No, and it's one drawback. Now, I do see on the forums for RP that some excel gurus have done that. Adjusted the spreadsheet on their own to meet their needs and add exercises. But I am not a guru. But right now, for instance, I am actually trying to work on thickening my back during this phase, so more rowing and less vertical pulls. Except you cannot do that. The template shows 2 vertical pulls and 1 row. So I just input whatever vertical that comes up, use the load for the row I am actually doing and note it in my own notebook that I take to the gym. Which brings up another point, it's not an app, so you'll need a notebook. But I have a feeling an app will be on the way soon. As they become more popular, they will be able to afford being able to make an app. It would be SOOOO much easier than trying to use excel on an iPhone, which I just don't do. But I am old school so notebooks do not bother me.CC09LawAg said:
Is there a way that you input what equipment is available when it's building your workout routines?
What I love is that RP encompasses bodybuilding, strength training and powerlifting and CrossFit. They have coaches that specialize in these areas and it refreshing to see these 3 demographics and instead of pitting these training styles against each other they are validated for each offering a different type of fitness to those that prefer them.True Anomaly said:
I love RP and their approach on nutrition and training, but have never bought any of the templates. Mike's YouTube videos have- for me- been a great education on hypertrophy training. Coming from doing crossfit for a few years (with very basic hypertrophy training for 15 years before that), I had enough of a base to jump back into hypertrophy training techniques and just see what happens. I'm beyond pleased with my results so far
I even just completed their new nutrition coaching course they started in the fall because I trusted their approach, and hope to coach others using that as the base
Not to derail this thread, but I have these same questions as well as I have been trying to find a good, reputable program rather than trying to use ones that can be found on various sites on the internet. I'm a pretty experienced lifter and have lifted for a good amount of my life, but really just 3 to 4 sets of 10 for most of the basic lifts (a pretty generic routine that has gotten old and there is little doubt that I need to really move on to something that will be more conducive to gains). I'd greatly appreciate any advice if anyone has any. Thanks.CC09LawAg said:
Most of my successful training has been on Starting Strength style workouts, but I know I will burn out on those eventually....
Can you explain hypertrophy training to me like I'm 5? I think the general premise is higher reps per set, but I am honestly clueless as to how you structure the workouts. Is there more accessory lifting? Do you change exercises more often? Are you targeting muscles in iso workouts that may not get as much attention on the big compound lifts? Can it be done successfully in 3 or 4 day splits? Do the workouts take longer?
Hypertrophy is muscle growth. Strength is adding weight to the bar. They do cross into each other for sure. But if you are more interested in purely getting bigger, hypertrophy is what you should focus on. If adding weight to the bar, i.e. getting stronger, is your main goal, strength training is your focus. Strength will be hypertrophic, especially in reps of 5 or more. But not as much, in most cases, as more volume is. Volume is essentially the number of reps and sets. Load is the weight on the bar. In both you will have a load focus at times and a volume focus at other times. Again, they cross over a lot. But optimally, you should follow a hypertrophy program if muscle size (looking jacked) is what you want, and you should follow a strength focused program if you want to optimize your strength. And, many will have strength and hypertrophy phases, training for one for a period of time before purposefully going back to the other. Muscle size, in theory, should help increase your strength capacity, and more strength should, in theory, allow you to train with heavier volume over time. So its a win win to do it in phases.CC09LawAg said:
Most of my successful training has been on Starting Strength style workouts, but I know I will burn out on those eventually....
Can you explain hypertrophy training to me like I'm 5? I think the general premise is higher reps per set, but I am honestly clueless as to how you structure the workouts. Is there more accessory lifting? Do you change exercises more often? Are you targeting muscles in iso workouts that may not get as much attention on the big compound lifts? Can it be done successfully in 3 or 4 day splits? Do the workouts take longer?
I'll caveat all of this with I may be talking out of my ass, so anyone else please feel free to correct meCC09LawAg said:
Most of my successful training has been on Starting Strength style workouts, but I know I will burn out on those eventually....
Can you explain hypertrophy training to me like I'm 5? I think the general premise is higher reps per set, but I am honestly clueless as to how you structure the workouts. Is there more accessory lifting? Do you change exercises more often? Are you targeting muscles in iso workouts that may not get as much attention on the big compound lifts? Can it be done successfully in 3 or 4 day splits? Do the workouts take longer?
Agreed. All have great benefits, because at the end of the day you're just trying to move more and more weight. So doing any of them will get you increased size and strength- it's just the ratios of those that are in the details of each type of disciplineCapitol Ag said:What I love is that RP encompasses bodybuilding, strength training and powerlifting and CrossFit. They have coaches that specialize in these areas and it refreshing to see these 3 demographics and instead of pitting these training styles against each other they are validated for each offering a different type of fitness to those that prefer them.True Anomaly said:
I love RP and their approach on nutrition and training, but have never bought any of the templates. Mike's YouTube videos have- for me- been a great education on hypertrophy training. Coming from doing crossfit for a few years (with very basic hypertrophy training for 15 years before that), I had enough of a base to jump back into hypertrophy training techniques and just see what happens. I'm beyond pleased with my results so far
I even just completed their new nutrition coaching course they started in the fall because I trusted their approach, and hope to coach others using that as the base
See my add on in my original post. Basically, yes and no. Some of these things that SS does might be a waste of time and energy if hypertrophy is your main goal. Hypertrophy is a fancy way of saying muscle growth which is a way of saying body building. The deal with hypertrophy is to think in isolation. It is also important to focus on managing fatigue as your volume will raise significantly in hypertrophy. Here is an example: Why are you doing a squat in hypertrophy? typically it's to grow your quads. In strength focused training, that isn't the main goal at all. It's to use close to perfect technique to squat the weight for the desired # of reps. Then add weight the next time generally. Here you want to use the body in a way that gets the weight up safely and successfully. Sure, I grew my quads and I liked that part but in lowbar, there is a give and take as more glute and even hamstring become involved. You will see that these types of squats are not always the best for hypertrophy as the amount of fatigue induced doing a typical low bar squat is pretty high (too much fatigue for the stimulus), so one might find that a lighter front or high bar squat where the heals are elevated and the back more vertical are a better way to isolate the quads with less fatigue built up. So, you will see more quad stimulus and less stimulus in other areas in your lower body.CC09LawAg said:
I meant it when I said explain it like I'm 5...
So, if I'm doing a SS style workout, where I squat/bench/row, squat/OH press/DL, squat/bench/row repeat, is it as easy as switching the rep scheme to higher volume and just adjusting the weights for that?
Is it better to focus the splits into a push day, a pull day, and a lower day, doing bench + accessories, row + accessories, and squat + accessories? Is 3 days enough?
I like the idea of switching between building strength and building size. Thanks for your input!
This is great stuff.True Anomaly said:I'll caveat all of this with I may be talking out of my ass, so anyone else please feel free to correct meCC09LawAg said:
Most of my successful training has been on Starting Strength style workouts, but I know I will burn out on those eventually....
Can you explain hypertrophy training to me like I'm 5? I think the general premise is higher reps per set, but I am honestly clueless as to how you structure the workouts. Is there more accessory lifting? Do you change exercises more often? Are you targeting muscles in iso workouts that may not get as much attention on the big compound lifts? Can it be done successfully in 3 or 4 day splits? Do the workouts take longer?
For hypertrophy training, the goal is to get as close as possible to technical failure with the muscle as much as you can given your ability to recover. The really cool thing is that there are a million ways to get to that goal
A few principles I follow:
-You are able to build muscle with working sets that range anywhere from 5-30 reps, but each of those sets must be close to failure at least (we're talking 2-3 reps in reserve from failure for each set).
- The number of working sets per muscle group per week has a direct effect on your ability to grow. Starting out as a novice, it may only take 2-3 working sets of chest in order to see growth- but the more you grow, the more volume (sets x reps x weight) you need to grow more.
- Full ROM as much as possible for the target muscle or muscle group - even if that means lower weight.
- Control eccentric as much as possible, as growth can occur even in the stretched position of that muscle when lowering the weight
- Mind/muscle connection helps a lot, but is not required
- Splits are just a way to organize your weekly volume. But research seems to suggest that targeting the muscle twice per week is probably better for growth than just once per week. But you can definitely grow just doing a bro split with dedicated days
- There is no required exercise. There is only achieving a proper stimulus for the muscle you're trying to grow
- Progressive overload is still important, but it's not just putting weight on the bar- it could be adding another set, or even adding another 1-2 reps per working set. So those "3 sets of 10" might have you stalled out, but 3 sets of 12-15 might give you a better stimulus for the time being. Or even 4-5 sets of 10. As long as you're increasing your total volume over time, you will grow
Given all this, I aim for about 10 working sets per muscle group per week. I love variety of exercises as well, so I'll do deadlifts and squats, but accessory movements are widely used as well
Oh, and if you're not eating enough complete protein (0.8-1.2 g/pound of lean body mass), then you are missing out on even more growth. This is true whether in a calorie surplus or even a calorie deficit
You are definitely not talking out of your ass, but I might be: do you count bench press as a working set for your triceps as a muscle group? Or only count iso sets?True Anomaly said:
Given all this, I aim for about 10 working sets per muscle group per week. I love variety of exercises as well, so I'll do deadlifts and squats, but accessory movements are widely used as well
Depends on the bench. But honestly, if it is a bench variation or dips, i'd still count that towards chest as well. Whats great about tris is you can do skulls, pressdowns, JM presses and such as well to add more iso volume. No matter which way you cut it, a close grip bench still hits chest and so do dips. So just be aware...CC09LawAg said:You are definitely not talking out of your ass, but I might be: do you count bench press as a working set for your triceps as a muscle group? Or only count iso sets?True Anomaly said:
Given all this, I aim for about 10 working sets per muscle group per week. I love variety of exercises as well, so I'll do deadlifts and squats, but accessory movements are widely used as well
I have found a pretty good sweet spot of 220 pounds where I can maintain my weight and still make strength gains while doing Starting Strength.ttha_aggie_09 said:
Regarding the hypertrophy vs strength training - I think you can blend both into the same program. It is essentially what I have done the last year or so after doing several body building programs. Emphasize key workouts (bench, squat, rows) for strength and work up to 3/4x3/4. Work on isolation and hypertrophy for the remainder of the workout.
Capitol Ag said:Depends on the bench. But honestly, if it is a bench variation or dips, i'd still count that towards chest as well. Whats great about tris is you can do skulls, pressdowns, JM presses and such as well to add more iso volume. No matter which way you cut it, a close grip bench still hits chest and so do dips. So just be aware...CC09LawAg said:You are definitely not talking out of your ass, but I might be: do you count bench press as a working set for your triceps as a muscle group? Or only count iso sets?True Anomaly said:
Given all this, I aim for about 10 working sets per muscle group per week. I love variety of exercises as well, so I'll do deadlifts and squats, but accessory movements are widely used as well
Agree. It's hard and many times I wonder, after the set, was that actually too close to failure? well, honestly, yes and no. It wasn't RIR 0 as that is where you absolutely cannot do another without breaking form. Same with RPE. The way I have always been taught, RPE10 is basically bone on bone. Like, the heaviest thing you have ever lifted level. So most times 8-9 is all one needs as most never actually hit 10. As long as I am getting stronger, can add more reps etc, I am probably ok. But I am always mindful, I track my resp and even record how it felt at times. Also, so many times we forget about the outside factors that affect RIR or RPE on a daily basis. Lack of sleep, stress at work. The fact that today you are training later than earlier, etc. It can be a moving target. What was an RIR of 3 last week, due to a very stressful workweek can feel like RIR 1 this week. I may still get all the reps, but man, it was really hard. So I am still learning. Again, I'd rather be a little too close to an RIR that is more challenging overall as we can tend to overestimate our own abilities in each lift.Quote:
I'd add, most people have no idea what working out to failure really looks like. I'm not an advocate of training to failure regularly (risk v reward) but doing so to establish a baseline and to calibrate your RPE or RIR is needed. Most people leave way to much in the tank…
CC09LawAg said:I have found a pretty good sweet spot of 220 pounds where I can maintain my weight and still make strength gains while doing Starting Strength.ttha_aggie_09 said:
Regarding the hypertrophy vs strength training - I think you can blend both into the same program. It is essentially what I have done the last year or so after doing several body building programs. Emphasize key workouts (bench, squat, rows) for strength and work up to 3/4x3/4. Work on isolation and hypertrophy for the remainder of the workout.
Obviously this is a question very specific to each individual, but generally to make hypertrophy gains, do you need to be actively trying to gain weight to put on muscle size? Or as a novice will I probably be able to do it for 6 months or so while maintaining weight due to body recomposition?
PascalsWager said:
Instead of personal trainers, I would buy a nice camera setup and record yourself doing your lifts. You can see and critique yourself.
The thing on form is, hiring a trainer to watch form is a crap shoot. I know trainers who still very much believe in partial ROM and TUT as the absolute benchmarks of form. I know others who are along the lines of Joel; Seedman (look him up for a laugh) in terms of form, and then there are the Full ROM guys like at RP. On top of that, when I started as a trainer, I was more "Full ROM" but very, very over the top about form and technique. And I wasn't always right either. Now I am much more open minded. Very Full ROM but I'm not real concerned with the most beautiful technique or form and more about if the person actually feels the exercise. I try to put it all together but rely the most on client feedback.RC_57 said:
Stumbled on to this thread and glad I did.
Just last year (end of Oct) I started getting serious about going to the gym again. Attempting to do some 3 sec rest training. But what exactly should I do, how should I do it.
I knew there was wealth (?) of info out there now on the web (FB, Instagram, Youtube).
The hard part is, to whose advice to follow. I started out watching Jonni Shreve, but recently started watching RP videos, and a couple of others on occasion.
I usually try to glean from each any similarities, and the apply those.
Glad to see RP referenced here.
My quest now is to find a trainer that I could trust to check my form. I'm in Cypress. Anyone know of a trainer in the area they would recommend, one they have some personal experience with?
