Growth of Muscle - Hypertrophy

Muscle hypertrophy (growth) is triggered by a variety of factors. Unfortunately, many of those same factors that trigger growth have downsides -- and the downsides accumulate as time goes on. Muscle hypertrophy is actually very complex and for significant muscle mass to occur for the average person, multiple things have to occur including (but not limited to) increased blood supply, cellular power (mitochondrial changes), fiber recruitment, microtrauma and subsequent overcompensation.

Not all of these triggers are linear and not all of them operate on the same time scale. In fact, the time scale can change based upon your genetics, age and other environmental factors. Unless your genetics are particularly "good" for building muscle -- it's pretty difficult to actually collapse it all into a workable, sustainable program.

If you peruse body builder magazines (which actually I don't suggest) you will see many of the "pros" suggesting extremely high-volume routines and really high protein diets.  A volume routine is one which involves many sets and repetitions. New guys want to "be like the pros" so they jump onto the training routine.  New lifters grow right away - their muscles are fresh and untrained.  So they grow as soon as they touch a weight. 

You'll see comments from these people strewn about the web, extolling the virtue of the really high volume routine.  They write as soon as they see the results start. They start seeing results pretty quickly so there's a lot of these comments.

So word spreads about the great routine -- unfortunately, this is why this approach continues to carry on.  Usually the new lifter's enthusiam dims and quiets after about 4-6 weeks because they get hurt or feel run down or they just stop growing.

But people don't like to post about how the "great routine" now sucks so the "old information" continues to sit out on the web and the bad info lures in other guys, and this cycle repeats.

Why Does Volume Work at First - and then Stop Working?

Growth occurs when the muscle is exposed to more than it can handle and the damage inflicted is able to be repaired fully by the body. Given sufficient time and resources, the body may over-repair and further strengthen the muscle. Each time this occurs, the body requires "follow-up" work to keep the muscle at this level. And this is not an easy thing for the body to do. Training causes damage. If the damage occurs again before the body has finished repair, it sends a "hurry up" signal (to put it crudely) and repairs are hastened. However, there's a fine line -- you're "putting the pedal to the metal".  This commitment of resources has trade-offs.  Soon the body has to start fixing the reserves its been using instead of hitting them to fix the muscles.  And that slows your ability to repair down.  More damage (training) occurs.   

Repairs start to slow down even more. The initial boost in muscle growth flat out stops. Then the worn-out body starts to fail to recover prior to the next onslaught of damage. Muscle and body tissue gets damaged and isn't repaired prior to the next damage.  This is overtraining.

Overtraining is an enemy - it stops you from reaching your goals.

How Come Pros Don't Overtrain?

Now you may ask -- how come the pros keep succeeding with this high-volume routine?  The answer: recovery time is genetic and pros have great genetics.  And there's something they don't talk about a lot -- in the case of a pro their existing ability is vastly improved by use of steroids and other compounds.  Most normal bodies don't have such supplies naturally -- therefore they cannot tolerate the extreme training.

And actually...pros DO overtrain if they aren't careful.  Even with amazing genetics.  Even with crazy amounts of drugs.

So -- no matter how you look at it, volume eventually is counterproductive. And when the gains stop or reverse, many guys figure out that "this routine isn't working any more".  They keep switching from routine to routine, sometimes with some time off - so they lose some muscle, start over and the cycle repeats.  Grow/shrink, grow/shrink. For many, it leads to zero overall progress - and eventually to injury.

Some are more fortunate and dig deeper. They recognize that things aren't always "black and white" and guess that "volume routines work -- but they can't be used for long".  So either they resort to drugs or else they abandon volume, switch to short and intense routines and get better results (for a while) and don't return to volume again.  Short and intense has its own issues - but we'll return to this later. 

The "mini-boom" phenomenon

Interestingly, guys can be overtrained for years and years. When they finally get a break they get a massive amount of growth in a short period of time due to supercompensation. This is why some guys can suddenly "boom" when they come off of volume. THIS IS CRITICAL TO NOTE. More on this later.

Short and Intense Training: HIT

A lot of guys have seen references to short, intense workouts, these became especially popular with books like "Brawn" and the HIT books by Mike Mentzer.
For a lot of ectomorphs (skinny guys with fast metabolisms who have trouble adding mass), they work pretty well. Eventually, the ectomorph gets "close to" a "normal" body weight, can bench their own body weight and do a number of chinups.  And around that time, the body mass growth just stops and it's around this time the injuries start.  Nagging shoulder problems, low back issues, knees that creak.

This shouldn't happen according to guys like Mike Mentzer.  Mike indicated that adding rest phases when needed (time off) allowed for recovery.  And by so doing, and further and further extending the interval of time between lift sessions High Intensity (low volume) Training (HIT) should always elicit gains....shouldn't it?

No.  It does not.  There's almost always an injury.  And always connective tissue trouble.  Strength outpaces muscle growth.

Why Does HIT Stop Working?

The number one reason HIT stops -- again the body gets accumulated problems. In this case some of the things other than "just muscle" that get hit -- connective tissue, central nervous system, enzymatic machinery, endocrine systems. It is extremely easy to overtax these.

The stronger you get -- the more these "other parts" take to recover, eventually they take longer than your muscle does.

Net result: for an experienced lifter, your body fixes things other than muscle.  Sound familiar?  This is the same problem that we saw with volume - but with different players.

Sure enough by the time you're ready to train again, the signal to "keep on fixing the muscle" has abated and lessened.  And if the time until you can train again is too long, the body starts to let the muscle go - it hits the peak, overrepairs then waits around and the body relaxes.  You've missed the window.

Some guys recognize this instinctively and try to take more time off -- sometimes that can help.  But no matter how you cut it, for most guys -- you hit status quo. In other words, you keep what you got -- but get nothing more other than creaking joints.

These guys feel like they "get a workout". And they do. They just get little to show for it. 

A New Kind of Training Somewhere in the Intelligent Middle

So -- where does that leave us? If volume alone can't get us there, and HIT stops after a while, what's left?

Let's recap:

Volume triggers growth but not for long. It doesn't really increase strength much. After you quit being overtrained from volume, you experience a "mini boom".

HIT triggers increases in strength -- this can trigger some muscle increase but overtax the body. Strength quickly outpaces the things necessary to support the strength. Injury occurs or else time off increases -- and muscle isn't hit often enough to grow.

Have you noticed the time frame involved? It's almost always 4-6 weeks...is the light bulb flashing over you yet?

Let's say we alternate between the two. Every 4 weeks (or thereabouts) we switch from Volume to HIT. After another 4 weeks, we switch back from HIT to Volume. What happens?

You can really pour yourself into the Volume routine. After all, you're going to get a break soon. So you (deliberately) get overtrained. During the switch to HIT, you've got a lot of time off. And you "mini-boom".

What is a "Brute Phase"?

During the High Intensity portion, you need to make sure you're going mostly for strength but -- we MUST be sure you do not overdo it. You MUST be ready to train again before muscle erodes too much. So we're talking about REALLY HIGH, REALLY INTENSE lifts and EXTREMELY SHORT workouts. Sort of a "freak out" where you blow all the energy in one shot. That kind of reminds me of the Incredible Hulk -- so I call this portion of the training the "Brute Phase" to distinguish it from HIT because although they are similar the differences really do matter here.

Since you don't need to "last long" -- again you can really go all out on heavy work. If you do this right, your workout should be less than half an hour!! You will feel "not done".

And amazingly, guys who try it and who sit and worry that they haven't "hit the muscles enough" go back...and often reach personal bests on lifts the next time around.

Now think about it -- isn't that what you're supposed to do? Keep increasing your power with each workout? And how often does it ACTUALLY HAPPEN for intermediate lifters?

Stop and think again about that.

And while you're "waiting" for the next "Brute" workout, your body is consolidating the volume gains and getting that "mini-boom" (this takes a few weeks). This happens while your strength continues to increase. After about 4 weeks, all the boom's over -- and your body's starting to complain about the accumulated hit on resources needed to do the very heavy work (remember: you've gone heavier than before).

Returning to Volume Phase

So you return to Volume. Connective tissue gets a break. Central nervous system gets a break. However, the volume response is ready to activate again. So while you're recovering, you're triggering the next phase of growth.

Even better...when you return to the "Volume Phase", some of that strength gain you've experienced in "Brute Phase" translates (although there's sometimes a one week delay while the brain re-wires itself). So you do the same sets you did before -- but this time the amount of weight has increased. And growth is triggered again.

Summary

Odd Months -- do Brute Phase.
Even Months -- do Volume Phase.

"Ah! I get it" you say. "Odd/Even!" (or Brute/Volume if you prefer)

Yep, that's it. Simple isn't it? Simple to apply, but it covers some relatively complex bases. And there are some variances. For example, what's an appropriate amount of Volume? What's the right amount of Brute Work? We have some pre-cut routines that work relatively well but you need to take stock of where you are at and remember -- these are just samples. Be intelligent, modify them as you need because now you know the rules.

But remember --

1) Volume should be a push! Go for it but get it done within an hour. You'll get time off during Brute. This is when you can go for 3-5 sessions a week, depending upon your recovery ability. This is when you can apply some of those "pro routines" if you want...but watch it. You're looking to skate the edge, not go over. Tempo here should be 3/0/1. The second phase has to be selected on an individual basis as "volume" needs to be monitored, not everyone can tolerate (even for 4 weeks) the same "high volume" routine.

2) Brute should NOT exceed half an hour. New guys should hit upper body one day a week centered around incline bench presses, and hit the lower body about 3 days later focussing on deadlifts. Don't just add "extra stuff" -- if strength isn't increasing week to week you're probably overdoing it. An advanced guy who recovers really well might be able to do some full body work centered around core lifts doing deadlifts on day 1, squats on day 2.

Brute phase should have only two workouts a week for most guys.

3) Each phase lasts 4 weeks.

Sample Brute Routine

If you'd like to see a suggested starting point for a brute workout, try this:

Day 1:


1. Warmup -- do jumping jacks for 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Bench Press. 1 warmup weight of half your "lift weight" for 4 reps. Then 2 sets 4-6 reps. Arms close to body.
3. Flat bar curls (regular barbell curls, not using the EZ bar ), 1 set 20 reps warmup weight. Then 2 sets 8-12 reps.
4. Chinups, wide grip. 10 reps or failure (whichever's first). Add weight around the waist to fail within this range.

Wait 2 days.

Day 2:


1. Warmup -- do jumping jacks for 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Deadlifts. 1 set of 4 reps at half "lift weight". 3 sets 4-6 reps. This should require one heck of a lot of gasping for air, if not the weight's too light.
3. Calf raises, 1 leg (alternate sides). 30 reps/side. It will burn.
4. Crunches with a weight plate on the chest. 2 sets of 4-6 reps (should cause failure. If not, get more weight or if that's too easy, look into alternative heavy ab work. If there are requests, I'll post some options).

Rest 2-3 minutes on the heavy work -- if you can get away with less, do it (but when I bust it on heavy deads, I NEED the 3 minutes)

If you'd like a worksheet to keep track of your progress, drop me a line on the forums and I'll see what I can do.