Muscle Hypertrophy Explained and How to Achieve It
Muscular Hypertrophy is a complicated term thrown around in the health science world which is quite easy to understand when simplified.
Simply put, muscular hypertrophy is a growth or increase in muscle.
This growth is called hypertrophy.
There are two different types of hypertrophy, and they are sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar hypertrophy.
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is when the size of your muscles increase, but without the same increase in muscular strength.
This means that your muscle tissue density is decreasing.
The size of your muscles increases at a higher rate than your muscle tissues under this type of hypertrophy.
This type of hypertrophy is desired among bodybuilders, as their primary concern is to get as big as possible.
Strength is secondary.
Myofibrillar hypertrophy is when your muscle tissue density is increasing.
This means that you are gaining more strength, but not necessarily gaining size at the same rate.
Before you feel the need to pick one side, the reality is that no exercise is entirely one or the other.
Exercises are a combination of the two.
You can however, do exercises that favour either sarcoplasmic hypertrophy or myofibrillar.
It depends on what your goals are.
As discussed above, if you're looking to become a bodybuilder, you should focus on achieving sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
If you are an athlete, you would probably want to focus on myofibrillar hypertrophy, to maximize your strength without having to carry excess mass (some athletes may need both, like a football linebacker).
So how do you know which hypertrophy you're achieving with your workout? Here are some exercise guidelines to follow.
Number of reps There are general rule of thumbs for each type of hypertrophy when it comes to how many reps you want to be doing.
For sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, you should be aiming to do 8-12 reps (60-80% of your 1 repetition max).
For myofibrillar, do 1-5 reps (80-100% of your 1 repetition max).
Basically, do more reps and lighter weights for sarcoplasmic and less reps and more weight for myofibrillar.
Rest time in-between sets The time you take resting between sets should be longer for sarcoplasmic, and shorter for myofibrillar.
Aim to rest approximately 1-3 minutes between sets for sarcoplasmic, and 3-6 minutes for myofibrillar.
The reason for the longer rest time is because you're aiming to lift heavier weights, you want to give your muscles enough time to rest so they can lift as much weight as possible Time under tension This refers to how long it takes you to perform a repetition of any exercise.
Again, these are general rules of thumbs.
For sarcoplasmic, take 5-10 seconds per repetition, and 2-3 seconds for myofibrillar.
Now most of you aren't bodybuilders or professional athletes, so training specifically for sarcoplasmic or myofibrillar hypertrophy probably isn't something you wish to achieve.
Most people will want a mixture of having strength, while also getting buff and achieving a good looking physique.
Decide for yourself what your goals are, then use this knowledge to help you achieve it!
Simply put, muscular hypertrophy is a growth or increase in muscle.
This growth is called hypertrophy.
There are two different types of hypertrophy, and they are sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar hypertrophy.
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is when the size of your muscles increase, but without the same increase in muscular strength.
This means that your muscle tissue density is decreasing.
The size of your muscles increases at a higher rate than your muscle tissues under this type of hypertrophy.
This type of hypertrophy is desired among bodybuilders, as their primary concern is to get as big as possible.
Strength is secondary.
Myofibrillar hypertrophy is when your muscle tissue density is increasing.
This means that you are gaining more strength, but not necessarily gaining size at the same rate.
Before you feel the need to pick one side, the reality is that no exercise is entirely one or the other.
Exercises are a combination of the two.
You can however, do exercises that favour either sarcoplasmic hypertrophy or myofibrillar.
It depends on what your goals are.
As discussed above, if you're looking to become a bodybuilder, you should focus on achieving sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
If you are an athlete, you would probably want to focus on myofibrillar hypertrophy, to maximize your strength without having to carry excess mass (some athletes may need both, like a football linebacker).
So how do you know which hypertrophy you're achieving with your workout? Here are some exercise guidelines to follow.
Number of reps There are general rule of thumbs for each type of hypertrophy when it comes to how many reps you want to be doing.
For sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, you should be aiming to do 8-12 reps (60-80% of your 1 repetition max).
For myofibrillar, do 1-5 reps (80-100% of your 1 repetition max).
Basically, do more reps and lighter weights for sarcoplasmic and less reps and more weight for myofibrillar.
Rest time in-between sets The time you take resting between sets should be longer for sarcoplasmic, and shorter for myofibrillar.
Aim to rest approximately 1-3 minutes between sets for sarcoplasmic, and 3-6 minutes for myofibrillar.
The reason for the longer rest time is because you're aiming to lift heavier weights, you want to give your muscles enough time to rest so they can lift as much weight as possible Time under tension This refers to how long it takes you to perform a repetition of any exercise.
Again, these are general rules of thumbs.
For sarcoplasmic, take 5-10 seconds per repetition, and 2-3 seconds for myofibrillar.
Now most of you aren't bodybuilders or professional athletes, so training specifically for sarcoplasmic or myofibrillar hypertrophy probably isn't something you wish to achieve.
Most people will want a mixture of having strength, while also getting buff and achieving a good looking physique.
Decide for yourself what your goals are, then use this knowledge to help you achieve it!
