UGH! I wish I had a more weight to move!
Setting new PRs is one of the most rewarding aspects of the hard work we all put in day in and day out. Without access to your local affiliate or a heavy barbell, it may feel like you are starting to lose those hard-earned gains. You maybe look at your 20 Lb dumbbells and think, What is the point? Or how are they going to make me stronger? If this resonates with you, we have some good news!
You may have noticed you we are programming many high rep movements. You may have also noticed the programming is pushing you to near failure and we hope you have noticed the increase in the number of reps you can pump out before you have to break. This is the magic of a higher rep, lower weight style of training called hypertrophy training. Hypertrophy is the growth of existing muscle fibres and the addition of new muscle fibres. Hypertrophy training is useful for a number of reasons and if performed properly, we increase the size of our muscle cells and the number of fibres within the muscle. Some benefits of hypertrophy training include increased muscle, injury resilience, and greater strength.
To put it simply, hypertrophy training has the ability to increase muscle fibre growth, muscle size, and overall capacity for strength and power output. By adding muscle to your frame, you also increase your ability to resist injury. Injuries will likely happen at the weakest links in your body. The addition of muscle over your entire body adds stability to your joints and increases your body’s overall resilience.
This very same foundation that decreases the risk of injury also increases the potential for strength gains. When we lay the foundation, we unlock the ability to add strength to our lifts by increasing the contractile fibres present in our muscles. By increasing the number of contractile muscle fibres, we increase our ability to apply force which translates to bigger lifts!
Hypertrophy training can lay a muscular foundation for maximal lifts while also training strength endurance, an integral component for CrossFit. By training higher reps, pushing through that sweet burn, and regulating resting periods, we are priming our muscles and potentiating improvements in strength endurance.
If you want to learn more or speak to one of our coaches about our Black Tusk @ Home program, we'd love to hear from you!