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Dorian Varović, PhD(c)

@varovicdorian

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I make exercise science understandable and applicable
Researcher · Strength & Hypertrophy Coach

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TSG is proud to announce our new collaboration with esteemed strength and hypertrophy coach, researcher & writer, @varovicdorian. Swipe left to read our first post on effectively using science in your training:

In recent years, we’ve seen a rise in the popularity of using science to inform training recommendations and practice. However, as with most things in life, one can take it too far.

While “bro-science” has been heavily criticized over the years for relying too much on anecdotes and personal experiences, it seems the pendulum has swung in the other direction, whereby now everything that’s “based” on scientific evidence seems to be taken as gospel and the only source of “truth”, making every other source of evidence obsolete.

Science can broadly be viewed as a systematic, critical, and self-correcting process for reducing uncertainty about reality by generating, testing, and revising claims, hypotheses, and explanations in light of new evidence.

It seems that many don’t appreciate this fact and approach the use of science as something quite absolute and definitive in nature. More importantly, a lot of things we see on social media presented (over)confidently under the guise of science involve questionable interpretations or presentations of scientific evidence, unfortunately.

In today’s topic we’ll be discussing some approaches to science in general but also how to go about using scientific evidence to inform your own practice and decisions.

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There is compelling evidence that similar whole muscle hypertrophy can be achieved across a broad spectrum of loading ranges—up to 30+ RM!

However, it has been proposed that training load may differentially influence the growth of Type I and Type II muscle fibers. A new systematic review and meta-regression, led by @varovicdorian, sought to determine whether the available evidence supports this hypothesis.

What did they find?

When fiber types were combined, there was no clear relationship between training load and muscle fiber hypertrophy. However, an interesting pattern emerged when fiber types were analyzed separately:
—Lighter loads (20–30% 1RM) tended to favor Type I fiber growth
—Moderate loads (40–50% 1RM) showed little difference between fiber types
—As loads increased, the estimates progressively shifted toward greater Type II fiber growth

It should be noted that the confidence intervals crossed zero for all comparisons, and the analysis included only 8 studies with 195 participants. Moreover, determination of fiber size has inherent challenges, with relatively large errors of the measurement. Thus, these findings should be considered preliminary rather than conclusive.

Take-home: Muscle growth can be achieved across a broad range of training loads, but there may be a fiber-type-specific response, with lighter loads relatively favoring Type I fiber growth and heavier loads favoring Type II fibers. For the general public, these findings likely have little practical relevance—choose a rep range that best suits your preferences. However, for those seeking to maximize hypertrophy, combining different rep ranges could potentially provide complementary effects that enhance overall muscle mass. More research is needed to determine whether this pattern represents a true physiological effect. 💪🏽

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Episode 8 of Anabolic Analysis with @varovicdorian is LIVE
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Link in bio to watch/listen

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Episode 8 of Anabolic Analysis with @varovicdorian is LIVE
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Go to the link in my bio to listen wherever you get your podcasts

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Unga bunga bad 👎
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Drop sets, supersets, myo-rep sets, anything that isn’t apparently a straight set, is… a waste of time?
Who actually believes that?
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Context is key here- not only can these different tools be beneficial, but it also matters at what point in a session you sequence them and what exercises you pair them with. All of which can be methods to increases the tension stimulus threshold.
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Burke et al 2024, demonstrated agonist-antagonist supersets are a viable strategy that leads to the same amount of hypertrophy/strength as straight sets, but in ~36% LESS time!
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JT Bradshaw et al 2026, demonstrated myo-reps are just as effective (potentially slightly more beneficial with a statistically significant differences in regional hypertrophy in the Vastus Lateralis) as straight sets, in yup you guessed it LESS time!
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BUT THE FATIGUE DEMONS 👹
If you’re that worried about “fatigue” why resistance train in the first place? There’s going to be a fatigue cost associated with literally everything we do in the gym. There’s COOL part is humans are not fragile and build of glass (or maybe u are idk m8?). Our physiology is literally meant to tolerate, buffer, and adapt to various kinds of stressors. You’re not going to spontaneously combust into flames…

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Resistance training is easily, one of the best things we can do for long term health outcomes.
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While the improvements in body composition (e.g., more muscle, less fat) are desired and undoubtedly cool 😎 every, single client I’ve ever worked with across my 10 years of coaching- I stress, the body composition improvements pale in comparison to the impact resistance training has on our mental and physical health.
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The awesome part is- once someone develops a basic understanding of fundamental principles in exercise science/nutrition and they take their time to develop the right habits, it literally becomes a gift that keeps on giving with time.
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… but don’t take my word for it, swipe to see the comprehensive summary from current literature from my colleague @varovicdorian

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Dr. Beef loading… 🎓⏳

I passed my dissertation prospectus defense!

Huge thank you to my advisors and dissertation committee for helping sharpen this project. 🙏

This study started as a question about rapid vs. slow eccentrics in lengthened positions, influenced by work on titin, eccentric contractions, and the stretch-shortening cycle (Komi, 2000; Nishikawa, 2020). 📚

I still want to study that question eventually, but for this dissertation, I needed a cleaner model.

So the project shifted to length-specific lower-body isometric training. 🧪

Longer-muscle-length training appears to be a strong stimulus for hypertrophy and structural adaptation in several contexts (Maeo et al., 2021; Pedrosa et al., 2022; Wolf et al., 2023). Isometrics let us study position more directly by removing movement and reducing some stretch-shortening cycle noise.

The core question:

If someone produces high effort in a longer vs. shorter muscle position, does that change force production, RFD, power, or transfer to athletic tasks? ⚡

My work with @vald_performance has also changed how I think about isometrics. With force-time feedback, they can be measured, dosed, progressed, and periodized like other forms of resistance training. 📈

There is growing evidence that isometric adaptations depend on muscle length, joint angle, intensity, and intent (Oranchuk et al., 2019). Long-length knee-extension isometrics have also produced quadriceps hypertrophy comparable to full-ROM isotonic training in resistance-trained individuals (Varović et al., 2025).

This project will focus on lengthened and shortened positions for the hamstrings, quadriceps, and plantar flexors. 🦵

Next up: IRB, recruitment, testing, intervention, post-testing, and analysis.

Where do you think length-specific isometrics are most likely to transfer?

Strength? RFD? Jumping/sprinting? Or mostly the trained position?

References in comments. 📌

Stay beefy. 🥩 💪

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Resistance training is commonly performed dynamically using a full range of motion.

Isometric training has long been thought to be inferior to dynamic training for increasing muscle strength and size.

A new article on Stronger By Science by Dorian Varović explores why the current evidence doesn’t support those claims, what the evidence actually says about isometric training, and how to implement isometrics into your own training routine.

Click the link in our stories or bio to read it now.

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Two new studies prove that lower volume is all you need to maximize growth…🤔

Be willing to challenge your biases always if you want to be the best version of yourself.

If you are interested in coaching, dm me COACH

Training App, Muscle Building and Fat Loss Manuals in linktree in bio

@ekkovision (gym stuff) Code TNF
@ekkovisionclothing Code TNF
@macrofactorapp (tracking app) Code TNF
@marekhealth (telehealth) Code TNF
@gym_pin (gym equipment) Code TNF
@hummusfit (buff muffin/meal prep) TNF

All of these can be found at my linktree in bio 🤝

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Get an optimized program from me in my app. DM "app" to try free for 2 weeks.

In contrast to the old 6-12 'hypertrophy zone' myth, it's now quite well-established that high and low reps are generally equally effective for muscle growth. However, higher reps may target type I slow-twitch muscle fibers a bit more, whereas lower reps may target type II fast-twitch muscle fibers a bit more, according to a new study.

The new preprint meta-analysis of 8 studies found "training with low loads (20–30% 1RM) favored type I fiber growth. In contrast, increasing load was associated with relatively greater hypertrophy in type II muscle fibers".

The Size Principle of motor unit recruitment means type II fibers will get recruited near the end of a set even with very high-rep training, if you go close enough to failure. So you wouldn't expect any effect of rep range on type II muscle fiber growth in theory, but in practice it's mentally very tough to go to true momentary failure during 30+ rep sets. For slow-twitch fibers, high reps could be beneficial by increasing time under tension, as they're active from the start.

The results are statistically not the strongest due to limitations of the available data and the inherent problem of grouping multiple very different studies together in a regression based on pre-post changes. The main results are also logically inconsistent. Rep range had no identifiable effect on total growth and no effect on type I growth yet a positive effect on type II growth. That result is technically impossible, since type I and II growth should sum to the total.

Previous research on whether higher reps emphasize type I fibers has also been conflicting. Multiple Russian studies on constant-tension training and a few studies on blood flow restriction said yes (and none of those were included in the new meta-analysis). Yet most studies on regular training, including the previous meta-analysis comparing high vs low reps without a regression, have found no effect of rep range on which muscle fibers get trained.

#hypertrophy #muscle #strength #fitness #progressiveoverload #mennohenselmans #personaltrainer #personaltrainers #personaltraining

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@menno.henselmans you ok?
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If this isn’t a complete misrepresentation of scientific literature then I don’t know what is.
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Paper (1) the authors do not state ‘p0rN’ anywhere in the study, they categorized it as ‘erotic’ videos and it was still outperformed by aggressive/training clips… but yet you chose to frame the research otherwise. On top of that the paper is weak sauce and has pretty obvious methodological issues, but hey anything for reactions and impressions right?
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Paper (2) pretty gross title, but what’s grosser is how the data doesn’t even reach statistical significance. The authors of the paper even state “it neither harms nor meaningfully enhances exercise capacity”… but again, that’s not how you chose to frame the conclusions.
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Everyone with a brain is thinking this, so I’m just going to say it- the click/reaction baiting (is pretty obvious) and it’s disgusting. I can go through multiple posts where you’re completely misrepresenting research to push a specific narrative. The cherry picking and straw manning has gotten out of hand and further perpetuates the preexisting issues with social media. Half the people that see his posts just like it because confirmation bias and it has a research title attached to it. They don’t question it, or look at the data, and that’s pretty sad to think it’s gotten to that point.
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Lastly, y’all… we wonder why people today seem so weak internally and a big part of that is because they give into temptations and impulses rather than sitting with and resisting them. Anything for cheap dopamine tho amirite? You’d think someone with a following of almost 300k would at least lead with a bit more honesty.

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ON MUSCLE LENGTHS, HYPERTROPHY AND HOW TO MAKE SENSE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

With Dorian Varović

@varovicdorian

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