#002 - Strength, hypertrophy, muscle endurance–oh my! also, a menswear ad spawns a trip to Rome

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Our goal is for you to feel more confident and consistent in your workouts and access unlimited workout destinations with our portable equipment.

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This post is best viewed on the website or Substack app!

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Goal Based Strength Training – Choose your own adventure!

Strength vs. Hypertrophy vs. Muscle Endurance

Even within strength training there are different ways you can train depending on your goals.

If you’re trying to improve your 1 rep max, i.e. - the most weight you can lift a single time (think powerlifting), then you will train with strength as the primary goal. This means training in rep ranges of 1 to 5 per set.

If you’re trying to grow your muscles as big as you can (think bodybuilding) then you’ll focus on rep ranges that are between 6 and 15 or so.

And if you’re trying to increase your muscular endurance (think crossfit, rowing, mid distance running, etc.) then your rep ranges will be somewhere between 15 and 30.

These aren’t steadfast rep ranges and a bit of each category trickles over into the next. For the general population, hypertrophy rep ranges give you the most bang for your buck. You get healthy proportions of strength, hypertrophy, and muscle endurance while also being able to focus on range of motion, balance, healthy movement patterns, and all the benefits of strength training discussed in our last substack, #001 (preview below).

Let’s dive a little deeper into each category:

Strength - As stated above, the focus of strength work is lifting as much as possible a few times. This means that training focuses on motor unit recruitment, passive tissue development, movement efficiency, and lots and lots of practice doing the same few lifts over and over. Lifting heavy puts a lot of demand on the body and this type of training can be pretty demanding on the central nervous system, but tends to create less peripheral fatigue than the types of strength training discussed below. If CNS fatigue is properly managed, then this style of training can be done pretty frequently. 

Hypertrophy - Hypertrophy training focuses on muscle fiber development. This is done with a nice balance of mechanical tension and cellular stress - two concepts that we’ll explore further, later on. For now, it suffices to say it’s a little bit lifting heavy and a little bit feeling the burn. Reps are typically taken to near failure, maybe leaving 1 or 2 reps in the tank for each set. This type of training produces less CNS fatigue, but can produce a substantial amount of peripheral fatigue. For this reason and to allow the process of muscle protein synthesis (i.e. - muscle growth) to fully complete, you should give muscle groups 48 to 72 hours rest between training sessions. So if you did a full lower body workout on Monday, wait until Wednesday or Thursday to get another lower body session in. 

Muscle Endurance - Work capacity and sustained effort is the primary goal in this type of strength training. You’re lifting lighter weights, but going for higher reps to the point that the muscles are really burning. This is putting significant demand on your muscle cells and working on metabolic efficiency, i.e. - creating anaerobic energy and clearing metabolites (lactic acid). This type of training produces low CNS fatigue and also less peripheral fatigue. Recovery seems to be little faster than hypertrophy training most likely because there’s less muscle fiber damage and it’s likely that metabolic byproducts drive growth here. 

To Recap: Reps, Sets, Weight

Strength: 1 to 5 Reps, Many, Heavy - 85 to 95% 1 RM (Powerlifting, Olympic Lifting)

Hypertrophy: 6 to 15 Reps, 3-5, Mod to Heavy - 60 to 80% 1 RM (Bodybuilding)

Muscle Endurance: 15 to 30 Reps, Light, 50 to 70% 1 RM (Crossfit, Bodybuilding)

Progressive Overload

Regardless of your training goals, progressive overload should be used to get stronger or bigger or increase work capacity. Progressive overload is a pretty straightforward principle and we’ll talk about it more in depth later on, but simply put, you have to incrementally increase weight, or reps, or ROM, or reduce rest time to keep exercises challenging. Basically, you need to add something to make it harder once you adapt to the demand and this will keep you progressing. 

Takeaway:

The main takeaway here is to strength train in a way that is in alignment with your goals. If you’re a linebacker you probably want to train for strength, if you’re a mid distance runner you’ll probably want to train for muscular endurance. If your goal is general health and longevity, I’d say you’re best off with hypertrophy work, but you can throw in a little of the others from time to time, too. Pick a style that appeals to you and have a plan and you’ll get the most out of your strength training sessions.

A Visual Supplement

too long; didn't read? - watch this video.

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When in Rome, workout as the Romans do. 

Just outside the center of Rome is Stadio dei Marmi. A beautiful and well managed stadium with a track that can be used by the public year round. It is encircled by 60 four meter tall marble statues of athletes and is a magical place to get in a strength training session or track workout. The feeling is very Olympic and the spirit of athletics really resonates throughout the place. Truly inspiring. 

Originally designed by the fascists in the 1920’s, it was dedicated to sports programs that they thought were going to turn athletes into warriors. Fast forward 100 years and we still have a cool vibe for a workout, without the dumb fascism. It was used a little in the 1960 Olympic games and is still used for various competitions (and red carpet events?) from time to time. 

To get there is pretty easy by taxi as it’s about a 20 min drive from the center of Rome. There’s not a whole lot else out there, so make sure to take some snacks and plenty of fluids. I taught a few virtual sessions there and my clients loved it. Definitely an inspiring background for a workout or content. I actually discovered it in an advertising campaign by Giuliva Heritage - see pics below. One thing to note: during the summer there are sports camps during the day. In this case you can still use the track in the evenings, but it’s closed to the public during the day. 

We always try to find fun places for a workout wherever we go, and this one is a highlight. 10/10!

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If you were around in the 90’s you probably knew of the workout video Ab’s of Steel (yes, they put an apostrophe in abs - don’t ask me why). An offshoot of the popular Buns of Steel franchise, this one focused on core work. My mom owned a copy on VHS and eventually it made it into my workout routine. I remember it kicking my butt (or abs as it were) and my stomach being so sore that it hurt to laugh. I kept with it though and eventually I was able to complete 2 out of the 3 workouts it offered. I don’t think I ever made it all the way through the 3rd one - Tamilee Webb was a beast and I couldn’t compete. The video starts with a pretty great warm up session and then goes into 15 minutes of straight core work. Nasty. I don’t remember doing the warm up, which is very 80’s aerobics inspired, but the main ab workouts were a staple for me for at least a year or two. 

I do have to hand it to Tamilee, she has some pretty good advice at the beginning of the video. She mentions how to breathe, which I’m a huge fan of - I’m always cueing clients to breathe, and also talks about keeping the lower back pressed into the ground as you go through the workout. She ends by saying that “if it hurts, don’t do it.” All of this is sage advice and I say these things often. 

I put together a little 2 minute highlight reel from the VHS video courtesy of the Internet Archive. So, go grab yourself a fat free Yoplait yogurt and some SnackWell’s cookies (jkjkjk), and enjoy the show!

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bad bad digital nomad

Dustin and I don’t identify as digital nomads, per se, but we do follow the conversations. It can be a really polarizing topic - ESPECIALLY if you dare to tiptoe into a reddit tornado thread on the subject. I’m just going to say this - at the bare minimum of self, we are all just trying to improve or maintain our quality of life with the resources we have.

We recently listened to this episode of Unpacked by AFAR podcast and found that we agreed with a lot of the sentiments. Through this podcast, we learned a bit about Brent and Michael, who have been digital nomad-ing since long before the days of the internet being over saturated with the heated “debates” and nuance-less clickbait articles.

#i could (workout) here…

Not a morning goes by where I don’t drink my coffee while escaping through real estate listings. Recently, I fell in love with a chateau in Toulouse, France if not just for the exterior paint job.

more escapism please

mmmm… a quick childhood nostalgic digression via Ovaltine before what I was actually going to share…

Window Swap is one of the coolest little things on the internet (if you, like me, are always longing to drop into a somewhat distant, mundane existence elsewhere, as a treat). Window swap lets you look out of a variety of contributors’ windows, into their garden, onto their balcony, into their cat’s favorite window-based nook, out onto the hills of their village. Just hit refresh and you’ve traveled to another destination. POOF. When we travel, I'm always sniffing out the vibe that one might settle into after living somewhere a while - the very ordinary day-to-day from whence the novelty wears away. I think window swap gives me a bit of that. mini rant: I really do not like frenetic, over-planned travel/life and I’m so glad my husband is more-or-less the same. Reminds me of when my mom and I used to pass the time, hanging out, watching live webcam feeds from cameras set up in public spaces like Times Square or (broadly) Alaska. Good times. :-)

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