Hypertrophy is the technical term for building muscle mass. It’s often thought that building muscle and getting strong are one and the same, but that’s not the whole story. This is why the strongest athletes in the world – Olympic Weightlifters and Powerlifters – don’t often look much like bodybuilders. And similarly, bodybuilders are seldom as powerful as top-tier athletes. What you prioritize depends on your training program.
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The P/S Hypertrophy workouts will heavily utilize body-part splits, with the entire session focused on one or two muscle groups. Focused exercise selection and short recovery times mean that you pile up plenty of volume and create a ton of fatigue, both of which are important drivers of muscular hypertrophy. As you work through the program, methods like super sets, drop sets, and rest/pause are folded in to pack even more content into each workout.
But that isn’t the whole story. Cramming more and more sets and reps into each week of training will work for a while, but at some point, you need a few more tools in your kit. That’s why these workouts rotate among methods, training splits, and stimuli to address every physiological avenue that contributes to muscular hypertrophy. Training volume, of course, but also force production. Sometimes ‘chest day’, sometimes ‘upper body’. Sometimes straight sets, sometimes antagonistic pairs. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. But never random. Always carefully planned so that each muscle and motor pattern progressively receives both the punishment and the recovery required.
To be clear, building muscle isn’t just for bodybuilders. When it comes to living a long and healthy life, cardiovascular health often dominates the conversation, but muscle mass is a strong indicator of how long and healthy your life will be. The hypertrophy program is also an excellent choice for trainees and former competitive athletes who love the feeling of a challenging, even punishing, workout but want to be careful around max weights on primary barbell lifts.
Hypertrophy
Sample Hypertrophy Workout
A.
Dip
4×10-12
[3010] 2:00 rest
B.
Bench Press
4×10-12
[3010] 2:00 rest
C.
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
3×10-12
[3010] 2:00 rest
D.
Dumbbell Tricep Extension
3×10-12
[3010] 1:30 rest
E.
Mid-Cable Fly
3×12-15
[3010] 1:30 rest
F.
Triceps Pressdown
3×12-15
[3010] 1:30 rest
Hypertrophy Info
- Suitable for all experience levels, though some experience is recommended. The workout formats here are often simpler than those in other programs.
- This program uses equipment typically found in a full-service gym, such as cables (lat pulldown, functional trainer) and selectorized machines and stations (leg press, leg curl, 45° back extension). Alternative exercises are provided and can be easily swapped in the mobile app.
- Training phases (new workouts) rotate every three weeks
- Training days will fall on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th days of each week (Mon,Tue,Thr & Fri if signing up on a Monday).
- The first workout will default to the day you sign up. Individual sessions can be moved with a simple drag-and-drop in the mobile app.