Hypertrophy Mesocycle Progression

[samamph]

Dr. Mike Israetel posted an interesting graphic on Instagram yesterday.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

For those of you that don't IG, here's the graphic and the associated text:

Graphic:

https://imgur.com/8N07Uca

In order to best progress, we increase the stimulus each microcycle in the accumulation phase of a hypertrophy mesocycle (light blue). But, as we increase the stimulus by doing more volume and/or intensity, each workout generates more and more fatigue (light red).

In addition, fatigue from the last microcycle hasn’t completely receded by the time a new microcycle begins, so accumulated fatigue (dark red) adds to the acute fatigue of each microcycle to give us a rapidly rising total fatigue. While stimulus (light blue) outpaces fatigue (red), net muscle growth (light green) occurs and all is well. But when fatigue gets higher than stimulus (microcycle 5), net muscle growth may not occur, and even net acute muscle loss is possible (dark green). But with a deload, there is a delayed growth effect and muscle growth actually occurs as recovery/adaptive systems are no longer burdened with acute recovery demands.

Your ability to perform at your best (preparedness; grey) increases in the first several microcyles as your adaptations outpace your fatigue and as you become more technically proficient with your chosen exercises. But as fatigue climbs (and it climbs faster than stimulus if you’re training hard), your preparedness begins to top out and then actually falls off (microcycle 5). This falloff of preparedness prevents you from providing the best overload going forward, as the volume you’re attempting is in excess of your ability to recover performance, and is thus beyond your MRV.

The deload reduces your fatigue greatly, but this takes a week or so, thus DURING your deload, your ability to perform at a high level (preparedness) is at its lowest. Once you’ve deloaded, your fatigue has receded to nearly baseline levels, and you are once again able to grow muscle. Note that SOME accumulated fatigue hangs around even after a deload (dark red in microcycle 1 of the second meso), which is why after a long training block (several mesocycles) or a macrocycle (several training blocks), a low volume or active rest phase may be needed to bring fatigue back down completely so that a new block or macrocycle of fresh training can begin again.

Curious of peoples' opinions on this, and how it fits with the other authorities' thoughts on training?

 

[david762]

@samamph Is there any authorities that actually claim that deload are unnecessary? From what I get from this graphic, fatigue (both acute and cumulative) will eventually surpass preparedness, resulting in the need for a deload.

I like this graphic. It's a fairly understood concept that allows us to visualize.

 

[martod]

@david762 https://medium.com/@SandCResearch/do-you-really-need-a-deload-64e7b4a4eb4f

Check out this article, which gets more into deload science from another perspective. Mostly argues that you should deload when you feel your performance dropping, not on a schedule.

 

[annazx]

@martod Personally, I see warrants in both scheduled and auto regulatory deloads. If performance drops during a mesocycle (say week 4 of 5), it would be pretty bad to try and push another week of overloading training just because the spreadsheet says you have another week. If I'm running a progression scheme in a Meso (which is 100% of the time), my "scheduled" is my guess of where I can push to until performance would drop. Say I accumulate for 5 weeks with a scheduled week 6 deload...it's scheduled because I know FOR SURE performance will be down if I try to push another week.

 

[stalin]

@annazx Do you think there’s reason to believe you could synthesize similar results in a 6 day a week upper/lower cycle? Where, instead of 4 workouts with 3 rest days, you split the volume into 3 smaller workouts every other day?

Like, for example, take any standard chest focused push series, and, let’s say, you plan on doing 12 sets a week—4 sets per workout.

The middle/second workout, however you deload—maybe you do a completely different push, one that requires less weight (and possibly less reps) and you apply this to every workout focus. Then you repeat this over the course of 4 weeks where you alternate the focus of each workout every other week.

For example (24 Upper/Lower workout days):

1) workout upper A
2) workout lower A
3) Workout upper B (deload)
4)workout lower B (deaload)
5) UA
6)LA

1 DAY BREAK

7)UB
8)LB
9)UA(deload)
10)LA(deload)
11)UB
12)LB

And so forth...

Where every week has a deload day, instead of a whole deaload week (let’s say on week 5).

I like to lift 6 days a week and spend less time in the gym everyday. The habit formation the cycle entails is a positive, but I worry about the possibility of burnout.

 

[bankersdate]

@david762 IIRC Menno Henselmans has said that deloads should be muscle specific and that if systematic fatigue exists then it is only acute not accumulative.

 

[dawn16]

@bankersdate Menno is the only trainer who recommends this approach. Deloads have other benefits though such as psychological need for a break etc.

 

[bankersdate]

@dawn16 Yea for most people they're gonna need that mental break atleast.

 

[braveheart0547]

@david762 Only those on gear don't need deloads, infinite recovery.

 

[smile_today]

@braveheart0547 This sadly isn't true

 

[annazx]

@samamph If you don't deload, your body will deload for you.

 

[commando95]

@annazx I love this. Too true.

 

[zael]

@samamph I think most people would agree with this if you follow a training program that systematically increases volume week to week. What some experts might disagree with is how this increase in volume should occur, Menno Hensemanns comes to mind, I think he would argue it might be better to find someones ideal volume and only ramp up at a slower rate. Under this model, your stimulus, fatigue, and muscle growth parameters are more stable over time. However, because you still need to overload the muscle over time, a similar kind of pattern occurs, it would just happen over a longer timescale.

 

[mandygill123]

@samamph I think it makes intuitive sense. This is exactly how cyclists (and probably other endurance athletes) structure their training, expressed in a different way. In a training block on the bike you generally have a set number of high intensity/intervals sessions per week and a set number of miles/minutes of recovery (low-intensity) and moderate-intensity volume work, and over the course of a month-long training block you basically just increase total volume incrementally, then you take a week and get tons of rest and basically just do all low to moderate-intensity stuff (or take it off completely) and magic happens and you get stronger. You're basically in a state where you feel like you're overreaching more often than you're not, and when you get to the end of a training block, your peak wattage is probably down from where you started.

a low volume or active rest phase may be needed to bring fatigue back down completely so that a new block or macrocycle of fresh training can begin again.

I think this is one of the best tips points he makes. I learned this the hard way. At one point I had accumulated a level of fatigue in my legs I never knew was possible (think DOMS 24/7 that doesn't even diminish after 5 full days' rest and sticks around for weeks) because I was doing stupid stuff, and ended up with a small left hamstring tear. Well, after a while of trying to train around it, I realized that I needed to just step way back for an extended period of time and do low-intensity low-volume for at least a couple weeks to heal up. Then I started looking at my bodybuilding exercises and realized, damn, I should apply the same principles. I had this nagging shoulder injury for a long time, so I just deloaded my shoulder-related movements for like a full two weeks and did machine work only. The injury resolved itself and I got way stronger despite doing what felt like nothing for an extended period of time.

 

[cherish616]

@mandygill123 i never thought about it but this is how some Running programs are like too. turn down mileage at the end before a race

 

[dawn16]

@cherish616 It's pretty much how all athletes train maybe apart from tennis.

 

[mandygill123]

@cherish616 Same for powerlifting, too.

 

[samamph]

But with a deload, there is a delayed growth effect and muscle growth actually occurs as recovery/adaptive systems are no longer burdened with acute recovery demands.

Here's the part of RP's approach (I've heard it from several of the RP folks on their podcasts) that I don't understand. How can there be a "delayed growth effect and muscle growth" during a deload? You're not pushing enough weight and/or reps to stimulate anything.

If Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS) lasts for 48 hours after the stimulus is applied, then how does any muscle growth happen during a deload? I've also heard the RP folks say "eat at maintenance during deload for recovery." But that doesn't really make sense to me, because there's no MPS going on, and fatigue is dissipating because you're not actively accumulating any more.

I like their science-based approach, but these above points are things I have issue with/just don't understand.

 

[mmderivative]

@samamph MPS lasting 48 hours isn't the entire story and isn't necessarily true, you can build momentum over the course of a mesocycle and overreach at the end and protein synthesis can be occurring for quite a bit after that. "MPS lasts 24-48 hours" is a huge oversimplification of how the muscle building process actually occurs, there are tons of variables and mechanisms that play a role.

 

[cherish616]

@samamph I need to review this in depth but my brain wonders: Is this why some of us that love bodybuilding but are not competitors who follow programs good, but not great often have falling acute fatigue and thusly we resemble early mesocycles without ever reaching the later stages... still get gains