Hormonal response to training, 20 rep squats, muscle v. lean body mass clarification.

Training Q&A [Moderated]
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Hello,

I apologize for packing a few questions into one thread.

I have heard an argument be made for resistance training, and even for particular exercises–like the squat and deadlift–that claim marked increases in testosterone and growth hormone simply as a result of training and repping out specific exercises. The more believable argument I have heard, with evidence, is that training actually causes a decrease in these hormones acutely.

The 20-rep squat program, where you perform 20 repetitions of the back squat for the weight in which you would normally squat for 10, 12, or maybe 15 reps using a rest-pause. In other words, it is more like doing 1x10 squats at your 10, 12, or 15RM and then doing 10 sets of 1 rep at that same weight with plenty of gasping in between.
I have read Super Squats and it argues this method of training is beneficial because the squat is the king of all exercises and elicits the most effective stimulus for growth because of the hormonal response from performing them.
Expands rib cage when followed by pullovers which lets you get more out of your breath.
Linearly progressing in the 20 rep scheme makes you stronger in that rep range.

Additionally, I wanted to ask about the difference in how much muscle you can gain in a month versus how much lean body mass you can gain in a month. When hypertrophy experts like Dr. Israetel opine on the maximal rate of muscle gain in resources like the RP Diet 2.0, it seems like generally speaking, 2 lbs of muscle per month is the upper threshold for beginner lifters who are most sensitive to training compared to their counterparts. Does “muscle” refer to just muscle, or also bone, ligament, tendon, etc… - I think there is confusion on how much weight THAT IS NOT FAT can be gained in terms of how much how quickly and part of the reason, to me, is because people are saying two different things. It’s one thing to say to eat 6000 calories a day and gain 60 lbs in a year, because you are an “underweight” young novice, and then to say half of that weight will be lean body mass, and an entirely different thing to say half of that weight will be muscle.

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I don’t think I see any explicit questions here, but assuming you want some thoughts on these claims.

I have heard an argument be made for resistance training, and even for particular exercises–like the squat and deadlift–that claim marked increases in testosterone and growth hormone simply as a result of training and repping out specific exercises. The more believable argument I have heard, with evidence, is that training actually causes a decrease in these hormones acutely.

The acute hormonal response to training is not particularly important, and we would not make programming decisions based off of such concerns.

I have read Super Squats and it argues this method of training is beneficial because the squat is the king of all exercises and elicits the most effective stimulus for growth because of the hormonal response from performing them.

This is made up.

Expands rib cage when followed by pullovers which lets you get more out of your breath.

This is also made up.

When hypertrophy experts like Dr. Israetel opine on the maximal rate of muscle gain in resources like the RP Diet 2.0, it seems like generally speaking, 2 lbs of muscle per month is the upper threshold for beginner lifters who are most sensitive to training compared to their counterparts. Does “muscle” refer to just muscle, or also bone, ligament, tendon, etc…

If they say “muscle gain”, it is reasonable to assume that they mean muscle.

With that said, I don’t think it’s particularly useful for individuals to worry about these sorts of claims that are often drawn from average responses in research studies, as it as no bearing on their individual responsiveness to training. In other words, you will respond to training in your own individual way, regardless of what experts or coaches say “should” happen or “can” happen based on averages from selected populations. We prefer our guidelines for rates of weight gain (which we’ve discussed elsewhere) that primarily focus on assessing health factors and using the waist circumference to guide decision making regarding continued weight gain, maintenance, or weight loss.

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