Effective Hypertrophy on T-Nation

Just wanted to drop a quick message on the site to let you know my new T-nation article with JC Deen has been out for a week. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, you can find it here.

I am really happy with how this one turned out. JC and I looked at multiple angles, how different athletes train, combined this with the latest hypertrophy research, and ended with a practical example on how to integrate these ideas into a training program. It’s worth the read.

But one thing that is haunting me is a solid physiological explanation as to why multiple repetition ranges are required. We made a nice case that experienced lifters use them, and showed the data that demonstrates that both ends of the intensity can induce hypertrophy, we even offered an explanation as to how we can recruit those high-threshold fast motor units with fatiguing, light-load contractions. But if this is the case, could we not just train with exclusively light or heavy loads, why bother mixing and matching? Sure heavy weights are superior for the development of peak strength, but if you’re purely focused on hypertrophy is that really relevant?

Not wanting to overload the article, we left this out of the discussion, although I’ve been planning a follow-up that will start to address more of the ‘why’ behind multiple repetition ranges. I can’t guarantee when it will be released, or where either (at the very least, this site), but I can promise that I’m no where near finished talking about training intensity and muscle hypertrophy.

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Dan Ogborn