Hypertrophy Programmes
Character Strength & Conditioning has been providing high-quality programmes since 2014, helping everyone from beginners to elite athletes reach their goals.
These evidence-based hypertrophy programmes are designed to help you build muscle and add size as effectively as possible, on a reasonable budget.
For 100% customised programmes, follow that link.
4 Day Upper/Lower Hypertrophy
17 Week Programme designed to maximise your muscle gain. Upper/Lower Split, 4 Days Per Week.
Great for Intermediate to Advanced Bodybuilders.
Arms Specialization
11 Week Biceps and Triceps focused hypertrophy programme. 4 Days Per Week. Prioritise your arms without losing your gains elsewhere.
Perfect for intermediates and advanced levels.
Back Specialization
11 Week Back-focused hypertrophy programme. 4 Days Per Week. Prioritise your arms without losing your gains elsewhere.
Perfect for intermediates and advanced levels.
How long is the hypertrophy program?
The programmes vary from 10 to 17 weeks depending on specific goals and focus. For example, the 4 day per week upper/lower split is 17 weeks long, and is broken down into 3 distinct mesocycles of training. Whereas the arm and back hypertrophy specialisation programmes are 11 weeks long, and include 2 mesocycles
What is does a typical hypertrophy workout look like?
The exact structure of a hypertrophy workout will vary based on the routine and focus. However, a typical workout might like...
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General Warm-Up
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1-2 major compound lifts per muscle group worked (e.g. Bench Press)
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1-3 isolation exercises per muscle group worked (e.g. Dumbbell Flyes)
Hypertrophy training sets and reps
If you want to learn more about exercise selection, sets, reps and the underlying physiology of hypertrophy, then this article and this article will be a great start. The programmes on this page are built around those principles.
What is the best routine for hypertrophy?
This question gets asked quite a lot, and the short answer is that there's no such thing as the best bodybuilding or hypertrophy routine for everyone, because individuals can vary quite a lot. With that said, the programmes above are all based on current best practices. The exercises, sets, reps, intensity techniques and periodization models are all as well-designed as possible. So these are a really solid option, and likely better than 99% of the cookie-cutter, insta-guru routines you'll find floating around nowadays.