Hypertrophy 1 - is fatigue too low?

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Dear Barbell Medicine team,

Greetings from Spain!

I started lifting this September at 30 years old, with the goal of improving overall health plus gaining some strength and muscle. I jumped into your channel by chance when starting SS and switched to the Beginner Template around November til beginning of March. I’ve found it a great program and improved greatly, both in the weight I can lift and my physique. Many thanks for your quality content, I greatly appreciate it specially given the gargantuan ammount of noise on the internets.

I’ve now switched to the Hypertrophy 1 template, with the intention of then transitioning into Powerbuilding 1 and Strength 1. I wanted to ask you because my fatigue levels 3 weeks into Hypertrophy 1 are much lower compared to the last cycle of the Beginner Template,to the point that I can run the three training days consecutively without feeling tired or sore. I have the feeling that volume is too low. Comparing programs, I’m doing less sets @RPEs 6-8 when before I was doing more sets @RPEs 8-9, which results in very low fatigue. I get that this is not CrossFit and maximizing fatigue is not the goal, but mentally it’s tough to not doubt things.

  • Am I doing something wrong? Maybe what I feel as RPE 8 is too low?
  • Is Hypertrophy 1 the correct template for me? Should I jump to Hypertrophy 2 or Powerbuilding 1?
  • Am I just being impatient and should trust the programming?

Thanks for your work & time,
Cheers!

2

Hello and welcome! Glad you found us and are enjoying the training time.

A couple fo thoughts here-
-I would stick with training roughly every other day, unless your schedule demands training back to back.
-Want to mention that I hope you’re doing the GPP work as well. :slight_smile:
-It’s possible that you’re undershooting your RPE, sure. However you might not “feel” quite the same for the first several weeks of this template. Are you able to add weight to your sets each week now? If so, and you feel that the RPE is reasonably close, then that’s a pretty good place to be. If you’re repeating weights weekly, then you might need to push yourself a bit to better see what you can handle for these higher reps sets in Hypertrophy 1
-I would not change templates at this time, no.

And I do think carrying on is a great plan. Take a look at your progress, watch a video or two of your lifts, and then roll with the varied volume and movements in this template. But if you have more questions, then certainly, come back here!

Leah

3

Hello Leah,

Thanks for your response.

  • I’ll follow your advice and train every other day if schedule allows it. I also practice other sports + work & social life makes it hard.
  • I am doing GPP, sometimes on training days, sometimes on the off-days. I will confess that I tend to skip the steady state cardio…:roll_eyes:[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“src”:“https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/core/image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==”}[/IMG2]​
  • I’ve added weight on some exercises, same weight on others. I’ll experiment with higher weights on the ones that feel less challenging and see how it feels
  • Ok, I’ll stick to it. Your answers help me trust that I’m on the right track.

Cheers!

4

Reporting back after some more weeks of Hypertrophy I

  • Adjusting the weights a little higher did help, I was taking REP 8 too lightly
  • Volume did ramp up as the templated progressed, so I was just being impatient haha. Now I’m back in a low-stress period with different exercises and I’m feeling confident knowing that training days will get more challenging moving forward
  • Doing all the GPP work every week is challenging though, but thats a time issue with harder fix, sadly

I wanted to take the opportunity to ask/comment on this template

  • Why is the third exercise of each day prescribed as x% of 1eRM? Maybe I’m just being dumb, but its very hard for me to get into this exercises that I’ve never done with this prescription. RPE/reps in reserve is easier since I can just increase gradually the weight and feel how challenging it is. I feel like I do them with random weights every week, really. Any tip on how to approach them?
  • I understand it has its reasons but all exercises are prescribed in the 8-12 rep range, which makes it very boring hehe I enjoyed a lot the beginner template alternating low reps and higher reps between the different exercises each day

Cheers