High Performance Health Podcasts -547
Hypertrophy vs Strength Training: What Women Get Wrong About Reps and Weights
Angela examines the intricacies of training for muscle strength, hypertrophy, and endurance, referencing a key paper by Brad Schoenfeld that outlines effective rep ranges for different fitness goals.
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT
[Angela Foster] (0:14 - 0:53)
For years, I ate well, trained hard, slept properly, and still felt flat, fatigue, brain fog, poor recovery. The missing piece for me in midlife wasn't more supplements, it was minerals, deep cellular mineral support my body was missing, and that's why I've partnered with Beam Minerals, products I personally use. You can try them out at beamminerals.com forward slash Angela, with code Angela for 20% off. Can we just kind of summarise and debunk any myths around training? I think people get confused, like what ranges should I be working within? What really builds muscle?
Can you clarify that for listeners, please?
[Dr Gabrielle Lyon] (0:54 - 4:10)
Yeah, I think that there's a wonderful paper that I'm going to direct your listeners to, and I think that it will help people provide and have some kind of framework. Number one, I cover this in my book, Forever Strong, but there's a wonderful paper by Brad Schoenfeld, and the title of it is Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, Local Endurance, a Re-examination of the Repetition Continuum. There is, again, standard rep ranges.
We talk about hypertrophy being eight to 12. We talk about strength, one to five reps, and endurance 15 plus, kind of that like boot camp muscular endurance. Hypertrophy training can be done in a million different ways.
This is why getting a good programme, and that is exactly why I wrote it in the book, and following and executing. So the first portion of your training, if you are untrained, will be neuromuscular adaptation. This is kind of this neurological adaptation.
You'll slowly begin to kind of figure out the movements, and it doesn't take long, but it takes a little bit of time. There is ways that you could create a training plan that could be three days a week. Let's say you are doing a three days a week training split where you are doing, I don't know, upper body, lower body, and then a full body on the third day.
That will probably be enough to be able to stimulate some kind of hypertrophy. Again, it is based on volume. Typically, women respond to volume.
It doesn't have to be very heavy, so the evidence would suggest there's, again, a huge number of ways to do this. I'm going to take you through a novice, an individual who's never trained. An individual who's never trained will make the most improvements.
You can easily start by doing body weight squats, push-ups, and plank holds, something like that. Body weight exercises, there's, again, many different ways to do that. Pick three exercises and track how many you can do.
You could do that three days a week. You go to muscular fatigue, wait for your body to recover. Again, we don't need to jump in and injure ourselves, but I'm just making it simple.
And eventually, progress. Progress to bands, and then progress to weights. The weight that I would pick up for everybody would be some kind of kettlebells.
Kettlebells are fun and easy to move, whether it's a kettlebell swing, whether it's an overhead press, whether it's a carry. Again, how do we become good at moving through life? It could be a goblet squat.
Just very basic things that an individual can do. If you are advanced in your training, you have to know where you are and what is the next iteration. You should always be picking something to get better at.
For women that are going through menopause or postmenopausal, high-intensity interval training and some kind of heavier lifting is where it's at, I believe, for them.
[Angela Foster] (4:10 - 4:16)
And when you say heavier lifting, can that still be a higher repetition of like 10 to 12? Yeah, it can.
[Dr Gabrielle Lyon] (4:16 - 4:38)
It could. But I don't want you lifting five pounds for 25 reps. Could you do it?
Yes. The literature, there's been wonderful work out of McMaster University, the literature would suggest that that's adequate, but again, how can we take it one step further and train for life? Train for picking up your kids, train for putting your suitcase in an overhead bin, train for doing things.
[Angela Foster] (4:39 - 4:53)
And how do you structure your training across the year? Do you, I'm really curious, and for people who are advanced, do you train in blocks in terms of looking at things like speed and power, then VO2 max muscle, or are you always training for all areas? How do you structure it?
[Dr Gabrielle Lyon] (4:53 - 5:56)
I live in Houston and I have a coach and his name is Carlos and he's at Sigma Training, Strength, Alchemy, something like that is his IG. And he programmes me very specific stuff. So if I were to look, I will tell you what we do is right now we always include some kind of heavy lift and that heavy lift might be a squat or a modified deadlift.
I'm really working on some hamstring injuries. We will do that. And then we will do, always do something kind of explosive.
Right now I'm working on more of my metabolic engine, which means we will do sled pushes. We will vary the intensity, sled pushes, sled pulls, some explosive type overhead movements. We might do a snatch.
We might do sprint intervals on the airdyne. We'll keep it moving. So right now we'll do one kind of strength movement and we'll do this three days a week.
And on a fourth day, I will do a group training that lasts for an hour and a half. At your own pace, we just do it collectively as a unit.
[Angela Foster] (5:57 - 6:03)
Okay. Which is quite nice, the social side. It is.
And then what, three days off? Or are you kind of like walking, yoga? What are you doing?
[Dr Gabrielle Lyon] (6:03 - 6:43)
So it depends. It depends on how crazy I feel. I'm always trying to move, but I might throw in a 30 minute HIIT class on the Peloton.
I might jump in to in between patients. I still have a full clinic. In between patients, I will hit the airdyne.
I do a lot of rucking. I will, and I say rucking, depending on, again, I have two very little children, so I haven't picked up rucking in a moment, but I'll be getting back to it here shortly in this next month. But I will throw on a lightly weighted vest, whether it's 12 to 20, 25 pounds, and I'll just walk.
I'll do work. I'll walk on the treadmill. And I'll do that a couple of times a week.
[Angela Foster] (6:44 - 8:05)
I hope today's episode inspired you on your journey to vibrant health and high performance. Make sure you check out the show notes for a summary of all the important links to everything we talked about. And if you enjoyed this episode, hit the follow button and share it with a friend on social media, or leave a review over on Apple Podcasts.
Remember, achieving high performance health is about getting 1% better each day, so think about one thing you learned from today's episode and start implementing it today. Share with me what you've learned on social media over at Angela S. Foster.
I love hearing from you and connecting with you. Have a beautiful day, and always remember, you are worthy of your dreams. Now for the legal stuff.
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DESCRIPTION
Angela examines the intricacies of training for muscle strength, hypertrophy, and endurance, referencing a key paper by Brad Schoenfeld that outlines effective rep ranges for different fitness goals.
She discusses the importance of neuromuscular adaptation for beginners and suggest starting with bodyweight exercises before progressing to kettlebells and heavier weights, as well as the significance of tailored training programs, especially for women undergoing menopause, advocating for high-intensity interval training and heavier lifting.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:
- Training Ranges: Hypertrophy is typically achieved with 8 to 12 reps, strength with 1 to 5 reps, and endurance with 15 or more reps. It's important to follow a structured program to maximise results.
- Neuromuscular Adaptation: Beginners will experience significant improvements through neuromuscular adaptation, which involves learning proper movement patterns. Starting with bodyweight exercises like squats and pushups is effective.
- Progression: As individuals advance, they should gradually incorporate resistance training, starting with bodyweight exercises, then moving to bands, and eventually to weights like kettlebells for functional movements.
- Training for Life: Emphasis should be placed on training that prepares individuals for everyday activities, such as lifting children or carrying luggage, rather than just focusing on traditional weightlifting.
Disclaimer: The High Performance Health Podcast is for general information purposes only and do not constitute the practice of professional or coaching advice and no client relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast, or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for medical or other professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should seek the assistance of their medical doctor or other health care professional for before taking any steps to implement any of the items discussed in this podcast.
This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
VIDEO
TIMESTAMPS
[00:00:46] Hypertrophy training explained.
[00:04:12] Training structure and methods.
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About Angela
Angela Foster is an award winning Nutritionist, Health & Performance Coach, Keynote Speaker and Host of The High Performance Health Podcast.
A former corporate lawyer turned industry leader in biohacking and health optimisation for women, Angela regularly gives keynotes to large fitness, health and wellness events including the Health Optimisation summit, The Biohacker summit, Dragonfly live, Elevate Fitness conference and Gaia TV. She also delivers Health Optimisation and Performance Workshops to large multinational corporations and senior leaders with a strong focus on women’s health and burnout prevention.
Angela is also the creator of BioSyncing® a blueprint for high performing women who want to ditch burnout, harmonise their hormones and elevate their life.

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