The good news is that damn near anything can work.
Train heavy, train light, and rotate through them.
In Conclusion
- There’s a volume component to hypertrophy. Mechanical work, as
determined by volume load (load * reps), is the trigger for growth.
Intensity is only a permissive factor; you need your weights to be
‘heavy enough’ but you also need to do enough reps with those weights. - The fatigue element is important, perhaps more than the actual
weight used (as long as the weight is above a minimum threshold). Using
various rep ranges is likely useful to avoid staleness, and can be
productive as long as effort is high and you train to a high percentage
of your maximum ability. If you’re using RPE scores, train to a point
where you only have 1-2 reps left, and occasionally go all-out for
maximum reps. - Higher reps make it easier to rack up volume. Lower reps are better
at building strength. Using a combination of low and high reps can
attack the problem from different directions, and rotating between the
two helps avoid staleness. - You don’t have to limit yourself to dynamic contractions. This
method of constant-tension, peak-contraction training appears to work
with isometrics and partial movements as well as anything.
