Hi, if my goal is to maximize 1RM in squat, bench, and deadlift, and I have average responses to all rep ranges, how much of my training should be hypertrophy focused?
I heard that powerlifters should have a dedicate blocks for hypertrophy as lean body mass is a main predictor of long term strength gains.
But if most strength templates have enough volume to drive hypertrophy anyways, there is no need for hypertrophy cycles except short breaks from time to time (I’m thinking ~8 weeks per year) just to fresh things out right?
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I think that if you need to take a short break from strength-focused training due to personal preferences, a hypertrophy-focused block would be a reasonable idea. Otherwise, I don’t see dedicated hypertrophy training to really be necessary from a maximal strength development standpoint. A good s/c program will produce enough hypertrophy to drive strength (to the extent that it does) anyway.
The relationship between LBM and strength isn’t super clear btw. We talk about this in the podcast with Eric Helms, the Bodybuilding Template’s text, the Low-Fatigue template’s text, and other places.
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