hypertrophy

[josh-hill]

hey guys, i am writing up a program to get me in shape for fighting and was wondering where you guys think hypertrophy should come. ive decided to work in a periodization style, but the thing i am working on wont be the only thing i do. i.e. i will carry on lifting when im working on my cardio.

1) Aerobic fitness
build a good aerobic base by doing long slow aerobic work. simple really

2) strength
train the maximal strength through CNS training (heavy lifting) and training the muscular pathways to get my body working in the way it should. im wondering about doing this with the help of a sports therapist to help overcome my injury and any resulting imbalances.

3) power / speed training
work on generating power quickly. i will do this with plyometrics, explosive lifts and exercises, e.c.t.

4) power endurance / anaerobic conditioning
train the lactic and alactic anaerobic energy systems to help them provide energy for the fast, explosive movements i work on in stage 3. this will include hill sprints and other conditioning methods

5) rest.

that is the very basic plan, but i need to work on hypertrophy at some point, and was wondering where i should put it in. any help would be greatly appreciated.

[OG Van Persie]

Just a question, why do you think you need your muscles to get bigger for fights?

[josh-hill]

well at the moment i am just getting back into fighting after recovering from shoulder surgery, and i have very little muscle mass. the physio said that putting on mass would help stabilize the joint. im 5'10 and 67 kg, and im not very lean so im significantly underweight for my size.

i also train in muay thay where the clinch is very important and strength is really useful for that, and i know strength is directly proportional to the cross sectional area of the contractile muscle fibers.

increased muscle size also leads to better endurance because sarcoplasmic fluid helps endurance

but the main reason is that i would feel more secure in real life being bigger. like i said im significantly underweight and it would be nice if i was bigger and stronger for general self defense.

[Spartacus Sully]

well at the moment i am just getting back into fighting after recovering from shoulder surgery, and i have very little muscle mass. the physio said that putting on mass would help stabilize the joint. im 5'10 and 67 kg, and im not very lean so im significantly underweight for my size.

i also train in muay thay where the clinch is very important and strength is really useful for that, and i know strength is directly proportional to the cross sectional area of the contractile muscle fibers.

increased muscle size also leads to better endurance because sarcoplasmic fluid helps endurance

but the main reason is that i would feel more secure in real life being bigger. like i said im significantly underweight and it would be nice if i was bigger and stronger for general self defense.

so in the obscure condition where either you're doing a fighting sport with more importance on the clinch then the punch, you have had shoulder surgery recently, or you feel insecure hypertrophy is important.

[IronBoxer]

Here's a good article from Ross Enamait regarding hypertrophy work.

http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/hardcore.html

[josh-hill]

so in the obscure condition where either you're doing a fighting sport with more importance on the clinch then the punch, you have had shoulder surgery recently, or you feel insecure hypertrophy is important.

yes, exactly. size is vital to strength, the added mass will form a strong barrier to hold the joint in place and being bigger will mean i will be better able to defend myself against people bigger than myself.

im not talking about getting big and muscular, i want to reach 75kg and fight as a middleweight. i think that is about right for my height.

@ ironboxer, thanks for that, i will read it now

edit: ok i read it, it makes sense. i also understand some people think that hypertrophy is bad because it causes needless size gain and no athletic gain. however ross says its fine as long as you work the whole package, which as you can see are included in my program.

[OG Van Persie]

yes, exactly. size is vital to strength, the added mass will form a strong barrier to hold the joint in place and being bigger will mean i will be better able to defend myself against people bigger than myself.

im not talking about getting big and muscular, i want to reach 75kg and fight as a middleweight. i think that is about right for my height.

@ ironboxer, thanks for that, i will read it now

edit: ok i read it, it makes sense. i also understand some people think that hypertrophy is bad because it causes needless size gain and no athletic gain. however ross says its fine as long as you work the whole package, which as you can see are included in my program.

That is completely wrong. Muscle mass does not equal strength. It does to a certain extent but you can make yourself stronger without bulking up.

Basically you can train your muscles for 3 different purposes- endurance, hypertrophy and strength. The latter 2 are not the same thing believe it or not.

So what is it you want? Strength or muscle mass or both?

[Spartacus Sully]

yes, exactly. size is vital to strength, the added mass will form a strong barrier to hold the joint in place and being bigger will mean i will be better able to defend myself against people bigger than myself.

im not talking about getting big and muscular, i want to reach 75kg and fight as a middleweight. i think that is about right for my height.

@ ironboxer, thanks for that, i will read it now

edit: ok i read it, it makes sense. i also understand some people think that hypertrophy is bad because it causes needless size gain and no athletic gain. however ross says its fine as long as you work the whole package, which as you can see are included in my program.

[josh-hill]

That is completely wrong. Muscle mass does not equal strength. It does to a certain extent but you can make yourself stronger without bulking up.

Basically you can train your muscles for 3 different purposes- endurance, hypertrophy and strength. The latter 2 are not the same thing believe it or not.

So what is it you want? Strength or muscle mass or both?

both, and i have a section in my workout specifically designed for both (among other things) but im trying to figure out where to put this particular one. from what i understand though a muscles total strength is a combination of a few things including cross sectional area, leverage and things like that. functional strength takes into account the role of the CNS and how much of the muscle can be recruited e.c.t but in the end if you want to up functional strength then increasing total strength is a good way to do this.

i understand that some size gains do not help with strength and some gains with strength do not mean more size, however, to get really strong you do need to get big. you can make the muscle you have stronger for a while, but eventually you need more. thats why olympic weight lifting has weight classes.

i should say however that i dont want to look like a body builder, because that is pointless. i would rather a functional physique somewhere in between anderson silvas and george st pieres.

seems to me all those boxers are very old. knowledge of how the body works, and therefore training, has progressed a long way. there is a reason todays boxers look different, and its not all because of fashion and vanity. i think that as an athlete you should train every part of your body in a way that helps increase performance.

[Spartacus Sully]