After my last powerlifting session, I did some thinking, an activity that generally signals a change in direction. While I have made some nice improvements in technique for the three powerlifts, my strength increases are nonexistent. Let’s break it down:
- Strength is a combination of motor skills, neurological adaptations and hypertrophy.
At a FFMI of 21.7, I am about 87% away from my theoretical genetic maximum for muscle building capacity. That’s assuming one can actually get to a theoretical maximum, which is highly unlikely. But I may be able to get to 90%, or perhaps 92%. In other words, I need some hypertrophy to add to the equation. Motor skills and neuro adaptations I have, and will continue to get with continued practice, however hypertrophy’s main driver is VOLUME. Total work performed, with progressive overload, is the cornerstone of muscle building. Here’s the dilemma:
- I can’t get enough volume in to grow substantially because I’m training at high intensities.
The intermediate program I was working did add some assistance work and supplemental lifts to get extra volume in, but I want to optimize my training around hypertrophy to see if I can grow some muscle to help generate additional force production. Continuing to train for powerlifting as I am now will probably give me some hypertrophy, but it will be slow going while I grind away at 1-lb increases in the main lifts. I’m not competitive at current strength levels, so I’ve decided I need to focus more specifically on the third component of the strength equation.
I will try to put some serious time at this; perhaps 6 months to a year of steady, hypertrophy specific programming, and see where I stand. If I’ve been able to muscle up some, I can shift to a powerlifting focus again. Hopefully the additional muscle mass will lead to additional strength gains in the powerlifts after a short time refocusing on them. It’s also possible that I do everything correctly with my training, progression, and diet and still not add much muscle. I am after all, approaching 54 years of age and already at an above average/borderline excellent FFMI. I will blow up that bridge when I get to it. In the meantime, I picked up a nice hypertrophy program in Eric Helm’s Muscle & Strength training pyramid and am in my second week of it now. Finding the starting weights is always tricky, but I’m getting it lined up so I can move through his recommended progression scheme. I’m enjoying myself, which is the most important part. If I can’t have a little fun doing this I may as well give up and stick to Candy Crush.
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