What is it that makes a layer setup geared more for hypertrophy or strength?
Up until a few days ago, I thought that it was mainly the HDL layers which characterized a hypertrophy setup. Basically that there was more volume being done in the 60-80% range as opposed to the strength layers, which work more at 80%+.
the different layers serve different purposes WITHIN the realms of strength and size.
a very loose way of putting it would be something like this;
‘strength’ layers aim to allow the heaviest loads possible -like ramping to your max, or using clusters, or using multiple singles.
this forces your body to adapt to increasingly heavy loads making your stronger.
‘hypertrophy’ layers aim to increase the overall workload of the muscle group during the workout -this is why its common to think that hypertrophy layers are deliberately lighter loads, when in fact the load is slightly sacrificed to fulfil the primary goal of increasing the mechanical work done during the session -just like density layers, or the HDL layers.
then there are kind of ‘uber’ layers that CT has thankfully shared with us; Carries are fantastic for muscular growth due to the amount of tension on the muscle, and trapping the blood in the muscle, as well as increasing positional strength (IMO) as well as kicking up fat loss from the conditioning element.
similar to this, complexes are great for body composition, as well as increasing strength capacity -which is why they can be quite taxing!
i noticed that you said hypertrophy work is 60-80%, and strength is 80+… i’ve gained more muscle, quicker than i ever have using a lot of CT’s methods, but the majority of my hypertrophy came from staying above 80% -some workouts staying above 85% plus carries at the end!
Here’s some examples with some numbers. I’m not quite sure what to make of it, but I thought it was interesting.
Hypertrophy, 3RM week
Ramp to 3RM (from 70%)
3x Clusters at 90% 3RM
3x 5-4-3-2-1 at 70% 3RM
60-70% 54 reps
70-80% 9 reps
80-85% 21 reps
85-90% 3 reps
90+% 3 reps
Total: 90 reps
Hypertrophy, 1RM week
Ramp to 1RM
5x Clusters at 90% 1RM
1x 5-4-3-2-1 at 70% 1RM
60-70% 0 reps
70-80% 18 reps
80-85% 2 reps
85-90% 2 reps
90+% 28 reps
Total: 50 reps
Strength
Ramp to 1RM
3x Clusters at 90% 1RM
Ramp to 2RM
2x Clusters at 90% 2RM
Ramp to 3RM
1x Clusters at 90% 3RM
Max Reps at 70% 1RM
60-70% 0 reps
70-80% 23 reps
80-85% 12 reps
85-90% 17 reps
90+% 23 reps
Total: 75 reps
Assumptions used: 3RM is 90% 1RM, 2RM is 95% 1RM. The first ramp of the day is done in 10 sets. For the strength sets, the 2nd and 3rd ramps use 5 sets. Max reps uses 10 reps. All clusters use 5 reps (average if sticking in the 3-7 range).
Fatigue over the course of the workout isn’t accounted for.
These actually map up pretty close to my actual workout numbers.
That’s the reason why I say the hypertrophy weeks focus more on the 60-80% range, whereas strength on the 80+%.
It’s a gross oversimplification, but that’s where those numbers came from.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
That’s the reason why I say the hypertrophy weeks focus more on the 60-80% range, whereas strength on the 80+%.
It’s a gross oversimplification, but that’s where those numbers came from.[/quote]
the 60-80% range is subjective, not objective.
a better ‘oversimplification’ would be to say that you should always use as high a load as you can that still allows for the primary objective to be met (lifting the most weight or reaching X amount of reps in a given time -density work etc.)
[quote]lboro21 wrote:
[quote]LoRez wrote:
That’s the reason why I say the hypertrophy weeks focus more on the 60-80% range, whereas strength on the 80+%.
It’s a gross oversimplification, but that’s where those numbers came from.[/quote]
the 60-80% range is subjective, not objective.
[/quote]
Pretty sure that 30% is objectively smaller than 70%.
(I.e., the amount of work done in the 60-80% 1RM range of the strength week vs the 3RM hypertrophy week.)
…i give up
[quote]lboro21 wrote:
…i give up[/quote]
Lol, that wasn’t my goal.
I’m just trying to understand the different variables. Clearly all of this stuff works.
Mostly trying to figure out what factors prioritize size over strength, or vice versa.
Just as there’s differences in PL training protocols versus bodybuilder training protocols (obviously there’s a lot of overlap too), I’m trying to understand the general principles in manipulating density, intensity and volume with respect to tweaking the layers toward one goal or another.
So far it seems that the hypertrophy-styled layers are higher density, with higher volume at lower intensities, whereas the strength-styled layers use lower density, with higher volume at higher intensities.
I’m going to return to this to say… I’m getting more hypertrophy gains out of the “strength” layers than I was out of the “hypertrophy” ones.
For whatever reason.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I’m going to return to this to say… I’m getting more hypertrophy gains out of the “strength” layers than I was out of the “hypertrophy” ones.
For whatever reason.[/quote]
…which is what i said originally! lol
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I’m going to return to this to say… I’m getting more hypertrophy gains out of the “strength” layers than I was out of the “hypertrophy” ones.
For whatever reason.[/quote]
Which strength layer setup are you using? Sometime I’ll be running a strength focused layer in the not-so-distant future, probably the continuous ramp variation.
[quote]mstorm wrote:
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I’m going to return to this to say… I’m getting more hypertrophy gains out of the “strength” layers than I was out of the “hypertrophy” ones.
For whatever reason.[/quote]
Which strength layer setup are you using? Sometime I’ll be running a strength focused layer in the not-so-distant future, probably the continuous ramp variation.[/quote]
Ramp to 1RM, 3 clusters (at 90%)
Ramp to 2RM, 2 clusters (at 90% 2RM)
Ramp to 3RM, 1 cluster (at 90% 3RM)
Max reps at 70%
What’s the “continuous ramp variation”? I’ve seen the phrase here and there, but I don’t know what it refers to.
[quote]lboro21 wrote:
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I’m going to return to this to say… I’m getting more hypertrophy gains out of the “strength” layers than I was out of the “hypertrophy” ones.
For whatever reason.[/quote]
…which is what i said originally! lol[/quote]
Yeah, maybe, lol 
[quote]LoRez wrote:
[quote]mstorm wrote:
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I’m going to return to this to say… I’m getting more hypertrophy gains out of the “strength” layers than I was out of the “hypertrophy” ones.
For whatever reason.[/quote]
Which strength layer setup are you using? Sometime I’ll be running a strength focused layer in the not-so-distant future, probably the continuous ramp variation.[/quote]
Ramp to 1RM, 3 clusters (at 90%)
Ramp to 2RM, 2 clusters (at 90% 2RM)
Ramp to 3RM, 1 cluster (at 90% 3RM)
Max reps at 70%
What’s the “continuous ramp variation”? I’ve seen the phrase here and there, but I don’t know what it refers to.[/quote]
Thanks. I’m pretty sure ‘continuous ramp’ is the one you’ve been doing haha. But there are several variations so I could always be mistaken. How long do you think you can run that setup before getting burnt out from the daily 1RM/2RM/3RM ramps plus clusters? It’s gotta be a lot of stress on your system. I wouldn’t expect to last longer than about 3 weeks (for me) before feeling a little toasted.