Hi Jordan, thanks as always for all the free advice. I’ve heard that beginning a hypertrophy phase when leaner is preferable because the body partitions calories towards muscle building more favorably when starting from say 10-15 percent body fat as opposed to 20+. But I’ve also heard that the benefit isn’t seen in individuals who aren’t naturally lean but instead got that way through caloric restriction. What’s your take on this?
On a side note: just purchased the 4 day hypertrophy template and will be using it for fat loss and I wanted to check my understanding for why a template such as this is preferable when losing fat. My understanding is that since volume is the primary stimulus for hypertrophy it’s probably also the stimulus that signals the body to keep muscle around when in a calorie deficit and creates the highest probability for the rare event of muscle gain during weight loss. Also additional volume would also mean additional calories burned, which is useful for obvious reasons. It also mentions that it has reduced fatigue demands but since volume is higher it must achieve this via reductions in intensity relative to a more focused strength program. Is my understanding of what’s going on correct?