Phase Two: Hypertrophy
The purpose of this phase is not to gain size in terms of weight, rather to develop large, active, fat-free body mass. Force depends directly on muscle density and diameter, therefore increased active body mass is an asset to strength application.

During training in this phase an increased number of repetitions cause a relatively light weight into a sub maximum and then maximum load by the last repetition. Coinciding with fatigue, recruitment and synchronization of motor units is much greater. Increases in recruitment of muscle fibers and units often directly relate to increases in physiological effect on strength. Training in this phase is based on a 6/12 gradient where a weight which is maximal for 6 repetitions is trained until the athlete adapts to it for as many as 12 repetitions. Thus to be completely aggressive in this training method athlete’s are trained to exhaustion. Hypertrophy is the cumulative exhaustive work in total number of sets no only per set as in bodybuilding.

The exercises are performed at low to moderate speed; this is why only select power sports such as Football linemen, heavy class wrestlers/ boxers/ martial artists and some power track and field athletes are advised to complete this phase. Also differing from bodybuilding, focus is put on prime movers only during this phase and total exercises are kept low.

It is essential not to train to many individual body parts during this phase. Overtraining occurs when the livers glycogen stores can’t replenish fully between workouts. This is why Hypertrophy training is only done two to three workouts a micro-cycle with maximal time to recover between.