Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy • Hacker News Board

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#241

Post by eudamoniac » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 3:57 PM UTC

randysalami wrote: post #195

I just do light weight nowadays with my strength training. It’s easier mentally. Rather than push myself to go higher on bench, squat, and deadlift, I stick to 1 plate for bench and squat and 2 plates for deadlift. Every single time. Instead of increasing load, I increase rep amount and focus on my form. Honestly, I still find myself sore after most workouts and the simplicity is nice. I’m 25 for reference.

I don't intend to convince you, but for onlookers:

1. As a young male, 1 plate bench/squat and 2 plate deadlift is extremely weak. Please strive higher than this. Anyone can achieve this in 6 months of intelligent training max. Many men start this strong untrained. The majority of young men can squat 1 plate untrained.

1. Soreness is not an indication of anything other than that you did a lot of eccentric loading. It doesn't correlate to progress. It is also a sign that your programming is not intelligent; you generally should not be sore after the first few workouts ever again.

1. Yes it is easier mentally, in the sense that doing easy things is easy. This is not a benefit, because doing hard things results in mental strength as much as physical.

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#242

Post by bitexploder » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:01 PM UTC

gazpacho wrote: post #235

jeltz wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason for varying your workout I have heard is to avoid injury, not to be stronger. Of course it may turn out that is false too.

This is what I've found after 15 years of working out and athletics. Think of it this way: doing the same thing over and over again is what is proven to lead to workplace injuries. Doing the same thing over and over again in the gym is no different. I like to do a weight training as the consistent foundation, with a mix of heavy lifts, calisthenics, volume (bodybuilding) training and mobility training. Add in some yo…

Is there any evidence this is at all bad in the weight room? It isn’t repeated at enough volume and if you have a diverse enough full body routine making everything stronger including connective tissue it would not matter. Changes in load are a better predictor for injuries in studies I have read.

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#243

Post by randysalami » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:01 PM UTC

eudamoniac wrote: post #241

randysalami wrote: post #195

I just do light weight nowadays with my strength training. It’s easier mentally. Rather than push myself to go higher on bench, squat, and deadlift, I stick to 1 plate for bench and squat and 2 plates for deadlift. Every single time. Instead of increasing load, I increase rep amount and focus on my form. Honestly, I still find myself sore after most workouts and the simplicity is nice. I’m 25 for reference.

I don't intend to convince you, but for onlookers: 1. As a young male, 1 plate bench/squat and 2 plate deadlift is extremely weak. Please strive higher than this. Anyone can achieve this in 6 months of intelligent training max. Many men start this strong untrained. The majority of young men can squat 1 plate untrained. 1. Soreness is not an indication of anything other than that you did a lot of eccentric loading. It…

My max used to be 425 on deadlift back when I was taking it more seriously. Doing 5x8 of 225 on deadlift is enough to be strong to be healthy and active. You can only push yourself on a limited number of things in life so some things are just good enough.

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#244

Post by beezle » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:04 PM UTC

I only scanned to article but did not see mention of the pre-trial condition of the subjects. Were they very new to resistance training? Or had they been doing it on a regular basis for a number of years? Because when you start out, doing just about anything is going to increase muscle mass

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#245

Post by NoImmatureAdHom » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:04 PM UTC

bglazer wrote: post #87

worthless-trash wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to persistent hunt to failure, ended up with bulky calves and tibialis.

Where were you doing this? Were you ever successful? How did you do it, like what were your tactics? So many questions! I’ve never heard about modern people doing serious persistence hunting, except for a stunt that I read about years ago. I think it was organized by like Outside or some running publication that got pro marathoners to try and they failed because they didn’t know anything about hunting

Third. Tell the story!!

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#246

Post by randysalami » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:05 PM UTC

worldsavior wrote: post #224

randysalami wrote: post #195

I just do light weight nowadays with my strength training. It’s easier mentally. Rather than push myself to go higher on bench, squat, and deadlift, I stick to 1 plate for bench and squat and 2 plates for deadlift. Every single time. Instead of increasing load, I increase rep amount and focus on my form. Honestly, I still find myself sore after most workouts and the simplicity is nice. I’m 25 for reference.

You won't see any progress if you won't push yourself. It shapes your mentality, and running away from work is what will keep you at the same place. Soreness is not a sign of progression most of the time. Bump up the weights, don't run away.

I got to 425 max on deadlift. My ego isn’t tied to being stronger, just strong enough to be healthy and fit. I think it’s unhealthy to view this as “running away” and honestly I look good and by putting less focus on it, I have more focus for other things in life I can optimize.

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#247

Post by randysalami » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:08 PM UTC

cjonas wrote: post #201

randysalami wrote: post #195

I just do light weight nowadays with my strength training. It’s easier mentally. Rather than push myself to go higher on bench, squat, and deadlift, I stick to 1 plate for bench and squat and 2 plates for deadlift. Every single time. Instead of increasing load, I increase rep amount and focus on my form. Honestly, I still find myself sore after most workouts and the simplicity is nice. I’m 25 for reference.

I do minimal weight training but in climbing the current consensus is that too many reps increases likely hood of developing an overuse injuries in the tendons. Probably depends on the exercises (climbing is hard on the elbows), but maybe keep an eye for tendonitis

Good call out. I’m pretty lazy so I keep the rep ranges low. And not too many sets. Generally I start with a compound lift to hit everything in the muscle group I’m working then move onto accessory lifts to target more granularly. I think I’m lazy enough my risk of injury is low.

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#248

Post by machomaster » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:11 PM UTC

swalsh wrote: post #196

formichunter wrote: post #190

Why is this article showing up on New Year's Day like the flock of newbie gym customers attracted to the gym only to quit 30 days from now? Every year without fail. Let's ignore this article for a moment. Overall factors that REALLY matter building muscle: 1. Consistency - Working out each muscle group at least once a week....every week. 2. Diet - Making sure you are consuming enough protein in your diet, approximate…

"approximately 1gram/pound of body weight" I believe this should be lean mass, not total mass. I think people tried to calibrate this metric since most people don't have scales that can measure composition... but if you're obese, you're going to be consuming more than you need to, which is counter productive if you're obese.

Practically speaking it doesn't matter. Just use your healthy (men 15-20% fat; women +8%) weight and calculate based on that.

If you are healthy fat percentage, just use your own weight. If you are a bit highter, and can financially and practically afford it, just use your weight as well. Won't hurt and might actually help a bit.

So it is only a concern for severely obese people. If you are 50+kg overweight, you can scale it down a bit.

Similarly, these obese people shouldn't use the "my current diet - 500kcal a day reduction" which is sensible for already lean bodybuilders. They should just use the "my maintenance diet if I were of healthy weight".

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#249

Post by lm28469 » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:13 PM UTC

bargainbin wrote: post #199

formichunter wrote: post #190

Why is this article showing up on New Year's Day like the flock of newbie gym customers attracted to the gym only to quit 30 days from now? Every year without fail. Let's ignore this article for a moment. Overall factors that REALLY matter building muscle: 1. Consistency - Working out each muscle group at least once a week....every week. 2. Diet - Making sure you are consuming enough protein in your diet, approximate…

>1. Consistency >5. Vary your workout The muscle "shock" broscience has been disproven many times: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35438660/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349502442_Does_Vary...

> The muscle "shock" broscience has been disproven many times:

Variety isn't to shock or confuse the body, it's just to make sure you actually hit all the muscles in as many ways possible. Take your average push/pull gym rat to a yoga class or a climbing wall and they'll be more sore the next day than they've ever been before, because they'll activate muscles they didn't even know they had.

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#250

Post by machomaster » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 4:16 PM UTC

d357r0y3r wrote: post #211

spectralista wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just got back from the gym and it was surprisingly empty. Actually, more empty than normal. My experience from lifting now for 30+ years and seeing thousands of people lift is it is: 1. Genetics. Everything else is a distant second or third. This was actually something that was widely understood in 90s bodybuilding magazines. Lifting is mostly a display of genetics. That worked when you could sell magazines of gene…

It really is just mostly this, and social media has tricked people into thinking otherwise. I was looking at some photos of myself about 10 years ago. At the time, I had been hitting the gym hard, consistently, and intelligently. I had a huge bench press, squad, and deadlift, and was lifting 4-5 days a week, and managed every facet of my diet. Now, I'm older, have kids, don't sleep as much, and definitely don't make…

Muscle memory is a real thing.

Gaining it is hard and slow, but once you do it, you can easily maintain it with very low volume (1 time a week with very reduced volume/weights). And even if you don't train for years/decades, you still rapidly get it back once you start again.

That's why one of the best investments in people health should be weight training during the teenage years/20s. Getting muscles and strength is the easiest at that point of life, and you will reap the benefits for the rest of one's life.