By Dan Junquera
What exactly causes hypertrophy is a question that is bounced a lot around the fitness industry. Based on where the research is right now, we can say that Mechanical Tension is what we want for hypertrophic adaptations. Mechanical Tension is the pulling force that the muscle proteins experiences when contracting.That being said, if we are looking to gain muscle size and get these adaptations, we want to workout in a way that maximizes mechanical tension. To do that, we need to look at our proximity to muscular failure in a given set. Based on Chris A. Beardsley's 5 effective model, we can see that the last 5 repetitions in a given set, taken to failure, are the most effective repetitions in a set. These effective reps have an increase in motor unit recruitment and allows for more muscle fibers to experience mechanical tension. As a result, if we are looking to maximize hypertrophic adaptations in a workout, its important that we are training hard and taking sets close to failure and progressively overloading from there.
While this is good knowledge to have, when it comes to programming for hypertrophy, its important to look at the individual to see what proximity to failure would be appropriate for them. Given that going 1-2 reps from failure can come with many different challenges, such as different fatigue mechanisms, stress placed on the muscles, discomfort, etc. going to failure may not be realistic for many people. For these individuals, it would be better to start further away from this failure threshold and gradually over time, progressively overload the workouts to get closer to the failure threshold if appropriate for the individuals goals.
More more information or to contact Dan to schedule a consultation and/or training session, email Dan@precisionhumanperformance.com