Hypertrophy is a phenomenon while muscle wear-tear and repair is a process

More specifically, we're gonna be looking at the difference between muscle hypertrophy and the process of muscle wear, tear and repair. Hypertrophy is a phenomenon while muscle wear, tear and repair is a process.

The statement, it really highlights the difference between the outcome that we see, the denser muscle fibers after wear, tear and repair of muscles fibers. And then the actual biological process that's happening, you know, behind the scenes to put on more muscle cells in body. 

So, when we talk about muscle hypertrophy, what exactly is happening? What's going on at a cellular level? So, muscle hypertrophy is essentially an increase in the numbers of your muscle cells. 

When you're lift weights, you're creating tiny little wears and tears in your muscle fibers. These are also known as microtrauma. And so we're damaging our muscles.

Because this microtrauma that we're talking about, it's actually what stimulates muscle fibers growth. So, your body will respond to that damage by repairing and rebuilding those muscle fibers. This is the so called process of wear and tear of muscles and their repair. 

And that makes them bigger and stronger than they were before. So, it's like, we're kind of pushing our muscles just enough to spark that repair and growth process.

So, you have to make sure that you're giving your muscles enough rest and the proper nutrients to rebuild.

Proper nutrition, especially protein, provides the building blocks.

And rest gives your body that time it needs to do the construction work.

And something called progressive overload is super important for continued growth. As you get stronger. So, consistently pushing yourself.

Muscle hypertrophy is a pure science or phenomenon of consistent progression of resistance or load provided to muscles for better flow of blood and metabolites in muscles while wear tear and repair process is orchestrated carefully to damage and repair muscle fibers to ensure more dense muscle fibers. 

Smarter and Efficient two methods or ways to grow your Delts!

With so many shoulder exercises out there it's hard to know which ones actually work but the truth is you're probably doing too many and focusing on the wrong areas in fact after cutting out all the fluff and focusing on just two science backed exercises my shoulders grew bigger and wider than they've ever been and with the right form the same will happen for you but here's the thing what makes shoulders look wide and gives you that classic V-taper isn't every part of the shoulder it's actually mostly now to just one main region the side delts but here's the problem most people's training doesn't reflect this priority for example when researchers analyze exercises and volume studies they count every chest pressing set as one set for your chest but also one set for your front delts because of how heavily involved they are now add in shoulder pressing which targets the front delts even more and you're left with way more weekly volume for your front delts than your side delts whether you plan to or not do this for long enough and your shoulders will become overdeveloped in the front but lack the width that truly makes them stand out but here's the good news fixing this imbalance is actually quite simple it just requires a shift in Focus if wider shoulders are your priority I'd even recommend ditching shoulder presses All together if they're not helping towards your goal that's personally what I did I haven't shoulder pressed in over a year instead I shifted that time and effort to focus on my side delts and that's when I really started seeing my shoulders widen as for what exercises to focus on the best option is lateral raises but here's the thing not all lateral raises are created equal take dumbbell lateral raises for example they're convenient and easy to perform but they come with a key limitation they challenge your delts most at the top and ironically this is where your delts are the weakest as a result you're forced to use lighter weights than they can really handle but that's not the only downside there's growing evidence that exercise is providing a greater stretch and challenging your muscles in that stretch position may lead to better growth dumbbell lateral raises don't do either of those very well so how do we fix this well this brings us to exercise one first lock your elbow into your side and rotate your arm outward where your arm naturally stops is called your scapular plane this is the optimal arm path for lateral raises as it maximizes tension on your side delts and provides a biggest stretch at the bottom of the movement which means the best lateral raise is one where your arm can move behind your body to maximize the stretch cables are the perfect tool for this and by setting the cable at a slightly raised position rather than at the very bottom you can immediately shift the challenge to the beginning of the movement where your side belts are more stretched and you can do the single arm or double arm depending on your preference that said I do want to be upfront with you while I've personally seen incredible results with this exercise the science is still catching up for example I recently connected with my friend and researcher Dr Milo wolf who conducted a study comparing cable lateral raises to dumbbell lateral raises so in our study during 8 weeks we took 25 participants who all had a training experience of around 5 years on average and had them do one of two exercises using one arm to do one exercise and the other to the opposite exercise with one arm they exclusively performed cable ladder races with the other arm they exclusively performed dumbbell side raises we measured hypertrophy of the side delts using ultrasound at two sites one more proximal and one more distal now if you look closely at the results at one site hypertrophy was effectively the same between dumbbell and cable side raises whereas at the other site if anything there was a slight benefit like around 30 or 40% relative difference in favor of the cable side Raises my interpretation of this study effectively is that dumbbell side raises and cable side raises are both effective for growing the side delts but if you kind of look a bit closer and interpret it in light with the overall research I would say you're probably still better off doing cable side raises it may just not be a huge difference but there's a catch the cable raises in that study were performed with the arm in front of the body instead of behind the body which doesn't provide quite as much stretch on the side delts Additionally the study was relatively short and it used ultrasound measurements which is tough to accurately measure thin muscles like the side delts that's why I'm currently running a highly controlled study using custom machines and MRI for measurement to determine if challenging your delts in the stretch position actually offers a significant advantage in the meantime I'd still highly recommend giving this variation a try if anything there might be a novelty effect where challenging your muscles in a new way could help you break through a plateau at least that's exactly what it did for me that said if you're a beginner this exercise might feel a bit tricky to master especially the double ARM version it sucks but don't worry you do have other options one option is to First do a normal set of dumbbell lateral raises then immediately after you can't do any more full reps grab a pair of 5 lbs heavier dumbbells and perform partial reps just in that bottom range this ensures your delts are actually work to their limit especially in that all important bottom position another option is to try the lean in dumbbell lateral RS by leaning into the movement you shift the challenge to the bottom of the range targeting the stretch position more effectively now while the first exercise focuses on the main part of your side delts Believe It or Not muscle activation research suggests that your shoulders might have up to seven different heads all of which can be independently activated by your nervous system now this doesn't mean that you need seven different exercises to Target each head but it does mean that small adjustments to your lateral raise technique can work areas of your side belts that you've probably never hit before one area in particular is the rear portion of the side belt I know I know it sounds weird and super specific but developing this area not only adds width to your shoulders but it also gives them a more complete beefy look in the back in area that's often underdeveloped so how do you target it let me show you the cables first and then I'll show you a dumbbell alternative so for cables start by setting the cable at wrist height like we did with the first exercise but this time rather than grabbing the cable behind your body grab the cable in front and rotate your body about 45° towards the cable this slight adjustment lines up the tension perfectly more towards the rear part of your side belt from here raise your arm in a straight line away from the cable your arm should move slightly back behind your torso as you lift now you might not be able to raise your arm quite as high as you would in a standard lateral raise before it feels like your shoulder gets stuck and that's fine don't force it past that point simply focus on keeping the tension on the muscle now as for the dumbbell version first set up a bench at a slight incline just one notch down from vertical support your chest against the bench let your arms hang straight down in front of you and then raise them out to maximum you're also not going to be able to go very heavy with these so focus on form rather than weight while this variation doesn't provide quite as much stretch or challenge in the bottom position it's still an excellent option that targets the same area but before you jump into these two exercises there's one key principle you need to apply see the tricky thing about lateral raises is you're not lifting nearly as heavy compared to other exercises which means a small increase like 5 lbs on nuobells or moving one pin down on the cables can be the equivalent to adding 40 lbs to your bench press in one jump so what often happens is you think you're ready to increase the weights but as soon as you do your form completely breaks down leaving you stuck doing the same weights forever but here's the good news research shows you can build muscle either by adding more weight or by doing more reps this opens up a smarter way to progress and here's what I do I stick to a broad rep range of 10 to 20 reps once I can perform at least 15 controlled reps across all my sets that's when I'll bump up the weight but when I'm using cables where even one pin heavier can be too much I'll use a simple hack grabbing a 5 lbs or even a 2.5 plate and stick it the pin through it to make much smaller jumps this smaller adjustment allows me to keep progressing without sacrificing my form but here's the thing guys you also need to program these two exercises into your routine with the right balance of volume and recovery for your specific body part. 

Science behind Muscle Soreness and how to deal with it!

Delayed onset muscle soreness. Right, you know those tiny tears in your muscles.

That makes you really regret that last workout. And here's the thing about working out while you're sore. You'd think it just makes you stronger, right? Push through the pain.

Actually, studies show that it can reduce how well your muscles activate and generate force. How much are we talking here? Potentially even like 50%.

So working out sore could actually hurt you.

You will get less out of your workout and it slows down your recovery. No pain, no gain is a myth. What about all the stuff we hear about ice baths and stretching? So ice baths might feel good, but there's more and more evidence that they actually mess with muscle growth.

They could be impacting how your body makes new muscle tissue. Sir we're trying to build muscle, but ice baths are stopping it.

What about stretching? That's got to help. Well, stretching is definitely important for flexibility, but doing static stretches before or after your workout doesn't really seem to impact soreness. So what does work then, if we can't rely on those things? Well, we went through a bunch of research and expert opinions.

We found some really effective science backed strategies that actually work. Let's hear it then.

What can we do about these sore muscles? First up, foam rolling. OR self myofascial release, if you want to get technical. Foam rolling.

It does help. We looked at four studies about foam rolling and muscle soreness. Three of them showed that it really helps reduce pain and speeds up recovery.

Basically, think of your fascia like a net that surrounds your muscles.

When you exercise, it gets tight and restricted. Foam rolling helps loosen it up and get more blood to the muscles. So it's like giving yourself a massage.

And the best part is that if you're less sore, you can actually perform better in your next workout. 

So how do I add it to my routine? After you work out, spend like 10 minutes foam rolling, especially the muscles that are sore. You can also do it a few hours later if that's better for you. 

Sir what else can we do? What about active recovery? Shouldn't we just rest if we're sore? Rest is good, but just laying around might not be the best. What do you mean? Active recovery is better. Keep moving, but at a low intensity.

So like cool downs and easy stuff like walking or swimming. Does it actually work, though? The research says, yes.

Active recovery, whether it's right after your workout or in the days after, is better at reducing soreness than just resting. How can we do active recovery? Well, I always recommend cooling down for 5 to 10 minutes after your workout, especially leg day.

And the type of activity you choose for active recovery matters.

If you just did a heavy leg workout, do some light cycling. If it was an upper body day, rowing or swimming would be better. So match the active recovery to the muscles you work.

What about supplements? Is there anything out there that can just make the soreness.  It probably is. 

A lot of the research on supplements isn't really conclusive, but omega-3 fatty acids show some promise.

They help with way more than just muscle recovery. Omega-3s are super important for your heart, your brain, even your mood. But there have been studies that show if you take one to three grams of omega-3s every day, it can actually make your post-workout soreness a lot less.

But don't forget about actual food.

Try to eat fatty fish at least twice a week. What about caffeine? Does that help with soreness? Believe it or not, there is some evidence that it might.

It has been found caffeine is more for energy before a workout. It is, but the studies that show it helps with soreness used a lot of caffeine, like 400 milligrams. That's like four cups of coffee.

But interesting nonetheless, are there any other supplements we should know about? Well, there's taurine, L-citrulline, and L-glutamine. They've shown some potential in early studies.

So more to come in the future. The world of supplements is constantly changing.

But before we get too excited about supplements, we need to remember that easing into a workout program is super important, especially if you're new to exercise or haven't worked out in a while. Starting off too hard is definitely a recipe for disaster. 

Go slow, gradually increase how hard and how much you work out over a few weeks so your body can adapt. Slow and steady wins the race. 

It is, and it shows how different everyone's experience with exercise can be. What works for one person might not work for another, so it's important to experiment and find what works best for you.

It’s not just about the physical stuff either. Our mindset probably matters too. 

Your mind can actually make the soreness feel worse. 

It's all about the mind-body connection.(6:04) More and more research is coming out about how they influence each other during exercise. So if we're always thinking about how sore we're going to be, maybe we should try to think about it differently, like how we can workout effectively and efficiently with very less soreness and with more enjoyment. 

Mindfulness helps you pay attention to how your body feels and how it judges it, and positive self-talk helps you think about those feelings in a more helpful way.

So instead of thinking, I'm so sore, we could think my muscles are getting stronger. Change the story you're telling yourself.

It's amazing how much our mindset can affect how we feel physically. And you know, everyone experiences soreness differently.

Some people can do a crazy workout and be fine the next day, and some people are in agony. Genetics play a role, your training history, all sorts of things.

And some types of exercise make you sorer than others too, right? Eccentric training is a big one.

Eccentric training is when you focus on the lengthening part of a muscle contraction. So like lowering the weight during a bicep curl. 

OR going down during a squat. That's eccentric movement. So the opposite of when you're lifting the weight, shortening the muscle. That's the concentric phase.

Eccentric training puts more stress on your muscle fiber so it causes more damage and more soreness. So basically, if you're doing a lot of eccentric exercises, you're probably going to be sore afterwards. 

But the important thing is to pay attention to your body and find that sweet spot where you're challenging yourself enough to grow without going overboard. Find the balance between pushing your limits and listening to your body. 

That's where warming up properly, gradually increasing your workouts, and giving yourself enough recovery time comes in.

It's like my body is giving me feedback. I push my muscles and they tell me how they're doing with soreness. 

A feedback loop. The more you understand your body signals, the better you'll get at training. So even if you don't feel sore after a workout, it doesn't mean you didn't work hard enough.

Soreness is just one sign that your muscles are adapting. You can be getting stronger without feeling sore.

And as you get fitter, you'll probably be less sore even when you're working out harder. So it's not about trying to avoid soreness completely. It’s about understanding it, knowing how to manage it, and even seeing it as a sign of progress.

Changing your perspective can make a big difference.

It's about understanding the science behind it, paying attention to your body, and using that information to adjust your training.

And maybe even looking at soreness as a sign that you're on the right track. It means you're pushing yourself and getting stronger.

Now, there are a few other things about muscle soreness we could talk about. We've covered so much about muscle soreness.

The science, how to recover, and even how to think about it differently. It really is a multifaceted topic, isn't it? And it just goes to show you how unique everyone's experience with exercise can be. 

What works for one person might not work for someone else. That's why it's so important to try different things and figure out what your body responds to best.

It's not just about what we do physically. Our mindset seems to play a big role too. If you go into a workout already dreading how sore you're going to be, you're probably going to feel it more.

So maybe instead of being afraid of the soreness, we should try to see it as a positive sign. That's a great idea. It's about shifting our perspective from something negative to something we can learn from and even embrace.

It's not just about finding the right recovery techniques, it's also about understanding the mental and emotional side of things. And realizing that our bodies are incredibly adaptable. The more we challenge them, the stronger they get.

Keep experimenting, both physically and mentally, until you find what works for you. And remember, consistency is key. The more you work out, the better your body will adapt.

And the less soreness you'll probably feel over time. Your body will thank you for it later. So keep moving, keep learning, and keep pushing yourselves.

It can be a sign that you're getting stronger and closer to your goals.

Use this principles, you will surely gain lean muscles faster!

I am gonna unlock some serious muscle-building secrets.

It’s all about the evidence-based approach. No crazy fads or bro science. Just solid science-backed strategies. So what's the secret sauce? What makes this approach so different? Well, one of the things that blew my mind was this idea of stretch mediated hypertrophy.

Have you heard of that? So basically it means your muscles actually grow faster when you challenge them in a stretched position like imagine you're doing a bicep curl the idea is that focusing on that full range of motion that deep stretch could actually lead to better results than just lifting the heaviest weight possible. It's like stretching a rubber band the further you stretch it the more tension. It's all about maximizing the tension on those muscle fibers through the entire range of motion. Studies on biceps triceps quads hamstrings. They've all shown this effect. So it's not just about brute force. It's about finesse.

You gotta work smarter not just harder. How Incline curls emphasize that stretched position might actually be more effective for bicep growth than preacher curls. I've always been a preacher curl guy and for triceps overhead extensions again because of that greater stretch seem to outperform traditional triceps pushdowns. So how do we put this into practice like do we have to ditch all our favorite exercises and totally revamp our routines? Well, not necessarily the key is to make sure you're including at least one exercise per muscle group that really targets that stretched position. So like what are some examples of exercises that really hit that sweet spot that stretched position? Well, some great suggestions for biceps. It’s been recommended behind the body curls. For shoulders behind the body lateral raises and for hamstrings.

It’s been suggested seated leg curls for glutes. Bulgarian split squats Bulgarian split squats those are brutal. They are tough but effective. But it’s been realized that sometimes that focus on lifting heavier came at the expense of proper form and full range of motion.

The deep stretch brought about by light weight but more perfectly done the crazy part is muscles responded even better. So sometimes less is more. But I imagine that takes a lot of mental discipline. Most people are kind of programmed to think that heavier equals better. It's a mindset shift for sure. But remember the goal isn't to impress anyone at the gym with how much you can lift. It's about challenging your muscles in the most effective way to stimulate growth. Using lighter weights and focusing on the stretch. Also emphasizing the importance of pushing close to failure during each set. But here's the thing. He even admitted that for  training as intensely as could be and really pushing those boundaries really getting uncomfortable that he saw significant growth.

Well research suggests that getting within about three reps of failure is key for maximizing muscle growth. But isn't there a risk of injury if you're constantly pushing to failure like that? There's always a risk with any kind of exercise, right? But that's where proper form and listening to your body come in. We often underestimate our capabilities and end our sets too early.

But the real growth the real magic happens when you step outside of that comfort zone and embrace that feeling of pushing your limits safely. 

Challenging yourself, but not being reckless. That you're pushing those boundaries and triggering muscle growth. 

Visualize yourself. Completing those reps.

But all this talk about pushing our limits it makes wonder about the other side of the equation recovery.

So it's not just about rest days. It's about managing your overall training volume throughout the week. So just to clarify training volume refers to the total amount of work. You're doing the number of sets and reps are performing each week. So even if you're taking rest days you could still be over training if you're pushing too hard during your workouts.

Constantly being sore feeling may drain progress. By cutting back to five days a week to a routine of four slightly longer workouts with an optional accessory day works best. Your energy levels will shoot up. You fell more excited to train and your muscles will have adequate time to recover and rebuild. So the takeaway here is to pay attention to your body. If you're constantly feeling beat up and your performance is suffering it might be time to dial back the volume. 

It's about striking that balance where you're challenging yourself enough to stimulate growth, but also allowing for adequate recovery. Now, let's talk about the fuel that powers all this muscle growth - nutrition. Yes, nutrition helps in lean bulking.

Doing it in a controlled way minimizes fat gain. So you're still eating more than you're burning. You aim for a more modest surplus. Typically around 10 to 15 percent above your maintenance calories. So it's like finding that sweet spot where you're giving your muscles enough fuel to grow without packing on too much fat. But I imagine it takes a lot of discipline to stick to a lean bulk, especially when you see your physique changing. The mental challenge of accepting some fat gain as part of the muscle building process. It's easy to get caught up in the desire to be shredded year-round but sometimes you have to prioritize the long-term goal. But there's one more crucial ingredient that ether emphasizes and that's Patience. We live in a world of instant gratification.

The fact that building muscle takes serious time muscle growth is a slow and steady process. Especially once you're past those beginner games.  Trust the process and celebrate those small victories along the way. It's like anything worthwhile. It takes dedication and consistency. Consistent effort and evidence-based principles really can lead to remarkable transformations. What would you say are the most important takeaways for someone who wants to build muscle faster?First shift your focus from simply lifting heavy to strategically challenging your muscles. Incorporate exercises that emphasize the stretch position and don't be afraid to reduce the weight if it means achieving a fuller range of motion and better muscle activation quality over quantity and starting to see a rhythm. Then there's the mental game. Embrace the discomfort of pushing close to failure. Think of that burn is a signal that you're breaking down muscle fibers and triggering growth.

But it's not all about pushing hard all the time. You can't forget about recovery right manage your training volume to make sure your body has adequate time to rebuild and get stronger. Sometimes taking a step back can actually move you two steps forward. Next is nutrition for lean bulking approach. Seems like a sustainable way to fuel muscle growth without going overboard on calories. It's a balanced approach that emphasizes slow and steady progress.

And finally remember that patience is your secret weapon. Muscle growth takes time so celebrate those small gains and trust that consistency will ultimately lead to the results you're looking for.

Mediated Stretch highlights the importance of understanding how our muscles work and applying that knowledge to our training. So it's like we're not just mindlessly going through the motions at the gym. It makes you rethink the whole approach to exercise. It does and it's a perfect example of why it's so important to stay curious and keep learning. Yes, there are always new discoveries and perspectives that can transform our results. The question is how can you actually apply it to your own training?

Start by honestly assessing your current program. Are you prioritizing exercises that emphasize that stretch position? Are you pushing close to failure? Are you managing your training volume effectively? Are you fueling your body properly? Those are great questions to consider. Even small changes can make a big difference. Maybe you incorporate one new exercise per muscle group that emphasizes the stretch Or you push just a little bit closer to failure during your next workout. You could experiment with reducing your training volume and see how your body responds Or tweak your calorie intake to find that sweet spot for lean bulking. So many possibilities.

The key is to just start somewhere and make adjustments. Take action evaluate your progress and listen to your body. And most importantly remember that patience is key. Don't get discouraged if you don't see dramatic results overnight. It's all about consistency over time. Remember it may take a year and a half of dedicated effort to see those impressive results.

It's about showing up putting in the work and staying committed to the process. Rethinking about these principles might apply for muscle growth.