# Different types of hypertrophy do they exist?



## AChappell (Jun 1, 2011)

I frequently like to post research that interests me on my Facebook page and always get a good response so I thought I'd start sharing my ideas here as well.

Here's my latest post. Hope you all find the area as interesting as I do.

Heavy vs Light Training: Sarcoplasmic and Myofibrillar Hypertrophy.

"Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is thought to occur when the intracellular fluid surrounding muscle contractile protein expands, while myofibrillar hypertrophy is when the contractile protein mass expands. "

The myofibrillar hypertrophy is supposed to occur with strength training and sarcoplasmic with bodybuilding style training.

I came across an interesting study recently by Burd et al. 2010 from Stu Phillips lab. The effect of different exercise loads were compared 90% vs 30% 1RM. The resistance training was taken to failure in both groups and each subject performed the maximal amount of reps across for 4 sets. No difference was seen between the groups for myofibrillar (MYO), mixed (MIX) or sarcoplasmic (SARC) protein synthesis was seen at 4hrs post exercise. At 24hrs though MYO, MIX and SARC protein synthesis was significantly higher in 30Fail vs the 90Fail group. The authors concluded that low load high volume training maybe more effective at stimulating muscle anabolism than high load low volume training.

Subjects performed around 14 reps in the 90Fail group vs about 94 in the 30Fail group so obviously this had an effect. However the most striking finding for me is the fact greater SARC and MYO synthesis was seen in the 30Fail vs the 90Fail group.

This begs the question is there really different types of hypertrophy associated with different types of resistance training? This study certainly doesn't seem to support the idea. In fact if you look around the internet you'll find this is a bit of a hot topic. Some people think it's a bit of a myth. Personally I need to look into it more.

The full study is available from PLOS ONE:

Low-Load High Volume Resistance Exercise Stimulates Muscle Protein Synthesis More Than High-Load Low Volume Resistance Exercise in Young Men.


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## wezo1466868035 (Oct 11, 2012)

interesting dont like 4 reps or any more than 12 , 8 to 10 reps for me so id say im inbetween..


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## AChappell (Jun 1, 2011)

The Volume was a major factor in this experiment Wezo, Consider as well the eccentric phase. Eccentric exercise induces a large amount of muscle damage, Doing 74 reps compared to 4 is a hell of a lot more eccentric reps. You can read the whole thing at Plos One.


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## wezo1466868035 (Oct 11, 2012)

yeah i read it andy..still say 8 to 10 is inbetween tho..just dont think i could train high volume all the time..


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## renshaw (Jun 5, 2012)

Very interesting will read full report latter.

Maybe a relevent question does the two types of hypotrophy build different types of muscles?? I.e. is size of a person a true indication of physical strength?

I remeber about building muscle for stength or endurance.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2


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## Tom84 (Dec 12, 2005)

'At 24hrs though MYO, MIX and SARC protein synthesis was significantly higher in 30Fail vs the 90Fail group.'

As you say this is the interesting finding. You'd obviously assume that SARC would be higher in the 30%F group but that MYO is higher is very interesting. Has this changed in any way your thoughts on different phases of resistance training in terms of volume/rep range and %1RM?

I'll read the study later this evening

Read the summary and

'The increase in the rate of protein synthesis in MIX and MYO at 4 h post-exercise with 90FAIL and 30FAIL was greater than 30WM, with no difference between these conditions; however, MYO remained elevated (199%) above rest at 24 h *only in 30FAIL*' - wow


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## Tom84 (Dec 12, 2005)

Will definitely look into this.


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## gdickdas (Jun 12, 2013)

Very interesting! Following this for sure...

G


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## Tom84 (Dec 12, 2005)

The data is very conclusive on the necessity of positive failure

'MYO protein synthesis (Fig. 1b) was significantly increased by ~3.3, ~3.6, and ~1.7-fold above rest at 4 h post-exercise in 90FAIL, 30WM, and 30FAIL conditions, respectively; *however, the 4 h responses were greater (301% and 279% above rest, respectively both P<0.01) in the 90FAIL and 30FAIL conditions than in 30WM (87% above rest) condition*. At 24 h post-exercise, MYO protein synthesis remained elevated (P<0.05) above rest only in the 30FAIL condition (~2.9 fold). In contrast to the measurements of MIX and MYO protein synthesis, *SARC protein synthesis (Fig. 1c) was unchanged in the 30WM condition at 4 h post-exercise*, whereas, significant ~1.7-fold increase was seen in the 90FAIL condition that was also greater than 30WM; however, this rise returned to baseline at 24 h post-exercise. Finally, the 30FAIL condition induced a significant increase in SARC protein synthesis above rest at 4 h (~1.4-fold) and 24 h (~1.5-fold greater than rest) post-exercise.

90FAIL did have good synthetic results both in MYO and SARC at the 4h mark, in both cases greater than 30FAIL.

Most significantly though, both MYO and SARC only remained elevated at the 24h marker in 30FAIL.

It might be that you can mitigate this with diet? That 90FAIL is so taxing on the CNS it perhaps needs to be accompanied with higher leucine/BCAA's, higher leptin and a 'differing' hormonal state. I'd be interested to see the results if they re-ran the study (not that they ever could) on people using exogenous test.

It does seem that the hypertrophic types omit very similar responses though. I don't think this debunks the idea of training >60%FAIL but certainly it suggests that there is no special MYO response to this type of training.

Great read.


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## AChappell (Jun 1, 2011)

Ah Parky I see you have returned. There's a lot of data in this study, I liked the comparison between the different modes of exercise, and the use of sarcoplasmic and myofibril hypertrophy so thought it was worth sharing.

The difference in protein synthesis might simply be down to methodologies Use of FSR rather than measuring the appearance or incorporation of a tracer. You might be able to mitigate training responses via diet, but protein synthesis tends to be down regulated in highly trained individuals after 24hours although I've seen data that shows it's prolonged in others. So it could just be the sample. Running studies in the fasted state is far easier than running them in a fed state, however distinguishing the effects of the food and exercise then becomes an issue. It would be interesting though to see what happens though, certainly it would be more realistic.

What did you mean by debunking the 60%> fail?


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## Tom84 (Dec 12, 2005)

60% of repetition maximum (1RM) until volitional failure (60FAIL)

The study refers to 'heavy (i.e., high intensity) external loads not being a prerequisite to elicit increases in muscle protein synthesis and ultimately muscle hypertrophy when referencing other data. It goes on to say 'It has recently been established, however, that myofibrillar (MYO) protein synthesis is already maximally stimulated at 60% 1RM, in the post-absorptive state, with no further increase at higher load intensities'

I don't think this study confirms that training in this way (high intensity sets, low reps greater than 60%1RM weights) is unproductive. Not that it particularly states that it does, its referencing other literature


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## Tom84 (Dec 12, 2005)

AChappell said:


> Ah Parky I see you have returned.


Aye. I find it very difficult to post on more than one forum at once and I was trying to help another forum get off the ground. Its why I don't use UK-M. I know loads of the guys there really well, I actually grew up with with Liam0810 who is competing in a few weeks, but there are too many threads and too much stuff to wade through. I also am in my notice period with work as I'm moving companies, so I should be around for a few weeks. Anyway back on topic


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