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How to Finally Get Jacked in 2024

That is the million dollar question, is it not? Whether you are a complete gym beginner or a fitness savant, almost every person enters the house of iron looking to put slabs of muscle on their body. The great news is that the answer to this question is really quite simple. However, the average gym-goer’s idea of how to grow is continually misconstrued by quacks and gurus claiming to have the “fastest way to grow 15 pounds of muscle in 5 weeks”. Yeah, sure. If it were that easy, Bob from HR would be stepping on the Mr. Olympia platform and taking gold. Unfortunately the state of the fitness industry, especially with the rise of social media influencers, is one of complete bullshit and (even though I despise this word) misinformation. Instagram is now flooded with 16 year old fitness influencers in their first year of lifting claiming that one set to failure is all you need to grow 5 inches on your biceps. Take one scroll down and you will see a famous bikini competitor showing her 35 set workout for glute gains. Do me a favor and delete that app, and while you’re at it, throw the whole phone away. 

 

The fitness industry, like many others, goes through cycles and trends. As bodybuilding first became popular with the rise of figures such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, and Bill Pearl, we saw high volume training enter the weight room. These legendary characters were doing upward of 20 sets per muscle group in one session! Bill Pearl’s workouts were known to have taken over two hours to complete at their longest. As the 80’s rolled around, Mike Mentzer and High Intensity Training (HIT) began to take hold. These workouts would have the practitioner complete 1-2 sets to beyond excruciating failure, often with intensity techniques such as forced reps and rest-pause sets. At the turn of the century, as the world was worrying about the computers shutting down and nuclear armageddon unleashing, Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates were using what would be known as modern day “powerbuilding” techniques. Heavy weights and low reps. These Herculean men, despite all using varying techniques, all had two common characteristics. 

 

Training Hard

 

Hopefully after reading that subtitle I did not lose you. This was the most common attribute these giants had in common. Their training was hard as F*&K. As we enter the world of science-based lifting, the research is beginning to support this claim. In a 2023 meta-analysis of over 50 studies, researchers compared multiple studies measuring the benefits of training with few reps in reserve (RIR) on hypertrophy and strength. According to the researchers “the findings suggest a meaningful relationship between proximity to failure and changes in muscle size whereby muscle hypertrophy tends to increase as sets are performed closer to failure” (Robinson, et. al., 202). This seems to align directly with a new emerging theory known as the Stimulating Reps Model. To save you the scientific jargon, this theory states that muscle growth is stimulated by proximity to failure, with the last 5 reps or so being the most stimulating. This is due to the increased mechanical tension and motor unit recruitment seen at lower RIR. As we get closer to failure an involuntary slowing of the muscle is witnessed and the muscle experiences the maximum amount of tension possible, which seems to drive a larger hypertrophy stimulus.

The muscle-bound mammoths were utilizing this in some form whether they knew it or not. Even the high volume crowd was training harder than your average weekend warrior. The difference is that high-volume training requires more sets due to training being higher in RIR. This allows those stimulating reps to be accumulated over the training session. At the end of the day, the science points to hard training behind the answer. If you want to grow, you must be approaching failure. However, this must be done intelligently, as failure induces a large amount of neuromuscular fatigue. This is where having a well constructed program with deload periods and periodized progressive overload comes into play. You can find those on my website or by working with me personally. 

Eating Big

 

Do you really believe that an iron clad behemoth such as Dorian Yates only ate 2000 calories a day? In order to fuel muscular growth, we must create an environment conducive to growth. Hypertrophy is an anabolic process, meaning our body is actively constructing either a larger sarcoplasm or more myofibrils (a conversation for another day). This process requires an abundance of nutrients. Think about it this way: if we are building a house, we need an abundance of materials. If we do not have enough 2×4’s to finish the framing, or enough concrete to fill in the foundation, the house will not be completed! Your muscles are the house, and the food you eat is the materials. 

Nutrition is a very nuanced field and is arguably filled with more shit than the science of athletic performance. However, it is a fact that to build big muscles, you must eat big food. The first metric that must be looked at is your protein intake. For starters, eat 1.8-2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of goal lean body weight. We may then begin to build the carbohydrate and fat intake around this number. Fill these numbers however you want, as long as you are taking in a calorie surplus. I recommend finding your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) online and eating 500 calories above the maintenance calories it gives you. This will allow for about a pound of mass gain per week if you do it correctly. 

Execution

 

You may now spread the word of gargantuan muscle growth, my padawan. In theory, this template I have laid out for you is very simple, yet many people still seem to mess it up. The reality is that you must take a very vigilant and calculated approach to muscle growth. If you hit the ground running at full speed and never intelligently plan your workouts and eating, you will eventually hit a wall. This is where someone like me comes in. Using these tools, I am able to construct a program for you that takes factors such as fatigue, stress, volume, load management, etc. into account. Don’t be like me and spend the first few years of your fitness journey spinning your wheels in the mud wondering why you aren’t seeing the progress you hoped for. Instead, see the rest of the Sasso Performance website and explore our many different training options. I will see you all in the house of iron. 

 

Endure. 

 

Sources: 

Robinson ZP, Pelland JC, Remmert JF, Refalo MC, Jukic I, Steele J, and Zourdos MC, (2023). Exploring the Dose-Response Relationship Between Estimated Resistance Training Proximity to Failure, Strength Gain, and Muscle Hypertrophy: A Series of Meta-Regressions.

 

Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M., and William J. Kraemer. Science and Practice of Strength Training. Human Kinetics, 2006.