If you’re trying to build muscle and get stronger, you’ve probably come across the term “hypertrophy”. But what does it really mean? Hypertrophy is simply the increase in muscle size, and it’s the goal for anyone looking to bulk up and become stronger. Achieving hypertrophy involves a combination of effective workouts, recovery, and nutrition.
This guide dives deep into hypertrophy training. We’ll explain how to structure your workouts, how to split them for maximum results, what you should be doing before and after workouts, and give an overview of nutrition to support muscle growth.
Whether you’re a beginner or someone who’s been lifting for years, this article will help you create an effective plan to boost hypertrophy, allowing you to build muscle, get stronger, and improve your fitness.
Table of Contents
What is Hypertrophy?
Before diving into the workout examples and strategies, it’s important to understand what hypertrophy really is. Hypertrophy refers to the increase in muscle size that results from resistance training.
Types of Hypertrophy:
- Myofibrillar Hypertrophy: This involves an increase in the size and number of myofibrils, which are the contractile components of muscle fibres. This type of hypertrophy improves strength.
- Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy: In this case, the volume of the fluid (sarcoplasm) surrounding the muscle fibres increases. This improves muscle size and endurance but does not necessarily lead to increased strength.
A balanced hypertrophy training plan typically aims for a combination of both types, which means lifting weights that challenge your muscles in various ways.
How to Build Muscle Through Hypertrophy Training
To achieve hypertrophy, the goal is to push your muscles beyond what they’re accustomed to. The principle of progressive overload is key here—gradually increasing the weight, reps, or intensity of your exercises over time. Let’s look at some effective strategies for hypertrophy training.
1. Rep Ranges and Load
One of the biggest factors for hypertrophy is using the right rep range. Research shows that performing 6–12 reps per set with a moderate to heavy load promotes hypertrophy best. However, mixing lower reps for strength and higher reps for endurance can also be beneficial.
- Strength Reps (1-5 reps): Focuses on building raw strength.
- Hypertrophy Reps (6-12 reps): The sweet spot for muscle growth.
- Endurance Reps (12-20 reps): Builds stamina and supports hypertrophy by increasing time under tension.
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2. Workout Volume and Intensity
To build muscle, you need to focus on volume—the total amount of work done in a workout. For hypertrophy, aim for 3-5 sets per exercise, targeting 8-12 sets per muscle group per week.
Training intensity is also crucial. To promote hypertrophy, lift weights that are 65-85% of your 1 Rep Max (1RM). You should finish each set feeling like you could only do 1-2 more reps before muscle failure.
3. Exercise Selection
Incorporating a mix of compound movements (like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses) and isolation exercises (like bicep curls or leg extensions) is essential. Compound movements engage multiple muscle groups, which helps you lift heavier and trigger more muscle growth. Isolation exercises, on the other hand, target specific muscles to ensure balanced development.
Effective Workout Splits for Hypertrophy
Once you’ve got a solid understanding of volume and intensity, it’s time to think about how to organise your workouts through splits. A workout split refers to how you divide your training across the week to hit all major muscle groups.
1. Full Body Split
Perfect for beginners, the full body split focuses on working the entire body in one session.
Example:
- Day 1: Squats, Bench Press, Pull-Ups, Deadlifts, Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- Day 2: Lunges, Bent-Over Rows, Push-Ups, Leg Press, Bicep Curls
- Day 3: Deadlifts, Dips, Lateral Raises, Hamstring Curls, Tricep Extensions
Each session targets every major muscle group with 1-2 exercises per group. You can train 3-4 times per week with this approach, allowing plenty of recovery time.
2. Upper/Lower Split
The upper/lower split is a popular choice for intermediate lifters. It divides the workout between the upper body and lower body, giving each area more attention.
Example:
- Day 1 (Upper Body): Bench Press, Bent-Over Rows, Overhead Press, Bicep Curls, Tricep Pushdowns
- Day 2 (Lower Body): Squats, Romanian Deadlifts, Leg Press, Calf Raises, Lunges
- Day 3 (Upper Body): Dumbbell Chest Press, Lat Pulldown, Dumbbell Rows, Shrugs, Face Pulls
- Day 4 (Lower Body): Deadlifts, Step-Ups, Bulgarian Split Squats, Leg Curls, Calf Presses
This split allows you to train each muscle group twice per week, which research shows is optimal for hypertrophy.
3. Push/Pull/Legs Split
More advanced lifters often prefer the Push/Pull/Legs (PPL) split because it offers more training sessions per week and allows for focused work on each muscle group.
Example:
- Day 1 (Push): Bench Press, Overhead Press, Tricep Dips, Lateral Raises, Dumbbell Chest Flyes
- Day 2 (Pull): Pull-Ups, Bent-Over Rows, Bicep Curls, Shrugs, Reverse Flyes
- Day 3 (Legs): Squats, Deadlifts, Leg Press, Calf Raises, Glute Bridges
- Day 4: Repeat Push or Rest
- Day 5: Repeat Pull or Rest
- Day 6: Repeat Legs or Rest
This allows for more frequent training but requires careful attention to recovery.
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What to Do Before and After Workouts
When it comes to hypertrophy, what you do before and after your workouts can be just as important as the exercises themselves. Preparing your body for the stress of lifting and helping it recover properly afterwards ensures that you can consistently train at a high level, avoid injury, and maximise muscle growth.
Before Your Workout
Your pre-workout routine plays a crucial role in priming your muscles, improving performance, and preventing injuries. It’s about getting your body ready for the intense physical demands ahead. Let’s break down the key components of an effective pre-workout routine:
1. Dynamic Warm-Up
Warming up isn’t optional if you want to optimise your hypertrophy training. It prepares your muscles, tendons, and joints for the range of motion required during your workout, allowing you to lift heavier and with better form. A proper warm-up increases blood flow to the muscles, raises body temperature, and activates the nervous system. Dynamic warm-ups are especially beneficial for hypertrophy because they involve active movements that mirror the exercises you’ll be doing.
Dynamic Warm-Up Routine:
- Arm Circles: 2 sets of 10-15 rotations (both forward and backward). These warm up your shoulders and rotator cuffs, critical for pressing movements.
- Leg Swings: 2 sets of 10-12 swings per leg (both forward/backward and side-to-side). This prepares your hips and lower body for squats, lunges, and deadlifts.
- Torso Twists: 2 sets of 15 twists to mobilise your core and spine, helping with rotational movements and stabilisation.
2. Foam Rolling
Foam rolling is a form of self-myofascial release that helps loosen tight muscles and reduce stiffness. Pre-workout foam rolling can improve your range of motion, allowing for better form and deeper muscle contractions during lifts. This is particularly beneficial when performing hypertrophy movements, where full range of motion is essential for maximising muscle engagement.
Focus on foam rolling major muscle groups, such as your quads, hamstrings, calves, and upper back, spending around 1-2 minutes on each area.
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3. Light Cardio
Adding 5-10 minutes of light cardio, such as brisk walking, jogging, or cycling, raises your heart rate and further increases blood flow to the muscles. This ensures that your body is fully warmed up and ready to handle the demands of resistance training. Choose an activity that engages your whole body but doesn’t fatigue your muscles before you start lifting.
4. Specific Warm-Up Sets
Before diving into your working sets, it’s important to do a few lighter sets of the exercises you’ll be focusing on that day. This primes your central nervous system and helps improve your muscle memory, ensuring better form and performance during your heavier lifts.
For example, if your workout includes bench presses, start with a couple of sets using lighter weights—around 50-60% of your working weight—focusing on slow, controlled movements to perfect your technique.
Source: Photo courtesy of CrossFit IncAfter Your Workout
The work doesn’t stop when your last set is complete. What you do after your workout is critical for recovery and muscle growth. After all, hypertrophy is not just built in the gym; it’s during recovery that your muscles repair and grow stronger.
1. Cool-Down Routine
Cooling down allows your heart rate and breathing to return to normal gradually. It also helps reduce muscle soreness by improving circulation and flushing out lactic acid. Skipping your cool-down can lead to muscle tightness, which may hinder your recovery and performance in your next workout.
An effective cool-down should last 5-10 minutes and include light, full-body movements, such as walking or cycling at a low intensity. This helps transition your body from a state of high exertion back to rest.
2. Static Stretching
After a hypertrophy workout, your muscles are fatigued and often shortened due to the intense contractions. Stretching these muscles while they’re still warm can improve flexibility, promote better posture, and reduce the risk of injury in future sessions. Static stretching—where you hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds—focuses on lengthening the muscles and improving mobility.
Source: Gustavo Fring on PexelsKey stretches to include:
- Hamstring Stretch: This helps relieve tension in your lower back and legs after exercises like deadlifts and squats.
- Chest Stretch: Opens up the chest muscles, which are often tight after pressing movements like bench presses.
- Hip Flexor Stretch: Essential after leg day to loosen the hip muscles and promote better mobility.
Stretching post-workout also improves blood flow to the muscles, which aids in recovery by delivering oxygen and nutrients needed for repair.
3. Foam Rolling for Recovery
Foam rolling can also be beneficial after your workout as a recovery tool. It reduces delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) by breaking down any lactic acid build-up and enhancing circulation. Spend about 1-2 minutes on each major muscle group, focusing on any areas that feel particularly tight or sore.
4. Active Recovery
Active recovery involves performing low-intensity activities like walking, swimming, or light cycling on your rest days. This encourages blood flow to the muscles, reducing stiffness and aiding in the repair process. Gentle activities like yoga or stretching classes can also be excellent ways to promote flexibility while giving your muscles time to recover.
5. Sleep and Rest
Muscle growth doesn’t happen while you’re lifting—it happens during recovery, particularly while you sleep. This is when your body repairs damaged muscle fibres, making them bigger and stronger. Aim for at least 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night. Good sleep hygiene—such as maintaining a regular sleep schedule, minimising screen time before bed, and creating a dark, cool sleeping environment—helps optimise recovery and growth.
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Nutrition for Hypertrophy
To achieve hypertrophy, what you eat is just as important as how you train. Your muscles need proper nutrition to grow, recover, and repair from intense resistance training. Without the right fuel, you won’t see the results you’re working hard for in the gym. Let’s take a closer look at the dietary strategies that support hypertrophy.
1. Caloric Surplus for Muscle Growth
The foundation of any hypertrophy-focused diet is being in a caloric surplus. This means consuming more calories than your body needs to maintain its current weight. The extra calories provide the energy required for muscle growth. A common recommendation is to eat around 300-500 calories above your maintenance level each day.
You can determine your maintenance calories by using a calorie calculator or tracking your intake and weight over time. Once you have your baseline, slowly increase your calories to promote muscle growth without gaining excessive fat.
Source: Dan Counsell on Unsplash / CrossFit Inc.However, the key is to ensure that these extra calories come from the right sources, which leads us to macronutrients.
2. Protein for Muscle Repair and Growth
Protein is the most important macronutrient for hypertrophy. It provides the building blocks (amino acids) needed to repair muscle tissue that’s been damaged during training. Without enough protein, your body can’t synthesise new muscle effectively.
Research suggests that to maximise hypertrophy, you should consume between 1.6 and 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. For someone weighing 75 kg, that translates to about 120-165 grams of protein daily. Spread your protein intake evenly throughout the day, ideally aiming for 20-40 grams per meal to optimise muscle protein synthesis.
Best protein sources:
- Animal-based: Chicken breast, turkey, lean beef, eggs, fish (like salmon and tuna), and dairy (Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese).
- Plant-based: Lentils, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh, quinoa, edamame, and protein-rich whole grains like buckwheat.
If you struggle to hit your daily protein goals through whole foods, you can consider supplementing with whey or plant-based protein powders.
3. Carbohydrates for Energy
While protein gets a lot of attention for muscle growth, carbohydrates are equally important. Carbs are the body’s primary source of energy, especially during intense workouts. Without sufficient carbs, your body will struggle to perform at a high level, limiting your ability to lift heavier and push harder in the gym.
Aim to consume 3-5 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight each day. For a 75 kg individual, that’s around 225-375 grams of carbs daily. This ensures you have enough glycogen (stored carbs) in your muscles to fuel your training.
Best carbohydrate sources:
- Complex carbs: Whole grains (oats, brown rice, quinoa), sweet potatoes, whole wheat pasta, and legumes.
- Fruits and vegetables: Apples, bananas, berries, spinach, broccoli, and other nutrient-dense options.
For optimal performance, try to consume a pre-workout meal that’s rich in carbohydrates 1-2 hours before your training session. This provides your muscles with the fuel they need to perform at their best.
4. Fats for Hormone Production and Health
Fats are essential for overall health and play a significant role in hormone production, particularly testosterone. Testosterone is a key hormone for muscle growth, and having adequate fat in your diet helps maintain healthy levels.
Aim for 0.5-1 gram of fat per kilogram of body weight per day, focusing on healthy fat sources. This means that a 75 kg person should consume about 37-75 grams of fat daily. While fats are calorically dense, they are vital for cell structure, energy, and hormone regulation.
Best fat sources:
- Healthy fats: Avocados, nuts (almonds, walnuts), seeds (chia seeds, flaxseeds), olive oil, fatty fish (like salmon and mackerel), and nut butters.
5. Meal Timing for Hypertrophy
While total daily calorie and macronutrient intake are the most important factors, meal timing can also play a role in optimising hypertrophy. The focus should be on spreading your protein intake throughout the day and ensuring you fuel your body before and after your workouts.
Pre-Workout Nutrition
Eating a balanced meal before your workout gives you the energy to train hard and lift heavy, which is essential for hypertrophy. Your pre-workout meal should consist of:
- Carbohydrates: To fuel your workout and maintain energy levels.
- Protein: To start muscle repair and synthesis early on.
For example, a good pre-workout meal could be oatmeal with a scoop of protein powder and a banana, eaten 1-2 hours before training.
Post-Workout Nutrition
After your workout, it’s important to consume a protein-rich meal to kickstart the muscle recovery process. This is often referred to as the “anabolic window,” where your muscles are primed to absorb nutrients for recovery and growth. However, recent research shows that this window is not as small as once thought—it can extend several hours after your workout.
A post-workout meal should include:
- Protein: To support muscle repair and growth.
- Carbohydrates: To replenish glycogen stores and provide energy for recovery.
For instance, a grilled chicken breast with quinoa and a side of vegetables makes for a great post-workout meal.
6. Supplements for Hypertrophy
While a well-rounded diet should cover most of your nutritional needs, certain supplements can help enhance your muscle-building efforts:
Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs): While not essential if you’re consuming enough protein, BCAAs can help reduce muscle soreness and promote recovery, especially during periods of calorie restriction.
Creatine: One of the most researched supplements for muscle growth, creatine increases your ability to produce energy during intense, short bursts of activity, allowing you to lift heavier and train harder. A typical dose is 3-5 grams per day.
Protein Powder: As mentioned earlier, if you struggle to hit your daily protein goals, a protein supplement can be a convenient way to ensure you’re getting enough.
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Conclusion
Hypertrophy is all about increasing muscle size, but it takes more than just lifting heavy weights. A well-structured workout plan that combines progressive overload with proper recovery, along with the right nutrition, is crucial for building muscle and getting stronger.
Whether you choose a full body, upper/lower, or push/pull/legs split, the key is consistency. Regularly challenging your muscles with a mix of compound and isolation movements, while ensuring you have enough rest and fuel, will help you achieve optimal hypertrophy.
Key Takeaways
This content is originated from https://www.boxrox.com your Online Magazine for Competitive Fitness.