How To Keep Building Muscle

In the beginning you can get it all wrong. You can train too often, perform exercises incorrectly, and still end up developing lean muscle tissue. Even with horrible programming we get stronger due to what we call neurological adaptation. We build muscle because our body is experiencing a new training stimulus.

What is A New Training Stimulus?

Like neurological adaptation, our muscles also have an adaptation process. When the muscle experiences a new demand, it recognizes a to be ready the next time the same is demand placed upon it. The result of this increased demand is muscle hypertrophy (growth).

Going from no stimulus to any stimulus is going to result in hypertrophy as long as the muscle is not being beat up beyond repair. If we go too far, then the muscle will catabolize (waste away) leaving us weaker or smaller than we started. Not a concern since beginners do not yet have the warfare mindset it takes to train at high intensities for long periods of time.

After the Initial Adaptation

The strength training neurological adaptation period will last for 3-6 months for most new lifters. After this point, we must have more organization and structure in our workout programs if we want to continue to build muscle. Creating a proper muscle hypertrophy program will take you further than any supplement or performance enhancing aid can.

But we do not require a perfect training program. All that is needed is a moderate volume (weights x sets) program that you can track from workout to workout. All we need is to ensure we are making improvements in total weight, repetitions, or time under tension.

Choosing the Initial Workout Program

There are several workout programs that have research to back their claims of increasing muscle size in 8-12 weeks. We will go into detail on each but here are three example programs.

H.I.T. Training: Developed by Arthur Jones this training program uses a minimalist approach to training with 1-set for each major muscle group. Although developed decades ago, it has recently become popular thanks to research backed books like Body By Science”

Bodybuilder Training: The typical muscle isolation workout program has stood the test of time. The standard 3-sets for 3 exercises for each muscle group is a training program that many have used for years.

Total Body Training: This type of training program will work the entire body in a single workout but trained several times per week. Some research shows that training a muscle more than once weekly could lead to greater muscle gains. Other studies suggest otherwise.

Progress might occur for another 3-6 months at this phase before another step needs to be taken. Once strength gains plateau even with correct nutrition to support muscle growth, many will need to advance their training program.

Specific Training Stimulus Research

Look hard enough and you can find research that shows how a variety of training program types lead to more muscle growth. Here are a few examples:

• High rep training leads to the same amount of muscle mass as traditional hypertrophy rep ranges.
• H.I.T. training leads to the same amount of strength and muscle gains but with much less stress and strain on the body.
• Machine exercises produce as much lean mass as free weight exercises.

Most of the research performed compares the effects of differing training programs over the course of approximately 8-12 weeks. This amount of time falls within the range for most new training stimulus to produce results.

Long-Term Muscle Growth Comparisons

It is difficult to find a study that compares two different training types over a long time period. This isn’t because the researchers do not want to perform this research, rather; it is because of the funding available for these types of studies is limited. While muscle strength and hypertrophy is an important area of research, it will not receive the same amount of funding as clinical disease prevention and treatment.

Instead of long-term studies, we have access to peer-reviewed studies. These are a cross analysis of a variety of studies that come to an accepted conclusion about the particular subject. Helpful but still doesn’t give us the ultimate answer about which workout program is best for building muscle.

The Best Workout Program for Increasing Muscle Mass

Even if there was enough long-term data to determine the “best” training program for the most hypertrophy, it would still fall short of another strategy.

To create the best program we would need to create one that continuously changes once neurological and muscular adaptations have neared. Meaning we get to the point where plateau’s occur. This type of training is going to build significantly more muscle than choosing one-type even if it is shown to produce more muscle mass than the rest.

Creating A New Muscle Hypertrophy Stimulus

There are many changes we can make to a training program in order to create a new stimulus. The amount of change made will determine the length in which the neurological and muscular adaptations take place.

Below you will find generalized differences between the timeframes permitted for a new training stimulus before another change needs to be made.

• A minor change to a program, such as exercise organization, may offer enough stimulus to last for a few weeks before the next required change.
• A mid-level change may take 8-12 weeks before the program needs to be reorganized with different strategies.
• A major change to a program might take 3-6 months before we reach the point of nearing a plateau.

The amount of change we make will also determine the learning curve that is required. Going through a learning curve will be a temporary setback in terms of the mind muscle connection. The more experienced you are at strength training, the more equipped you will be to navigate the learning curve process.

How to Create A New Training Stimulus for Muscle Growth

It is said that to gain muscle; you need to shock the system. This idea created the concept of “Never performing the same workout twice.” There is truth to this statement. However, most people assume we should treat each workout as an experiment where you are constantly trying new exercises, rep ranges, sets, and so forth.

While experimenting can lead to breakthroughs, constantly trying new things rarely leads to consistent progress. Approaching a new training stimulus needs to be thought through and built upon a solid training foundation. This may require expert guidance via a book, training program, or direct coaching.

The most important step comes after you understand the training principles, have the plan in place, and ability to execute the plan. Stick with the program. If you give up halfway through, you will never know for certain if a type of training stimulus works.

9 Ways to Change Your Training Stimulus

Below you will find a description for each of the ways you can create a new stimulus in order to build long term muscle. Remember that we are playing the long game of resistance training. We cannot incorporate all variations at one time. In fact, in most cases it will be a single variation each time you change your program.

Organization of Exercises

One of the simplest ways to change a training stimulus is to organize your workouts differently. You give different fibers priority when you restructure your workout routine.

Lifting weights in a different order can be a good mental as well as physical stimulus. Finding out your squat is much weaker when placed as the second lift might give you the push you need to get back up to the heavier weight.

This might be a simple change, but it can have a profound impact on building lean muscle mass without requiring a learning curve or neurological adaptation.

Muscle Building Exercise Selection

It is easy to find your way to new exercises thanks to the many free weight and equipment options available for training a muscle group. While not all the exercises have the same value, there are plenty of options that offer a new stimulus to the muscle.

Changing the angle of the exercise or using a different exercise entirely will put a new demand on the muscle. When programming new exercises, allow for 1-2 weeks of neurological adaptation as you get comfortable with the exercise.

Hypertrophy Training Frequency

As we previously mentioned, there is research suggesting that increased frequency leads to greater muscle growth. However, there is also research suggesting it leads to the same results. So why do we have this friction about training frequency?

The friction exists because are advantages to both isolating a muscle group once per week and training a muscle multiple times.

Training a muscle once per week with more volume is the best way to create complete muscle fiber saturation. Also, the continued training of a muscle brings in more nutrients through a longer sustained pump in the muscle.

Training a muscle multiple times per week is a good way to increase muscle fiber recruitment based on the traditionally accepted recovery window of 72 hours. We can even train the muscle fiber 3x per week if the volume is low enough to shorten recovery time further.

Training Splits for Hypertrophy

Common hypertrophy training splits include:

• Push/pull/legs
• Upper/lower
• Chest/back & shoulders/arms/legs
• Back & biceps/quads & calves/chest & triceps/shoulder & hamstrings
• And so on…

There are multiple ways you can organize your training routine. By grouping different muscles together you can create a new stimulus and freshen up a stale program.

Hypertrophy Rep Ranges

Over the years there have been differing thoughts about what is the best rep range for increasing muscle size. A wide range might suggest 6-12 reps while a more narrow range would suggest 7-9 reps. However, we can build mass with many rep ranges including both low and high reps. Changing the rep range is a great way to stimulate muscle growth.

It surprises many to find out they have increased mass when switching from the typical bodybuilding rep ranges (7-9) down to power lifting rep ranges (3-5). During the introductory phase where you only use compound exercises, the body may respond by stimulating growth of these specific anaerobic muscle fibers.

There are also many bodybuilding coaches who recommend utilizing many rep ranges during a single workout to bring about growth. This is another “new stimulus” option that we can utilize.

Changing Time Under Tension

It has become a recent trend to increase the eccentric (resisting) portion of the rep to increase lean muscle more so than letting the weight fall. By controlling the weight against gravity, the increased eccentric training is one way we increase the time under tension.

Another means of increasing time under tension is to slow down the concentric (squeeze) portion of the lift. Research on H.I.T. workouts emphasizes that we hold both the eccentric and concentric parts of the rep for long periods of time.

This contrasts what many bodybuilders believe based upon their weight training experience. For example, Pro Bodybuilding legend Flex Wheeler maintained a 1 second eccentric and 1 second concentric for most of his lifts. This helped him maintain a flow state while training. Again, there are benefits to both types of training. We can use both of them to further muscle gains.

Eccentric training can be hard on the CNS (central nervous system). While a muscle might require 72-hours to recover, you need to be cautious of over-training the CNS.

Changing rest-periods Between Sets

Traditionally understood is that we need to wait long enough between sets for ATP to replenish. This rest period allows us to maintain a similar amount of strength and keep within the rep range we hope to achieve. However, other training stimulus variations, such as drop-sets, super-sets, and rest-pause sets, challenge this theory.

Reduced rest periods may limit maximum muscle growth as a long term strategy but they can shock the muscular system, creating an urgent need to adapt. There are plenty of Crossfit girls with serious quads who train their legs with minimal rest between sets. This disputes the idea that we must have 2-minute rest periods between sets for muscle growth to occur.

Pyramid Training Vs. Training to Failure

There are different thoughts about which is best. Should we start with higher reps and work our way up to lower reps? Or should we immediately perform heavy sets after our warm up?

Pyramid training performs the working sets by starting with a lighter weight for more reps and then working up to a heavy weight for fewer reps. The argument for this type of training is that it prepares the muscle fibers for the heavy set and establishes the mind muscle connection.

Straight Sets to failure starts with a heavier weight and then as the muscle fatigues it either performs fewer reps or the weight has to be reduced. We believe that this type of training recruits and fatigues more of the fibers responsible for building muscle mass.

Since we now understand that it is OK to go outside of the previously established muscle building rep ranges, both ways to perform our sets will work.

Training Beyond Failure

As we know from drop-sets, we can take our muscles beyond the point where they fail. But a drop-set isn’t technically going beyond failure as there is a period of rest between the heavier and lighter weight.

To go beyond failure, we have three options

1. Use our body as mechanical leverage to help move the weight
2. Have a spotter available to help us with additional reps
3. Perform partial reps once we can no longer fully execute a full rep.

We can incorporate these options into a specific exercise or for the entire workout. Like eccentric training, this method of resistance training can tax the CNS so be aware of your ability to recover if you are looking to grow.

Other Training Stimulus Changes

We have included plenty of variety to help in building muscle for years to come. While these are the fundamentals accepted by top bodybuilders and fitness professionals, there are others to consider.

We can also use emerging training stimuluses such as blood flow restriction training and maximizing the strength curve, but these will require specific tools to get the job done. The methods referenced in this article will use the equipment available at most fitness clubs.

Adjusting Training Intensities

One of the best ways to ensure long-term muscle growth is to stay healthy. Injuries not only prevent you from building muscle but they cause muscle to atrophy. To ensure we are systemically (whole body) recovered, we cannot always train at high-intensities and need periods of lower intensity.

Between an old and new training stimulus change, consider adding a de-load week where you use half the weight for the similar amount of repetitions. Consider reducing it further by simply going through movement patterns with dynamic stretching or static holds. De-load and lower intensity weeks are great for your mindset as well since they increase your ambition for training hard.

Nutrition Demands for Long Term Muscle Growth

Having discussed these variations we should state that without adequate nutrition none of the muscle stimulus options will provide the results you hope for.

As you continue to build muscle, your calorie, protein, carbohydrate, and fat demands will change. Further growth will require that you meet the nutrition demands, giving your body the raw materials it needs to keep muscle protein synthesis high. This enables you to accommodate the greater need to recover and grow.

Taking your nutrition as seriously as you do your training will lead to greater long-term muscle growth.