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Hypertrophy is the building of a tissue or an organ. In most cases when people talk about hypertrophy, they are referring to the building of new muscle tissue.
Training volume for hypertrophy is a hotly debated topic and can be a large variable to control when it comes to maximising results and ultimately the building of new muscle tissue.
In this article, we will talk about progressive overload, distribution of volume and splits, common mistakes as well as how to maximise hypertrophy.
In the context of this article, hypertrophy is the building of new muscle tissue. This process occurs from a stimulus (usually in the form of lifting weights), resulting in micro trauma to the muscle tissue. The body then repairs the damaged tissue and grows new tissue, resulting in more muscle mass.
When referring to muscle hypertrophy we have 2 main types:
Myofibrillar Hypertrophy is an increase in sarcomeres, which are the small contractile elements of the muscle cell. These can either increase in length or in width.
Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy is an increase in the fluid that makes up the muscle cell.
Although it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what type of training results in these different types of hypertrophy when looking at the differences between powerlifters and weightlifters, there is typically great myofibrillar hypertrophy present with powerlifters (heavy loads) vs bodybuilders with greater sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (lighter loads).
But, to clarify both of these types of hypertrophy can occur through a variety of training methods.
Training volume plays a large part in building muscle. We need tension to build muscle and therefore we need to use heavy loads to create tension in the muscle. But we know that just lifting 1 rep maxes doesn’t get us jacked, so volume does play a role in how much muscle we can put on.
How much volume someone needs to build muscle is very specific to the individual so unfortunately, it depends.
What we want from a volume perspective broadly speaking is somewhere between enough volume to maintain or accumulate muscle mass and the maximum amount of volume we can tolerate before burnout, injury or overtraining.
We would define these two landmarks as minimum effective volume (MEV) and maximum recoverable volume (MRV) and ideally we want to sit somewhere between.
We can define volume as the weight lifted, the range of motion it’s lifted in and the number of reps and sets performed with that weight and range.
Typically people define volume as the number of sets completed in a session or a week but we must also take into account how the reps have been lifted and the weight that has been used.
If we standardise range of motion and form (which is hard to do, particularly when weights get heavy) then sets within a week are a good guide to aim for as most people training in the gym are already counting sets and reps.
To touch on my previous point of MEV and MRV, more volume does not mean better. Yes, if we can tolerate more volume over a week, month, training cycle, year, lifetime… we will most likely be bigger and stronger. But tolerate is the important word there. We need to make sure we can manage that volume.
Progressive overload is where we make our training more challenging over time by increasing volume, load, frequency or duration to create an adequate stimulus for growth.
Progressive overload is important because as you get stronger in the gym, you require a greater stimulus to continue to build muscle. If you squat 100kg for 10 reps but you never increased the reps or weight for an entire lifetime in the gym, that 100kg probably isn’t going to create much of a stimulus vs you adding weight, using exercise variation or increasing the reps.
The benefits of Hypertrophy are endless but here are a few below.
Muscle Size:
Increased Muscle Mass & Cross-Sectional Area: Hypertrophy training stimulates muscle growth leading to larger muscles allowing you to look jacked and who doesn’t want that?!
Improved Strength:
Metabolic Benefits:
Creating a training plan is a loaded topic. Exercise selection and order, rep ranges, sets and training split will all need to be considered. Alongside all of these variables, we need to ensure the programme allows for progressive overload throughout a training cycle to continue to create an adequate stimulus from week to week and month to month.
Fortunately, if that all sounds a bit overwhelming for you, our functional bodybuilding programme, Gain, is heavily biased towards building muscle and building strength at the same time so you don’t need to worry about exercise selection, sets and reps or anything else.
If you’re more into a general functional training programme, then check out our Train Programme.
A training split is where specific days within the week will be targeted towards certain areas of the body. Typical weekly splits include:
Again, there are many variables as to why you might want to select one split type over the other. For example, a competitive bodybuilder on anabolic steroids might want to separate muscle groups because they can tolerate that much specific volume within each muscle group and need that much of a stimulus to continue to grow muscle.
Whereas someone new to the gym might be better training full body 3 times a week as they are still building a lot of motor control with each movement and giving lots of little touches of exercises would better serve them vs hammering their legs for 90 mins.
On the GAIN programme, we currently use a Lower Body, Upper Body and Full Body split. This allows us to target our main strength lifts (Squat, Bench, Deadlift etc.) at the start of the session before moving into bodybuilding-specific exercises. By doing this we can manage fatigue over the week without it massively affecting the other strength lifts. For example, if we did a Full Body split on Monday incorporating a lower body push exercise and performed a Full body session again on Wednesday performing heavy back squats, the fatigue from Monday’s session may affect our back squat performance on Wednesday.
The are many advantages and disadvantages to each split style but with 1000s of people on the GAIN programme getting stronger, more muscular and fitter all at the same time, we must be doing something right.
Evidence suggests that doing more sets per muscle per week leads to greater muscle growth. A volume of about 10 to 20 sets per muscle per week is generally recommended for building muscle.
Advanced lifters might need to do even more sets to maximise muscle growth, possibly toward the higher end of this range.
Experimentation is necessary to find out what works best for each individual. It might be helpful to do even more sets for specific muscles that are lagging. However, consistently doing high volumes of training can lead to overtraining, so it's a good idea to start small and gradually increase volume over time whilst also including periods of lower volume to allow for recovery.
If your goal is to only build muscle then volume should be progressed slowly throughout a training block (8-16 weeks typically). However, on the GAIN programme we are not only looking to build muscle, we are trying to build strength and cardiovascular fitness at the same time. It is very difficult to peak all of these things at once.
Strength and conditioning both work well following a linear periodisation model, meaning at the start of the block volume will be high and intensity will be low before slowly increasing intensity and reducing volume.
As previously mentioned with bodybuilding, we typically look to increase the volume of a block as we go through the weeks until we are no longer able to recover and continue to progress reps or loads.
But, if we increased bodybuilding volume throughout a block at the same time as trying to peak absolute strength and fitness we would run into a higher risk of injury, burnout or a drop in performance.
This is why deload periods are so important. We want to continue to train without burnout or injury over years and years. Adding in deload periods after a block of training allows the body and mind to recover from intense sessions before moving into another block of training. We would struggle to progress in anything if we only ever looked to increase volume and intensity week on week.
As previously mentioned, Progressive overload is where we make our training more challenging over time by increasing volume, load, frequency or duration to create an adequate stimulus for growth. Here are some ways we can overload our strength and bodybuilding training:
Increasing the load used is the most obvious way to progressively overload. An example might be using a 12.5kg DB for a set of 10 bicep curls when last week you used 10kg
Increased reps performed in a set with the same weight as previous weeks. Using the curl example again, last week you performed 10 reps with a 12.5kg DB. This week you performed 12 reps with 12.5kg.
Increasing the amount of total sets performed on an exercise. Last week you did 3x10 with a 12.5kg DB for Bicep curls. This week you performed 4x10 with the same weight.
Form is harder to measure in terms of progressive overload as it is very much dependent on the individual and the exercise but here are two examples:
Example 1: You perform 10 back squats with 40kg but you are only quarter squatting the reps
Example 2: You perform 10 back squats with 40kg and go ass to grass with your reps
The same weight, reps and sets but you have done more work and put more stress on the muscles used by performing the squats with better form.
Rest and recovery are crucial when it comes to developing pretty much any athletic trait. The stimulus you create in the gym to begin the growing process is essential. No one got jacked sitting on their arse on the sofa smashing a bag of crisps.
But, say you train for 7 ½ hours per week (that’s 5 90-minute sessions) that’s 160 hours and 30 minutes you have left in the week where you are either working towards your goals and helping yourself to achieve more muscle mass, or you’re not.
We need rest between sessions to be able to come into the gym again and create the intense stimulus we need to build muscle. If you don’t have those rest days, you want to be able to find that intensity and create that stimulus.
As mentioned above, resting is very important for building muscle. The rest is where the body adapts and grows, not in the gym. So if you aren’t resting, your body can’t grow as effectively as if you were.
If you have itchy feet on a rest day I would advise a long walk, a slow bike or something that requires minimal effort and intensity. In my personal experience, a complete rest is better than an active recovery session that ends up not being an active recovery session.
Sleep and hypertrophy (the process of muscle growth) are closely linked, and adequate sleep is essential for optimal muscle growth and recovery. Here's how they're connected:
Hormonal Balance: Sleep plays a crucial role in regulating hormonal balance, including hormones like growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), testosterone, and cortisol, all of which are involved in muscle growth and repair. Growth hormone, in particular, is released during deep sleep stages and promotes muscle growth and repair.
Protein Synthesis: Protein synthesis, the process by which the body builds and repairs muscle tissue, is enhanced during sleep, especially during the deeper stages of sleep. This means that muscle growth and repair are optimised when you get enough quality sleep.
Energy Restoration: Sleep restores energy levels, allowing for better performance during workouts. Improved energy levels can lead to a better stimulus in the gym which in turn can stimulate more muscle growth.
Immune Function: Adequate sleep is essential for maintaining a healthy immune system. Intense exercise can temporarily weaken the immune system, and sufficient sleep helps to support immune function, allowing the body to better fend off illnesses that could hinder training consistency and muscle growth.
Overall, prioritising adequate and quality sleep is crucial for optimising muscle growth, recovery, and overall athletic performance. Aim for 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night to support your fitness goals.
Eating the right nutrition for building muscle is essential. You can’t build something out of nothing and your body needs the building blocks to make new muscle. Not only that but you need to have enough energy to train well and train hard.
Without writing another article here, here are some basic boxes to tick for your nutrition for building muscle:
Eating enough food: It’s very hard to build muscle if you are in a calorie deficit (eating less calories than you are burning). We want to be eating at maintenance or in a slight surplus of calories ideally to maximise muscle growth (5-10% above maintenance calories would be enough).
Macronutrient breakdown: Keeping this very simple I would advise 2g per kilogram of bodyweight for Protein, 1g per kilogram for Fat (1.5g for women) and the rest of your calories coming from Carbohydrates.
Eat your veggies: Having enough fruit and vegetables in your diet is important or so many reasons. Benefits include: Better gut function and digestion, more micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), immunity benefits etc. If you are also someone who struggles to fill up with a meal, whacking in a load of veg will take your meal a long way.
Eating around workouts: Get some fast releasing carbs in before you train (toast and jam, banana etc. to ensure you are fueled and energised for the session and make sure you are getting some protein in post workout in the form of a shake or something easily absorbed to keep protein high in the day and readily available when your body needs it.
Supplements: Scroll down, as I cover this a little later.
Building muscle isn’t complicated but it's also not easy. All too often I see people making the same mistakes. Here are a few regular ones:
Overtraining: This has been discussed in length in this article but training too hard too often is a sure fire way to limit your gains. Following a structured programme will allow you to ensure you are do enough to create a stimulus but not too much to the point where you can sustain it.
Neglecting Proper Form: Slamming weights is fun but if your goal is to grow muscle, we need a different approach. Ensuring you are working the right muscle groups with the right form and range of motion along side intensity and volume will allow for results. Bro reps are a thing of the past and its been proven time and time again that form and quality matter.
Lack of Consistency: Similar to the point above on overtraining, you could train like an animal for 8 weeks and destroy yourself but if you half arse it for 3 months after that you wont have made half as much progress if you stuck to a plan and aimed for consistency over perfection. So many things can get in the way of training but having a plan in place and a community and a coach to help you along the way makes things so much easier. Fortunately I’ve got you there with the GAIN programme.
Supplements aren’t essential but they can make building muscle and recovering a LOT easier. Here are a few of my favourites I take every day.
Whey Protein Powder: Protein Powder is something I take every day and has been around for years. Having protein shakes alone will not get you massive but it’s a quick and convenient way to add more protein into your diet (something a lot of people don’t get enough of) and it’s quickly absorbed into your body to be used to build muscle. Be sure to check out our full range of protein powder, as well as our plant protein and casein protein.
Creatine Monohydrate: Creatine is naturally occurring in the body and is used for short and fast exercise durations as an energy source so perfect for lifting weights. We can get creatine from red meats and some fish but taking creatine powder again is an easy and convenient way to get more creatine in to fuel your workouts and maximise gains.
Rather than being used directly to build muscle it will allow you to lift heavier loads which in turn will create a better stimulus for growth. I take creatine every day without fail in my protein shake.
Electrolyte Sachets: Generally people are poorly hydrated. This isn’t just with lack of water but lack of electrolytes as well. We can drink as much water as we want but if we aren’t getting enough sodium, potassium and magnesium alongside that water we won’t be able to effectively absorb it. Be sure to also explore our Performance Hydration Powder.
Being properly hydrated is very important for performance not just in the gym but with cognitive function as well. I take electrolytes every day myself and encourage you to do the same.
Training volume is very specific to the individual but evidence suggests that doing more sets per muscle per week leads to greater muscle growth. A volume of about 10 to 20 sets per muscle per week is generally recommended for building muscle. Advanced lifters might need to do even more sets to maximise muscle growth, possibly toward the higher end of this range.
It is also important to consider that volume is not the only variable we can control and alongside maximising training inside the gym we should look to manage our rest and recovery as much as possible to build the most muscle possible not forgetting a heavy focus on nutrition.
If you are unsure exactly what you should be doing in the gym or how many sets and reps you need, look no further than the GAIN programme. A balanced functional bodybuilding programme designed to get you strong, fit and jacked all at the same time.
Join over 1000s people on GAIN and make the best decision in your health and fitness. We have a 7 day free trial for you to try before you buy.
