BuffBeat

What is hypertrophy?

Hypertrophy simply means muscle growth – making fibers larger by challenging them with enough stimulus and giving them time to recover.

In practice, hypertrophy training means:

• Using moderate to heavy loads.
• Training close to failure (but not every set to death).
• Accumulating enough hard sets per muscle each week.

Sets, reps, and intensity ranges that work

Muscles can grow across a wide rep range, but for most lifters, these guidelines work well:

• Reps: 6–12 reps for most compound lifts, 8–15 for isolation.
• Effort (RIR): stop each set with about 1–2 reps in reserve.
• Hard sets per muscle: around 10–20 quality sets per week.

You don’t need to annihilate a muscle in one day – you need to hit it hard enough, frequently enough, and recover.

How often should you train each muscle group?

Most lifters grow well training each muscle group 2 times per week:

• Upper / Lower split (4 days per week).
• Push / Pull / Legs (3–6 days per week).
• Full body 3 days per week for busy schedules.

Use our BuffBeat AI Workout Planner on the homepage to generate a plan that matches your goal, experience, and equipment.

Nutrition basics for hypertrophy

• Protein: around 1.6–2.2 g/kg of bodyweight per day for most lifters.
• Calories: a slight surplus helps build muscle faster (about +200–300 kcal above maintenance).
• Carbs: fuel your training performance and recovery.
• Fats: important for hormones and general health – don’t cut them too low.

Supplements that actually help

Most hypertrophy progress comes from training, food, sleep, and patience. But a few supplements can support the process:

• Creatine Monohydrate – supports strength and training volume.
• Whey Protein – helps you hit daily protein targets more easily.
• Omega-3 – supports overall health and recovery.