The high bar back squat (from hereafter simply called the squat) is one of the most popular lower body exercises.
This exercise can be executed in a variety of ways. Stance width, foot orientation, and depth can all be altered.
Out of these, depth is probably the most commonly debated variable.
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In an isolation exercise, more or less all the load is distributed to the isolated muscle group, such as the triceps in a skull crusher.
Compound exercises, contrastingly, are more complex as two or more muscle groups are actively involved.
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Testosterone is probably the most discussed hormone in the fitness industry, largely due to its role in hypertrophy.
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When training under certain variables, lifting weights can temporarily increase the concentrations of a variety of systemic anabolic hormones, such as testosterone and growth hormone.
Based on my assessment of the literature, it seems performing exercises that involve a large amount of muscle mass, using moderate loads and rap ranges with a good number of sets and short rest intervals evokes the greatest temporary increases in anabolic hormones.
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Failure is defined as the inability to perform another full repetition of an exercise, due to your muscles being unable to produce the required force.
How close an individual gets to failure with their repetitions is probably one of the more hotly debated training variables.
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German volume training is typically where in a training session, you perform no more than 2 compound exercises with 10 sets of 10 repetitions with a 60% one-rep max load while using 60-90 seconds of rest between sets.
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Within the fitness world, there seem to be diverse opinions on how many sets a person should perform to build muscle optimally.
On one end of the spectrum, some believe a low number of sets is sufficient, with some even proposing 1 set of repetitions to failure per exercise is all you need to build muscle.
On the other end of the spectrum, others suggest that so long as you can successfully recover from it, more sets mean more stimulus, thus the higher number of sets you can perform the better for muscle growth.
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It’s not uncommon to hear that volume drives muscle hypertrophy.
Specifically, it’s thought more volume could produce more muscle hypertrophy, probably up until a certain point.
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When training to build strength or muscle, most people use a sets and reps structure.
For instance, you may perform 3 sets of 6 reps on the bench press in a session.
However, something called the 3/7 method seems to be gaining some degree of popularity in recent years.
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Drop sets are a so-called advanced muscle-building technique.
Generally, a drop set involves performing repetitions to failure with a given load and then immediately reducing the load (typically by 15-25%) and performing repetitions to failure again. Typically, one to three load reductions are done, but more can be done.
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