Dr. Brad Schoenfeld: Resistance Training for Time Efficiency, Body Composition & Maximum Hypertrophy
Dr. Brad Schoenfeld is a professor at Lehman College with over 300 published studies in exercise and sports nutrition. He’s an expert in muscle adaptations, strength training, and hypertrophy.
Key Takeaways
Source
Full Notes
Resistance Training and Its Benefits
- Resistance training is indispensable for overall health
- Offers many benefits of cardiovascular exercise
- Goes beyond aerobic training in terms of muscle strength, bone density, and posture
- Resistance training has profound effects on staving off osteoporosis and building bones
- Particularly important for women due to higher risk of osteoporosis
- Starting resistance training early in life builds a ” bone bank ” for later years
- Resistance training can improve muscle strength and hypertrophy in older individuals
- Never too late to start, but starting earlier is better for maintaining muscle mass
Resistance Training and Bone Density
- Resistance training strengthens bones by pulling on them through muscle movement
- Weight-bearing exercises are particularly beneficial for bone development
- Multi-joint movements (e.g., squats, rows, presses) are recommended for maximizing bone development
Resistance Training for Different Age Groups
- Starting resistance training early in life is beneficial for building muscle and bone reserves
- Helps maintain muscle mass and bone density as one ages
- Even older individuals can see improvements in muscle strength and hypertrophy with resistance training
- However, starting earlier in life makes it easier to maintain muscle mass and bone density
- Resistance training is safe and beneficial for children as well
Resistance Training for Children
Body Recomposition with Resistance Training
- Resistance training improves lean mass (mostly muscle mass) and helps with fat mass reduction
- Exercise alone is not the best way to lose body fat; reducing calorie intake is more effective
- Combining resistance training with an energy deficit through nutrition is essential for weight loss
- Resistance training prevents muscle loss during weight loss and can lead to body recomposition (gaining muscle while losing fat)
- Cannot maximize muscle mass while losing fat; need to be at maintenance or in a small surplus
Protein Intake and Lean Mass Preservation
- Sufficient protein intake is necessary to preserve lean mass during weight loss
- Protein requirements increase when in a caloric deficit
- General recommendation for resistance-trained individuals: 1.6–1.8 grams/kg per day (double the RDA for sedentary individuals)
- Upper confidence interval: 2.2 grams/kg per day (safe for most people, especially bodybuilders)
- No strong evidence of negative effects on kidney function or bone density from higher protein intake
- In a caloric deficit, it’s important to stay in the upper range of protein intake (around 2 grams/kg per day)
Protein Intake for Weight Loss and Muscle Gain
- Protein intake should be based on lean weight, not total body weight
- Calculate protein needs at a relatively lean weight (12–15% body fat for men, 20% for women)
- Protein is difficult to store as body fat, so it’s better to consume more protein at the expense of carbs and fat for weight loss
- Older individuals may need more protein due to anabolic resistance
- Leucine threshold may be higher for older individuals
- Protein supplementation can help meet daily requirements
Time Restricted Eating and Muscle Gain
- Time restricted eating can be conducive to muscle gain if protein intake is sufficient
- Spacing out protein intake throughout the day may be more beneficial for muscle growth
- A 10-hour eating window is more anabolism-friendly
- For bodybuilders, it’s recommended to consume protein across the day as much as possible
- Eating is anabolic, not eating is catabolic
- Studies on time restricted feeding show little difference in muscle gain if protein intake is sufficient
Muscle Hypertrophy and Training Load
- Traditional belief: heavy lifting necessary for muscle growth
- Current research shows muscle growth across a wide range of loading spectrums (up to 30–40 repetitions)
- No significant difference in whole muscle hypertrophy between 30% 1RM (30 reps) and 80% 1RM (8 reps)
- Findings consistent across various populations (trained, untrained, older, younger, men, women)
- Benefits of lighter loads:
- Flexibility and options in resistance training
- Training through injuries
- Suitable for older individuals with joint-related issues
- Caveat: lighter loads must be taken with a high degree of effort to challenge muscles
- Heavy lifting innately challenges muscles
- Lighter loads require more repetitions to challenge muscles
- Muscle adaptation to strength training is a survival mechanism
Protein Intake and Muscle Growth
- Most important factor: total daily protein intake
- 1.6 grams/kg recommended for older individuals
- Studies on protein intake per meal are sterile and may not reflect real-life situations
- Whole meals provide time-delayed release of nutrients
- No need to stress over the minutiae of protein intake per meal
- Focus on total daily protein intake for the majority of gains
- Fine-tuning protein intake per meal may be relevant for competitive bodybuilders
Anabolic Window
- Body is highly anabolic for at least 24 hours after a workout
- Anabolic effects may trail off after 6–8 hours
- No need to slam protein shake immediately after training
- Focus on getting protein in as quickly as possible after a workout
- Timing may be more important for competitive bodybuilders
- Training within the eating window is beneficial
- Try to train within the earlier part of the eating window to optimize muscle mass
Adaptation and Training
- Body adapts to challenges through survival mechanisms
- Challenging muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments beyond their present capacity leads to adaptations in strength, power, hypertrophy, muscle endurance, and bone density
Lifting Lighter vs. Heavier Weights
- Lifting lighter weights with more reps can still lead to muscle fatigue and adaptations
- Lifting heavier weights may help shift more towards type 2 muscle fibers
- Type 1 fibers: endurance-oriented, hard to fatigue, less force production
- Type 2 fibers: strength-oriented, fatigue easily, greater force production
- Aging affects type 2 fibers more, leading to sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss)
- Training hard with light or heavy weights targets both type 1 and type 2 fibers
Resistance, Strength, and Power Training
- Resistance training: catch-all term for exercise that moves against resistance (body weight, free weights, machines, cables)
- Strength training: often used synonymously with resistance training, but can also refer to powerlifting (heavy loads, slow movements)
- Power training: ability to produce force over time, moving weights quickly for maximal power generation
- Older individuals can benefit from incorporating power training into their exercise routines to improve functional capacity and prevent falls
Training to Failure
- Training to failure: inability to perform another repetition with proper form
- Not necessary to train to failure for every set
- High effort is important, but taking every set to failure may not be beneficial for hypertrophy and could be detrimental for strength
- Training to failure may be more relevant for individuals close to their genetic ceiling
Bodybuilding and Training to Failure
- Shifted view from always training to failure to most sets within 2–3 reps of failure
- Concept of Repetitions in Reserve (RIR)
- Optimal adaptations occur between 1–3 RIR
- General population may not need to train to failure
- High-level athletes and bodybuilders may benefit from some failure training
- More appropriate for single joint and machine-based exercises
Minimalist Training vs. High Volume Training
- Minimalist training can provide nice results for most people
- Around 4 sets per muscle per week
- Can be done in 2–3 half-hour sessions per week
- To optimize hypertrophy, aim for 10–20 sets per muscle per week
- Requires more time and dedication
Time-Efficient Training Strategies
- Training with lighter loads extends workout time
- Focus on multi-joint exercises (e.g., presses, rows, squats, deadlifts, push-ups, chin-ups)
- More time-efficient than single-joint exercises
- Use advanced training methods like supersets, paired sets, and drop sets
- Allows for less rest between sets and exercises
- May be just as effective for general population, but not for high-level athletes
Importance of Rest Between Sets
- Rest is necessary to recover strength and perform additional sets
- Allows for better performance and adaptations
- Rest times depend on individual goals and training intensity
Training, Recovery, and Hypertrophy
- Resting between sets and exercises is important for muscle growth and recovery
- Shorter rest intervals (30 seconds) can compromise hypertrophy
- Longer rest intervals (2–3 minutes) allow for better volume load and muscle growth
- Hormonal response (growth hormone, testosterone, IGF‑1) from short rest intervals may not be significant for muscle growth
- Recovery is important for maintaining energy and joint health for effective training
- Muscle protein synthesis occurs roughly within 48 hours after training
- Training the same muscle daily may not be beneficial, but 48-hour rest periods can maximize muscle growth
- Differences between men and women in training and recovery are minimal
- Women may recover slightly faster between sets and sessions
- Older individuals may need to adjust training volume and frequency for optimal recovery
- Three days a week of training may be a good default for older individuals
- Factors such as training history, joint health, nutrition, sleep, and stress can affect recovery needs
- Strategies to speed up recovery:
- Being recreationally active to promote blood flow and nutrient delivery
- Massage and foam rolling may help, but evidence is limited due to potential placebo effects
- Proper protein intake is essential for muscle recovery and growth
Effects of Exercise on Muscle Development and Soreness
- Essential fatty acids, particularly omega-3s, may have beneficial effects on muscle development, especially for older individuals
- Strategies to reduce soreness and improve recovery:
- Massage (if affordable or done by a significant other)
- Foam rolling
- Cold water immersion (but not too frequently, as it may negatively affect hypertrophy and strength)
- Heat therapy (generally does not have negative effects)
- Soreness is influenced by genetics and gender (women tend to experience less soreness than men)
- Soreness is generally due to a novel stimulus, primarily from the eccentric component of exercise
- Soreness is not necessary for muscle gains, but mild soreness may indicate that the body is being challenged beyond its current state
- To reduce soreness without negatively affecting hypertrophy:
- Avoid focusing solely on the concentric component of exercise
- Use warm water baths
- Engage in active recovery (e.g., walking, elliptical with arm crank)
- Stick to the same exercises (but this may limit optimization of muscle gains)
Concurrent Training: Aerobic Exercise and Strength Training
- The chronic interference hypothesis suggested that aerobic exercise would blunt the adaptations for resistance training, but recent evidence shows this is an oversimplification
- Meta-analytic data shows that within reasonable volumes of training, there is no significant blunting of the anabolic effect when combining aerobic and resistance training
- General recommendations for combining aerobic and resistance training:
- If possible, alternate days for aerobic and resistance training (e.g., Monday, Wednesday, Friday for resistance; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday for aerobic)
- If not possible, do resistance training in the morning and aerobic exercise in the evening
- If both must be done in the same session, do resistance training first, followed by aerobic exercise
Resistance Training vs. Aerobic Training
- Resistance training should be done before aerobic training
- Aerobic training can compromise energy levels for strength training
- Amount of aerobic training can impact muscle development
- Long, slow distance training (e.g. marathon running) can negatively affect muscle growth
- Walking 10,000–12,000 steps a day or doing three high-intensity interval training sessions per week unlikely to have negative effects
- Important to be in tune with your body and take rest days when needed
Endurance Athletes and Resistance Training
- Endurance athletes should focus on low-volume, heavy-load training
- Reduces muscle mass development while maximizing strength development
- Important for activities like long-distance running where weight is an issue
Stretching and Muscle Development
- Stretching can be beneficial for flexibility, but only if needed for daily activities or specific sports
- Resistance training through a full range of motion can provide similar benefits to static stretching
- Long-duration, intense stretching has been shown to promote muscle growth
- Likely due to muscle tension, a mechanism of hypertrophy
Yoga and Muscle Development
- Yoga can lead to some muscle gains, but not optimal for muscle growth
- Not challenging enough for muscles to adapt over time
- Resistance training is irreplaceable for optimal muscle development
Blood Flow Restriction Training
- Involves using a cuff on the upper portion of the muscle being trained (arms or legs)
- Fatigues muscles more quickly than regular light-load training
- Can lead to muscle growth even with very light loads (20–30% one-rep max)
Blood Flow Restriction Training
- Promotes muscle development similar to traditional resistance training
- Strength is similar to light load training
- Not as effective for hypertrophy as heavy load training
- Can improve strength even in well-trained subjects
- May be more comfortable than light load training due to shorter set times
- No evidence that it’s better than light load training
- Limitations: only specific to extremities, potential safety issues for people with blood pressure problems
- In research settings, blood pressure cuffs are used to monitor pressure
- People should be cautious when using blood flow restriction training and ensure proper technique
Brad Schoenfeld’s Personal Routine
- Four-day per week resistance training routine
- Two days on, one day off, two days on
- Upper/lower split
- Workouts last 45 minutes to an hour
- Aims for 12,000 steps per day for overall health
- Focuses on maintaining health and looking good, not bodybuilding
- Protein intake around 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight
- Active on social media, sharing research and studies
- Author of two books: ” The Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy ” and “The Max Muscle Plan ”
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