Ep. #810: Should You Train For Hypertrophy or Hyperplasia?

2021-10-04

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This podcast is going to cover a technical aspect of muscle building. I’m discussing which is more important for getting bigger and stronger: hypertrophy or hyperplasia? What do those words even mean? Well, hypertrophy is when your muscle cells get bigger, and hyperplasia is when the number of muscle cells increases. Scientists aren’t sure whether hyperplasia even happens in humans, but “believers” contend that both hypertrophy and hyperplasia contribute to muscle growth. Thus, according to them, you should train to produce both of these p...

This podcast is going to cover a technical aspect of muscle building. I’m discussing which is more important for getting bigger and stronger: hypertrophy or hyperplasia?

What do those words even mean?

Well, hypertrophy is when your muscle cells get bigger, and hyperplasia is when the number of muscle cells increases.

Scientists aren’t sure whether hyperplasia even happens in humans, but “believers” contend that both hypertrophy and hyperplasia contribute to muscle growth. Thus, according to them, you should train to produce both of these phenomena to gain muscle as quickly as possible.

Focusing on hypertrophy or hyperplasia would change how you train, so this topic has practical applications I’m going to break down for you in this podcast.

Timestamps:

4:27 - What is hypertrophy?

4:46 - What are the components of muscle?

4:56 - What is myofibrilar hypertrophy?

5:16 - What is muscle hyperplasia?

5:37 - Does hyperplasia happen in humans?

7:16 - Does hyperplasia exist?

8:10 - How do you induce hyperplasia in animals?

9:26 - What does the science say about hyperplasia in humans?

16:56 - How do we cause hypertrophy?

18:28 - Why does training near failure produce hypertrophy?

19:06 - What about hyperplasia and training?