how does one reach a state of hypertrophy?

[morbicid]

just curious:

i've been doing a lot of reading and web searching about hypertrophy (state of accelerated muscle growth).
do any of you know some methods of working the body into a state of hypertrophy?

on that note, can hypertrophy damage the body?
how much time should be allowed, based on body composition and metabolism, for recovery before your next workout?

[Suntzu]

lift heavy objects… eat a lot… lift more heavy objects… eat more…

[morbicid]

thanks man that was Deep...

:: pauses for a moment of contemplation::

seriously though, i was fishing (haha... trolling? not me) for more specific details.
i've read that cumulative bodily exhaustion is crucial, focusing on only NEAR exhaustion in each individual heavy set (as opposed to doing a single workout to failure)

[CD Lee]

Hypertrophy - I thought (not based on anything I read), that hypertrophy meant bigger. Is this term being used today in fitness terminology to mean the *rate* at which muscles get larger as well?

[Suntzu]

i've read that cumulative bodily exhaustion is crucial, focusing on only NEAR exhaustion in each individual heavy set (as opposed to doing a single workout to failure) u answered your own question right there… my understanding… hypertrophy = muscle growth… lifting heavy weights + eating well = muscle growth…

[morbicid]

its is the opposite of atrophy, which is a rapid deterioration of muscle tissue (basically) caused by various factors

but i'm not expert, just asking u guys for some additional info

[CD Lee]

I hope I am not accused of being to simplistic, but lifting heavy (8-12 reps) and eating good protien with rest and time should cause your muscles to grow larger.

Now within this suggestion there are all sorts of fancy methods. But if you concentrate on excersices that use the most muscles, such as bench press, sqats, rows, etc, you will build more muscle faster.

Besides, forget size. Go for strong, flexible healthy muscles. It is really simpler than most make it out to be. It is a lot like investing in finances. Time and balance are your best friends. Then as far as kung fu or MA's you need to learn how to make those muscles work as a unit, producing whole body strength and not relying on brute force.

[CD Lee]

Hypertrophy - 'A nontumorous enlargement of an organ or a tissue as a result of an increase in the size rather than the number of constituent cells: muscle hypertrophy."

This is from Dictionary.com. Now I know that atrophy and hypertrophy, refer to shrinking and enlargement. I have never equated the terms with the RATE at which the change in size occurs. The reason I am being assonine about this is because I want to know what you are really asking. You want your muscles just bigger, or you need them to increase in size more than the normal time required that resistance training and nutritional factors allow?

[morbicid]

hang in there , i'll try to fish up some links that i was looking at last night that will help explain what i'm getting at. check later today, right now i'm going out to eat somethin'

[TzuChan]

I thought hypertrophy was a disease .. ?

[morbicid]

it happens when trophies eat too much sugar, i have a soccer trophy that i had to put on ridilin because of hypertrophy

[rubthebuddha]

troll or not, that was a dang good answer from morbie. :D

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by CD Lee
I hope I am not accused of being to simplistic, but lifting heavy (8-12 reps) and eating good protien with rest and time should cause your muscles to grow larger.

Now within this suggestion there are all sorts of fancy methods. But if you concentrate on excersices that use the most muscles, such as bench press, sqats, rows, etc, you will build more muscle faster.

Besides, forget size. Go for strong, flexible healthy muscles. It is really simpler than most make it out to be. It is a lot like investing in finances. Time and balance are your best friends. Then as far as kung fu or MA's you need to learn how to make those muscles work as a unit, producing whole body strength and not relying on brute force.

Nothing wrong with size. you can have big muscles and still be fast and lfexible, as long as you are not freakishly huge.

[SevenStar]

yeah, morbie's been kinda witty here lately.

[CD Lee]

Seven said






Nothing wrong with size. you can have big muscles and still be fast and lfexible, as long
as you are not freakishly huge.

I completely agree. A lot of people go to extreemes to try to get 'huger' than their natural metabolism and genetic musculature allow in a short period of time. I say just work out with sounds principles, technique and nutrition, and give it time. That may be geared towards size, but is hard to change the natural rate of speed at which our bodies attain some lofty size we have selected.

[BrentCarey]

This post has been removed because the people that are responding to it are not reading it thoroughly anyway.

[Suntzu]

ummmm... oh yeah dont forget to rest ;) :p :D

[Ford Prefect]

Well, this isn't completely true. More accurately, to increase mass requires a caloric surplus, and to decrease mass requires a caloric deficit. It is entirely possible to convert fat mass to muscle mass. This is also not entirely accurate. Actually what happens is that one's body uses stored body fat to supply energy to the body to free up nutritional resources to build muscle.

You were going pretty good up until this point. I agree that it is possible, but it is also possible according to the laws of physics that if you walk in wall enough time, you will eventually pass right through it. Possible: yes? Likely: no. Adding a healthy dose of pharmeceuticals will make it a lot more likely though.


A person with optimized muscle mass does not have optimal strength-to-weight ratio, nor optimal endurance.

I think you meant to say that a "body builder" does not have an optimal strength:weight ratio. This is all a product of his training. One does not need to look far to see heavy people lifting heavy weights. Endurance is a bit of a misnomer too. It is quite possible to concurrently and optimally gain size, strength, speed, and endurance. I'm speaking endurance as in musclar endurance and not cardio-vascular endurance. As you well know, cardio will generally sabotage most mass gain goals.

[rubthebuddha]

good points, ford. a good example of lack of fitness while still being strong or having good endurance:

i worked for 3½ years at a lumber yard as a late teen. i was playing tennis 10-20 hours per week and working out on the side. i could outrun and probably outbench anyone at the yard.

didn't mean squat, though. most of the guys smoked, all drank more than they needed to and only one of them was actually skinny -- most were at least 20 pounds overweight. but after going on a delivery with one of the drivers and trying to carry sheets of particle board up the stairs, i realized i wasn't **** compared to these guys. while i would struggle to get the sheet overhead and my forearms would be killing me halfway to the drop spot, the other guys would just be cruising along like it was nothing. so much for me being a tough guy.

now i probably couldn't bench more than 220 because i don't lift, but i can lift whatever weight i'm capable of lifting pretty much all day long.

[BrentCarey]

This post has been removed because the people that are responding to it are not reading it thoroughly anyway.

[prana]

I found the quickest way to increase "dumb" mass is

6 reps at the lower extremes of repetition
6 reps at the higher extremes of repetition
and 7 reps through the entire repetition.

Of course this makes you look bulky, but the same guy working hard on increasing muscle fibre and maximum strength is going to kick your ass in the same amount of time assuming all things squal :D

[Ford Prefect]

No, I meant to say what I said. It is not possible. OK, it is possible in the "anything is possible" sense, but it is not bloody likely. It is possible to concurrently increase size, strength, speed, and endurance, but not optimally. If this was indeed possible, it should then be a relatively simple matter to create the ultimate universal athlete.

Again this is an assessment of somebody using the outdated Western-periodzation model. Generally this states, you must break up hypertrophy, speed, and strength into cycles because you can't optimally do it all at the same time.

Nothing could be further from the truth though. Thanks to our Soviet counterparts and the men here that have translated their work, we now know that it is quite possible to train multiple factors such as speed, strength, mass, and endurance all at the same time. This is called a Conjugated Periodization approach. Online info on such an approach can be found at:

http://www.testosterone.net/html/133per.html

Please excuse the machismo in the article as it was trying to explain a highly scientific training approach to the average body builder. More info on Westside Barbell, who has extensively used this appraoch to eclipse power lifting records can be found at:

http://www.elitefitnesssystems.com/

In their articles and q&a section.

As I said in a previous post, "Super Training" by Mel Siff breaks down conjugated periodization quite well. It is technical reading though and aimed people familiar with scientific terms associated with fitness training.

[BrentCarey]

This post has been removed because the people that are responding to it are not reading it thoroughly anyway.

[ElPietro]

Originally posted by BrentCarey
Muscular hypertrophy is accomplished in two ways. One way is to grow additional muscle fibers, the other is to volumize (enlarge)existing muscle fibers.


Currently there is no concrete evidence in existence to support the fact that you can grow additional muscle fibres. This is the hyperplasia theory (sp?) and it is just that, a theory. So to date, it is accepted that you are genetically stuck with a set amount of type I, IIa, and IIb fibre types. All you can do is cause them to grow or not. Hence the definition of the word hypertrophy itself, which has nothing to do with increasing the number of muscle fibre types whatsoever.

[Ford Prefect]

Brent,

Sorry. I didn't think you were trying to state an obvious fact that even a chimp knows. Obviously to become elite in any endeavor what-so-ever, you must train specifically for that endeavor. Talk about symantics.

EP,

Don't forget an increase in muscle sarcoplasm as well. :)

[ElPietro]

Originally posted by Ford Prefect
EP,

Don't forget an increase in muscle sarcoplasm as well. :)

I'm unsure what sarcoplasm has to do with muscle hyperplasia Ford? :confused:

Remember, hyperplasia deals strictly with the number of muscle fibres, not their size.