Specific strength qualities for unlocking gymnastics skills. Part 3 : Functional Hypertrophy.
To succeed at gymnastics strength training, you need to build strength and size. Most bodyweight programs focus on high volumes of work, which doesn’t deliver the adaptations we need to succeed.
If your goals are to unlock gymnastic skills, you will want to explore low-volume, high-intensity training methods that help you build strength.
This is where functional hypertrophy can be helpful.
Personally, I enjoy training relative strength and lifting heavy weights.
The occasional hypertrophy phase can be enjoyable, but it’s not as fulfilling as lifting heavy.
However, it is not practical to constantly train relative strength as it can be very taxing on the nervous system.
Thus, it is necessary to periodise the training program and incorporate various strength qualities to make progress.
A quick reminder on the four strength qualities:
Relative Strength - All about training the neurological system to increase force production and output. I covered this in part one of this series.
Functional Hypertrophy - This is today’s topic, and it's about building both strength and size.
Hypertrophy - All about building size. I covered this in part two of this series.
Strength Endurance - Improving aerobic fitness and muscle endurance. I'll talk about this in a future post.
Today's discussion is about functional hypertrophy.
I hate the word "functional" because it is another term that the fitness industry has butchered.
Many so-called "functional training programs" are promptly named for marketing purposes but do a very poor job of living up to their name.
It's unfortunate because functional hypertrophy is one of the best things you can do for your health and performance.
What is functional hypertrophy?
The overarching aim of functional hypertrophy is to improve physical performance.
Non-functional hypertrophy refers to gains in muscle size that aren't associated with an improved capacity to produce force. "Functional" hypertrophy refers to gains in muscular size that improve maximal force production and thus carry over to your sport and everyday life.
Hypertrophy training is often associated with bodybuilding, but there is more than one type of hypertrophy.
Not all hypertrophy gains are equal.
There are two major categories of muscle fibre types, slow-twitch (Type I) and fast-twitch (Type II).
Most people know that slow-twitch fibres are designed for endurance and fast-twitch for power and strength. But it’s not that simple, as there are three more subcategories of fast-twitch fibres: Type IIa, Type IIx, and Type IIb.
Type IIb are the most powerful fast-twitch fibres and is targeted with activities such as sprinting, jumping, and throwing.
Type IIa are the least powerful of the three and are the focus of bodybuilders.
The Type IIx are in between.
The problem with a lot of hypertrophy training programs is that they target the Type IIa muscle fibres and increase non-contractile proteins and the amount of fluid in the muscle. This makes the muscles bigger, but the density of muscle fibres decreases, and the strength gains are minimal. This type of hypertrophy is known as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
Bodybuilders often use sarcoplasmic hypertrophy to increase the size of their muscles as they train primarily for aesthetics, not for function.
So how do we target the type 11b fast-twitch muscle fibres?
Say hello to Myofibril hypertrophy is the increased size and number of sarcomeres in the muscle fibre. Sarcomeres contract to make a muscle move. This type of hypertrophy leads to greater strength.
So when we train the Type IIb muscle fibres, we increase strength without creating significant increases in muscle bulk; it’s very similar to relative strength.
It's important to note that functional hypertrophy targets the Type IIb muscle fibres.
Type IIb muscle fibres are far more susceptible to losses in strength and size as we age. This puts us at greater risk of falls, injury, and poor physical performance. Hence, we want to build and maintain type IIb muscle fibres to increase health and longevity.
Functional hypertrophy is not just for athletes. Functional hypertrophy improves body composition, and strength levels, decrease the chances of injury, and increases speed and power.
Functional hypertrophy is neuromuscular training.
Just like relative strength training, functional hypertrophy targets the neurological system. Remember, when you build neuromuscular strength, you increase the efficiency of the signal sent from the central nervous system (CNS) to the muscle, making it contract with more force and strength.
Like hypertrophy training, functional hypertrophy targets the muscular system and helps us build lean muscle.
Functional hypertrophy is both neurological and muscular; hence, it is a form of neuromuscular training.
The strength gains won't be as significant as a relative strength phase, and the size gains won't be as significant as a pure hypertrophy phase. But the increase in overall physical performance will be at an all-time high.
What are the functional hypertrophy training parameters?
Going back to the guidelines in the relationship of repetitions, percentages and training effect table, we see that the optimal functional hypertrophy is in the 6-8 repetition range at 78-83% intensity.
Remember, these are just guidelines and not the holy grail.
Functional hypertrophy is generally moderate volume performed at high intensity.
Remember from the previous posts intensity refers to the amount of weight being lifted in compression to your 1RM. Volume refers to the number of repetitions being performed in a workout.
When it comes to functional hypertrophy, we need to understand the individual demands of the sport or goals that we are training for.
Functional hypertrophy training for a sprinter will look very different to functional hypertrophy training for a rugby forward. Both athletes must be fast and powerful, but the sprinter doesn't need the same endurance or size as a rugby forward. Hence, the rugby forward functional hypertrophy phase would focus on doing more volume at a slightly lower intensity than a sprinter who would do less volume at a higher intensity.
The demands of their sport are different, and the program must acknowledge that.
What are the functional hypertrophy training parameters?
Again, these are just guidelines.
For functional hypertrophy, we can use anywhere between the 1-8rep range to hypertrophy the type IIb fast twitch muscle fibres. Yes, the optimal rep range is 5-8, but the time under tension can be manipulated to dictate a functional hypertrophy response.
As Charles Poliquin would say, "The number of reps done for a given time under tension dictates the training effect."
Performing one rep with a :20sec eccentric will fall into the functional hypertrophy strength quality because the total set duration falls within the functional hypertrophy parameters.
Personally, I’d argue that Functional hypertrophy strength gains are best achieved with reps in the 1-5 rep range, although reps as high as 6-8 can still be helpful, especially if hypertrophy is the primary focus.
This comes back to the example of the sprinter vs the rugby forward. The sprinter needs to be strong and powerful but wants to avoid packing on additional mass. The best functional hypertrophy program for a sprinter will be low volume (1-5reps range) at high intensities (85%+) in the 20-30sec of time under tension.
As I mentioned in the hypertrophy strength post, most callisthenics/gymnastics/bodyweight athletes pump reps out as fast as they can, with no regard whatsoever for exercise tempos! It's unfortunate because they're overlooking a key principle of strength training and missing out on a lot of strength and size gains.
The best hypertrophy gains are achieved when we slow down the eccentric phase of the movement. I spoke about this in part 2, the hypertrophy post. Eccentrics are one of the best tools we can use to stimulate muscle growth. If you missed it, go back and check it out.
What are some Functional Hypertrophy Methods:
Some functional hypertrophy methods include eccentric training, post-failure training, the 4+2 method, the 5 to 8 method, the 6-1 Method, the 3 then 1 method, and even wave loading.
All of these methods can be used as a form of functional hypertrophy training.
How can we apply functional hypertrophy to gymnastics strength training?
Training for functional hypertrophy will support gymnastic skill seekers because it is about maximising relative strength for your weight, meaning that the primary goal is to increase strength with minimal gains in size.
Functional Hypertrophy is an intelligent way to increase relative strength, increase lean muscle, and drop body fat. Functional hypertrophy is pretty cool because it reaps many of the benefits of relative strength and hypertrophy training.
You might be thinking, "If functional hypertrophy offers the best of both worlds, why don't we train it 100% of the time?"
It's not quite the best of both worlds.
If your goal is to increase strength, training for relative strength will offer better results. The same isn't exactly true for hypertrophy gains, and it depends if you're training for aesthetics or performance.
Functional hypertrophy often uses moderate volume and high intensities, which can tax the neurological and muscular systems.
Remember, When we train relative strength, we're using high intensities, which tax the neurological system, but the muscular system isn't hit as hard.
When we train hypertrophy strength, we use high volumes, which tax the muscular system, but the neurological system isn't hit as hard.
Switching between relative strength and hypertrophy strength is a neat way to give the neurological and muscular systems a rest. Just training the functional hypertrophy quality won't offer the same recovery, but that doesn't mean we can't do it.
It is possible to train for functional hypertrophy if you’re smart about the program design and listen to your body.
Function hypertrophy is one of the best strength qualities that gymnastic skill seekers can train. There are a ton of benefits and not a lot of negatives. You can build strength, gain lean muscle, and drop body fat. Just about everything you need to master your bodyweight and unlock new gymnastic skills.
What might a functional hypertrophy program look like?
Here's an example of a bent-arm strength functional hypertrophy program for an intermediate gymnastic skill seeker working towards handstand push-ups and increasing pull-up strength:
A1. Pull-up, Eccentrics, Weighted 5 x [2-3], 80A1, rest :90
A2. Freestanding Handstand Push-up, Eccentric 5 x [2] 10,0A1, rest :90
B1. Chin-ups 4 x [5-6], 31x1, rest :90
B2. Strict Overhead Press, Barbell 4 x [5-6], 40x1, rest :60
C1. Trap 3 Raise, Bent-Over, Head Supported, Unilateral, Dumbbell 3 x [6-8ea], 3110, rest :60
C2. Archer Push-ups, on Rings 3 x [6-8ea], 30x1, rest :60
This is a pretty simple antagonist- antagonist super set example that follows the functional hypertrophy parameters. There are a lot of different ways we can program functional hypertrophy, this is just one example.
Additional things to consider
Although there are a lot of awesome benefits in the functional hypertrophy style of training, there are some additional things gymnastic skill seekers need to consider.
If you're looking for the most efficient way to increase strength, you would be better off doing a relative strength phase.
One obstacle for gymnastic seekers is the isometric gymnastic skills, things like planche, front levers and back levers. For these movements, we need to use relative strength protocols because the hold times are less than 20 seconds.
I like to cycle isometric holds, concentric and eccentrics when training these movements.
For example, for one phase of training, we might work on holding an isometric front lever for 8-12 seconds. In the next phase, I might work on front lever concentric pulls for reps. In the next phase, we might work on front lever eccentrics for reps.
We can cycle through this different method of training the front lever as we cycle through different strength qualities.
For that reason, I like using an undulating relative strength and function hypertrophy periodisation model for most adult gymnastic skill seekers.
Also, if your goal is to pack on some muscle for aesthetic reasons, you would be better off doing a hypertrophy phase. It depends on your individual goals.
There is a time and place for training different strength qualities, and it really comes back to the individual and the goals they're working towards.
As a gymnastic skill seeker, I'd recommend you spend most of your training time working on relative strength and functional hypertrophy.
I hope you found this post helpful and that it’s given you some ideas around program design for increasing strength, building lean muscle, dropping body fat, improving your power-to-bodyweight ratio, mastering your body weight and unlocking new gymnastic skills.
Until next time.
Happy Training.
