Strength vs. Hypertrophy Training

Introduction:

Everyone who goes to the gym has a goal. Whether that's competing with your friends to see who can lift the most weight, or to impress your crush with defined muscles, you should adjust your training to fit your goals. Training with weights can be split into three groups: muscular strength, muscular hypertrophy, and muscular endurance. We will be looking into the differences between training for strength versus hypertrophy

What is Muscular Strength?:

Muscular strength refers to the maximum force your muscles can exert in a single movement. Muscular strength is more about the quality of your muscles rather than quantity. A person's muscular strength isn't exactly something you can tell just by looking at them. Muscular strength will allow you to move more weight and can be measured with doing certain lifts, such as the bench press, squat, and deadlift. 

What is Muscular Hypertrophy?

Muscular hypertrophy refers to the overall physical increase in the mass of your muscles. The more hypertrophy you get, the bigger your muscles will grow. This will give you the large stature that bodybuilders and other fitness enthusiasts work towards. You may notice muscle hypertrophy when you compare yourself now to a picture of when you first started lifting weights. It can be measured by different body composition tests that provide your skeletal muscle mass.

Strength vs Hypertrophy in People:

When thinking about strength, think of powerlifters. Powerlifting is all about getting as much weight up as possible for a single repetition. Athletes will work to increase their maximum force output to lift the most. They will also practice these movements repeatedly until they can do it with clean, perfect form. 

When thinking about hypertrophy, think of bodybuilders. Bodybuilders often try to pack on as much muscle mass as possible while maintaining the correct muscle proportions. They also aim to have as little body fat as possible to appear more aesthetic.

Strength Training Protocols:

Strength is best trained when you move heavy weights close to your maximum abilities for fewer reps. For example, when performing an exercise to train for strength, you can do as little as one to six reps. You should pick a weight where after you do your desired reps, you feel like you either can’t do another rep, or if you do attempt another rep it would be dangerous (i.e. training to or close to failure). 

In between sets, you should be fully rested, taking between two to four minutes to rest. Additionally, when training strength, make sure to perfect your form to ensure that you can exercise safely.

Hypertrophy Training Protocols:

For hypertrophy training, you should choose a lighter weight that you can do more reps with. You should perform eight to twelve controlled reps, after which you should feel a burning sensation in your muscles that won’t allow any more exertion. When doing the reps, you should really focus on feeling the appropriate muscle(s) contract. It would be best if you took shorter rests in between sets: anywhere from thirty to ninety seconds.

Can You Increase Strength Without Increasing Hypertrophy and Vice Versa?:

There are many reasons that someone would want to increase strength without wishing to increase muscle mass. It is, for the most part, personal preference of appearance, or because they are in a sport (e.g. wrestling) with weight classes, in which they would want to get stronger without gaining weight. When training exclusively for strength, it is very much possible to gain strength without gaining too much muscle mass. 

On the flip side, when training hypertrophy, you will see an increase in strength. There isn’t much you can do about this increase because your muscles are growing stronger.

Conclusion:

While often put together as one, strength and hypertrophy are two different training styles that yield varying results. Strength training focuses on an increase in physical strength by doing fewer reps of heavy weight. Hypertrophy training focuses on helping you gain muscle mass by exercising with lighter weight for more reps. Both strength and hypertrophy training are essential to becoming a high level athlete.

Sources:

Cronkleton, Emily. “What Is Muscular Strength, and What Are Some Exercises You Can Do?” Healthline, Healthline Media, 31 Oct. 2019, www.healthline.com/health/exercise-fitness/muscular-strength. Accessed 24 Aug. 2024.

Frothingham, Scott. “Hypertrophy Training vs. Strength Training: Pros and Cons of Each.” Healthline, 24 Jan. 2020, www.healthline.com/health/exercise-fitness/hypertrophy-vs-strength. Accessed 24 Aug. 2024.

Grate, Christopher. “The Ultimate Guide to Reps and Sets in the Gym.” Onelifefitness.com, Onelife Fitness, 9 Oct. 2023, www.onelifefitness.com/news/gym-reps-sets-ultimate-guide#:~:text=How%20many%20sets%20and%20reps. Accessed 24 Aug. 2024.

Huberman, Andrew. “Foundational Fitness Protocol - Huberman Lab.” Www.hubermanlab.com, 2 Nov. 2022, www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter/foundational-fitness-protocol. Accessed 24 Aug. 2024.

Huberman Lab Clips. “Building Strength vs Building Muscle Size (Hypertrophy) | Dr. Andy Galpin & Dr. Andrew Huberman.” YouTube, 7 Mar. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7xiFOxmTzI. Accessed 24 Aug. 2024.