Recently, I got into a debate with an exercise scientist who conducts research specific to muscle growth.
He challenged one of my core beliefs.
*That progressive strength training, specifically, getting stronger in the 5–10 rep range, is the most powerful and reliable driver of muscle growth.*
- He argued that hypertrophy is much more complex.
- That muscle growth doesn’t require increasing strength.
- That mechanical tension is just one of many factors.
- That metabolic stress, hormonal cascades, and cellular swelling all contribute significantly.
- He even claimed that strength gains are mostly neural and not inherently tied to growth.
He brought up IGF-1, myokines, cell swelling, GH response, and even asked…
“How can teenagers grow muscle without mechanical tension?”
Let me respond directly.
This is why the industry is confused.
What Actually Builds Muscle?
Let’s be clear…
Mechanical tension is the primary trigger of muscle hypertrophy.
When you train with enough load and effort to recruit and fatigue high-threshold type 2 fibers, that’s what forces the muscle to grow.
The hormonal and cellular signaling that follows is secondary.
It responds to the tension. It doesn’t create growth on its own.
Even when using high reps or pump work, the growth still comes from the reps where mechanical tension is high, usually near failure.
Why Metabolic Stress Alone Isn’t Enough
Drop sets. Super sets. Burnouts. Chasing the pump.
These methods all emphasize fatigue and burn, over force production.
- Yes, they create metabolic stress.
- Yes, you get a sick pump.
But without sufficient load and proper rest to lift heavy again, you limit how many effective reps you can do.
I’ve tested this.
I used to train with drop sets and all the intensity tricks and I got weaker. My muscle gains stalled.
Because I wasn’t creating the tension required to trigger new growth.
Strength is the Driver
Let me say this plainly:
If you go from incline pressing 185×6 to 225×6, you are going to gain serious muscle. Period.
You can’t make that kind of strength jump in a moderate rep range without adding significant mass.
Yes, strength gains can be neural early on.
But once you’re past the beginner phase, strength and muscle are deeply linked.
The more force your body can produce against resistance, the more contractile tissue you carry.
That’s physics.
Strawman Argument #1 – “How do teenagers grow muscle without mechanical tension?”
This is natural growth driven by hormonal surges, not the same as training-induced hypertrophy.
Teenagers grow muscle from puberty, not from training. When a trained individual wants to stimulate further hypertrophy, tension is the tool. No one builds a physique benching 135 for 3 years straight while hoping their GH or IGF response will magically deliver gains.
Strawman Argument #2 – “But high reps also build muscle.”
Sure. But they do when taken close to failure, where mechanical tension kicks in. Light weight with lots of reps is still about reaching the point where tension becomes significant.
If you’re not progressing in load or getting stronger in that rep range over time, you’re not going to see sustained growth. The size will plateau and the pump will fade.
The Researcher’s Complexity Defense
Yes, hypertrophy has biochemical layers.
But over time, only progressive overload builds permanent muscle.
Short-term studies showing equal hypertrophy from drop sets and traditional sets are misleading. They measure temporary inflammation or glycogen swelling, not real contractile growth.
Real training results show up over 6–12 months, not 4-week studies done with beginners.
Final Thoughts
I didn’t need the research to tell me what works.
I figured it out by living it.
• Progressing in key lifts
• Staying lean year-round
• Walking daily
• Never chasing fatigue, only performance
Strength is the foundation. Tension is the trigger.
Everything else? Fluff.
And the science is finally catching up to the truth I’ve lived and taught for over a decade.
Why My Clients Get Chiseled
Because I help them master getting lean while getting strong.
They’re not wasting time on fluff volume, starvation diets, or workout programs that make them weaker.
They’re training like I did…
- They’re building real muscle.
- They’re getting shredded.
- And they’re sustaining it.
If you want to follow the same system that’s helped thousands get in movie star shape, and you understand that building strength is key to muscle…
The next step is getting shredded to reveal it.
That’s where my most powerful fat loss program, Shred 60, comes in.
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Talk Soon,
Greg O’Gallagher
