Q: I’ve read a lot of Mike Mentzer’s high-intensity info, and he said that the pump didn’t matter as far as muscle growth is concerned. He said a lot of the biggest powerlifters never get a pump yet carry a lot of mass. So shouldn’t heavy sets be the core of a mass-building routine?
A: Mentzer was partially right—but leaning more toward being mostly wrong. You don’t need a pump IF you’re only after primarily myofibrillar growth (strength). The myofibrils are the strands of actin and myosin inside the muscle fiber. Those grab onto each other to generate force. Training heavy increases their size and your strength—but science is finding that they are more about producing strength with less-than-stellar effects on muscle size…
The bigger side of the size coin is the sarcoplasm, the energy fluid that fills each muscle fiber. It contains the mitochondria, glycogen, ATP, and other substances related to muscle energetics (endurance) and fullness. Check out this SHOCKING quote from elite training researchers Vladimir Zatsiorsky, Ph.D., and William Kraemer, Ph.D., that clarifies the FORGOTTEN facts…
Mostly myofibrillar [force] hypertrophy is found in elite weightlifters, whereas sarcoplasmic [fluid] hypertrophy is typically seen in bodybuilders.
So training to increase the sarcoplasmic fluid appears to be the big key to ULTIMATE MUSCLE hypertrophy. In other words, training for longer tension times (such as X-centric sets) and/or with short rests between sets (like 4X) is the key to ultimate mass—and both of those produce big-muscle pumps.
In fact, most of Mike Mentzer’s competition programs when he was winning the Mr. Universe and gunning for the Mr. Olympia, generated primarily sarcoplasmic expansion. He was a big proponent of pre-exhaustion supersets—for example, lateral raises followed immediately by overhead presses for shoulders…
Mentzer was naturally strong, no doubt with an abundance of myofibrils to begin with. In fact, he squatted 600 pounds at age 15! So we’d have to say that his contest-style training did affect his myofibrillar size to a degree, but it mostly targeted sarcoplasmic expansion. That’s why, despite what he said, Mentzer attained extreme pumps during his workouts…
So how do we explain the massive powerlifters? The top heavyweight lifters were big dudes to begin with—and they no doubt had an abundance of force producing myofibrils to work with. They added size due to mostly myofibrillar growth. But as we said, that’s not the dominant size factor in most trainees. That’s why powerlifters don’t have the ultimate mass development of bodybuilders—most don’t get a lot of sarcoplasmic expansion, but that’s also not their goal…
On the flip side, the strongest smaller powerlifters, are, well, small. Joe Luther would bench press more than 400 pounds at a bodyweight of 165—no extreme muscular development anywhere on his physique. Even women weighing 130 pounds have benched close to 300, no bodybuilder-style muscle in sight.
All of the above is why we recommend training for BOTH sarcoplasmic expansion as well as myofibrillar growth. Good examples of programs that do that are The 4X Mass Workout , an excellent balance of power (myofibrillar) and density (sarcoplasmic) training, and the Heavy/Light Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout, as well as most of our latest programs over the past few years.
Even our original X-Rep transformation program, outlined in our first e-book, The Ultimate Mass Workout, blasts both the myofibrils and the sarcoplasm—heavy sets plus X Reps and drop sets—for a double dose of muscle growth. When we went to that dual-style of training after using primarily myofibrillar-emphasizing workouts, we transformed our physiques in FIVE WEEKS. (Yes, a tan and good lighting helped our look in the after photos, but there’s no doubt that our size and muscularity quickly ramped up to a new level, as you can see—training for both power and endurance is the key)…
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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