Hypertrophy: Muscle fiber growth caused by mechanical tension

by Chris Beardsley

Have you ever wondered how muscle growth happens after strength training? Do you want to understand the mechanisms by which increases in muscle size are triggered? Would you like to know how to write training programs that lead to maximum gains in muscle mass? In this short book, Chris Beardsley gives you a theoretical framework to help you achieve all of this. The book is divided into four sections. The first section provides a radical new explanation for the mechanisms of hypertrophy that rests firmly upon the basic and most fundamental principles of muscle physiology. Currently, many researchers believe that muscle growth is caused by three mechanisms (mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage). This section explains why it is unnecessary to hypothesize roles for metabolic stress and muscle damage, and why mechanical tension is solely responsible for muscle growth, even when it is achieved by using very light external loads, because such loads can still cause very high mechanical tension on individual muscle fibers through the interactions of fatigue and the force-velocity relationship. The second section interprets the most important concepts of hypertrophy training in the light of this framework, including training volume, time under tension, and progressive overload. The third section covers the key training variables for any program, such as load, volume, frequency, exercise order, contraction mode, tempo, rest period duration, range of motion, proximity to failure, the mind-muscle connection, and the use of advanced techniques such as pre-exhaustion, forced reps, drop sets, and super sets. Other topics covered include what happens when we take breaks from training, periodization, and the interference effect of concurrent aerobic exercise. The final section addresses the fundamental principles of exercise selection for muscle growth, which allows strength training programs to be designed in such a way as to maximize growth of individual muscles.

Genres: Health

416 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Mr Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Complexity is the domain of the simple mind

Chris’ book on hypertrophy gives clear and simple broad research backed evidence on what are the key factors to consider when programming for muscle growth. The basics are there with the extra layer of depth required to help understand the nuances that can be considers in exercise selection, frequency and training volume. Anchor your programmes to these principles and you will make significant progress!! Thanks Mr Beardsley for being the knowledge broker bringing clarity to a confused audience!!

[Hermes · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was not what I expected

Very technical, low practice. This book is for a SPORT doctor.The book has a too technical language, they do not make examples of how the concepts can be applied.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly elaborate

The author explains everything extremely well, gives reasons that are supported by evidence. Overall if you are looking to increase your knowledge on hypertrophy, this is the best pick

[Jeffrey W Parks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worthless

No new or independent info. No recommendations or anything of practical value. Tries to sound scholarly very boring read. Tons of better books in this subject than this

[David Mitchell · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's like a biology/chemistry text book.

I'd like to see basic instructions to improve gym performance.

[Ortega David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful book to establish the foundation of an hypertrophy training, based on scientific data. It really helps navigate the major biological processes involved, their role and limitations and cut through the hype.

Honestly one of the most important book on fitness I've read. But:

- It's way too repetitive and disorganized

- This book has left me with so many unanswered questions. Revamping one's training following the guidelines you've just learnt from a book, but with big question marks remaining, is not a pleasant feeling. Moreover, the author contradict himself on his blog posts and if you want any answers, you'll have to pay $50 per 30 min of consultation....

- A short paragraph on nutrition could have helped. Not a deep-dive, but at least understand what is required to achieve hypertrophy, otherwise the training part won't be of much use.

[Anand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly technical book. It's a comprehensive guide on understanding the basic principles of muscle growth or hypertrophy. It starts with an explanation of what happens inside muscles during performing any exercise or after a workout and what actually causes hypertrophy. This basic concept is quite repetitive in the book. But I think it is absolutely necessary to remember it in the long term. The book very clearly explains the role of a range of variables such as fatigue, mind-muscle connection, training volume, repetition ranges, range of motion, rest between sets etc. in causing muscle growth.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great approach, slightly repetitive

I really like the question based approach and the chapter summaries. The text is slightly repetitive across chapters at times. A few diagrams or pictures would be welcome. I learned a lot and now have a mental model for hypertrophy. I will refer back to this book in the future.

[Lars Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actionable advice with good explanations.

Really interesting. Filled with actionable advice, with easy to understand explanations.
Perfect for the fitness nerd, that doesn't have aspirations to go to university for exercise science.

[Tim Prior · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, concise information

A lot of what it's in here seems like coming knowledge, but reading it all together gives a greater understanding to what you already knew. Definitely worth a read if you are into strength training or hypertrophy training.

[Jackson Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Don't hesitate to buy this book. You can trust this author knows what he is speaking about.
Very well worth the money.

[Paul G. Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read

This book cut through so much of the mystery of hypertrophy for me and provided a framework to understand my programming and workouts. Total game changer.