Hypertrophy Past and Present

In this episode of Hypertrophy Past & Present, Jake and Chris begin with Vern Weaver’s 1961 two-day-per-week routine, providing an interesting example of how effective training can potentially be structured around only two weekly gym sessions. The conversation then shifts into the philosophy of hypertrophy research: what actually constitutes a scientific model, what a hypertrophy model is supposed to explain, and how different models have shaped both research and training recommendations. Chris traces the progression from muscle damage and metabolic stress explanations through to the stimulating reps model, before examining a recently proposed alternative in which every repetition provides some degree of hypertrophy stimulus.
Key topics include:
Vern Weaver’s 1961 two-day-per-week bodybuilding routine
What a scientific model actually is
How the muscle damage and metabolic stress models arose to explain unexpected findings in the strength-training literature
Whether criticisms of “the last five reps” are actually criticisms of the stimulating reps model or simply disagreements about its practical application
A recently proposed model in which every repetition provides some hypertrophy stimulus
How someone might go about constructing a new hypertrophy model
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In this episode of Hypertrophy Past & Present, Jake and Chris begin by reviewing an early female bodybuilding routine: a six-day-per-week program. Despite some problems with the weekly structure, the relatively low number of sets per exercise and surprisingly comprehensive exercise selection make it one of the more interesting Golden-Era routines covered on so far!
The conversation then turns to a common question: do different muscles actually require different numbers of sets or different training frequencies?
Key topics include:
An early female bodybuilding six-day-per-week routine and how it differs from modern female training programs
Why hypertrophy being muscle-fibre specific challenges the idea that larger muscles inherently require more sets
Whether slow-twitch dominant muscles such as the calves, quads, glutes and traps can tolerate more training volume
Why being able to recover from additional sets does not necessarily mean those sets will produce substantially more hypertrophy
How exercise selection changes volume tolerance, including the difference between exercises that load muscles in lengthened versus shortened positions
How to adjust volume slightly upward or downward depending on the muscle, exercise, individual recovery and training goals
Want to train like a Silver-Era bodybuilder? Join our Hypertrophy Past and Present Training group on TrainHeroic.com

In this episode of Hypertrophy Past & Present, Jake and Chris begin by reviewing Stuart McRobert’s 1989 hardgainer routine, a minimalist two-day-per-week program designed as an alternative to the increasingly extreme bodybuilding routines of the late 1980s. The conversation then explores an important distinction: is every period of stalled progress really a plateau, or are there times when we should simply expect progress to slow or stop?
Key topics include:
Stuart McRobert’s 1989 twice-weekly full-body hardgainer routine
The difference between a true plateau and a program that was never capable of producing continued progress
Why strength gains can sometimes make a poorly designed hypertrophy program appear to be working
Why life stress, poor sleep, dieting, or adding other forms of exercise may cause you to stop progressing without necessarily creating a true plateau
Why coaches should investigate what has changed before immediately modifying a client’s training program
The difference between managing a temporary lack of progress and actively trying to “bust” a plateau
Why temporary stressors may only require reducing training volume, while long-term lifestyle changes may require rebuilding the program entirely
Want to train like a Silver-Era bodybuilder? Join our Hypertrophy Past and Present Training group on TrainHeroic.com

In this episode of Hypertrophy Past & Present, Jake and Chris begin with another Leroy Colbert routine, this time examining an over 100 set silver-era routine. The conversation then explores whether you actually need to “feel” a muscle for it to grow, what the pump can tell us about muscle recruitment, and where the mind-muscle connection may or may not be useful.
Key topics include:
Leroy Colbert’s extreme 10-set-per-exercise Silver Era routine
Why “feeling” a muscle and getting a pump are not necessarily the same thing
Why stretch, cramping, and soreness can be misleading indicators of muscle activation
Mind-muscle connection, internal focus, and how they change muscle recruitment
Why exercise selection may be a better solution than trying to force a mind-muscle connection
When mind-muscle connection and isometric contractions may actually be useful
Why constantly using a mind-muscle connection can interfere with progressive overload
Why pre-fatiguing a muscle doesn’t cause the other muscles in a compound exercise to “do more work”
What motor learning research tells us about training and practising skills while fatigued
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In this episode of Hypertrophy Past & Present, Jake and Chris begin with Leroy Colbert’s late-1970s enormous volume training plan. The conversation then explores whether using pre-steroid bodybuilders as a model for natural training is really an “appeal to tradition,” before examining the evidence that anabolic steroids can directly stimulate muscle growth even without resistance training.
Key topics include:
Leroy Colbert’s high-volume late-1970s routine
Why bodybuilding training changed so dramatically after the introduction of anabolic steroids
Forcing Chris into a philosophy conversation: appeal to tradition fallacy, Chesterton’s fence, the Lindy effect, and Occam’s razor
Evidence that anabolic steroids can build muscle without a resistance-training stimulus
Why steroid-induced muscle growth cannot simply be dismissed as water weight or sarcoplasmic hypertrophy
The dose-response relationship between testosterone and muscle growth
Why “replacement” doses of testosterone may still produce supraphysiological effects at the muscle
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