The Dutch bodybuilding coach and scientist Menno Henselmans is a popular speaker in the international evidence-based bodybuilding scene. He was recently interviewed by fellow coach Tom MacCormick, who is also an author for the website Breaking Muscle. The conversation was of course about muscle growth, but then somewhat grafted on ‘hardgainers’ and advanced. We have written the most interesting passages for you.

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A HARD GAINER? (01:22)

Absolutely, because there are people who have a harder time achieving muscle growth than others. However, the question is whether they are genetically doomed to build muscle more slowly, or whether they are simply not following the right training program for their genetics. Different people have different optimal training volumes and frequencies (see also our article about hard gainers, red).

Usually the so-called hard gainers or non-responders need more volume to build muscle mass as quickly as others. So they have to do more exercises and sets to get the same results.

HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR OWN OPTIMAL TRAINING VOLUME? (04:23)

Basically by experimenting and keeping a close eye on the results. Measuring muscle growth is not so easy, however. Measuring your arm circumference, for example, does not provide a reliable indication in the short term; it can vary from day to day. You better look at progression in strength, combined with changes in body composition that your scale indicates.

Another indicator of how you respond to a training program is work capacity. Work capacity is how many reps you lose during a series of sets for the same exercise and weight. If you can do 12 reps on your first set, 11 on your second, and 10 on your third, you have a good work capacity. However, if you go from 12 to 6 to 3 reps, your work capacity drops by 50 percent each time. That implies a disproportionately great fatigue after the first set. And it’s quite possible that’s because you’re doing too much volume.

So-called hardgainers often have relatively weak joints, making them faster injuries increase, especially in exercises like deadlifts and squats. This makes it seem like high volumes don’t work for them. So be careful with programming heavy, complex compound exercises at high training volumes. In general you can say that people with strong joints have a high muscle growth potential.

HOW MANY TIMES A WEEK SHOULD YOU TRAIN A MUSCLE GROUP? (08:10)

That depends on the training volume you need, which for most people is between 10 and 30 sets per muscle group per week. Only beginners get by with less. Training frequency only becomes important at higher volumes, from about 10 sets.

Several studies suggest that you can do no more than 5 to 10 productive sets per workout. Already from 5 sets the growth stimulus starts to stagnate and there is therefore a reduced yield. After 10 sets you will cause unnecessary muscle damage, which also needs to be repaired and that is at the expense of muscle growth. That makes sense, because otherwise you could do 50 sets of squats in one workout and grow for the rest of the month.

If you do more than 10 sets per week for a muscle group, it is best to spread them over several weekly sessions, while taking into account sufficient recovery time between those sessions.

HOW MUCH MUSCLE MASS CAN YOU GAIN AS A NATURAL? (26:00)

A cliché, but that varies greatly from person to person. It makes no sense to compare yourself to someone else or see someone else’s body as your goal. Focus on your own progress. On that one rep you can do this workout more than the last.

That said, I have a calculator on my website that gives a pretty reliable indication of your muscle growth potential, based on the so-called fat-free mass index (FFMI). You can also use this index and calculator to estimate whether someone is ‘natty or not’.

In general you can say that an average bodybuilder should be able to grow 0.5 to 1% of his body weight per week without an excessive increase in fat mass.

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU EAT TO GROW? (33:00)

Much less than most people think. Intermediate and advanced bodybuilders must have a calorie surplus to grow seriously, but it doesn’t have to be very large. You can only gain a very small amount of muscle mass per day, so you don’t need a lot of calories to facilitate that process.

In the past, 500 kcal above maintenance level was often used as a rule. That’s way too much. Even the adjusted advice of 200-500 kcal above maintenance is still too much for most people. After 100-200 calories in the plus, the spillover point is usually reached: you only gain fat.

IS IT PROBLEMATIC IF YOU GAIN A LOT OF FAT WHILE BULKING? (34:04)

At some point, yes. This has to do with the so-called P-ratio. That is the extent to which the body gains protein relative to the total weight gain. This ratio becomes less favorable as you have a higher fat percentage. It is not for nothing that you sometimes hear that people with a high fat percentage during bulking almost only gain fat. At a certain point, the body is barely able to build muscle mass.

That can also be explained. The fatter you get, the lower your insulin sensitivity, the more your body tends to store energy as fat. In addition, that low insulin sensitivity causes a higher degree of inflammation in the body, which inhibits muscle growth. There are also studies that show that obese people have a higher protein oxidation and that they recover less well from strength training.

To build muscle efficiently, you don’t have to be fat. Not skinny either, by the way. The ideal body fat percentage for muscle building for men is roughly 7 to 15%, for women 10 to perhaps 30%. Due to their different fat distribution, women can easily achieve muscle growth even with higher fat percentages.

It is also striking how often body fat percentages are overestimated. Many men who think they are around 10% are actually around 14 or 15%. Which is still fine by the way.

ARE YOU A SUPPORTER OF BULKING AND CUTTING, OR MORE OF BODY RECOMPOSITION? (44:13)

Of bulking and cutting. Effective body recomposition (building muscle and losing fat at the same time) is only for beginners. For intermediates and advanced, training below maintenance level is a waste of time. But it is of course fantastic if you manage to build up some muscle mass while cutting. I see body recomposition as the result of a very successful cut.

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU BULK AND CUT? (46:38)

You should be bulking most of your time. Don’t get too fat while bulking. And fat loss is fast, so you don’t have to cut for long.

It is often thought that you have to bulk for months in a row before you can start cutting. However, that is not the case. I coach a lot of women and there I often apply a protocol of two weeks bulk and one week cut, because they want to look sleek all year round. However, this is easier for women than for men, because they bulk less excessively (they usually don’t train the whole body either).

For men, I recommend bulking for at least four weeks in a row before cutting. Cutting brings about metabolic and hormonal changes and the body always needs some time to bring those things back to normal levels. Incidentally, that is usually only a matter of days, so let’s not exaggerate. However, you should not switch modes too quickly. Bulking for one week and then cutting for a week is impossible: your training program would degenerate into chaos.

Long-term bulking is of course also fine. I don’t believe in momentum, but it can be nice to focus on one goal for a few months. Make sure that your fat percentage does not rise too high, because as already mentioned, this can undermine your muscle growth potential.