Build Muscle Faster: This NEW Study is Exciting

Summary

The video explores the concept of 'lengthened supersets' for muscle building, where after reaching failure at a shorter muscle length, partial reps are performed at a lengthened position. A study with 23 untrained men found that this technique increased calf muscle growth by 43.3% more than traditional training. While the results are promising, they should be cautiously applied to other exercises and trained individuals. The video also discusses the potential benefits of training at longer muscle lengths and suggests experimenting with lengthened supersets or partial reps for enhanced muscle growth.

Takeaways

• 💪 Lengthened supersets involve performing partial repetitions at a lengthened muscle position after reaching failure at a shorter muscle length during exercises.
• 📈 A new study found that lengthened supersets can lead to greater muscle growth compared to traditional training methods, particularly for calf raises.
• 👨‍🔬 The study involved 23 untrained men who trained calf raises on a Smith machine and were measured for muscle growth in the medial gastrocnemius.
• 📊 The lengthened supersets resulted in a 0.62 mm increase in muscle thickness, which was a 43.3% greater growth compared to the normal training group.
• 🤔 While the results are promising, the study's limitations include the fact that it only involved untrained individuals and focused on calf raises, so the applicability to trained individuals and other exercises is uncertain.
• 🏋️‍♂️ The study suggests that training to failure and beyond with lengthened supersets can be effective for muscle growth, but it's not conclusive that this is the best method in all scenarios.
• 📚 Other research supports the idea that training muscles at longer lengths can be beneficial for growth, as seen with certain exercises like leaning back leg extensions and cable lateral raises.
• 🧐 The study's findings should be considered as promising training tips rather than verified scientific facts, given the emerging body of literature on the subject.
• 🔍 The effectiveness of lengthened supersets may vary depending on the individual's recovery capabilities and training experience.
• 💡 Experimenting with lengthened supersets or partial repetitions at longer lengths could be a strategy for those looking to potentially enhance muscle growth.
• 📱 The Alpha Progression app is recommended for those seeking a personalized and evidence-based muscle-building program, which can be customized to individual needs and preferences.

Q & A

What is a lengthened superset in the context of muscle training?

A lengthened superset is a training technique where, after reaching or nearing failure on exercises that are most challenging at shorter muscle lengths, the individual immediately performs as many partial repetitions as possible at a lengthened position, where the muscles are at relatively longer lengths.

What was the main focus of the new study mentioned in the script?

The new study focused on exploring the effects of lengthened supersets on muscle growth, specifically on the calf muscles, and was the first to investigate this particular training technique.

How were the subjects trained in the study?

The subjects were trained using calf raises on a Smith machine, with one foot on a step, moving from the most dorsiflexed position to the most plantarflexed position, training to momentary failure with their normal full range of motion.

What does momentary failure mean in the context of the study?

Momentary failure is defined as the point where, despite maximal effort, the individual cannot perform the full range of motion of an exercise.

What were the results of the study regarding muscle growth?

The study found that lengthened supersets resulted in more muscle growth compared to normal training, with an increase of 0.62 mm in raw units and 43.3% greater growth in relative terms.

Why might an extra 0.62 mm increase in muscle thickness be significant?

While 0.62 mm may not seem like much, considering that both groups saw an average increase of under 2 mm in thickness and that muscle growth is typically a slow process, an extra 0.62 mm increase within a few months can be meaningful.

What are some limitations of the study mentioned in the script?

The limitations include the fact that the study was conducted on previously untrained individuals, only calf raises were trained, the volume load was greater with lengthened supersets, and the results may not be applicable to other exercises or trained individuals.

What is the potential takeaway from the study according to the script?

The potential takeaway is that with specific exercises, like calf raises, which are most challenging at shorter muscle lengths, going beyond failure with a specific technique like lengthened supersets has the potential to cause greater muscle growth.

What does the script suggest about exercises that challenge muscles at longer lengths?

The script suggests that selecting exercises that already place and challenge muscles at longer lengths is a good idea, as evidence has shown that these can produce greater hypertrophy.

What is the Alpha Progression app mentioned in the script, and how can it help with muscle building?

The Alpha Progression app is described as a personal, intelligent muscle-building assistant that generates evidence-based, customizable training programs based on user input, including experience level, equipment, training frequency, duration, and muscle focus.

What advice does the script give regarding the application of lengthened supersets and other training strategies?

The script advises that while lengthened supersets and other training strategies show promise, they should be considered as part of an experimental approach to one's training regimen, and individuals should adjust based on their recovery capabilities and personal preferences.

Outlines

00:00

💪 Exploring Lengthened Supersets for Hypertrophy

This paragraph introduces the concept of lengthened supersets as a method to potentially increase muscle growth. It explains how muscles are trained at varying lengths and identifies exercises that are particularly challenging at shorter muscle lengths, such as calf raises and rows. The paragraph discusses a new study that investigates the impact of lengthened supersets on muscle growth, specifically in the gastrocnemius muscle, by having participants train to failure and then perform partial repetitions at a lengthened position. The study found that this technique resulted in a significant increase in muscle thickness compared to traditional training methods.

05:01

🔍 Analyzing the Impact of Lengthened Supersets on Muscle Growth

The second paragraph delves into the details of the study, which involved 23 untrained men performing calf raises on a Smith machine with varying foot positions to target different muscle lengths. The participants trained to momentary failure and then continued with partial repetitions at a lengthened muscle position. The study's findings suggest that lengthened supersets can lead to greater muscle growth, with a 43.3% increase in medial gastrocnemius thickness compared to regular training. However, the paragraph also cautions that these results may not be generalizable to trained individuals or other exercises, and that the increased volume load in the lengthened superset group could also be a contributing factor to the hypertrophic effect.

10:02

🤔 Considering the Broader Implications and Practical Applications

The final paragraph discusses the broader implications of the study's findings and their potential applications in muscle-building training. It suggests that selecting exercises that challenge muscles at longer lengths may be beneficial for growth and references previous studies that support this idea. The paragraph also explores the possibility of using lengthened supersets with other exercises that are typically most challenging at shorter muscle lengths. It mentions an alternative strategy of performing partial repetitions at long lengths, which another study found to be more effective for muscle growth. The paragraph concludes by acknowledging the emerging nature of this research area and encourages individuals to experiment with these training techniques while being mindful of their own recovery capabilities.

Keywords

💡Hypertrophy

Hypertrophy refers to the increase in muscle mass, which is the primary focus of the video. It is the process by which muscle cells grow in size, leading to an increase in overall muscle volume. The video discusses various training techniques to enhance hypertrophy, such as lengthened supersets and training at different muscle lengths.

💡Lengthened Superset

A lengthened superset is a training technique where, after reaching failure with a standard range of motion exercise that is challenging at shorter muscle lengths, the individual immediately performs partial repetitions at a lengthened position. The video uses the example of calf raises, where after failing at the plantar flex position, one would perform partial reps at a more dorsiflexed position to further stimulate muscle growth.

💡Momentary Failure

Momentary failure in the context of the video is defined as the point during an exercise where, despite maximum effort, one cannot complete the full range of motion. This concept is crucial as it determines when to transition from full range of motion to partial repetitions in lengthened supersets.

💡Muscle Length

Muscle length is a critical factor in the video's discussion of exercise effectiveness. It refers to the degree of muscle stretch or contraction. Exercises that are most challenging at shorter muscle lengths, such as calf raises, can benefit from lengthened supersets, where the muscle is then worked at a relatively longer length.

💡Partial Repetitions

Partial repetitions are a training method where an individual performs a portion of the full range of motion for an exercise. In the video, after reaching momentary failure with full range of motion, subjects perform partial reps at a lengthened muscle position to further engage the muscle and potentially enhance hypertrophy.

💡Calf Raises

Calf raises are an exercise used in the study discussed in the video, which targets the calf muscles. They are highlighted as an example of an exercise that is most challenging at a shorter muscle length, and thus, can benefit from lengthened supersets to target the muscle at a longer length.

💡Gastrocnemius

The gastrocnemius, specifically the medial head, is the muscle in the calf that was measured for growth in the study. The video mentions that the lengthened superset group experienced a greater increase in medial gastrocnemius thickness, indicating the effectiveness of the training method on this muscle.

💡Volume Load

Volume load in the video refers to the total amount of work done during a training session, calculated by multiplying sets, reps, and load. The study found that the lengthened superset group had a higher volume load due to the additional partial repetitions, which may have contributed to the increased muscle growth.

💡Full Range of Motion (ROM)

Full range of motion is the complete movement that a muscle or group of muscles can perform during an exercise. The video contrasts this with partial repetitions, particularly at lengthened muscle positions, to explore the impact on hypertrophy.

💡Progressive Overload

Progressive overload is a training principle mentioned in the video, which involves gradually increasing the stress placed upon the muscles during exercise to promote growth. The app discussed at the end of the video uses this principle to generate customized workout programs.

💡Alpha Progression App

The Alpha Progression App is a tool mentioned in the video designed to assist individuals in creating personalized muscle-building programs. It uses principles of progressive overload and is based on evidence-based practices to help users achieve their fitness goals.

Highlights

A new study explores the concept of 'lengthened supersets' for the first time, examining their impact on muscle growth.

Lengthened supersets involve performing partial repetitions at a muscle's longer length after reaching failure at a shorter length.

The study found that lengthened supersets can lead to greater muscle growth compared to traditional training methods.

23 untrained men participated in the study, training calf raises on a Smith machine with a unique approach to failure.

Subjects trained to momentary failure and continued with partial repetitions to target different muscle lengths.

The lengthened superset group experienced a 43.3% greater increase in medial gastrocnemius muscle thickness.

An additional 0.62 mm increase in muscle thickness was observed in the lengthened superset group, which is significant given the average increase was under 2 mm.

The study's results should be interpreted with caution as they apply to untrained individuals and focused solely on calf raises.

Volume load was significantly higher in the lengthened superset group due to the additional partial repetitions.

The study does not necessarily imply that training to failure and beyond is universally better for muscle growth.

Previous research suggests that stopping short of failure can produce similar hypertrophy to training to failure.

The study adds to the evidence that training muscles at longer lengths can be beneficial for growth.

Other exercises that challenge muscles at longer lengths, such as lean back leg extensions, have shown increased hypertrophy.

Lengthened supersets may be effective for exercises typically challenging at shorter muscle lengths, like rows and pull-ups.

An alternative to lengthened supersets is performing partial repetitions at long muscle lengths, which has shown promising results in other studies.

Research on long muscle length training is still emerging and should be considered as promising rather than fully verified.

The Alpha Progression app is recommended for personalized muscle-building programs based on evidence and user needs.

Transcripts

welcome to the house of hypertrophy can

you build more muscle by implementing

lengthened supersets with some of your

exercises a new study is the first ever

to explore this firstly what even is a

lengthened superset during exercises

your muscles move from longer to

relatively shorter muscle lengths and

some exercises are most challenging at

relatively shorter muscle lengths calf

Rises tend to be hardest in the plantar

Flex position where you feel a squeeze

of the Cals actually shorter lengths

rows pull downs and pull-ups tend to be

hardest when your arms are more bent and

your hands are closer to your body which

is where the back and biceps are at

relatively shorter lengths dumbbell

lateral and bent over raises are hardest

when the arms are out to the sides where

the shoulder muscles are at relatively

shorter lengths and as a final example

Leos also tend to be challenging when

the knees are relatively more flexed and

the hamstrings are at a shorter position

if you train to failure on these

exercises you tend to fail around that

shorter muscle length position but at

this point you can still squeeze out

some more partial repetitions that have

the muscles at relatively longer lengths

this is what we'll call a lengthened

superset where after you get to or close

to failure with your normal range of

motion on exercises that are hardest at

shorter muscle lengths you then straight

away perform as many partial reps at the

lengthen position as you can now that we

know this let's dive into the new study

23 untrained men were recruited they

trained car phrases on a Smith machine

with a foot on a step subjects moved

from their most dorsy flexed position to

their most planta flexed position to

complete a normal full range of motion

repetition with one leg all subjects

train to momentary failure with their

normal full range of motion momentary

failure is defined as reaching the point

where despite your maximal attempt to do

so you you can't perform the full range

of motion as we know calf raises are

most challenging at the most plantar

Flex position so this leg would have

failed in this position where the calvs

are at a relatively shorter muscle

length with their other leg subjects

also train to momentary failure with a

normal range of motion but once they hit

this point they did not stop they

straight away performed as many partial

repetitions as they could with the aim

of failing in the more dorsy Flex

position where the calves are at a

relative longer muscle length the

researchers plans for all subjects to

get to the exact point where despite

100% maximal effort subjects could not

even raise themselves up from the most

dorsy Flex position however some

subjects were unable to do this so the

researchers had to settle with these

subjects reaching what we may call valal

failure around the more dorsy Flex

position I think this is not a bad thing

as it makes the study more ecologically

valid for anyone that's ever done

lengthen suets on car phrases you'll

know it can get pretty

excruciating here were the training

variables used for both conditions when

subjects were able to perform more than

20 full range of motion repetitions on

the first set in either condition the

barber load was increased before and

after the study medial gastr nmia growth

was measured the lengthen supersets

ended up growing the muscle more than

the normal training in raw units the

growth was 0.62 mm more while in

relative terms the growth was

43.3% greater some of you may be

thinking 0.62 mm more that doesn't sound

like much but bear in mind that both

groups saw under a 2 mm average increase

in thickness of the medial gastrocnemius

multiple studies looking at Cal growth

also tend to find between a 1 to 2 mm

increase in gastrous thickness after 6

to 10 weeks of training and this isn't

too surprising muscle growth can be a

slow process so we're not going to see

astonishing increases in sze in a few

months considering this an extra 0.62 mm

increase in this time frame which again

was 43.3% more growth for the subjects

is probably not meaningless but it may

depend on your point of view

fascinatingly the authors reported that

around half of the subjects in the study

felt this extra growth was worth a

discomfort of lengthen

supersets before describing how this

paper fits into the rest of the

literature and what the potential

takeaways could be in the spirit of

scientific accuracy we need to keep some

things in mind firstly the subjects were

previously untrained it's difficult to

certainly know if this applies to

trained individuals secondly just car

phrases were trained so it's also

difficult to certainly know if this

extends to other exercises thirdly

volume load the product of sets times

reps times load was much greater with

the lengthen super sets which is of

course due to them performing extra

partial reps volume load doesn't always

have a strong relationship to

hypertrophy but it is difficult to tease

apart the contribution of volume or

lengthen supersets to the results lastly

some of you may be tempted to conclude

this study proves that training to

failure and Beyond is better for

building muscle in all scenarios I don't

think this is the best conclusion we've

seen previously at the house of hyper

that stopping one to two reps from

failure can produce similar hypertrophy

to training to failure and there other

techniques that go beyond failure such

as drop sets tend to produce similar

hypertrophy to normal sets considering

this I would merely interpret this study

as telling us with a specific exercise

car phrases which are most challenging

at shorter muscle lengths going Beyond

failure with a specific technique length

and supersets has the potential to cause

greater growth

this is the first ever study to explore

lengthen supersets and its results were

promising in a unique way I say it adds

to the growing evidence we've previously

seen at the house of Hy pery

demonstrating that training muscles at

longer lengths is great for growth when

we consider this overall research I

think it first and foremost suggests

selecting exercises that already place

and Will challenge our muscles at longer

lengths is a good idea last video we saw

that leaning back leg extensions which

lengthen the rectora more than normal

leg extensions grew this muscle better

we've also previously seen that cated

leg Coes which lengthened the hamstrings

more than Lang leg Coes produced greater

hypertrophy triceps overhead extensions

which lengthens the long head more than

triceps pushdowns grew this muscle more

we've also speculated that cable lateral

raises and cable reverse flies due to

them challenging the muscles well at

long longer muscle lengths may be up

there as the best exercises for the side

and rear delts respectively but as we

might not enjoy or even have access to

exercises that adequately challenge all

of our muscles at relatively longer

lengths lengthened supersets May

effectively help us build more muscle

with exercises that are typically most

challenging at shorter muscle lengths

once again just car phrases were used in

the newest study so we need to be

cautious in extending the results to

other exercises but lowering our

scientific Shield we may hypothesize

lengthened supersets may be effective

with rows pull Downs pull-ups leg calls

dumbbell lateral raises dumbbell bent

over raises and any other exercises you

may have that are most challenging in

shorten muscle positions so feel free to

experiment with this strategy in your

own training if you

desire there is another potential option

on the table which is just a purely

performed partial repetitions at long

lengths instead of any full range em

motion reps how effective could purely

length and partial training be this

paper from 2022 recruited untrained

women to train a cough exercise one

group used a full range of motion a

second group used purely a partial at

long muscle lengths and the third group

used purely partials at Short muscle

lengths medial and lateral gastrous

growth was best with the partials at

long lengths in fact medial gastrous

growth was 126. n% greater for the

length and partials compared to the full

range of motion recall in the newest

study medial gas nous growth was 43.3%

greater with length and supersets

considering this just length and

partials maybe more effective than

length and supersets but as the two

studies had differences direct

comparisons between purely length and

partial training and lengthen superset

is needed in future studies when

considering other research specifically

on length and partials two other studies

on leg extensions and a hip extension

machine further finds a partial range of

motion at long muscle lengths built more

muscle than a full range of motion but

we do need other data on other

demographics and exercises fortunately I

know there is at least one study coming

soon comparing full range of motion to

length and partials in trained

individuals we'll update you with a

results when it's published for now feel

free to try out the option you

prefer before wrapping up let us put our

scientific Shields back up and recognize

with the research on Long muscle length

training we are currently not talking

about hundreds of studies with multiple

replications across all training levels

rather we're talking about an emerging

and developing body of literature that

has been conducted on previously

untrained individuals with upcoming

research in trained individuals so don't

consider these things as 100% verified

by science for being Superior all the

time rather consider them as being

promising training tips that you may

wish to experiment with in your own

training if you have any hesitancy you

could explore them on just some of your

sets for example if you're performing

three sets on a row in a session the

first two sets may be with a normal full

range of motion while the final set may

involve a lengthened super set or just

purely lengthened partial

reps integrated partials is yet another

option this involves you alternating

back and forth between between a normal

full range emotional rep and a partial

rep at long muscle lengths finally if

you don't want to experiment with any of

these training strategies that's

absolutely okay you still grow with

exercises that challenge short muscle

lengths also methods that have staining

at longer muscle lengths can be more

fatiguing and depending on your

individual circumstances some people may

struggle to recover from training at

longer muscle lengths yet the subjects

in the current literature evidently were

able to handle and Thrive from training

at longer muscle lengths and we've

discussed previously at the house of

hypertrophy how your body can adapt and

reduce the fatigue you experience so my

current belief is in many cases we

shouldn't worry about the fatigue from

training at longer muscle links anyhow

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