Hypertrophy Training: Steps to Follow, Various Exercises & Benefits

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December 31, 2021

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Enter any gym and you would find people lifting heavy weights, working on cable cross machines to get those muscular shoulders and chiselled abs. As beginners, it all seems quite interesting and overwhelming at the same time. You would want to learn the secrets that lead to such muscles. Well, one of the secrets lies in hypertrophy training.

Also known as hypertrophy strength training or hypertrophy weight training, this workout is specially made to give you the aesthetic body like bodybuilders. But before jumping into hypertrophy training, it is very important to learn the basics like what is hypertrophy training or how can you do hypertrophy strength training. Let’s start!

What Is Hypertrophy Training

A hypertrophy workout is designed to increase the size and strength of your muscles via exercises. It usually includes weight lifting muscles strength. That’s why it is also known as hypertrophy weight training.

In hypertrophy training, you have to focus on challenging exercises and complete them at various times. A hypertrophy training program consists of 2-4 workouts that focus on different muscles. These workouts use weights like dumbbells, kettlebells, machine balls, or barbells, etc. This is why most of them are done at the gym.

People often get confused with hypertrophy training meaning and think it is similar to strength training. The strength training will include heavyweights but lesser reps and sets. In hypertrophy, the reps will be more and weights can be less. The main difference is that hypertrophy training’s main aim is to increase muscles while strength training boosts strength and it may not lead to muscle increase. In simple words, the goals differ in both workouts.

How to Do Hypertrophy Training?

Now that you have an idea about hypertrophy training meaning, it is time to learn how to do this training and build a sculpted body. Here are some steps that you should add in your training to make it effective:

Split Sessions For Different Muscle Groups

No doubt that you will know plenty of hypertrophy training exercises, it does not mean you have to do them all in one day. Instead, devote each session to one muscle group. For instance, you can keep one day just for leg muscles and perfect 2-3 leg exercises. The next session could be for your upper body. This will ensure that your hypertrophy training plan has a specific day for each body part equally.

Select Your Exercise Wisely

When you are trying a hypertrophy workout, it is best to choose weightlifting exercises that focus on specific muscles. These are also known as isolation exercises. Some of the isolation exercises are leg presses or tricep extensions. These help in attaining goals faster.

Do 3-4 Sets Of Hypertrophy Training Exercises

A hypertrophy workout includes weightlifting exercises with reps that range from 6-20 per set or until your muscles fail to do anymore. You can try to complete 3-4 sets of such reps.

Be Careful About Choosing Weights

When selecting the weight, keep your 1RM in mind. It is suggested to use a weight that is 75-85% of your 1RM. You should be able to move the weights for the required sets. Once you have mastered a set, you can increase the weight.

The Rest Periods

Rest periods are essential in hypertrophy training to give your muscles time to recover. Try to rest for a minute to a minute and a half between sets.

Hypertrophy Training Exercises

Here are some of the most popular exercises you can include in your hypertrophy training plan:

Barbell Bench Press:

A barbell bench press is suited for your upper body muscles such as chest, triceps, and shoulder. It can also be done with dumbbells if you want to perform workout at home. This is a compound workout where you push a barbell overhead while lying on a bench.

Lat Pulldown:

This workout focuses on your back muscles and shoulder muscles and is done at a workstation with adjustable weights. Lat pulldown is one of the best exercises to include in your hypertrophy training for beginners.

Seated Cable Row:

If you want to focus on building forearm muscles, seated cable row is a great hypertrophy exercise. It requires a cable machine wherein you pull the cable to lift weights. It can also be best for beginners.

Leg Press:

Let’s talk about lower body workouts. A leg press is performed at leg press machine. The exercise targets your quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteus maximus. It is also known as machine leg press, seated leg press, and machine squat press.

Barbell Back Squat:

This is another workout that targets your lower body in your hypertrophy training program. But that’s not it. The workout also engages your core and shoulders. Based on your expertise, you can also try its variations such as barbell goblet squat, front squat, and dumbbell squat and also add it to your hypertrophy training at home.

Note: Whether you are trying hypertrophy training for beginners or experts, it is suggested to take professional advice to design the workout. They can make a perfect workout plan based on your health, fitness goals, etc.

Hypertrophy Training Benefits

It may seem that hypertrophy training is all about gaining muscles, but the workout plan has many other benefits too. Some of these are:

Changes Body Composition: It can increase lean muscle size and strength and this results in a higher proportion of lean muscles in your body.
Releases Endorphins: Hypertrophy training benefits also include improved mood as it can release endorphins. Moreover, your gained physical strength boosts your confidence and gives you happy hormones.
Maintains Bone Density: This benefit is especially important for women as they are more likely to experience loss in bone density. So, start hypertrophy to stay strong even in old age.
Helps in Insulin Resistance: Some studies suggest that hypertrophy training can manage your hormone release and strengthen metabolism. This change can improve risk factors for chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Conclusion

Building stronger and bigger muscles is a fitness goal of many. Now that you know about hypertrophy training, make sure you give it a try. If you wish to do hypertrophy training at home, we would suggest that you first seek guidance from an expert either online or at a gym. After all, the form and techniques mean a lot in such workouts. Learn and then hypertrophy training can help you achieve muscle growth.

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