BB Block 1 no hypertrophy; general thoughts?

Hello BBM,
Sorry for the long post. Wondering why I didn’t (fully!) respond to the BB I block 1 template.

Background:

  • Male 42 yo, no supplements, good protein intake (guesstimating ~1.5-2 g/kg bodyweight)
  • Exercise for health; no particular objectives otherwise. Building a general strength and conditioning base at the moment.
  • Prefer strength over hypertrophy
  • Lots of swimming and basketball up until university; on/off since then
  • Discovered weight training ~5 years ago with stronglifts 5x5 when realised I was skinny fat; ran it 2-3 times with good response plus a few injuries
  • Switched to Alan Thrall and BBM (thank goodness)
  • Beginner’s template ~9 months → GS&C one round → BB I block 1 (7 weeks, repeated w6, current programme)
  • Generally have had a good response:
  • great improvement in conditioning (running up to ~8 miles; 10-15 rounds of HIIT on air bike, rower, swim or run sprints, skierg, etc).
  • ~3% or so week on week strength gains with BT and GS&C
  • lost 8kg weight and 15cm WC; bulked back and currently at maintenance at 73kg and 88cm WC
  • huge amounts of life stress for the past 3 years

BB1 block 1 (starting week 6.3):

  • no change in measurements (up or down) in arms, legs, chest, calves at end of week 6
  • improvement in strength, managing higher weights
  • better tolerance, lower RPEs, few/no DOMS
  • at maintenance throughout, no change in weight or WC
  • had to skip one GPP on most weeks
  • on two weeks compressed sessions or ran them back-to-back (same day); also occasionally shifted order of exercises or supersetted (packed gym)
  • continued to run ~2 HIIT sessions per week plus 3-4 LISS sessions
  • First time running a bodybuilding programme, not a fan but learnt quite a bit and welcomed the psychological break

Any thoughts on the lack of hypertrophy?
Not particularly fussed, more for learning purposes and understanding what I may respond to better for future programme selection:

  • I’m considering repeating week 6 a couple of times and then moving on (no real reason, maybe to let any possible fitness adaptations have a tad more time)
  • I bought Bridge V3 some time ago so was thinking of giving this a try; otherwise maybe PB I, Strength I or Endurance
  • In future, possibly run further BBI blocks in between other templates for psychological breaks (regardless of hypertrophic response, I still got stuff out of it); could consider Hypertrophy I to test whether that’s better for me.

Anyway, thanks for reading all the way. Any advice would be much appreciated!
Keep up the great work!

01TA,

Thanks for the post. I’d suspect not enough time to see a measurable response, as most demonstrable hypertrophy takes place after a number of weeks getting used to the program. If strength on the trained movements is trending up, I could make a case for extending the block to ~10 weeks or so. After that, I’d move on to block 2 and repeat the process. I don’t think I’d run a hypertrophy block for <8-10 weeks and expect much size improvement, if any, but they can be useful as a sort of “break” from powerlifting-specific training.

-Jordan

Hello Jordan,
Thanks, I had the wrong expectations. I was under the impression that at ~4 weeks I might see something. You’ve also made me realise I need a good amount of variation, 10-12 week blocks work for me, and that 3-day programmes probably work best for my scheduling. So thanks!
I decided to move on to powerbuilding 1 after 9 weeks of BB 1 block 1. I’m guessing this should be good enough to keep some hypertrophy gainZ and start more strength-focussed programmes.

I have a bunch of other questions but will post separately.
All the best,
Antonio

Following up on this, are there targets in hypertrophy that can guide me? e.g. an expected range of body measurement change that can serve as a rough expectation?

I made up the following based on whatever I came across while searching broadly:

~<1year of training: 1-1.5% per week
~1-3 years of training: 0.5-1% per week
~>3 years of training: <0.5% per week

(but measurable changes of a body part circumference assessed with a tape wouldn’t appear until after ~6 weeks at least).

Put another way, very roughly:​

Short-term programme (4-8 weeks) ~1-3%
Mid-term programme (8-20 weeks) ~3-7%
Long-term programme (>20 weeks) >7%​, but then tapers significantly, especially in advanced trainees.

Are these ranges somewhat reasonable for hypertrophy gainZ?
With the understanding that there are a lot of variables to consider including large inter (and intra I guess) individual variation.

I looked this up a few weeks ago and didn’t make a proper note of the various sources unfortunately. Some papers I quickly looked through were:

https://www.jospt.org/doi/pdf/10.2519/jospt.2000.30.3.143#:~:text=3%20X%209,no%20differe nces%20existed%20between%20groups

Effects of Low-Load, Higher-Repetition vs. High-Load, Lower-… : The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research
https://journals-lww-com.iclibezp1.cc.ic.ac.uk/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2020/12000/effects_of_low_load,_higher_repetition_vs_.19.aspx

Full article: Muscular adaptations in low- versus high-load resistance training: A meta-analysis
https://www-tandfonline-com.iclibezp1.cc.ic.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1080/17461391.2014.989922

Muscle Performance, Size, and Safety Responses After Eight W… : The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research
The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. aspx

Different Patterns in Muscular Strength and Hypertrophy Adap… : The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research

Changes in Muscle Hypertrophy in Women with Periodized Resis… : Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise x​

Regards,
Antonio

Hello again,
After doing 9 weeks of BB1 block 1 → PB1 → Bridge v3 I’ve barely seen changes in hypertrophy. Maybe ~2.5% max as measured with a tape. I’m not focussed on hypertrophy so wasn’t expecting much. Strength has gone up though.
Maybe it’s hard to say, but are there ballpark expectations one could have for hypertrophy?
What level of growth could one expect on programmes such as Bridge v3 and Strength I?
Regards,
Antonio