Apply these science-backed principles to your strength training program and start seeing results. When it comes to building muscle, there’s a lot of pseudoscience out there. For real results, turn to science-backed hypertrophy training strategies instead. To understand the latest research on hypertrophy, the Tonal Strength Institute partnered with hypertrophy expert and Tonal Advisory Board member Brad Schoenfeld, PhD. Here, he explains what hypertrophy is and shares five tips for building muscle with hypertrophy training. What is Hypertrophy Training? "Simply stated, hypertrophy is muscle growth," says Schoenfeld, who is also a professor of exercise science at CUNY Lehman College. There are many different ways to execute hypertrophy training. In general, you need to progressively overload your body with new challenges, whether that’s with more load or more overall volume, to spur new muscle protein synthesis that results in bigger gains. 1. Find the sweet spot for volume. The more sets per week per muscle group you perform, the more muscle growth you’ll achieve.

But there can be too much of a good thing. Lift too low of a volume and you won’t maximize growth; lift too much volume, and you will plateau or risk overtraining, explains Schoenfeld. Everyone has a different point at which they plateau. Emerging research suggests that the sweet spot is approximately 10 or more sets per muscle per week to significantly improve hypertrophy, Schoenfeld says. For example, if you complete 3 sets of bench press and 2 sets of chest flies within two workouts for the week, you’re completing a volume of 10 sets of chest exercises. If you complete 5 sets of goblet squats and 5 sets of front squats once a week, this would also be a volume of 10 sets of squat variations. Apply it: Aim for around 10 sets per week per muscle group. If you’re not there yet, don’t sweat it. Base the volume on your current workout habits, progressively increasing volume by 20 percent at a time. So if you’re under 10 sets per week, you can benefit from including one additional set per week, a finding that was also evident in anonymous performance data of Tonal users. The programs geared toward hypertrophy on Tonal seamlessly build this progressive overload into the workouts. 2. Maximize hypertrophy with different loading strategies. Historically, there were strict guidelines for how heavy you should lift and how many reps you should perform for hypertrophy goals. But new research now shows that muscle growth occurs regardless of intensity and official Alpha Surge Male website rep range, Schoenfeld explains.

If you’re serious about weightlifting, official Alpha Surge Male website you’ve probably heard the term "progressive overload" before. But what exactly is is to adjust to your workout routine regularly.