Hussam Asks: How and when do you think Hypertrophy styled training or a hypertrophy block should be incorporated in a weightlifter’s programming? I don’t think you’ve ever discussed this topic before.
 
Greg Says: I don’t usually prescribe an entire training block specifically for hypertrophy—really only in rare cases of injury where bodybuilding-type training is the only thing the athlete can do temporarily. Hypertrophy work can be added to preparatory phases as needed, that is, it should be done far out from significant competitions when the training focus isn’t competition preparation.
 
With most lifters, I include 1-2 days/week of accessory work that could be lumped into the hypertrophy category—upper body pressing and pulling, both vertical and horizontal—and sometimes a third day in which I’ll let them add other “beach work” of their choice.
 
Typically this means row and pull-up/pull-down variations and pressing variations: Bent row, dumbbell row, T-bar row, low cable row, pull-down, pull-ups, etc.; press, press split, press in clean, press in snatch, 1-arm dumbbell press, bench press, incline bench press, Z-press, etc. To that I may add some arm or grip work. Curls are common for elbow health and stability. Usually I’ll also do some unilateral leg/hip work, although it really has nothing to do with hypertrophy and instead is intended to keep the athlete symmetrical, stable and healthy.
 
The purpose of hypertrophy work for each athlete will dictate what it looks like and how much is done. For example, if an athlete wants to actually invest in appearance, they’re going to do more, and likely somewhat compromise actual weightlifting performance; for others, it’s more about orthopedic health specifically to support weightlifting and will be totally performance-focused; and for those who need to gain weight, I may add high-rep drop sets to squats, pressing and deadlifting to help push some functional size gains in addition to all the previous.
 
You can see more in these articles:
 
Bodybuilding Accessory Work for Weightlifters
 
Sample Bodybuilding Work for Weightlifters