21 hypertrophy training progression part 2

The Lesson PART I Programming a Training Block Understanding Progressive Overload Volume Load Progression as a Gauge of Progress PART II How to Progress Reps and Load How to Progres

Hypertrophy Training

Progression Part 2

UNIVERSITY

The Lesson

PART I

Programming a Training Block

Understanding Progressive Overload

Volume Load Progression as a Gauge of Progress

PART II

How to Progress Reps and Load

How to Progress Effort

How to Progress Set Volume

Autoregulating Set Additions

PART III

Lift Progression Trouble Shooting

Progression During Contest Prep

Progression During a PED Blast or Cruise

Progressing Load and Reps Over the Training

Block

Single Progression: increasing only reps or load for a set/sets

Double Progression: increasing reps first and then increasing load within

a rep range

Problem with both strategies: this does not account for the rate of a

person's adaptation For a beginner this might under dose stimulus, for an advanced athlete it might overdose the stimulus Also, true progress can

be hard to gauge

Dynamic Double Progression: increase reps and/or load within a given

rep range to meet a standard high relative effort target level

This accounts for rate of adaptation and keeping pace with that

adaptation for progressing stimulus More focus is given on effort of the set than load or reps used to accomplish that

Allows for autoregulation based on the day when readiness is high or low

Dynamic Double Progression

Example: 1 set 6-10 and 1 set 10-15 reps RIR 1-0 Hack Squat

Wk 1

500lbs x 8 RIR 1

430lbs x 12 RIR 0-1

Total VL: 9160

Wk 2

505lbs x 9 RIR 1

430lbs x 14 RIR 0-1

Total VL: 10565, +13%

Wk 3

535lbsx 8 RIR 1

430lbs x 16 RIR 0-1

Total VL: 11,160; +5%

WK 4

535lbs x 9 RIR 1

470lbs x 12 RIR 0-1

Total VL: 10,450; -6%

Dynamic Double Progression

WEEK 1

pick a load you can hit within the target rep range and get to that high effort ALL OUT set

Based on the first set adjust the load to stay within the target rep range Typically a 5% weight change will + or – 2 reps and 10% weight change will + or – 4 reps and 20% weight change will be +/- 7-8 reps

WEEK 2-8

The next session work to increase reps to the top of the rep range for your sets

If you get to the top of the rep range increase load to start back at the bottom of the range and work back up

Some days you can increase load and reps when progression is fast In this case go for it! 5-10% load increase along with rep progression

Remember the effort level is THE most important thing, use the load needed to hit that high effort level within the hypertrophy rep range 6-20 reps

Advanced lifters you might only be making 2.5-5% load additions every week or every other week

Progressing Effort Level Over Training Block

Sets need to be “hard” for effectiveness and should be close to failure

Week 1

Start your training block with RIR 1-2 to adjust to new lifts and

exercise order This can be lift specific as well (ie adding in squats after not doing them for months) Beginners RIR might need to be adjusted lower for safety

If lift proficiency is high RIR 1-0 is appropriate, more application for advanced lifters

Week 2-8*

Maintain high effort RIR 1-0 and utilize dynamic double progression Effort level will be kept constant during training block

*8 week noted as end of block

Progressing Set Number Over Training Block

Week 1

Start your training block based of current training volume or meta-analytic data (Beginner 5-9 sets per week; intermediate/advanced

8-20 sets per week)

Week 2

Hold set volume constant

Lift proficiency increases

Adjustments to week 1 set up if needed

Focus on Load rep progressions

Week 3-8

Autoregulate set volume additions*

*more applicable for advanced lifters For beginners and

intermediates hold set volume constant and adjust every 8-week block

Autoregulating Set Volume Additions

All lifts are progressing, and recovery is great, should I add volume?

1 If lifts are progressing, pumps are great, and recovery is high Adding a set might be a reasonable move to make

to ensure you don’t underdose volume

1 I would advise to increase set volume 10% first and then evaluate gym performance for the next week to make sure you can recover Remember if you are making

progress take it, too many sets can quickly drop you into high fatigue

1 Adding sets more conservatively from mesocycle to

mesocycle can give a more conservative time course to evaluate progress and recovery

1 Advanced lifters adding sets on specific body parts or isolations movements Application for rest pause and drop sets)

Training Block Progression

Summary

WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3-8

Beginner

Intermediate/

Advanced Beginner

Intermediate/

Advanced Beginner

Intermediate/ Advanced

Volume set # 5-9 sets per muscle

8-20 sets per muscle

HOLD constant Hold constant

Hold constant Autoregulated

Effort RIR 1-3 RIR 0-2 RIR 1-2 RIR 0-1 RIR 0-2 RIR 0-1

Load/Reps

Dynamic Double

Progression

Dynamic Double Progression

5-10% load progression and/or rep progressions

2-10% load progression and/or rep progressions same same

This is only one way of Training block planning, you can

manipulate more variables, however this will give you more

unknowns in evaluation

Evaluating the Training Block

Muscle growth can be slow, especially at the advanced level

We can track visuals, body fat, and circumference for long term trends Short term we should look to the logbook for progress

Check your logbook that volume load has progressed, lifts are moving upward across the board

Check for progression on lifts and lifts that are stalling swap them next block

Change lifts that are causing any soft tissue or joint issues

If lifts are still progressing keep those in place, no reason to change them

Big picture if lifts are progressing up in load and reps you are

programming correctly Your rate of progress is your own rate of progress comparable only to you

End Part II

Lift Progression Trouble shooting

The more advanced you are less progress session to session you will make Progress on just one lift is a win for the day

What if most lifts are progressing except a few?

1 Might just need more time to work the lift, I would give it 3 sessions before rotating it out

1 Also try varying loading week to week to try to drive up the lift So if hitting 400lbs x 10 reps every week, Jump to 440 x

6 reps one week, then the next week back to 405lbs and try

to match or beat the reps

1 Double check to make sure its just not an off session and sleep, hydration, nutrition, stress all need to be on point So don’t write off one lift if maybe you just lost some stamina

in the session

Lift Progression Trouble shooting

I progressed my first lifts, but my other lifts dropped off in

performance?

1 Large jumps in performance on first lifts might lower

performance on subsequent lifts from greater fatigue This can be acceptable, but make sure you trend upward on all lifts over the training weeks

1 You might not progress on your first set, but progress on the second set This is common using top and back off sets and acceptable progression

1 Double check to make sure its just not an off session and sleep, hydration, nutrition, stress all need to be on point So don’t write off one lift if maybe you just lost some stamina

in the session

1 Did you decrease your rest times between sets?

Lift Progression Trouble shooting

I progressed my first lifts, but my other lifts dropped off in

performance?

5 Evaluate that first lift and make sure the progression wasn’t

based on changing mechanics, ROM, or bar speed

5 Progressing a lift is sign adaptation has occurred, but some fatigue might be accumulating quickly, if you see a persistent drop off in performance might be time for a deload or a few lower volume training sessions

5 If all sessions are getting lengthy and fatigue is getting high at the end of sessions might be time to progress up to the next training split to manage stimulus and fatigue

Lift Progression Trouble Shooting

All lifts have stopped progressing?

1 Are you nailing sleep 7-8 hours , nutrition (calorie

surplus), stress management? If no, then nail all these variable and see if progress ensues

1 I am nailing all the above variables! Are you motivated to train or dreading the gym? Is your PRS score <4? Load and reps are decreasing? Aches and pains higher? Sleep poor or Hunger less?

1 If YES to 2 or more of the above, you are likely not recovering and need a deload and if this occurs again in less than 3 weeks you need to train with a lower volume amount

2 If NO to all questions or yes to only 1 item you are recovering but

it might be time to increase training volume via adding sets or moving up a training frequency tier

**Managing Fatigue and Deloads will be in our next lectures!

Lift Progression Trouble Shooting

Adding sets when not progressing and recovery is great?

1 Make sure technique is not the limiting factor Most weak body parts are held back by poor set quality and doing more sets is not the answer

2 If technique is solid add sets across a few lifts that cover all body parts If you are advanced, you might start with a couple body parts first More advanced might favor isolation movement set additions over multi joint to manage fatigue or running PPL specialization cycles

to focus volume on one body part

3 If stalled on just one body part start with a set addition just for that body part

4 Go slow as a set addition is a large stimulus, a 10-20% increase in set volume is a starting point So if doing 10 sets of chest move up to

11 sets for a few weeks

Progressing During Cutting/Prep

During contest prep overload training will be limited and slower due

to lower recovery capacity

Continue to train the SAME as you did in the offseason What made you grow is what will keep muscle on

Do NOT lessen your effort in the sets, this is what is making you sets stimulating

This is NOT the time to add in more sets, unless your recovery is phenomenal

Your goal regardless is to attempt to progress the stimulus

Part of prep may end up being a drop in performance for some this won’t happen (via PEDs) But in Fatigue Management we will learn how to manage fatigue to keep training hard

Progression with PED Usage

Progress can be enhanced at a faster rate, still follow the same

progression model and add sets if recovery is very high

Caution! Rate of strength increase can exceed rate of connective

tissue strengthening so be reasonable on rapid load only progressions

All other topics from this lecture apply the same to natural or a PED user

Coming off cycle, may decrease recovery capacity you will simply train

a within a volume level you can recover from and still attempt to

progress your lifts

For advanced PED users cruise periods might be closer to maintenance

at best and lower volume and frequency's can be used but keep sets HARD!!

Summary

• Progressive Overload is a way to keep pace with an adaptation, so training remains stimulating for growth

• Our main progression tool is increasing load and reps to ensure our sets remaining stimulating for growth

• Dynamic Double Progression is the system to use to move up in load and reps week to week

• Stalls in lifts can be evaluated using recovery markers and

determining if more or less training is needed

• During dieting phases training will remaining the same but we will use fatigue management strategies to keep training effective

• PED users and naturals can train the same; the 2 things that change will be rate of progress and required volume levels

References

Beardsley, C Hypertrophy: Muscle fiber growth caused by mechanical tension Strength and Conditioning Research Limited, 1 edition; 2019

Baz-Valle, E.N., Fontes-Villalba, M., Santos-Concejero, J., Total Number

of Sets as a Training Volume Quantification Method for Muscle

Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review J Strength Cond Res, 2018

Schoenfeld B Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy

Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2021

Minor, B., Helms, E., Schepis, J Re: Mesocycle Progression in

Hypertrophy Volume Versus Intensity J Strength Cond Res, 2020 doi: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000581