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Hypertrophy-Specific Training : : Official Home of HST

Hypertrophy-Specific Training arose out of the re se arch look ing at both the stim uli and m e chanism s for m uscle ce ll hype rtrophy. Hype rtrophy-Spe cific Training (HST) is base d on physiological principle s of hype rtrophy first discove re d in the laboratory. The se principle s we re the n organize d into a "m e thod" of m e chanically loading the m uscle to induce hype rtrophy. O f course , translating the se principle s into applicable m e thods (se ts & re ps & sche dule s) brings in som e possibility of e rror. As the scie nce continue s to e x plore the e x act m e chanism s of m uscle hype rtrophy, this e rror will be whittle d away. I didn't start out k nowing how m uscle s gre w. Afte r all, it is a proce ss that cannot be obse rve d with the nak e d e ye . In the be ginning I sim ply did what othe rs we re doing. The n, I be gan re ading m uscle m agazine s and buying book s. Still, I wasn't able to achie ve the le ve l of m uscularity I saw so prom ine ntly displaye d in the m agazine s. For about 10 ye ars I traine d with all the popular training style s. I m ade de ce nt progre ss in the be ginning but as tim e we nt by, I se ldom saw change s in the m irror, at le ast not any I could ge t anyone e lse to notice . But I continue d to pursue the art. As I e nte re d colle ge and graduate school, I finally had acce ss to re al re se arch that was only just the n be ginning to tak e form . The inte re st in m uscle growth is fairly ne w in acade m ic circle s. As I be gan to e x plore the re se arch, it be cam e cle ar to m e that the routine s and traditions I was e x pose d to as a bodybuilde r, we re NO T base d on physiological principle s on a ce llular le ve l. It was a "fantastic voyage " com pare d to the Europe an inspire d global vie w of training. At the m icroscopic le ve l scie ntists we re talk ing about things lik e "m yoge nic ste m ce lls", "growth-factors", "m e chanical loading", "syne rgistic ablation", "sm e are d Z-line s", "MAPk /ER K" and m any othe r things hidde n to the nak e d e ye . All of the se things we re le ft out of the e quation of traditional training routine s. As hype rtrophy-spe cific re se arch progre sse d in spe cificity it was cle ar that traditional training routine s had stum ble d across m any im portant principle s of load induce d m uscle hype rtrophy, but be cause of the ir lim ite d pe rspe ctive (volum e and inte nsity) the y faile d to capitalize on som e critical truths e x pose d by re se arch at the ce llular le ve l. The principle s of hype rtrophy that HST is base d on are as follows (not an e x haustive list):

ENDORSEMENTS "De ar Bryan, I can't thank you e nough for your article on the above m e ntione d [HST]. I am a 36 ye ar old m ale that has work e d out on and off for m any ye ars with m arginal re sults. I am ve ry ple ase d to te ll you that I have be e n following your Hype rtrophy Spe cific Training for 6 we e k s now and have gaine d close to 18 pounds of m ostly m uscle and m y stre ngth has gone through the roof, I was be nching m aybe 180lbs and now am up to 240+. O nce again I thank you for this fantastic routine and plan to continue using it with continue d succe ss."

"The re is only one word to de scribe the e ffe ctive ne ss of this training program R EVO LUTIO NAR Y. W ho would have thought that som e thing that appe ars so sim ple in de sign, and so opposite to the curre nt popular thought could produce such gre at gains. Bryan, the re are pe ople out the re SELLING program s that are n't e ve n half as e ffe ctive as this one -so you can be t that alot of us are e x tre m e ly grate ful,

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Hypertrophy-Specific Training : : Official Home of HST

1) Mechanical Load Me chanical Load is ne ce ssary to induce m uscle hype rtrophy. This m e chanism involve s but isn't lim ite d to, MAPk /ER K, sate llite ce lls, growth factors, calcium , and num be r of othe r fairly unde rstood factors. It is incorre ct to say "we don't k now how m uscle grows in re sponse to training". The whole point of the HST book is not to discuss HST, but to pre se nt the body of re se arch e x plaining how hype rtrophy occurs. The n HST be com e s a re lative ly obvious conclusion if your goal is hype rtrophy. 2) A cute vs. Chronic Stimuli In orde r for the loading to re sult in significant hype rtrophy, the stim ulus m ust be applie d with sufficient frequency to cre ate a ne w "e nvironm e nt", as oppose d to se e m ingly random and acute assaults on the m e chanical inte grity of the tissue . The downside of tak ing a we e k of re st e ve ry tim e you load a m uscle is that m any of the acute re sponse s to training lik e incre ase d prote in synthe sis, prostaglandins, IGF-1 le ve ls, and m R NA le ve ls all re turn to norm al in about 36 hours. So, you spe nd 2 days growing and half a we e k in a se m i-anticatabolic state re turning to norm al (som e pe ople call this re cove ry), whe n re se arch shows us that re cove ry can tak e place unabate d e ve n if a the m uscle is loade d again in 48 hours. So true anabolism from loading only lasts 2 days at be st once the load is re m ove d. The re st of the tim e you are sim ply balancing nitroge n re te ntion without adding to it. 3) Progressive Load O ve r tim e , the tissue adapts and be com e s re sistant to the dam aging e ffe cts of m e chanical load. This adaptation (re sistance to the stim ulus) can happe n in as little as 48 hours ( Repeated Bout Effect or Rapid Training Effect ). As this happe ns, hype rtrophy will stop, though ne ural and m e tabolic adaptations can and m ay continue . As oppose d to hype rtrophy, the foundation for the de ve lopm e nt of stre ngth is ne urom uscular in nature . Incre ase s in stre ngth from re sistance e x e rcise have be e n attribute d to se ve ral ne ural adaptations including alte re d re cruitm e nt patte rns, rate coding, m otor unit synchronization, re fle x pote ntiation, prim e m ove r antagonist activity, and prim e m ove r agonist activity. So, aside from incre m e ntal change s in the num be r of contractile filam e nts (hype rtrophy), voluntary force production (i.e . stre ngth) is large ly a m atte r of "activating" m otor units. 4) Strategic Deconditioning At this point, it is ne ce ssary to e ithe r incre ase the load (Progre ssive load), or de cre ase the de gre e of conditioning to the load ( Strategic Deconditioning). The m uscle is se nsitive not only to the absolute load, but also to the change in load (up or down). The re fore , you can ge t a hype rtrophic e ffe ct from incre asing the load from a pre vious load, e ve n if the absolute load is not m ax im um , assum ing conditioning (re sistance to e x e rcise induce d m icro-dam age ) is not to e x te nsive . The re is a lim it to the num be r of incre m e nts you can add to incre ase the load. You sim ply re ach your m ax im um voluntary stre ngth e ve ntually. This is why Strategic Deconditioning is re quire d for continue d growth once growth has stoppe d (all things re m aining e qual). Continued on next page > > thank you once again."

"I am thoroughly im pre sse d with this work out. I have lifte d off and on for all of m y life and have ne ve r had significant gains until now. If you re m e m be r m e I am the 6' 165 lb. surfe r with bad shoulde r ligs. I have lost the inch off of m y waist I wante d to and gaine d 5lbs.! That is allot for m e be cause I have be e n trying to gain m uscle m ass since high school in the 80's and have ne ve r look e d so good, and only one cycle ! I am am aze d."

"O ne of m y favorite things about HST is that I k now e x actly what e x e rcise s/se ts/re ps/we ights I will be using for e ve ry work out for 8 we e k s. In circuit fashion, I go through m y whole work out in le ss than 40 m inute s- this re ally k e e ps work ing out inte re sting. Inste ad of going all out, e ve ry work out and having de bilitating sore ne ss, the low-volum e and high-fre que ncy of the syste m give s m y body a constant, satisfying tightne ss. I'm in m y 4th we e k (2nd we e k of 10's), and I'm 8 lbs he avie rwithout any notice able gain of fat! This is good stuff!"

"I use d HST ove r the sum m e r with gre at re sults. Stre ngth we nt up during e ve ry 2 we e k cycle . Total bodywe ight we nt up 10 pounds, with 7-8 be ing LBM. I was 100% natural up to and including this tim e . Im sure anyone who supple m e nts this program with AAS with e x pe rie nce incre dible gains in m ass and stre ngth. Bryan's a cool guy and k nows his stuff, I'll follow his advice any day."

C ontac t U s | A bout | P roduc ts | A rtic les | Store | Forum | H ST | T hinkM us c le | P olic ies C opyright 2 0 0 2 M etabolic I nnovations , L L C . A ll rights res erved.

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