What Is Hypertrophy?

“Hypertrophy” is a term you hear very often in conjunction with bodybuilding and working out. But what is it and how do you best achieve it?

Hypertrophy: Enlargement Of Cells

Basically, “hypertrophy” means nothing else than the enlargement of an organ or tissue due to an increase in the size of the cells it’s made from. In terms of building muscle, it’s just a fancy way to say “building muscle.” A concept I explained in my article about how to build muscle at home. You may want to read it before continuing here.

Sarcoplasmic And Myofibrillar

In bodybuilding we are most concerned with that specific form of tissue to enlarge: our muscles. When it comes to muscular hypertrophy, there are two distinct kinds:

• Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which is an increase in the amount of fluid inside the muscles, making them larger without an increase in strength
• Myofibrillar hypertrophy, referring to the body using protein to enlarge the actual fibers muscles are made of, making them stronger

This is in direct connection to fast-twitch vs. slow-twitch muscle fibers that I discussed in another article. The fast-twitch muscle fibers are those largely responsible for muscular hypertrophy.

The “Weak” Bodybuilder

Wolf recently touched on it in an article: Many people believe that bodybuilders either knowingly or unknowingly reach for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, giving them huge size with comparatively little gains in strength.

As Wolf said, that simply isn’t true. You can’t have either kind in its pure form, because sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar hypertrophy always go hand in hand. The only thing you may be able to influence is where the emphasis is, with the rule of thumb being low rep ranges (5 -8) aiming more toward myofibrillar hypertrophy, and higher ranges (8 – 12) involving more sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

Maximum Hypertrophy

There are people out there that claim that their workout plans will give you the maximum possible amount of either kind of hypertrophy. In reality, this can’t work.

Although all humans are made from the same blue print, there are variations between us that have to be accounted for: genetic makeup, sex, age, nutrition etc. Because of this, there can’t be a one-size-fits-all plan that lets everybody reach their maximum potential. Every trainee needs a plan tailored to his needs.

Fundamental Rules

In my opinion, the only fundamental rules you should heed in your quest for hypertrophy are these:

• Start with a workout plan suitable for where you are. Here is mine for beginners
• Work against sufficient resistance, which means don’t go for rep ranges over 15, as around that point you will start to train muscular endurance, which involves neither kind of hypertrophy
• Instead work against more resistance (“progressive overload”). Add 5 to 10 percent of weight when an exercise becomes too easy
• Get enough protein, because your body needs protein to build muscle. Rule of thumb is 1 g of protein per pound of body weight
• Vary your workouts from time to time, as it will keep your body engaged
• Track your progress. Write down what exercise you did for how many reps and with what weight. and look at the trends for about two months. What works, what doesn’t? 

Video

Here is the video to this article:

Picture courtesy of “Aunt Owwee“.