When Muscles Are Not Created Equal

Have you ever seen a guy in the gym squatting weights more suitable for women yet having legs the size of tree trunks? Or another guy who is benching a relatively light weight with arms the size of Dwayne Johnson?

Not all the time. As most guys who are big are also training with heavy weights yet there would be the occasional occurrence when you see a person regularly training with moderately light weights yet having the admirable physique of a Greek god.

The Thing About Hypertrophy

To put it simply, hypertrophy is the term used to describe muscle growth. During weight training, you damage your muscle fibres and the process of resting and recuperation at night will lead to the repairing of your muscle fibres leading to increased size and strength in the muscles to compensate for future heavier work loads. This process of growth in size and strength is also known as hypertrophy.

Yet, all muscles are not created equal. There are 2 different types of hypertrophy and to experience maximal growth and increase in muscle strength and size, the muscles have to experience both sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar growth.

Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy vs Myofibrillar Hypertrophy

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is sometimes also known as non-functional hypertrophy. Basically during sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, there is an increase in the volume of these cells and often occurs during higher rep range of between 8 – 15 reps. These are the typical bodybuilding training that leads to an increase in size of the non-contractile components of the muscle in the absence of strength gains.

Myofibrillar hypertrophy on the other hand leads to increased density of the area in the myofibrils which is also responsible for increased strength. Such results are achieved with heavier weights and usually a rep range of between 3 to 5 reps. In some research done though, these 2 occurrences of muscular hypertrophy are not independent of each other.

The Confusion Over Rep Range

This is also why you always read in magazines and articles online on what is the best ‘rep range’ to achieve muscular growth. So what exactly is the best rep range? What do we mean by best rep range? Depending on your goals whether is it for strength or building mass, understanding the function and results that different rep range could produce would serve to minimize time and errors in the gym.

Have you ever seen power lifters or strong men competitors who are skinny? These people usually train with the objective to increase their strength and as a result of that, you do see them getting big in the process. Most of the time, you see gym goers doing a typical bodybuilding routine of lifting weights of 8 to 12 reps in the gym. Nothing wrong with that, but follow me on this.

If you can bench 10 reps with a 60kg load, would it then make sense if you can bench the same 10 reps with a 90kg load, you would actually increase in size? The theory that a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle is not all myth and fluff as based on the fact that myofibrillar hypertrophy leads to an increase in strength and size would contribute to the occurrence of a person growing bigger because he has grown stronger.

Building Strength And Mass

If you consider the bodybuilders in the past like Arnold, many of them train with powerlifting movements to build a base and foundation of strength that helps them to achieve their bigger-than-life physiques. And the 8x Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman has a background in powerlifting which places a lot of focus on strength and power. Realizing what power-lifting based movements can do for the body, ignoring the strength component of training would be such a waste isn’t it?

This is also why there are training programs such as 5×5, Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training (P.H.A.T) systems for instance that aim to leverage on the gains offered from sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar hypertrophy.

There is no magic range that you should train in but a best of both worlds would involve training at 80-85% of your maximum load of 6-8 reps. If you want to have an even better focus every time you come to the gym, you could even consider P.H.A.

T made popular by Layne Norton where you segment 2 days for power training where you lift at 3 to 5 of your maximum rep range and 8 to 12 reps during 3 other hypertrophy days where you would be hitting each body part twice a week. There are various variations out there as some bodybuilders even cycle between training heavier one week and training with lighter weights with higher rep range another week.

Training in such manner would force your body to grow in strength so that when it comes to a more bodybuilding-styled routine on certain days, you would eventually be able to lift more reps with heavier weights. This would ultimately translate into size gains as well.

The Conclusion?

If you want to achieve the very dense and thick look that you see in power lifters with the muscularity of bodybuilders, a combination and awareness of how different loads and rep range can assist you in achieving your goals is important. 

At the end of the day, there is no one size fit all program, so experiment in the gym and test your body’s response to different programs. Also, understand that growth takes time in combination with a good nutrition plan. So don’t hurry your gains but if you are consistent, you will be pleased with the results eventually.