Socrates, the OG of philosophy and Hypertrophy once said “No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” I guess even back in 400 BC they knew the value of building muscle. Socrates – the original gym bro!

So what is Hypertrophy, it’s basically a fancy word for making gains! Its when your muscle increases in size which can be achieved by stuffing them with some extra muscle glycogen or by increasing the size and/or multiplying muscle fibres (AKA myofibrils).  So the question is how do we achieve this awe-inspiring feat to set us on our journey of becoming a Greek God!

Firstly lets have a look at the different types of training available;

Now, lets ditch the bro-science and look at the cold, hard facts-

Sets- A study by Krieger. (2010) found that performing a mere 2-3 sets per exercise per week produced a massive 40% more muscle compared to just one set, over a 24 week period. True bang for your buck! Schoenfeld et al. (2017a) had similar results, However, they also observed that at least 10 weekly sets per muscle group maximized increased muscle mass.

Reps –  Schoenfeld et al. (2021) played around with the amount of reps and found that training within the rep range of 8-12 produced significant changes in lean body mass compared to lower or higher reps. So if Greek God is the aim don’t bother with one-rep wonders or endless rep marathons.

Repetition Durations –  Slow and steady might win the race, but it wont give you those gains. Schoenfeld et al. (2015) observed that training within Repetition Durations of 0.5 to 8 seconds produced the best hypertrophy results. Reducing the rep duration to 10 seconds of more was not swole-worthy.

Intensity – lightweight baby is actually the path to gains. Schoenfeld et al. (2016a) observed that low loads below 60% 1 rep max achieved similar hypertrophy effects as high loads greater than 65% 1 rep max, at least in untrained individuals.  Schoenfeld et al. (2017) observed similar hypertrophy changes after the use of high or low loads but only when muscle failure was reached. So, its time to stop this ego lifting culture.

Frequency – Schoenfeld et al. (2019) investigated frequency and has put gains on a whole new wavelength. When volume is the same it really doesn’t matter if you spread your sets over 1 day or 3 days from a hypertrophy point. So its up to you if you dial your frequency up or down, just listen to your body people, and avoid overtraining.

Blood Flow Restriction – Just like the old saying ‘ tighten the gains by restricting the circulation’? This is something I have never tried and always seemed a bit crazy, you basically put a band around a limb to restrict blood flow  allowing you to train at a high intensity with a lower weight. The science is there though. Lixandrão et al. (2018) and Slysz et al.(2016) both show that when you restrict the flow and use low loads you will experience similar gains to higher loads.  But use these bands wisely you don’t want to turn your limbs into fancy sausages.

So, what’s the magical hypertrophy formula to begin our Odyssey to become a Greek God? Aim for 10 sets per muscle group per week, play around within the 8-12 rep range and remember that slow and steady wins the race, but not too slow, keep reps under 10 seconds.

By implicating this you still need to ‘train hard or go home’ train close to muscle failure. Progressive overload should be used to ensure you are putting the required work in. Now remember that any training plan should be as unique as a fingerprint, based on your injuries, available equipment, time constraints and let’s be honest, how much you like or dislike an exercise. So have a peak at the below 3 day split. More experienced lifters will require additional volume, if you want a personalised programme get in touch here.