Olympic Hypertrophy Training

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Power or muscle? Functionality or muscle? Speed or muscle? Strength or muscle?

Do I really have to choose?

It seems like all trainers seem to separate these goals. Many bodybuilders have shared the ageless thought that you can be big or functional, but not both. Through experimentation and some research, I have developed a system that utilizes full body training and Olympic movements all in one tough, quick, and effective workout!

Olympic Hypertrophy Training™ has enabled me to gain much more lean mass than I ever have in the past. As stated before in my Clean Cardio article, full body training can lead to increased insulin sensitivity, increased fat-burning post-exercise, and can help you train any given muscle more frequently. Add in the benefits of Olympic lifting (functionality, GH release, increase in VO2 max for heart and lung health), and you’ve got yourself a winner!

This training is essentially a full body workout like HST and Gironda’s old stuff, with power movements inserted after the final set of a given exercise. The good thing is, weights don’t matter in this workout, just go by feel.

Let’s get into the exercise selection. I never do the same exercise two workouts straight, preferring to “mix it up”. Is this to confuse the muscle?” The answer: I don’t know. It does, however, make life more interesting and keeps me going back for more punishment!

Here are some options for each bodypart:

Legs/Quads: Squats, Front Squats, Lunges, Deadlifts
Hams: Stiff Leg Deadlifts, Good Mornings, 1 legged Hyperextension, Weighted Hyperextension
Chest: Flat Dumbbell Bench, Incline Dumbbell Bench, Flat Barbell Bench, Incline Barbell Bench, Flat Flys, incline Flys
Back: Reverse Grip Rows, Rows, Dumbbell Rows, 1 Arm Rows
Biceps: Any form of curl
Triceps: SkullCrushers, Kickbacks
Calves: Seated, Standing, or Donkey
Abs: Any ab movement
Olympic Lift: Cleans, 1 arm dumbbell snatches

Rep ranges

I usually opt to pyramid. For example, 1 set of 15, 1 set of 10-12, and 1 set of 6-8. If you are trying to increase strength, opt for a consistent rep range and increase weight as necessary. If interested solely in the cosmetic factor, just pick a weight and go based on feel, stopping just shy of failure. I did this with 5 reps before and my strength increased on every lift. Over time, this led to some joint pain. For this reason, I don’t even care about how much weight I use and the results are still awesome!