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Different Goals, Different Adaptations
You can’t train to optimize all three goals! Unless you’re a beginner. Then it really doesn’t matter what you’ll do. You’ll still progress!
But for those of us with a little bit of training under our belt, it’s advantageous to take a more granular look at each “phase” of workout programming.
Interestingly enough, building muscle (hypertrophy) and increasing muscular strength are considerably different. More muscle does not necessarily mean greater strength and vice versa. The two variables are not linear!
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As I’ve mentioned in some of my previous articles, including the one about training for strength, you can’t effectively train to optimize all three goals of strength, hypertrophy and fat loss at the same time!
There is a bit of carryover between strength and hypertrophy, but it’s more effective in the long-run to prioritize one at a time.
Here, we’ll focus on the primary goal of maximizing hypertrophy, which is commonly referred to as the scientific term for building muscle.
What Is Hypertrophy?
Muscle mass is essentially the amount and size of muscle fibers that you have, which makes up a cross sectional area. There’s no such thing as lean muscle or bulky muscle. Muscle tissue is muscle tissue.
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First off, as with anything, it depends what your goal is.
For the purpose of this article, I’m going to dive into the considerations,
assuming muscle growth (hypertrophy) is the main intent of training.
*As a side note, if your goals are maximal strength or general health, training frequency doesn’t really matter as much.
Training Frequency
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What is your goal?
As with anything, your goal should be the driving factor that guides you to move forward. When it comes to exercise, there are a few potential motives including general health/longevity, improved body composition, or even as a method to reduce stress or increase productivity. There is typically a lot of overlap from one goal to another, but sometimes pursuing one can be detrimental towards achieving another.
For example, if building muscle and/or losing fat is your primary goal, and you take it to the extreme, you can actually worsen your health and lifespan. Depriving your body of calories to reach and sustain a low body fat percentage can provide deteriorating stress to your body by challenging its natural limitations.
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The Old Way
Traditionally, in order to change your body composition (build muscle or lose fat), people commit to one goal for a long period of time. This would mean spending a prolonged period in a caloric surplus (bulk) or caloric deficit (cut).
The typical example for a bodybuilder would be to bulk up for months straight during his/her offseason. This process may put on muscle, but also lots of fat as a byproduct. Then, when it’s time to lean-down, the bodybuilder has to endure a several month-long cut to get back to where he/she started.
Not only is this process unenjoyable, but it’s also not very efficient. Putting your body in a caloric deficit for a lengthy period will likely lead to unwanted muscle loss and “metabolic adaptation”.
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