Join 75,000+ Looksmaxxing Members!

Register a FREE account today to become a member. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox.

  • DISCLAIMER: DO NOT ATTEMPT TREATMENT WITHOUT LICENCED MEDICAL CONSULTATION AND SUPERVISION

    This is a public discussion forum. The owners, staff, and users of this website ARE NOT engaged in rendering professional services to the individual reader. DO NOT use the content of this website as an alternative to personal examination and advice from licenced healthcare providers. DO NOT begin, delay, or discontinue treatments and/or exercises without licenced medical supervision. Learn more

Guide HOW TO ACTUALLY BUILD MUSCLE WITH THE LEAST EFFORT

That 3x frequency breakdown is actually super useful, I always figured hitting a muscle every 48 hours was optimal but seeing the atrophy phase mentioned makes it clearer why. It's funny he had to yell at people about the "feeling the pain" thing. Yeah, totally, if you're pulling the EZ bar, it's working your biceps, even if it feels easy at 5 reps! We overcomplicate everything in the gym.
 
The Hypertrophypill: Maximizing Muscle Growth Without Much Effort

Wasn't gonna post anything about this until I realized some people in 2025 still believe in muscle tears. Unfortunately many people I used to think are smart disappointed me and taught me to always keep my hopes down. In this post I'll be diving into the hypertrophypill, basically how you could maximize muscle growth without much effort.

-First common misconception

Muscle growth is caused by micro tears. WRONG. Muscle damage is actually a negative not a positive. Muscle growth is driven by reaching mechanical failure, basically activating all motor units possible. Soooooo....

What is a motor unit?

Motor unit is a group of muscle fibers controlled by a motor neuron. Motor units could also be classified into low, medium and high threshold. If your goal is to build muscle then throw the low and medium threshold out the window since they're mostly activating type 1 muscle fibers that don't grow you much. High threshold on the other hand. My my, these are my saviors.

As everyone knows muscle fibers don't grow unless recruited. And to recruit the higher threshold units you have to prioritize intensity.

How to maximize MUR (motor unit recruitment)?

Unilateral exercises (best in the end of the session)

Stable exercises (this isn't the 80s, use the machine)

Single joint movements (who would've thought that using your whole body would be this taxing)

Also, a lot may think in muscles like forearms or calves which are type 1 fiber dominant, you'd have to focus on volume. WRONG. Motor units are recruited from smallest to largest meaning high intensity is still so much better either way.

CNS fatigue and perceived effort levels

Most people believe they're experiencing peripheral fatigue (fatigue in that specific muscle) when they didn't lift as much as last time. That might be true but it's mostly just CNS fatigue.

CNS fatigue = reduction in neural drive between your brain and spinal cord. This limits your ability to recruit high threshold motor units and limits your force production. You might think that because you trained legs then hit something else it won't be affected but this is also wrong.

Perceived effort levels, you want them to be as low as you can. They don't directly hinder MUR but they'll make training much harder because of your perceived effort levels.

How to fix these two?

Perceived effort levels
Good sleep, dieting and motivation and happiness all help lower it.

CNS fatigue
It gets complicated. In an ideal split (3x frequency split) your CNS will be taxed extremely hard especially if you're stupid enough to do some shit like 4x12. There is absolutely no reason to go over 7 reps in ANY exercise. Of course you can if you want to but that would just fatigue you more and tax your CNS more. Studies have shown that the last 5 reps are the most stimulating reps, so skip the bullshit and do 5-7 reps. (No this is not ego lifting either. If you have shit form then those are not 5 reps, that's 0. If you have the option to do either 3 reps with higher weight or 7 reps with slightly lower weight, pick the 7 reps one. You should at least get those 5 reps in)

View attachment 153176

A lot of people also complain about not feeling the muscle when doing 5 reps. Good, why the fuck do you want to feel the pain when you can get the same if not better results if you can skip the pain. And even if you don't feel it, it is still correct reps. In a preacher curl the fuck do you think is pulling the EZ bar up? Your triceps?

Sets

Again, there is absolutely no reason to do over 2 sets in a single exercise if frequency is 3x. That is just overkill, basically junk volume for almost no increase in muscle growth with huge increase in muscle damage. In a session, you should not hit a muscle group over 3 sets. Using a 3x frequency split, that should add up to 6-9 sets per muscle group per week which is again ideal for most people since that's usually their max recoverable volume.

View attachment 153179

Frequency

I said that 3x frequency is ideal and you might ask why I am so insistent on this. As we all know (I hope we all do), the stimulus phase for a muscle lasts for around 24-48 hours and then you get into the atrophy phase. So ideally you should hit a muscle every 48 hours to minimize atrophy.

If you do take my advice and actually use a 3x frequency program, you should use the tips I mentioned earlier. Studies show that 1 set 3 times a week gets better results than 3 sets once a week. (Of course no one is stupid enough to have 1x frequency but the point still stands)

View attachment 153177View attachment 153178

Minimizing CNS fatigue

You should usually keep 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR). Studies show there is no significant difference between reaching total mechanical failure and being 1 or 2 reps away from failure. And it shows that having 2 RIR minimizes muscle damage and taxes CNS the least.
(If you don't know how to count your RIR just reach failure)


NOW THE DIET SECTION:

It's gonna be quite short since I'll just clear up a misconception.

BULKING IS USELESS FOR MOST OF YOU.


View attachment 153172View attachment 153173

There is not significant difference in muscle gain between people at maintenance and people with a moderate and aggressive circle BUT there's a huge fat difference. Confirms what i always believed in, bulking is useless and ideally you should just stay at maintenance, and if you manage to git the usual 40-50g of fat, 1g of protein per lbs or bodyweight, and the rest is managing when to eat your carbs. YOU'RE SET!
This guide made unholy changes unto me, thanks
 
The Hypertrophypill: Maximizing Muscle Growth Without Much Effort

Wasn't gonna post anything about this until I realized some people in 2025 still believe in muscle tears. Unfortunately many people I used to think are smart disappointed me and taught me to always keep my hopes down. In this post I'll be diving into the hypertrophypill, basically how you could maximize muscle growth without much effort.

-First common misconception

Muscle growth is caused by micro tears. WRONG. Muscle damage is actually a negative not a positive. Muscle growth is driven by reaching mechanical failure, basically activating all motor units possible. Soooooo....

What is a motor unit?

Motor unit is a group of muscle fibers controlled by a motor neuron. Motor units could also be classified into low, medium and high threshold. If your goal is to build muscle then throw the low and medium threshold out the window since they're mostly activating type 1 muscle fibers that don't grow you much. High threshold on the other hand. My my, these are my saviors.

As everyone knows muscle fibers don't grow unless recruited. And to recruit the higher threshold units you have to prioritize intensity.

How to maximize MUR (motor unit recruitment)?

Unilateral exercises (best in the end of the session)

Stable exercises (this isn't the 80s, use the machine)

Single joint movements (who would've thought that using your whole body would be this taxing)

Also, a lot may think in muscles like forearms or calves which are type 1 fiber dominant, you'd have to focus on volume. WRONG. Motor units are recruited from smallest to largest meaning high intensity is still so much better either way.

CNS fatigue and perceived effort levels

Most people believe they're experiencing peripheral fatigue (fatigue in that specific muscle) when they didn't lift as much as last time. That might be true but it's mostly just CNS fatigue.

CNS fatigue = reduction in neural drive between your brain and spinal cord. This limits your ability to recruit high threshold motor units and limits your force production. You might think that because you trained legs then hit something else it won't be affected but this is also wrong.

Perceived effort levels, you want them to be as low as you can. They don't directly hinder MUR but they'll make training much harder because of your perceived effort levels.

How to fix these two?

Perceived effort levels
Good sleep, dieting and motivation and happiness all help lower it.

CNS fatigue
It gets complicated. In an ideal split (3x frequency split) your CNS will be taxed extremely hard especially if you're stupid enough to do some shit like 4x12. There is absolutely no reason to go over 7 reps in ANY exercise. Of course you can if you want to but that would just fatigue you more and tax your CNS more. Studies have shown that the last 5 reps are the most stimulating reps, so skip the bullshit and do 5-7 reps. (No this is not ego lifting either. If you have shit form then those are not 5 reps, that's 0. If you have the option to do either 3 reps with higher weight or 7 reps with slightly lower weight, pick the 7 reps one. You should at least get those 5 reps in)

View attachment 153176

A lot of people also complain about not feeling the muscle when doing 5 reps. Good, why the fuck do you want to feel the pain when you can get the same if not better results if you can skip the pain. And even if you don't feel it, it is still correct reps. In a preacher curl the fuck do you think is pulling the EZ bar up? Your triceps?

Sets

Again, there is absolutely no reason to do over 2 sets in a single exercise if frequency is 3x. That is just overkill, basically junk volume for almost no increase in muscle growth with huge increase in muscle damage. In a session, you should not hit a muscle group over 3 sets. Using a 3x frequency split, that should add up to 6-9 sets per muscle group per week which is again ideal for most people since that's usually their max recoverable volume.

View attachment 153179

Frequency

I said that 3x frequency is ideal and you might ask why I am so insistent on this. As we all know (I hope we all do), the stimulus phase for a muscle lasts for around 24-48 hours and then you get into the atrophy phase. So ideally you should hit a muscle every 48 hours to minimize atrophy.

If you do take my advice and actually use a 3x frequency program, you should use the tips I mentioned earlier. Studies show that 1 set 3 times a week gets better results than 3 sets once a week. (Of course no one is stupid enough to have 1x frequency but the point still stands)

View attachment 153177View attachment 153178

Minimizing CNS fatigue

You should usually keep 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR). Studies show there is no significant difference between reaching total mechanical failure and being 1 or 2 reps away from failure. And it shows that having 2 RIR minimizes muscle damage and taxes CNS the least.
(If you don't know how to count your RIR just reach failure)


NOW THE DIET SECTION:

It's gonna be quite short since I'll just clear up a misconception.

BULKING IS USELESS FOR MOST OF YOU.


View attachment 153172View attachment 153173

There is not significant difference in muscle gain between people at maintenance and people with a moderate and aggressive circle BUT there's a huge fat difference. Confirms what i always believed in, bulking is useless and ideally you should just stay at maintenance, and if you manage to git the usual 40-50g of fat, 1g of protein per lbs or bodyweight, and the rest is managing when to eat your carbs. YOU'RE SET!
Imagine being such a pussy you want to build muscle without effort 🥹
 
nice. And if ur a women it’s nice ig
 
The Hypertrophypill: Maximizing Muscle Growth Without Much Effort

Wasn't gonna post anything about this until I realized some people in 2025 still believe in muscle tears. Unfortunately many people I used to think are smart disappointed me and taught me to always keep my hopes down. In this post I'll be diving into the hypertrophypill, basically how you could maximize muscle growth without much effort.

-First common misconception

Muscle growth is caused by micro tears. WRONG. Muscle damage is actually a negative not a positive. Muscle growth is driven by reaching mechanical failure, basically activating all motor units possible. Soooooo....

What is a motor unit?

Motor unit is a group of muscle fibers controlled by a motor neuron. Motor units could also be classified into low, medium and high threshold. If your goal is to build muscle then throw the low and medium threshold out the window since they're mostly activating type 1 muscle fibers that don't grow you much. High threshold on the other hand. My my, these are my saviors.

As everyone knows muscle fibers don't grow unless recruited. And to recruit the higher threshold units you have to prioritize intensity.

How to maximize MUR (motor unit recruitment)?

Unilateral exercises (best in the end of the session)

Stable exercises (this isn't the 80s, use the machine)

Single joint movements (who would've thought that using your whole body would be this taxing)

Also, a lot may think in muscles like forearms or calves which are type 1 fiber dominant, you'd have to focus on volume. WRONG. Motor units are recruited from smallest to largest meaning high intensity is still so much better either way.

CNS fatigue and perceived effort levels

Most people believe they're experiencing peripheral fatigue (fatigue in that specific muscle) when they didn't lift as much as last time. That might be true but it's mostly just CNS fatigue.

CNS fatigue = reduction in neural drive between your brain and spinal cord. This limits your ability to recruit high threshold motor units and limits your force production. You might think that because you trained legs then hit something else it won't be affected but this is also wrong.

Perceived effort levels, you want them to be as low as you can. They don't directly hinder MUR but they'll make training much harder because of your perceived effort levels.

How to fix these two?

Perceived effort levels
Good sleep, dieting and motivation and happiness all help lower it.

CNS fatigue
It gets complicated. In an ideal split (3x frequency split) your CNS will be taxed extremely hard especially if you're stupid enough to do some shit like 4x12. There is absolutely no reason to go over 7 reps in ANY exercise. Of course you can if you want to but that would just fatigue you more and tax your CNS more. Studies have shown that the last 5 reps are the most stimulating reps, so skip the bullshit and do 5-7 reps. (No this is not ego lifting either. If you have shit form then those are not 5 reps, that's 0. If you have the option to do either 3 reps with higher weight or 7 reps with slightly lower weight, pick the 7 reps one. You should at least get those 5 reps in)

View attachment 153176

A lot of people also complain about not feeling the muscle when doing 5 reps. Good, why the fuck do you want to feel the pain when you can get the same if not better results if you can skip the pain. And even if you don't feel it, it is still correct reps. In a preacher curl the fuck do you think is pulling the EZ bar up? Your triceps?

Sets

Again, there is absolutely no reason to do over 2 sets in a single exercise if frequency is 3x. That is just overkill, basically junk volume for almost no increase in muscle growth with huge increase in muscle damage. In a session, you should not hit a muscle group over 3 sets. Using a 3x frequency split, that should add up to 6-9 sets per muscle group per week which is again ideal for most people since that's usually their max recoverable volume.

View attachment 153179

Frequency

I said that 3x frequency is ideal and you might ask why I am so insistent on this. As we all know (I hope we all do), the stimulus phase for a muscle lasts for around 24-48 hours and then you get into the atrophy phase. So ideally you should hit a muscle every 48 hours to minimize atrophy.

If you do take my advice and actually use a 3x frequency program, you should use the tips I mentioned earlier. Studies show that 1 set 3 times a week gets better results than 3 sets once a week. (Of course no one is stupid enough to have 1x frequency but the point still stands)

View attachment 153177View attachment 153178

Minimizing CNS fatigue

You should usually keep 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR). Studies show there is no significant difference between reaching total mechanical failure and being 1 or 2 reps away from failure. And it shows that having 2 RIR minimizes muscle damage and taxes CNS the least.
(If you don't know how to count your RIR just reach failure)


NOW THE DIET SECTION:

It's gonna be quite short since I'll just clear up a misconception.

BULKING IS USELESS FOR MOST OF YOU.


View attachment 153172View attachment 153173

There is not significant difference in muscle gain between people at maintenance and people with a moderate and aggressive circle BUT there's a huge fat difference. Confirms what i always believed in, bulking is useless and ideally you should just stay at maintenance, and if you manage to git the usual 40-50g of fat, 1g of protein per lbs or bodyweight, and the rest is managing when to eat your carbs. YOU'RE SET!
Good thread
 
First thread I see here and it's high IQ. Nicely done, little one!
 
The Hypertrophypill: Maximizing Muscle Growth Without Much Effort

Wasn't gonna post anything about this until I realized some people in 2025 still believe in muscle tears. Unfortunately many people I used to think are smart disappointed me and taught me to always keep my hopes down. In this post I'll be diving into the hypertrophypill, basically how you could maximize muscle growth without much effort.

-First common misconception

Muscle growth is caused by micro tears. WRONG. Muscle damage is actually a negative not a positive. Muscle growth is driven by reaching mechanical failure, basically activating all motor units possible. Soooooo....

What is a motor unit?

Motor unit is a group of muscle fibers controlled by a motor neuron. Motor units could also be classified into low, medium and high threshold. If your goal is to build muscle then throw the low and medium threshold out the window since they're mostly activating type 1 muscle fibers that don't grow you much. High threshold on the other hand. My my, these are my saviors.

As everyone knows muscle fibers don't grow unless recruited. And to recruit the higher threshold units you have to prioritize intensity.

How to maximize MUR (motor unit recruitment)?

Unilateral exercises (best in the end of the session)

Stable exercises (this isn't the 80s, use the machine)

Single joint movements (who would've thought that using your whole body would be this taxing)

Also, a lot may think in muscles like forearms or calves which are type 1 fiber dominant, you'd have to focus on volume. WRONG. Motor units are recruited from smallest to largest meaning high intensity is still so much better either way.

CNS fatigue and perceived effort levels

Most people believe they're experiencing peripheral fatigue (fatigue in that specific muscle) when they didn't lift as much as last time. That might be true but it's mostly just CNS fatigue.

CNS fatigue = reduction in neural drive between your brain and spinal cord. This limits your ability to recruit high threshold motor units and limits your force production. You might think that because you trained legs then hit something else it won't be affected but this is also wrong.

Perceived effort levels, you want them to be as low as you can. They don't directly hinder MUR but they'll make training much harder because of your perceived effort levels.

How to fix these two?

Perceived effort levels
Good sleep, dieting and motivation and happiness all help lower it.

CNS fatigue
It gets complicated. In an ideal split (3x frequency split) your CNS will be taxed extremely hard especially if you're stupid enough to do some shit like 4x12. There is absolutely no reason to go over 7 reps in ANY exercise. Of course you can if you want to but that would just fatigue you more and tax your CNS more. Studies have shown that the last 5 reps are the most stimulating reps, so skip the bullshit and do 5-7 reps. (No this is not ego lifting either. If you have shit form then those are not 5 reps, that's 0. If you have the option to do either 3 reps with higher weight or 7 reps with slightly lower weight, pick the 7 reps one. You should at least get those 5 reps in)

View attachment 153176

A lot of people also complain about not feeling the muscle when doing 5 reps. Good, why the fuck do you want to feel the pain when you can get the same if not better results if you can skip the pain. And even if you don't feel it, it is still correct reps. In a preacher curl the fuck do you think is pulling the EZ bar up? Your triceps?

Sets

Again, there is absolutely no reason to do over 2 sets in a single exercise if frequency is 3x. That is just overkill, basically junk volume for almost no increase in muscle growth with huge increase in muscle damage. In a session, you should not hit a muscle group over 3 sets. Using a 3x frequency split, that should add up to 6-9 sets per muscle group per week which is again ideal for most people since that's usually their max recoverable volume.

View attachment 153179

Frequency

I said that 3x frequency is ideal and you might ask why I am so insistent on this. As we all know (I hope we all do), the stimulus phase for a muscle lasts for around 24-48 hours and then you get into the atrophy phase. So ideally you should hit a muscle every 48 hours to minimize atrophy.

If you do take my advice and actually use a 3x frequency program, you should use the tips I mentioned earlier. Studies show that 1 set 3 times a week gets better results than 3 sets once a week. (Of course no one is stupid enough to have 1x frequency but the point still stands)

View attachment 153177View attachment 153178

Minimizing CNS fatigue

You should usually keep 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR). Studies show there is no significant difference between reaching total mechanical failure and being 1 or 2 reps away from failure. And it shows that having 2 RIR minimizes muscle damage and taxes CNS the least.
(If you don't know how to count your RIR just reach failure)


NOW THE DIET SECTION:

It's gonna be quite short since I'll just clear up a misconception.

BULKING IS USELESS FOR MOST OF YOU.


View attachment 153172View attachment 153173

There is not significant difference in muscle gain between people at maintenance and people with a moderate and aggressive circle BUT there's a huge fat difference. Confirms what i always believed in, bulking is useless and ideally you should just stay at maintenance, and if you manage to git the usual 40-50g of fat, 1g of protein per lbs or bodyweight, and the rest is managing when to eat your carbs. YOU'RE SET!
peak advice
 
The Hypertrophypill: Maximizing Muscle Growth Without Much Effort

Wasn't gonna post anything about this until I realized some people in 2025 still believe in muscle tears. Unfortunately many people I used to think are smart disappointed me and taught me to always keep my hopes down. In this post I'll be diving into the hypertrophypill, basically how you could maximize muscle growth without much effort.

-First common misconception

Muscle growth is caused by micro tears. WRONG. Muscle damage is actually a negative not a positive. Muscle growth is driven by reaching mechanical failure, basically activating all motor units possible. Soooooo....

What is a motor unit?

Motor unit is a group of muscle fibers controlled by a motor neuron. Motor units could also be classified into low, medium and high threshold. If your goal is to build muscle then throw the low and medium threshold out the window since they're mostly activating type 1 muscle fibers that don't grow you much. High threshold on the other hand. My my, these are my saviors.

As everyone knows muscle fibers don't grow unless recruited. And to recruit the higher threshold units you have to prioritize intensity.

How to maximize MUR (motor unit recruitment)?

Unilateral exercises (best in the end of the session)

Stable exercises (this isn't the 80s, use the machine)

Single joint movements (who would've thought that using your whole body would be this taxing)

Also, a lot may think in muscles like forearms or calves which are type 1 fiber dominant, you'd have to focus on volume. WRONG. Motor units are recruited from smallest to largest meaning high intensity is still so much better either way.

CNS fatigue and perceived effort levels

Most people believe they're experiencing peripheral fatigue (fatigue in that specific muscle) when they didn't lift as much as last time. That might be true but it's mostly just CNS fatigue.

CNS fatigue = reduction in neural drive between your brain and spinal cord. This limits your ability to recruit high threshold motor units and limits your force production. You might think that because you trained legs then hit something else it won't be affected but this is also wrong.

Perceived effort levels, you want them to be as low as you can. They don't directly hinder MUR but they'll make training much harder because of your perceived effort levels.

How to fix these two?

Perceived effort levels
Good sleep, dieting and motivation and happiness all help lower it.

CNS fatigue
It gets complicated. In an ideal split (3x frequency split) your CNS will be taxed extremely hard especially if you're stupid enough to do some shit like 4x12. There is absolutely no reason to go over 7 reps in ANY exercise. Of course you can if you want to but that would just fatigue you more and tax your CNS more. Studies have shown that the last 5 reps are the most stimulating reps, so skip the bullshit and do 5-7 reps. (No this is not ego lifting either. If you have shit form then those are not 5 reps, that's 0. If you have the option to do either 3 reps with higher weight or 7 reps with slightly lower weight, pick the 7 reps one. You should at least get those 5 reps in)

View attachment 153176

A lot of people also complain about not feeling the muscle when doing 5 reps. Good, why the fuck do you want to feel the pain when you can get the same if not better results if you can skip the pain. And even if you don't feel it, it is still correct reps. In a preacher curl the fuck do you think is pulling the EZ bar up? Your triceps?

Sets

Again, there is absolutely no reason to do over 2 sets in a single exercise if frequency is 3x. That is just overkill, basically junk volume for almost no increase in muscle growth with huge increase in muscle damage. In a session, you should not hit a muscle group over 3 sets. Using a 3x frequency split, that should add up to 6-9 sets per muscle group per week which is again ideal for most people since that's usually their max recoverable volume.

View attachment 153179

Frequency

I said that 3x frequency is ideal and you might ask why I am so insistent on this. As we all know (I hope we all do), the stimulus phase for a muscle lasts for around 24-48 hours and then you get into the atrophy phase. So ideally you should hit a muscle every 48 hours to minimize atrophy.

If you do take my advice and actually use a 3x frequency program, you should use the tips I mentioned earlier. Studies show that 1 set 3 times a week gets better results than 3 sets once a week. (Of course no one is stupid enough to have 1x frequency but the point still stands)

View attachment 153177View attachment 153178

Minimizing CNS fatigue

You should usually keep 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR). Studies show there is no significant difference between reaching total mechanical failure and being 1 or 2 reps away from failure. And it shows that having 2 RIR minimizes muscle damage and taxes CNS the least.
(If you don't know how to count your RIR just reach failure)


NOW THE DIET SECTION:

It's gonna be quite short since I'll just clear up a misconception.

BULKING IS USELESS FOR MOST OF YOU.


View attachment 153172View attachment 153173

There is not significant difference in muscle gain between people at maintenance and people with a moderate and aggressive circle BUT there's a huge fat difference. Confirms what i always believed in, bulking is useless and ideally you should just stay at maintenance, and if you manage to git the usual 40-50g of fat, 1g of protein per lbs or bodyweight, and the rest is managing when to eat your carbs. YOU'RE SET!
Hop on roids and skip gym or ldar,
‘B-bb-but muh muscles’
 
The Hypertrophypill: Maximizing Muscle Growth Without Much Effort

Wasn't gonna post anything about this until I realized some people in 2025 still believe in muscle tears. Unfortunately many people I used to think are smart disappointed me and taught me to always keep my hopes down. In this post I'll be diving into the hypertrophypill, basically how you could maximize muscle growth without much effort.

-First common misconception

Muscle growth is caused by micro tears. WRONG. Muscle damage is actually a negative not a positive. Muscle growth is driven by reaching mechanical failure, basically activating all motor units possible. Soooooo....

What is a motor unit?

Motor unit is a group of muscle fibers controlled by a motor neuron. Motor units could also be classified into low, medium and high threshold. If your goal is to build muscle then throw the low and medium threshold out the window since they're mostly activating type 1 muscle fibers that don't grow you much. High threshold on the other hand. My my, these are my saviors.

As everyone knows muscle fibers don't grow unless recruited. And to recruit the higher threshold units you have to prioritize intensity.

How to maximize MUR (motor unit recruitment)?

Unilateral exercises (best in the end of the session)

Stable exercises (this isn't the 80s, use the machine)

Single joint movements (who would've thought that using your whole body would be this taxing)

Also, a lot may think in muscles like forearms or calves which are type 1 fiber dominant, you'd have to focus on volume. WRONG. Motor units are recruited from smallest to largest meaning high intensity is still so much better either way.

CNS fatigue and perceived effort levels

Most people believe they're experiencing peripheral fatigue (fatigue in that specific muscle) when they didn't lift as much as last time. That might be true but it's mostly just CNS fatigue.

CNS fatigue = reduction in neural drive between your brain and spinal cord. This limits your ability to recruit high threshold motor units and limits your force production. You might think that because you trained legs then hit something else it won't be affected but this is also wrong.

Perceived effort levels, you want them to be as low as you can. They don't directly hinder MUR but they'll make training much harder because of your perceived effort levels.

How to fix these two?

Perceived effort levels
Good sleep, dieting and motivation and happiness all help lower it.

CNS fatigue
It gets complicated. In an ideal split (3x frequency split) your CNS will be taxed extremely hard especially if you're stupid enough to do some shit like 4x12. There is absolutely no reason to go over 7 reps in ANY exercise. Of course you can if you want to but that would just fatigue you more and tax your CNS more. Studies have shown that the last 5 reps are the most stimulating reps, so skip the bullshit and do 5-7 reps. (No this is not ego lifting either. If you have shit form then those are not 5 reps, that's 0. If you have the option to do either 3 reps with higher weight or 7 reps with slightly lower weight, pick the 7 reps one. You should at least get those 5 reps in)

View attachment 153176

A lot of people also complain about not feeling the muscle when doing 5 reps. Good, why the fuck do you want to feel the pain when you can get the same if not better results if you can skip the pain. And even if you don't feel it, it is still correct reps. In a preacher curl the fuck do you think is pulling the EZ bar up? Your triceps?

Sets

Again, there is absolutely no reason to do over 2 sets in a single exercise if frequency is 3x. That is just overkill, basically junk volume for almost no increase in muscle growth with huge increase in muscle damage. In a session, you should not hit a muscle group over 3 sets. Using a 3x frequency split, that should add up to 6-9 sets per muscle group per week which is again ideal for most people since that's usually their max recoverable volume.

View attachment 153179

Frequency

I said that 3x frequency is ideal and you might ask why I am so insistent on this. As we all know (I hope we all do), the stimulus phase for a muscle lasts for around 24-48 hours and then you get into the atrophy phase. So ideally you should hit a muscle every 48 hours to minimize atrophy.

If you do take my advice and actually use a 3x frequency program, you should use the tips I mentioned earlier. Studies show that 1 set 3 times a week gets better results than 3 sets once a week. (Of course no one is stupid enough to have 1x frequency but the point still stands)

View attachment 153177View attachment 153178

Minimizing CNS fatigue

You should usually keep 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR). Studies show there is no significant difference between reaching total mechanical failure and being 1 or 2 reps away from failure. And it shows that having 2 RIR minimizes muscle damage and taxes CNS the least.
(If you don't know how to count your RIR just reach failure)


NOW THE DIET SECTION:

It's gonna be quite short since I'll just clear up a misconception.

BULKING IS USELESS FOR MOST OF YOU.


View attachment 153172View attachment 153173

There is not significant difference in muscle gain between people at maintenance and people with a moderate and aggressive circle BUT there's a huge fat difference. Confirms what i always believed in, bulking is useless and ideally you should just stay at maintenance, and if you manage to git the usual 40-50g of fat, 1g of protein per lbs or bodyweight, and the rest is managing when to eat your carbs. YOU'RE SET!
dnr
 
Does exercise selection matter? I’ve discovered what I enjoyed the most for my exercises and I simply stick to those. Also is 2 to 3 different exercises enough? Like for example chest can be trained with only two exercises but back and legs need 3? Or can u get away with two
 
Clav said Steroids are method
 
The Hypertrophypill: Maximizing Muscle Growth Without Much Effort

Wasn't gonna post anything about this until I realized some people in 2025 still believe in muscle tears. Unfortunately many people I used to think are smart disappointed me and taught me to always keep my hopes down. In this post I'll be diving into the hypertrophypill, basically how you could maximize muscle growth without much effort.

-First common misconception

Muscle growth is caused by micro tears. WRONG. Muscle damage is actually a negative not a positive. Muscle growth is driven by reaching mechanical failure, basically activating all motor units possible. Soooooo....

What is a motor unit?

Motor unit is a group of muscle fibers controlled by a motor neuron. Motor units could also be classified into low, medium and high threshold. If your goal is to build muscle then throw the low and medium threshold out the window since they're mostly activating type 1 muscle fibers that don't grow you much. High threshold on the other hand. My my, these are my saviors.

As everyone knows muscle fibers don't grow unless recruited. And to recruit the higher threshold units you have to prioritize intensity.

How to maximize MUR (motor unit recruitment)?

Unilateral exercises (best in the end of the session)

Stable exercises (this isn't the 80s, use the machine)

Single joint movements (who would've thought that using your whole body would be this taxing)

Also, a lot may think in muscles like forearms or calves which are type 1 fiber dominant, you'd have to focus on volume. WRONG. Motor units are recruited from smallest to largest meaning high intensity is still so much better either way.

CNS fatigue and perceived effort levels

Most people believe they're experiencing peripheral fatigue (fatigue in that specific muscle) when they didn't lift as much as last time. That might be true but it's mostly just CNS fatigue.

CNS fatigue = reduction in neural drive between your brain and spinal cord. This limits your ability to recruit high threshold motor units and limits your force production. You might think that because you trained legs then hit something else it won't be affected but this is also wrong.

Perceived effort levels, you want them to be as low as you can. They don't directly hinder MUR but they'll make training much harder because of your perceived effort levels.

How to fix these two?

Perceived effort levels
Good sleep, dieting and motivation and happiness all help lower it.

CNS fatigue
It gets complicated. In an ideal split (3x frequency split) your CNS will be taxed extremely hard especially if you're stupid enough to do some shit like 4x12. There is absolutely no reason to go over 7 reps in ANY exercise. Of course you can if you want to but that would just fatigue you more and tax your CNS more. Studies have shown that the last 5 reps are the most stimulating reps, so skip the bullshit and do 5-7 reps. (No this is not ego lifting either. If you have shit form then those are not 5 reps, that's 0. If you have the option to do either 3 reps with higher weight or 7 reps with slightly lower weight, pick the 7 reps one. You should at least get those 5 reps in)

View attachment 153176

A lot of people also complain about not feeling the muscle when doing 5 reps. Good, why the fuck do you want to feel the pain when you can get the same if not better results if you can skip the pain. And even if you don't feel it, it is still correct reps. In a preacher curl the fuck do you think is pulling the EZ bar up? Your triceps?

Sets

Again, there is absolutely no reason to do over 2 sets in a single exercise if frequency is 3x. That is just overkill, basically junk volume for almost no increase in muscle growth with huge increase in muscle damage. In a session, you should not hit a muscle group over 3 sets. Using a 3x frequency split, that should add up to 6-9 sets per muscle group per week which is again ideal for most people since that's usually their max recoverable volume.

View attachment 153179

Frequency

I said that 3x frequency is ideal and you might ask why I am so insistent on this. As we all know (I hope we all do), the stimulus phase for a muscle lasts for around 24-48 hours and then you get into the atrophy phase. So ideally you should hit a muscle every 48 hours to minimize atrophy.

If you do take my advice and actually use a 3x frequency program, you should use the tips I mentioned earlier. Studies show that 1 set 3 times a week gets better results than 3 sets once a week. (Of course no one is stupid enough to have 1x frequency but the point still stands)

View attachment 153177View attachment 153178

Minimizing CNS fatigue

You should usually keep 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR). Studies show there is no significant difference between reaching total mechanical failure and being 1 or 2 reps away from failure. And it shows that having 2 RIR minimizes muscle damage and taxes CNS the least.
(If you don't know how to count your RIR just reach failure)


NOW THE DIET SECTION:

It's gonna be quite short since I'll just clear up a misconception.

BULKING IS USELESS FOR MOST OF YOU.


View attachment 153172View attachment 153173

There is not significant difference in muscle gain between people at maintenance and people with a moderate and aggressive circle BUT there's a huge fat difference. Confirms what i always believed in, bulking is useless and ideally you should just stay at maintenance, and if you manage to git the usual 40-50g of fat, 1g of protein per lbs or bodyweight, and the rest is managing when to eat your carbs. YOU'RE SET!
Bookmarked
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top