Hypertrophy I: Heavy enough weights?

[andaheart]

Lou (or anyone else),

Two questions:

1) Are the weights used in the 4x10 and 3x15 days heavy enough to induce hypertrophy?
Since Im working out 4x/week, I hit upper body twice each week. However, at most i hit upperbody on the heavy day (5x5) once a week, and sometimes not at all. Im not terribley strong at this point, so my 4x10 and (especially 5x15) days seem really light compared to what im used to lifting (Ive used mostly chad waterbury routines in the past). Ill give an example. On the 5x5 day, I use about 235 for the bench presses. Fine and dandy, but when i get the 5x15 im dropping to weight to about 135. Dont get me wrong, i definatley feel it the next day, but I was thought one must use ~85% of 1RM to get hypertrophy?
Given my 5x5 weight, do you think im in the right weight range for the 5x15 days?

2) Do you suspect that one would lose strength given the light(er) weights prescribed for the several weeks of hyperthophy I?

Thanks for the great book by the way- well written, well referenced, and overall a good read. Ive been doing the same kind of stuff for so long I had forgotten how fun the gym can be with renewed focus and new routines.

wayne

[gobbla]

1) yes.

2) possibly, but not enough to be concerned about. 4 weeks of strength training and you'll be above where you were.

[Lou Schuler]

andaheart, remember that hypertrophy comes from other factors besides the percentage of 1RM you're lifting on any given set. Volume plays two roles:

The first is mechanical -- after a high-volume workout, there's a lot of protein breakdown that's followed by an even greater buildup of muscle protein.

The second is hormonal -- high volume leads to a greater release of growth hormone.

A third factor, which is particular to Alwyn's program design, is the unpredictability of the routines. That is, your muscles don't know what's coming from one workout to the next, so there's a constant adapatation process going on. The theory is that you'll end up with more overall protein synthesis because of the nonstop challenges to your muscles.

You mentioned Chad Waterbury: I'm currently editing a book for Chad, and he says a lot about the importance of volume in the book. Certainly, he doesn't use the same program design as Alwyn, but he does a pretty thorough job of explaining why heavy weights won't produce hypertrophy is the total volume of the workouts isn't high enough.