- enhance your lean muscle
- grow your muscle size
- gain more strength and power
A combination of enhancing your lean muscle, growing your muscle size, and gaining strength and power will help you be at your best. The goal of this lessons is to teach you the foundation of how to build your muscle endurance, improve your muscles performance, and strengthen your body.
How does knowing your one-rep max relate to building lean muscle, muscle growth, and strength?
A person can build lean muscle, grow their muscle muscles, and strengthen them at the same time or solely focus on one at a time. Knowing your one-rep max in each exercise will allow you to take either of the four paths. Most will have a particular focus at any given time depending on where they are at in their fitness journey and what there is goal at that moment.
Useful words to know:
Sets: A grouping of repetitions of one exercise without rest.
Repetitions (reps): Repeated movements of one exercise completed in sets of groups.
Enhancing your muscle endurance to build lean muscle
Endurance strength training enhances your lean muscle mass
Endurance strength training enhances your lean muscle mass through aerobic and anaerobic strength training.
Aerobic strength training is doing an exercise that takes over two minutes to complete per set. The goal is to activate your Type I muscle fibers in the muscle cell to improve their strength and function while reduce fatigue. It focuses on muscle development by improving functioning and fatigue by lifting anywhere between 30-50% of your one-rep max 20-40 reps per set.
Anaerobic strength training is doing an exercise that take less than two minutes to complete per set. The goal is to activate your Type IIa and TypeIIb muscle fibers to improve their strength and speed. It focuses on the muscle development through strength and speed by lifting anywhere between 50-67% of your one-rep max 12-20 reps per set.
Template for building lean muscle to enhance your muscle endurance
- 3 per day week
- 4 exercises per day
- 3 sets per exercise
- 12 reps around 67% of your one-rep max – 20 reps around 50% of your one-rep max
If you are more advanced in your fitness journey trying to build anaerobic strength training for muscle endurance, I would recommend on average
- 4 per day week
- 6 exercises per day
- 2 sets per exercise
- 12 reps around 67% of your one-rep max – 20 reps around 50% of your one-rep max
If you are a beginner trying to build aerobic training strength for muscle endurance, I would recommend going on average
- 3 per day week
- 4 exercises per day
- 2 sets per exercise
- 20 reps around 50% of your one-rep max weight – 40 reps around 40% of your one-rep max
If you are more advanced in your fitness journey trying to build aerobic training strength for muscle endurance, I would recommend on average
- 4 per day week
- 6 exercises per day
- 3 sets per exercise
- 20 reps around 50% of your one-rep max – 40 reps around 40% of your one-rep max
Note: You’ll want to rest 8-30 seconds after each set to keep up your heart rate to build endurance.
Building your muscle mass and gaining strength and power
Summary of building muscle growth for size, strength and power
Each of your muscles grow over time through repeatedly increasing myosin and actin in the muscle cells as well as the building of sacroplasm around the muscle.
Sarcoplasimic hypertrophy can be built by lifting a weight anywhere between 67%-75% of your one-rep max and doing the exercise 8-15 reps per set. The purpose sacroplasmic hypertrophy is to increase the your muscle fibers’ energy storage and and muscle endurance.
Myofibrillar hypertrophy can be built by lifting a weight anywhere between 75-85% of your one-rep max and doing the exercise 6-8 reps per set. The purpose of myofibrillar hypertrophy is to increase your muscle fibers’ strength and explosive speed.
Lifting a weight more than 85%-100% of your one-rep max 1-5 reps per set focus will be on gaining strength and power, but myofibrillar increase in the muscle fibers is a results of it as well.
Template for building hypertrophy to increase your muscle mass
- Three per day week
- Four exercises per day
- Three sets per exercise
- 15 reps around 67% of your one-rep max – Eight reps around 75% of your one-rep max
If you are more advanced in your fitness journey and trying to build sarcoplasmic hypertrophy for muscle mass, I would recommend going on average
- Three per day week
- Four exercises per day
- Six sets per exercise
- 15 reps around 67% of your one-rep max – Eight reps around 75% of your one-rep max
If you are a beginner trying to build myofibrillar hypertrophy for muscle mass, I would recommend going on average
- Three per day week
- Four exercises per day
- Three sets per exercise
- Eight reps around 75% of your one-rep max weight – six reps around 85% of your one-rep max
If you are more advanced in your fitness journey trying to build myofibrillar hypertrophy for muscle mass, I would recommend going on average
- Four per day week
- Six exercises per day
- Six sets per exercise
- Eight reps around 75% of your one-rep max – Six reps around 85% of your one-rep max
Template for gaining strength and power
- Three per day week
- Four exercises per day
- Three sets per exercise
- Six reps around 85-90% of your one-rep max or fewer
If you are more advanced trying to gain strength, I would recommend going on average
- Four per day week
- Six exercises per day
- Six sets per exercise
- Six reps around 85-90% of your one-rep max or fewer
If you are a beginner trying to gain power, I would recommend going on average
- Three per day week
- Four exercises per day
- Three sets per exercise
- One – two reps around 90-95% of your one-rep max or fewer
If you are more advanced trying to gain power, I would recommend going on average
- Four per day week
- Six exercises per day
- Five sets per exercise
- One – two reps around 90-95% of your one-rep max or fewer
Note: I highly insist you have a spotter with you while doing exercises to gain strength and power.