Troponin University
Hypertrophy & Muscle Growth
Building muscle — training stimulus, volume and intensity, and the nutrition that supports growth.
9 lectures
- ReferenceOctober 1, 2026 · 3 min read
How Hard and How Much: Proximity to Failure and Set Volume
Two dials control the hypertrophy dose of a program: how close each set gets to failure, and how many hard sets a muscle gets…
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- ReferenceOctober 1, 2026 · 3 min read
Muscle Memory: Why Lost Size Comes Back Faster
Lifters who return after a layoff regain size and strength faster than they built it the first time…
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- ReferenceOctober 1, 2026 · 3 min read
What the Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift Actually Train
Moving more weight in a lift is not the same as working a given muscle harder. Technique choices move the load between muscles…
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- ReferenceOctober 1, 2026 · 3 min read
Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy: What High-Volume and Heavy Training Build
A muscle fiber grows mainly in two ways. It can add contractile protein (myofibrils), or it can expand the fluid-and-enzyme compartment around them (the sarcoplasm)…
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- ReferenceOctober 1, 2026 · 3 min read
Exercise Selection for Regional Growth: Lengthened Positions and Targeted Choices
A muscle does not grow evenly, and muscles that cross two joints can be trained at very different lengths depending on body position…
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- ReferenceOctober 1, 2026 · 3 min read
Heavy vs Moderate Loads, and Does the Periodization Model Matter?
Two recurring programming questions are what kind of loading builds size versus maximal strength, and whether the way load changes over time (linear vs undulating periodization) matters for muscle growth…
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- ReferenceOctober 1, 2026 · 3 min read
Drop Sets and Supersets: Same Growth in Less Time
Drop sets and supersets are the two most common ways to fit more hard work into less time.
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- From Justin's archiveSeptember 30, 2026 · 6 min read
Two Kinds of Size: Why Bodybuilders Aren't Powerlifters, and What Prep Takes Away
If all it took to build a physique was lifting heavy, the strongest guys in the world would be winning the Olympia. They're not.
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- From Justin's archiveSeptember 5, 2026 · 18 min read
Training Programming, Volume & Progression — Justin's YouTube Teaching, Part 5
A good example of that is sarcoplasmic growth. You can go look back at the Wikipedia logs from 8, 9 years ago. It wasn't until maybe 2018 or something when we did a Muscle Mentor video on it last time I was down here…
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