Hey guys, I’m a new member to TN but I’ve been checking the site out for a while, it’s full of great advice. Anyway, before I ask my questions I’ll give some background on myself.
I’m an 18 year old college freshman, about 5’11 180. When I came to college in August i weighed about 160 and then after a bulking program I was 186 by Thanksgiving and 192 by Christmas. However, at that point I felt I was a little too chunky and my abs were hiding. Anyway, I’ve cut down to 180 and I’m pretty happy with the results.
However, since I’ve really only been working out for 2 years, there’s obviously a lot I don’t know. After reading some of the posts on these boards, I’ve begun to wonder if I’m training properly. I think I’ve been focused on strength training rather than actual bodybuilding, so I was hoping for some clarification between the two.
My goal is a Ryan Reynolds (Blade III) type body, and I’m definitely on the right track. At this point I’m pretty satisfied with my strength, but I feel like I could be putting on a lot more lean muscle if I tweaked my routine.
Anyway, thanks for reading guys. I look forward to your responses.
[quote]cftapsel wrote:
Hey guys, I’m a new member to TN but I’ve been checking the site out for a while, it’s full of great advice. Anyway, before I ask my questions I’ll give some background on myself.
I’m an 18 year old college freshman, about 5’11 180. When I came to college in August i weighed about 160 and then after a bulking program I was 186 by Thanksgiving and 192 by Christmas. However, at that point I felt I was a little too chunky and my abs were hiding. Anyway, I’ve cut down to 180 and I’m pretty happy with the results.
However, since I’ve really only been working out for 2 years, there’s obviously a lot I don’t know. After reading some of the posts on these boards, I’ve begun to wonder if I’m training properly. I think I’ve been focused on strength training rather than actual bodybuilding, so I was hoping for some clarification between the two.
My goal is a Ryan Reynolds (Blade III) type body, and I’m definitely on the right track. At this point I’m pretty satisfied with my strength, but I feel like I could be putting on a lot more lean muscle if I tweaked my routine.
Anyway, thanks for reading guys. I look forward to your responses.[/quote]
the only real difference is the total volume of the workouts. usually strength training consists of like 20 or more total reps (3sets of 4 reps =12) while training for hypertrophy has more that like twenty five (6 sets of six reps= 36)
I usually use the “pyramid” method when weight training. I’ll start out at a reasonable weight, and do 2-3 more sets increasing weight and lowering reps each time.
Should I be sticking with one weight after warmups or continue to “build a pyramid”?
If you’re into bodybuilding, sit down one afternoon or evening and read all of Christian Thibaudeau’s articles on this site, and then follow his HSS-100 program, or whatever it’s called.
That’s not a bad protocol to have included in one’s arsenal, and is especially useful when neurological training is needed – in other words, when the body needs to learn to do a particular thing under high load and the limiting factor really isn’t inherent muscular strength but the ability to use it. Learning to handle a heavier load absolutely is part of the process. Many times this is accomplished fine without pyramiding up though. In fact I would say usually.
Where that’s not the case, and the purpose is to load the muscle to yield hypertrophy, it’s generally inefficient to have these working-up sets that really aren’t doing anything but consuming time and energy that would be better applied to the true work sets.
On the general question of training for strength vs hypertrophy, with the exception of comparing to something extreme like some versions of HIT which may yield strength without commensurate mass gain, for the most part until reaching a fairly advanced level one thing tends to go in hand with the other. E.g., let’s say that at the beginning of one’s training one has lifts of 80 lb overhead press, 135 lb bench, 95 squat, 135 deadlift, and at Point X has improved to 200 lb overhead press, 300 lb bench, 400 squat and 500 deadlift, we don’t need to know whether he was following a “hypertrophy” or “strenght” program to know that he’s going to be a lot bigger and more muscular. And if this was done with a strength-oriented program, the size will be better than if a hypertrophy-oriented program were followed but the lifts were only two-thirds as good.
So basically because strength is easier to track and to “will,” so to speak, you will probably do best to make that the key goal in progression: but as That One Guy said, there will need to be reasonable volume. (What I mean about being able to “will” the result is that one can determine that one damn well IS going to lift this weight this number of repetitions and with proper form, assuming the goal is chosen rationally and with sound basis – not so if chosen unrealistically though – whereas one cannot will the muscle to be a given size a given day, or even for that matter perceive small differences necessarily.)