purposes or do you want to improve your powerlifting performance? Knowing this answer will make a huge difference to your squat performance.

Here are the fundamental differences between squats for powerlifting purposes (increasing 1 RM weight) and squats for bodybuilding purposes (an increase in muscle mass).

Repetitions: Mix low and high reps for hypertrophy (8 to 12 and even sets of 25 or 50 reps) and use lower reps for strength (1 to 5).
Weight: Always aim to get stronger, but when it comes to hypertrophy, you can build muscle with heavier weights and lighter weights. For strength, however, you should always train quite heavy.
Tempo: You should know how to use tempo to your advantage to build muscle and strength. Tempo with slow eccentric (negative) repetitions is often helpful for bodybuilding, but has no place in powerlifting.
Time under tension: Prolonged time under tension is great for hypertrophy, but not so great for strength.
Bar placement: In general, you should use a high bar position on your back for bodybuilding squats and a low bar position for strength training.
Body position: Keep your body upright when trying to build muscle (if you are a bigger exerciser then you will tend to lean forward when moving heavy weights, but this is fine). In powerlifting, body position doesn't matter so much. Just use what works well.
Rest intervals: Mix short and long rest intervals to build muscle. If you're training for strength, rest for at least three minutes between sets to maximize recovery and strength.
Range of motion: A simple rule of thumb for both disciplines is that you should go as low as you can without pain or discomfort. Work on your flexibility if you need to improve your range of motion.
Stance: In general, bodybuilding squats require a closer foot spacing, whereas for powerlifting squats you are better off with a more hip-dominant stance. However, your squat stance will be very much based on the genetic construction of your hips, so you should choose a stance that you are comfortable with.
Muscle contraction: If you are trying to build muscle, make sure you focus on contracting the muscles as hard as possible. The pause time at the highest point of the movement is a good time to consciously contract the muscles as hard as possible. Forget conscious tensing for powerlifting. Keep your body under tension, but use the time to recover briefly so that you are strong for the next repetition(s).

Tip: Use windmill planks for your core

This is one of the best core exercises for strength and power athletes

By Joel Seedman, PhD

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-the-windmill-plank-for-your-core

Good coordination of neuromuscular recruitment and the ability to transfer force between the hips, core and upper torso is critical for both athletic performance and heavy strength training. Side Windmill Planks are one of the few exercises that require the upper torso, core and hip muscles to work together synergistically in a controlled, high-tension isometric exercise.

Windmill Planks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isl60BBgp4U

Start with both feet on top of each other. Once you have achieved good form in this basic position, try to incorporate a hip abduction by lifting the top leg while keeping both feet perfectly parallel to each other.

This plank variation will quickly expose and address energy leaks that may exist between different segments of the body such as the hips and core.

Tip: Take this grip strength test

If you don't pass this test, then your grip strength is really modest or you're too fat

By Travis Pollen

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-take-this-grip-strength-test

Absolute strength refers to the total amount of weight you can move - your 1 RM weight. Relative strength refers to your strength relative to your body weight. One of the simplest and most basic tests of relative strength is isometric hold pull-ups.

Isometric hold for pull-ups

Standard: Hang from a pull-up bar with your preferred grip (neutral grip, overhand grip or underhand grip) and slightly flexed hips for 20 seconds.

Advanced version: Do the whole thing with just one arm and try again to hold for 20 seconds.

What if you can't do it?

Spend several weeks practicing cluster sets of isometric pull-up holds. Start with sets of four 5-second hold phases and gradually progress to longer phases.

Tip: Push, pull, bend and stretch

When putting together your training plan, divide your body into four quadrants.

By Mike Sheridan

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-push-pull-bend-and-extend

Planning your workouts and training days around the different muscle groups can be a daunting task. However, dividing your body into four quadrants and thinking about how you can incorporate the four basic exercises makes planning the training program quite simple:

Upper Body Push
Upper body pull (pull)
Lower body push (knees bent)
Lower body pull (hip extension)

When planning your workouts, think about how you can incorporate a push, a pull, a bend and an extension and you can't lose. Dedicate a day to each movement, group them together to get an upper body day and a lower body day or put them all together in a total body workout. Whichever way you go, you need to get really strong and feel comfortable with these four primary exercises.

Examples of a breakdown of exercises

2-days/week:

Upper body day 1 - push/pull
Lower body day 2 - bend/extend

Upper body/lower body day 1 - push/stretch
Upper body/lower body day 2 - pull/pull

4-days/week

Upper body day 1 - stretch
Upper body day 2 - bend
Lower body day 1 - push
Lower body day 2 - pull

You can still train your biceps, triceps and core if you want, but your program design should revolve around push, pull, bend and stretch. These exercises are the be-all and end-all. Everything else is just the garnish.

Tip: Perform lat pulldowns with paused repetitions

A simple technique and a change in grip can make lat pulldowns work much better.

By Lee Boyce

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-paused-rep-pulldowns

Taking a pause at the point of maximum contraction - when the bar is at its lowest position - can be a humbling experience. The amount of mid-back activation added by a simple 1-second pause can cause deep-seated muscle soreness that can linger for days after the workout. Use a wide underhand grip. The external rotation brings the rear shoulder muscles into play as a bonus.

Lat pull-ups with paused repetitions

Traditional pull-ups and lat pull-ups pass through this region with limited attention to speed control. It's a real testament to your mid-back strength if you can control the weight at the point of maximum contraction.

You can also try this on pull-ups, but chances are your technique will be less than stellar. I had to reduce the weight by more than 50% on this exercise to maintain good form on all 8 reps. Even if someone only has to reduce the weight by 10%, that's still significantly less weight than their total body weight. Hanging from a bar and trying the same with your pull-ups will be even harder if you are quite muscular. When it comes to isolating the muscles of the mid-back, less is usually more.

Tip: Use elevator squats for muscular legs

End your leg day with this hypertrophy-inducing workout method

By Ben Bruno

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-elevator-squats-for-big-legs

You can use the elevator method on a variety of different exercises, but the basic concept is to start each repetition by performing a half repetition, then a three-quarter repetition, then a full repetition, and repeat for each repetition. The combination of half, three-quarter and full repetitions counts as one repetition. Repeat the sequence in this order for the desired number of repetitions.

Chair front squats

Go all the way down and then halfway up again.
Go back down and then three quarters of the way up.
Go down again and then all the way up.

If this sounds hellish, that's because it is - and that's just repetition. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

I like to use a list to control the depth, but that's just a personal preference. If you forgo the box, be careful not to abbreviate the downward movement during the set when your legs start to scream.

Elevator squats with the barbell in the neck

Interestingly, I don't perform heavy classic squats because my knees and back don't like it, but I find it okay to perform elevator squats because the weight is significantly lighter than the weight I would normally use in squats. This technique could be an option for those who love classic squats but get knee or lower back issues with heavy squats. Keep the reps in the 3 to 8 range - by that I mean 3 to 8 elevator reps, of course.

When should you do elevator squats?

Elevator squats work best at the end of a training session, after you've done the heavy workout of the day or on days when your body doesn't feel like a heavy workout but you still want to get a good training effect. Elevator squats can also be a useful way to get stubborn muscle groups growing again with a new stimulus.

Don't forgo the heavy stuff altogether, as it's always about getting stronger too, but the more tools you have in your toolbox, the better off you'll be in the long run.

Tip: Perform key press for the pecs

Stimulate your chest in a whole new way with this effective exercise.

By Lee Boyce

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-the-key-press-for-pecs

Grab a pair of dumbbells and a reverse incline bench. Start with an underhand grip at the lowest point of the movement. This means that your palms are facing your face. As you push the dumbbells up, rotate them so that they are in a neutral position at the highest point of the movement, meaning that the palms are facing each other.

Make sure that you keep the press force perpendicular to the floor and not perpendicular to your body (after all, you are lying on a reverse incline bench).

The benefits of key presses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO_IIEb0DTE

The reverse incline limits the involvement of the front shoulder muscles. This is a good thing if your front shoulder muscles tend to take over when you try to train your chest muscles.
This position also allows you a shorter distance to the extended arm position, which means more involvement of the pectoral muscles in the sternum area.
The bottom position of the exercise causes external rotation of the humerus, which brings the pectoral muscles to the optimal length for maximum contraction.
The use of dumbbells allows you to play with the elbow position a little during the movement, which can protect you from excessive strain on your shoulders.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-know-why-youre-squatting

From Rob King

May 07, 2020

The definitive guide to muscle hypertrophy part 1

Having looked at the basics of muscle hypertrophy in the first part of this article, in this second part of this article we will look at how different types of training and diet affect muscle hypertrophy.

How strength training affects muscle hypertrophy

To understand how strength training affects muscle hypertrophy, you need to understand the three primary triggers for muscle growth (29):

Mechanical tension
Muscle damage
Cellular exhaustion

Mechanical tension refers to the amount of force produced by the muscle fibers. When you move weights, you produce two types of mechanical tension in your muscles: "passive" and "active" tension. Passive tension occurs when the muscles are stretched and active tension occurs when they contract.

Muscle damage refers to microscopic damage caused by high levels of tension in the muscle fibers. This damage needs repair, and if your body gets the right nutrition and rest, it will rebuild these fibers larger and stronger to better handle future tension.

(However, it is still not clear whether muscle damage directly stimulates muscle growth or whether this is merely a side effect of mechanical stress, but until this is definitively clarified, muscle damage still deserves a place on the list).

Cellular exhaustion refers to a series of chemical changes that occur inside and outside muscle fibers when they contract regularly (30).

Scientific research shows that mechanical tension is the most important pathway for muscle growth. In other words, mechanical tension produces a stronger muscle-building stimulus than muscle damage and cellular exhaustion (31).

These three pathways of muscle growth are related to what scientists refer to as the "strength-endurance continuum," which works as follows:

Heavy resistance training with lower repetitions increases muscle strength and results in a higher amount of mechanical tension and muscle damage, but less cellular exhaustion
Lighter resistance training with higher repetitions increases muscle endurance and results in lower amounts of mechanical stress and muscle damage, but more cellular fatigue.

Based on what you've just learned, which training style do you think would result in more muscle gains?

Yes, that's right, heavy training with low repetitions because it produces higher amounts of mechanical stress and muscle damage than lighter training with lower repetitions (33).

This has been demonstrated in a number of studies. One example of this is a study conducted by researchers at the University of Central Florida (34). In this study, 33 physically active men with some experience of training with weights were divided into two groups who completed the following types of training:

High-volume, moderate-intensity training performed four times per week and consisting of four sets per exercise of 10 to 12 repetitions each (70% of 1 RM).
A moderate-volume, high-intensity workout performed four times a week, consisting of four sets per exercise with 3 to 5 repetitions (90% of the 1RM).

Both groups used the same exercises (which included bench press, squat, deadlift and shoulder press) and both groups were instructed to maintain their normal dietary habits and keep a food diary.

After eight weeks of training, the researchers found that the group that had completed the high-intensity training had built significantly more muscle and strength than the group that had completed high-volume training.

The authors of the study cited two reasons for the heavier training being superior to the lighter training not only in strength gains, but also in gains in muscle mass:

1. the muscles were exposed to greater amounts of mechanical stress. High-volume training, on the other hand, caused greater amounts of metabolic stress.

2. a higher activation of muscle fibers. And this, in turn, resulted in greater hypertrophy over a larger percentage of muscle tissue (35).

For this reason, your primary goal as a natural trainee should be to get stronger, which is especially true for the primary basic exercises such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses and shoulder presses. In other words, the more weight you can move, the more muscular you will become.

How nutrition affects hypertrophy

You probably know that you need to eat enough protein to build muscle effectively. About 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight works pretty well for most people under most circumstances.

What you may not know is that you also need to consume adequate amounts of calories. Technically, 1 kcal is the amount of energy required to heat 1 kilogram of water at one bar of pressure by one degree and the relationship between the amount of calories you eat and the amount of calories you consume is known as energy balance.

Energy balance greatly influences your body weight and body composition. For example, if you supply your body with less energy than it consumes, you will generate an energy (calorie) deficit that will result in weight loss if maintained long enough.

However, such an energy deficit will also interfere with your body's ability to build muscle protein, which will slow or even stop your muscle gains completely (36).

The physiology at play here is quite complex, but to make a long story short, when you restrict your energy intake, your body goes into an energy-saving mode, prioritizing certain bodily functions over others (37). And since building bigger muscles is not essential for survival and requires a lot of energy, it is quite low on the priority list.

In addition, a calorie deficit can reduce anabolic hormone levels and increase catabolic hormone levels, causing a systemic shift from muscle gain to muscle loss.

Last but not least, a reduction in calorie intake almost always includes a reduction in carbohydrate intake, which will result in reduced performance in the gym. And this is the reason why it is commonly believed that you cannot build muscle and lose fat at the same time. However, this is not entirely accurate. If you have just started training with weights and are dieting or starting to train again after a long break from training, then you can achieve the holy grail of fitness: a body recomposition.

However, the fact is that you will never build as much muscle mass with a calorie deficit as you will with a calorie surplus. And if you're a slightly advanced or more advanced exerciser, you're unlikely to build any significant amount of muscle while dieting.

So if you want to build muscle as quickly as possible, you need to make sure you're not in a calorie deficit - and this applies regardless of your diet strategy and eating plan.

No matter what type of diet you follow - low-carb, intermittent fasting, carb cycling, vegan diet or whatever - if you're in a calorie deficit most of the time, you'll struggle to build muscle and strength. If, on the other hand, you make sure that you are in a slight calorie surplus most of the time, then it will be much easier.

How genetics influence muscle hypertrophy

For many people, the term "genetic predisposition" has a negative connotation as it is often associated with things you want to change but can't, and the bad news is that muscle hypertrophy is often one of those things.

We all have our hard limits when it comes to how much muscle mass we can build. However, unless you're looking to become a bodybuilding pro or a competitive fitness athlete, you can build more than enough muscle to achieve the look and performance you desire.

However, you may still be wondering how much muscle you can build. Well, there are many physiological variables at play here, but you can get a fairly accurate estimate of your muscle-building potential by analyzing your bone structure.

Scientific research shows that people with larger bones tend to be more muscular than those with thinner bone structure (41). They also tend to have higher testosterone levels and build muscle faster when they start exercising (42, 43).

This means that people with a coarser bone structure have a higher genetic potential for gains in strength and muscle mass than people with a more graceful bone structure. But what qualifies as having a coarse bone structure and where are you?

Well, the best indicator of your overall bone structure is the circumference of your wrists and ankles. All things being equal, people with larger wrist and ankle circumferences tend to be naturally more muscular and have a greater potential for muscle growth.

If you're like me and you don't need to measure yourself to know that you have a narrow bone structure, then that's no reason to give up. Anyone can build a significant amount of muscle if they eat right and exercise properly - and you don't have to build as much muscle as you might think to achieve a body you can be proud of.

Most men only need to build 7 to 10 kilos of muscle to achieve an impressive body, and for most this is closer to 5 to 7 kilos (or less). Once you've achieved this, simply reducing your body fat percentage is enough for better definition.

How cardio affects muscle hypertrophy

If you've been in fitness long enough, you'll have heard the following more than once:

If you want to be lean, weak and frail, do more cardio. There is some truth to this statement - cardio training can indeed impair muscle hypertrophy - but it's not so cut-and-dried.

Cardio training hinders muscle growth in two ways:

In the short term, cardio can interfere with gains in strength and muscle mass by increasing fatigue, which makes it harder for you to push yourself harder in your workouts with weights.
In the long term, cardio can impair your strength and muscle gains by interfering with cell signaling associated with muscle hypertrophy (44).

Good evidence for the first point can be found in a study conducted by scientists at the University of São Paulo (45). To see how performing cardio training before heavy weight training affects muscle growth, the scientists divided the subjects into three groups:

The first group performed four sets of partial repetitions of squats with as many repetitions as possible at 80% of the maximum weight for one repetition (1RM).
The second group performed 30 minutes of HIIT training on a cycle ergometer (one minute of easy riding followed by one minute at maximum effort), which was followed by the same leg workout.
The third group performed 30 minutes of HIIT training with sprints (same protocol), followed by the same lower body workout.

After each training session, the scientists calculated the total volume of training with weights for each group and found that the first group (no cardio) performed better than the other two groups.

Muscle growth was not measured in this study, but based on much of what we have covered in this article, it is reasonable to assume that the first group would also have built significantly more muscle and strength if the study had continued over a longer period of time.

As for the second point - disruption of cell signaling - it should be mentioned that training with weights induces a cascade of cellular, genetic and hormonal changes to repair the damaged muscle fibers and make the muscles bigger and stronger to better cope with future training sessions (46).

Cardio training, however, stimulates a much different set of cellular adaptations that result in the muscle becoming smaller and more resistant to fatigue rather than bigger and stronger (47).

The exact mechanisms at play are beyond the scope of this article, but the short version is as follows:

Too much cardio training suppresses the normal levels of anabolic signals elicited by training with weights, which reduces gains in strength and muscle mass over time.

In other words, the more cardio training you do, the harder it is to become more muscular and stronger (48). Furthermore, the longer your cardio training sessions are, the more pronounced these effects will be (49).

However, it would be wrong to say that cardio has no place in your training plan. First of all, cardio has a number of health benefits that you are unlikely to get from strength training alone (50).

Secondly, there is some evidence that regular cardio training may help you recover faster between sets of your weight training sessions, which in turn may help you get more work done per session (51).

Thirdly, cardio training during muscle building could make it easier for you to lose fat during the subsequent definition phase (52).

The good news is that scientific research shows that you can minimize or even eliminate the negative effects of cardio training on muscle hypertrophy by following these steps (53):

Keep your cardio workouts relatively short (30 to 60 minutes max).
Do not perform too many cardio training sessions (three to a maximum of four per week)
Use less strenuous forms of cardio training such as cycling, swimming and rowing instead of running.
Do your cardio workouts after your weights workouts.
Do your cardio workouts on separate days (or at least a few hours apart from your weights workouts).

Stick to this plan and you should have no problem building muscle while incorporating cardio into your training program.

In the next part, we'll look at a 5-step plan that will help you put everything you've learned in the first two parts of this article into practice to maximize your muscle gain.

Source: https://legionathletics.com/muscle-hypertrophy-podcast/

By: Michael Mathews

Apr 30, 2020

Tips of the week Perform micro-dropsets for increased muscle growth

"Find" more repetitions

If you love to train with inhuman intensity, pushing every set to the absolute limit, then you know that it's those last few reps that stimulate muscle growth. This is the area where stress, tension and fatigue reach their highest levels.

This is the reason that set-extending intensity techniques exist: to push the work even further and elicit an incredible growth response. Exercisers have made a lot of progress over the decades with training programs that incorporate such techniques as rest-pause, dropsets (descending sets) and mega-sets. Their purpose? To add more growth-inducing repetitions to the training set.

You need to perform a lot of repetitions leading up to this point, setting the stage for the point where load, tension and fatigue are ultimately reached. After the initial set, you add something that extends that set in a way that allows you to "find" more of those reps that generate a growth response. Sometimes phrase-extending techniques mean that the total repetition count is 25, 30 or even over 50.

This is a valid approach, but what if you could achieve the same intensity with fewer reps?

Welcome to the world of micro dropsets

A normal drop set, also known as a "descending set", consists of a set that you perform until muscle failure, after which you reduce the weight by a significant amount and perform as many more repetitions until you reach the point of muscle failure again. You can repeat this until your muscles are completely exhausted. So you could perform 14 repetitions until muscle failure, reduce the weight significantly, perform 7 more repetitions until muscle failure, reduce the weight again and perform more repetitions until muscle failure.

With a micro-dropset, the reduction in weight is minimal and the same applies to the number of repetitions you can perform with the new weight. Let's say you perform barbell curls with 40 kilos. You can do 12 repetitions with this weight, whereby one more repetition would no longer be possible with good form. At this point, you immediately reduce the weight to 35 kilos and perform as many repetitions as you can with good form.

However, as the weight reduction is quite insignificant (5 kilos) and your muscles are already exhausted, you may only be able to do 2 or possibly 3 reps with the new weight. So you could do another micro-dropset with 37.5 kilos and get one more growth-inducing repetition out of it. So we're talking 3 to 4 heavy, muscle growth stimulating reps within a short period of time, rather than going on and on with traditional descending sets.

Where should you use micro-drop sets?

Micro-drop sets should primarily be used with exercises performed on machines, although smaller isolation exercises are also well suited to this technique. Of course, you can also use this method with heavy multi-joint exercises, but it would be wise not to use this technique with exercises where stabilization of the lower back could be compromised (squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, etc.). However, there should be no problems with heavy exercises such as leg presses or squats where back stability is not an issue.

Can this technique be used for pure strength?

Yes, don't just dismiss micro-drop sets as a set-extending technique that you use to push your muscles to failure multiple times. You can also integrate this technique into a strength program where you have a few more repetitions in the tank for your big and heavy exercises. You can perform a set with a few more reps in the tank, use a micro weight reduction and then perform 2 more reps with good form.

In this scenario, you can also put squats and deadlifts back on the agenda and still keep lower back stability under control. Remember that it's all about using technique with your goals in mind.

How many weight cuts should you make?

This is something you can play with. For smaller exercises that don't put as much strain on your recovery account, you can do 3 to 4 weight cuts. This will give you 6 to 8 extra reps, which have a huge amount of tension and growth potential to offer.

For multi-joint exercises that are performed to muscle failure, a maximum of 2 or better only one micro-reduction works very well. The reason for limiting this in heavy exercises is to not over stress systemic recovery.

How much weight should you use?

The amount of weight you use will depend on how strong you are and what exercise you are performing. If you are doing leg presses with 400 kilos until muscle failure, a reduction to 375 kilos is about the right order of magnitude. With curls, on the other hand, reducing the weight by just 2.5 to 10 kilos may be all you need. Simply choose a weight with which you can only perform 1 to 3 additional repetitions after the weight reduction. If you reduce the weight and then do 10 more reps, that wasn't a micro-reduction, stupid.

How can you do this in practice?

You can have a training partner on each side of the barbell to take the weight off the bar. This will reduce the rest time between the initial set and the drop sets.
If you are training on a machine, simply move the pin up one weight plate and continue the set.
You can use prepared barbells or prepare the dumbbells you need for the weight drops.

Depending on these factors, you could end up with a minimal rest-pause element in your set, which is perfectly fine.

How many repetitions you should be able to perform

If you can do 4 or more reps after a weight cut, then the weight cut was too big. What we want at this point is about 2 and a maximum of 3 additional reps after each weight cut. These reps should be performed with very strict, flawless form to get the most out of them. If you go into a fade mode and start throwing the weights around wildly, then you're spreading the tension to areas you're not actually targeting and will no longer get maximum benefit from this technique.

Apply it and grow

Experiment with this exercise on a few small exercises first to get an idea of the weight reductions and then experiment with a heavy multi-joint exercise.

This is also an excellent technique for muscle groups that are lagging behind in their development, while you train your strong areas more in a maintenance mode.

Tip: Make pull-throughs even better

Here are two simple ways to make this gluteus building exercise even more effective

Joel Seedman, PhD

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-make-the-pull-through-even-better

Cable pull-throughs(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=danTs3bMNG8) are one of the best exercises when it comes to learning and mastering hip mechanics. The load vectors match the anatomical function and the way in which the gluteus is activated.

Rather than loading the hip axis axially with vertical forces, pull-throughs rely on horizontal forces through anteroposterior loading, which matches the force vectors of the gluteus. As a result of working directly against forces that want to flex your hip, this pulls the body into the ideal hip hinge mechanics. In addition to this, pull-throughs are one of the few hip hinge movements that involve significant tension in both the extended and fully contracted position.

Make pull-throughs even better

The first thing you should do is not fix the lower pulley of the cable pulley at the lowest position, but fix it at a position about 30 centimeters above the floor. By setting the pulley of the cable pulley higher so that the cable runs parallel to the floor during the exercise, you eliminate vertical forces and emphasize the horizontal load vectors, which further increases hip and gluteus activity.

Since pull-throughs are so effective when it comes to teaching proper hip mechanics, you should next incorporate an eccentric isometric phase at the lowest point of the movement and an additional pause at the highest point of the movement, which will do wonders when it comes to solidifying ideal hip flexion and hip extension mechanics.

Tip: Perform squats, carry heavy stuff around and shut up

Three things every strength athlete should do. Here are the details.

By Dan John

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-squat-carry-heavy-stuff-and-shut-up

1 - Train squats with high repetitions

High repetition squats are the secret to building mass. Try the following:

If you weigh 60 kilos or less, use 60 kilos for squats
If you weigh between 60 and 80 kilos, use 80 kilos
If you weigh between 80 and 95 kilos, use 85 kilos
If you weigh over 95 kilos, use 105 kilos

If you have done 50 deep squats, then you will understand the value of high repetition squats. After you've done this, come back 2 or 3 days later and repeat.

2 - Carry heavy stuff

This generation of strength athletes is lucky. They've seen Strongman and CrossFit competitive athletes and most are familiar with exercises like the Farmers Walk and the Loaded Carries family. Try using a trap bar with the same weights as tip 1 and aim to cover about 100 meters with that weight.

3 - Shut up instead of talking about trivial stuff

Training with weights is about the following: Lifting weights off the ground, moving weights up overhead, and carrying heavy things for time or distance. We can argue about the fundamental human movements, but if you're not doing those three things, shut up.

Yes, deadlifts, overhead presses and farmer's walks really are that important. And yes, squats and pull-ups are good, but if you can't manage to pull twice your bodyweight up off the floor, press your bodyweight overhead and carry your bodyweight about 100 meters, then you should take care of that first.

Tip: Lose fat. Avoid these pitfalls

These two things aren't directly related to food, but they'll ruin your diet anyway.

By Mike Roussell, PhD

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-lose-fat-avoid-these-pitfalls

Pitfall 1: Being too tired

A friend of mine always looks like he could walk onto a bodybuilding competition stage any day of the year. So I asked him about the most important factor in weight loss. His answer? Sleep.

It goes against what the rest of the world tells us. Shouldn't we be on caffeine, working 12 hours a day, working through the night and only sleeping 3 to 4 hours? As if this is a medal we get for being manly.

No, if you're trying to get lean, you need to sleep, because even though the two seem to be unrelated processes, sleep and fat loss are linked via glucose tolerance and our fat cells. One study found that people who only get 4.5 hours of sleep per night had higher insulin secretions and were higher on the insulin resistance index compared to people who sleep 6 hours per night.

Another study showed that sleeping only 4 hours a night for 2 days instead of 8 led to higher glucose and insulin spikes after breakfast, while at the same time glucagon secretion was blunted.

The relationship between sleep and glucose tolerance may be due to dysfunctional fat cells. Other studies show that lean, healthy individuals experience less reduced insulin sensitivity when their sleep is restricted. Incidentally, leptin concentrations also decreased at the same time.

Since fat cells are the only cells believed to produce leptin and the calorie intake of the subjects in the study was not reduced (as this lowers leptin levels), it appears that our fat cells play an important role in the increased insulin resistance observed in association with sleep deprivation.

At the end of the day, one of the best ways to fix this and teach your fat cells manners is to sleep. You manage to exercise 5 to 7 days a week and eat 5 to 6 meals a day - and I'm sure you can also manage to fit in 8 hours of sleep to support your dieting efforts. If you need help with this, you can find a number of good sleep support products in the supplement section.

Pitfall 2: Mental weakness

Some say that abs are made in the kitchen. Others say that a lean body is forged in the gym. However, I think both are created in the mind first. Dieting and getting lean happens in the moments when no one is around. When it's 10:30pm, you're a bit tired and bored and you want to eat something. What are you going to do?

If you see yourself as a fat ass, you'll get off the couch, go to the kitchen and forget about all the sacrifices of the day while you eat the peanut butter sandwiches your kids left. However, if you see yourself as a lean and motivated person, then you get off the couch and go to bed to improve your glucose tolerance.

Mental confidence and how you see yourself is key. To build this mental confidence, you should focus on two main areas:

1 - Work on seeing yourself at your best

It's easy to think about all the times you cheated on your diet, slept late and skipped a workout, or when you let yourself go so you ended up 15 pounds heavier than you should be. But that won't help you - so stop doing it.

Instead, you should always try to remind yourself of your successes. Remind yourself of your personal bests. Remember the workouts where you did an extra set of a barbell circuit because the burn in your lungs felt so great. Always see yourself as that person and you will be that person.

2 - Only think about yourself

Don't compare yourself to the I'm-waiting-for-my-heart-attack-candidate sitting next to you on the subway because he's not on your level. And don't beat yourself up because you don't look like the superhero from the latest blockbuster. Train hard, eat right, control yourself and adjust things. That's the only thing you need to be in control of - so control it.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-micro-drop-sets-for-growth

By Paul Carter

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Should you use supersets to build muscle faster? Here's what 18 studies say on the subject!

What is a superset?

Do supersets help you build muscle faster?

"Supersets are heavier and harder than traditional sets"

"Supersets help you complete more repetitions during a training session"

"Supersets give you a stronger pump"

"Supersets stimulate a release of growth hormone and testosterone"

References:

The definitive guide to muscle hypertrophy

What is the best way to stimulate muscle hypertrophy?

Step 1: Do a lot of heavy training with multi-joint exercises

Step 2: Perform a small amount of cardio training

Step 3: Maintain a slight calorie surplus in the region of 10%

Step 4: Follow a diet high in protein and carbohydrates

Step 5: Use supplements that are proven to promote and accelerate muscle growth

Creatine

Pre-workout supplements

The bottom line on muscle hypertrophy

References:

Tips of the week You should know why you are doing squats

Tip: Use windmill planks for your core

This is one of the best core exercises for strength and power athletes

Windmill Planks

Tip: Take this grip strength test

If you don't pass this test, then your grip strength is really modest or you're too fat

Isometric hold for pull-ups

What if you can't do it?

Tip: Push, pull, bend and stretch

When putting together your training plan, divide your body into four quadrants.

Examples of a breakdown of exercises

Tip: Perform lat pulldowns with paused repetitions

A simple technique and a change in grip can make lat pulldowns work much better.

Lat pull-ups with paused repetitions

Tip: Use elevator squats for muscular legs

End your leg day with this hypertrophy-inducing workout method

Chair front squats

Elevator squats with the barbell in the neck

When should you do elevator squats?

Tip: Perform key press for the pecs

Stimulate your chest in a whole new way with this effective exercise.

The benefits of key presses

The definitive guide to muscle hypertrophy part 1

How strength training affects muscle hypertrophy

How nutrition affects hypertrophy

How genetics influence muscle hypertrophy

How cardio affects muscle hypertrophy

Tips of the week Perform micro-dropsets for increased muscle growth

"Find" more repetitions

Welcome to the world of micro dropsets

Where should you use micro-drop sets?

Can this technique be used for pure strength?

How many weight cuts should you make?

How much weight should you use?

How can you do this in practice?

How many repetitions you should be able to perform

Apply it and grow

Tip: Make pull-throughs even better

Here are two simple ways to make this gluteus building exercise even more effective

Make pull-throughs even better

Tip: Perform squats, carry heavy stuff around and shut up

Three things every strength athlete should do. Here are the details.

1 - Train squats with high repetitions

2 - Carry heavy stuff

3 - Shut up instead of talking about trivial stuff

Tip: Lose fat. Avoid these pitfalls

These two things aren't directly related to food, but they'll ruin your diet anyway.

Pitfall 1: Being too tired

Pitfall 2: Mental weakness

1 - Work on seeing yourself at your best

2 - Only think about yourself

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