Strength vs. Hypertrophy | Training Principles and Adaptations

[@cindysmallwood5961]

Thank you so much for your videos! I am studying for the NASM CPT certification and your videos have helped give a clearer explanation than the course material.

[@SDSuko]

I've watched 10 of your videos in a row. Thanks so much for all of this knowledge. You're great at explaining science.

[@abhidiptochakraborty4451]

Thank you so much for describing the differences b/w these two. If you can please help me to understand the differences b/w POWER TRAINING & STRENGTH TRAINING in terms of reps, sets and % 1RM , it will be a great help.

[@monnoo8221]

thanks for the clear explanation. Yet I think there is some influence of age and body type, meaning the general setup of slow vs fast fibers, total muscle mass, frame size, and type of nutrition. For years I was doing hypertrophy kind of training, regarding your explanation, and I did not see any progress in either strength or mass. Only when starting to follow a strength oriented pattern with 4..6 reps and 2 sets I see progress in both, and even in vascularization, notably within less than a year.

[@debiprasadkar3018]

Hi Matt. I’m a intermediate sprint hurdler. As a sprinter we need better explosive strength and neuromuscular adaptations. In order to do that we have to be better with our relative and overall strength. Sometimes I have came across some training plans where strength based exercises are coupled with plyometric exercises or other explosive movements. For example 3 sets of 3 reps of Squats , 5 reps of drop jumps in a circuit. Does this kind of training help to optimise the goal for a sprinter(to improve overall strength while improving the explosiveness as well.

[@TheMovementSystem]

Yes. That's called post activation potentiation. It can be a really good training method if you have good technique and experience with both plyometric and resistance training.

[@debiprasadkar3018]

Thanks Matt! It was really helpful. 🙌🏽

[@fittolast2647]

Great video - thank you 👊🏻

[@cainmathewson1857]

1 rep max? What would be the minimum?

[@alecalbright2677]

Would using compound core lifts like squat and bench press at lighter intensity (65-70%) and moderate reps be acceptable for a hypertrophy block? Or should it be primarily accessory movements?

[@TheMovementSystem]

I would definitely encourage you to use compound moves at lower to moderate intensity and higher volumes and not just accessories.

[@freddiepowles4244]

Hey Matt what do you think would be the best way for a 14year old to try and get quicker and build more fast twitch muscle fibre’s

[@TheMovementSystem]

Get strong. You need to build strength consistently month to month. You'll also want to do some power based exercises that involve moving fast such as power cleans, push jerk, Medicine ball throws, jumps, etc.

[@TogarNippae]

Great topic

[@jamalthruston]

So what you're saying is -- with hypertrophy training -- I don't need to max out everything everyday to get "max gains" ? Explains why I burned out so often!

[@TheMovementSystem]

Exactly. You’re likely going to be better off carrying a more consistent moderate level of fatigue from session to session than burning out too much and having that impact your ability to achieve enough intensity the next session

[@DiDiRedDevils]

Hi Matt, Thanks for the video, I wonder what do you think would be better approach for team sports? Sports such as soccer or basketball, when they need a little bit from both hypertrophy and strength. For those sports combination of both would be suitable in their training plan, with changing the emphasis on strength, hypertrophy or power depending on the season schedule.

[@TheMovementSystem]

There are definitely athletes like basketball athletes who need both strength and hypertrophy. At certain points such as during a long season or in a secondary season where they may get the best results from training a little bit of both such as an undulating program. But that’s more going to maintain adaptations than build. You would also want to see them program phases of training throughout the year such as in the primary preseason where they let the hypertrophy training go in order to do more sport specific strength and power training

[@justincruz4144]

hi Matt, what advice could you give in cycling between hypertrophy and MxS phases for gen pop? like how would the transition be from the strength phase to hypertrophy phase? Thanks in advance!

[@isiahagonzales309]

Hello Matt! I noticed you said undulating periodization is more for maintaining, however, with both the NSCA essentials of strength and conditioning and their strength training book, they state undulating as effective as linear. is their new research that says its only best for maintaining?

[@TheMovementSystem]

It’s similarly effective for strength at least in the short term. I haven’t seen any research showing undulating consistently achieve similar hypertrophy gains to higher volume hypertrophy specific programs. It’s important to understand as well that the research is surrounding the average athlete. More advanced or specialized athletes such as powerlifters would likely see greater strength gains in a purely strength program.

[@isiahagonzales309]

@@TheMovementSystem I see ; if the client is focusing on just hypertrophy or strength , then linear but if they want to train as an athlete or is an athlete than undulating would be more effective since they need all aspects

[@delonghi5000]

Hi Matt, thx for explanation! Question: if going for strength, I believe higher loads (+ closer to failure) also means longer rests between sets. But since time is always limited, is strength also achieved if I do a circuit of 4 exercises of EMOM with different muscle groups? So 5 rounds of 4 groups means I rest 1 muscle group 3 min per round. Or does circuit fatigue defeat the purpose making it more endurance or hyperthrophy or something?

[@TheMovementSystem]

To optimize strength we typically do see the best results with longer rest periods. Circuit training with EMOM would likely achieve little increase in strength but improvements in conditioning, muscular endurance, and potentially hypertrophy

[@delonghi5000]

@@TheMovementSystem Thank you again Matt! Guess we cannot beat time :-)

[@kevinhampton3346]

When you said strength is low reps and low amt of sets isnt the rep ranges and set ranges 3-5 reps for 3-5 sets for strength and power ? Is this a moderate or low volume?

[@TheMovementSystem]

It depends on the phase of training. You could do moderate volume strength training or low depending on the goal. Low is often good for tapering or really maximizing one rep max

[@kevinhampton3346]

@@TheMovementSystem Okay so more moderate volume is like building your strength base and the low volume is high intensity specific to increasing 1RM?

[@TheMovementSystem]

@@kevinhampton3346 Yea it's just about specificity. With lower volume very high intensity training we have the most specific adaptations to gains with near maximal loads

[@coffeevibes1611]

Shouldnt strength have more sets than hypertrophy? For example hypertrophy 3sets of 12, while strength is like 10sets of 3. Hypertrophy more reps fewer sets, while strength fewer reps but more sets to compensate for the lack of volume. And in just my opinion i think DUP is really good for strength training, Taylor Atwood 74kg world champion has been doing DUP for years and is coached by TheStrengthGuys who advocates DUP training for strength and alot of national/world level powerlifters. But yeah there are multiple ways to train not just DUP but it's great imo.

[@kingkong1878]

@@coffeevibes1611 you could but it’s not optimal because you will be fatigued doing that many sets with High intensity and it will take you a long time to get it done because you usually rest for about 3-5 minutes when training for strength.

[@FreshMootz]

3-6 months for advanced?? Kind of early, no?

[@TheMovementSystem]

From a physiological standpoint that’s the end of gains being primarily neuromuscular and the start of gains being slower paced. I guess “advanced” is relative. It’s just a transition point in terms of needing to train with more specificity to achieve further adaptation

[@FreshMootz]

@@TheMovementSystem that’s a good point. I’ve had powerlifters crush primary goals for almost a year before I would call them even advanced lol

[@ABHIY-d6w]

Did any body notice #elonmusk in the background

[@TheMovementSystem]

Learn more about Program Design 101: the-movement-system.mykajabi.com/programdesigncourse

[@lylemcdonaldisright]

Strength and hypertrophy training are close enough in scope physiologically that the idea that they will cause interference is nonsensical. Powerbuidling has been around for decades where you follow heavy 5's with volume work. Strength + hypertrophy ensues. In practice, most powerlifters and even some Olympics lifters do their heavy work and then follow it up with volume. It's not like endurance and hypertrophy training. So nice try but try again.

[@TheMovementSystem]

Sure. You can get a combination of strength and hypertrophy with mixed training like the video states. But very few powerlifters at a high level win a powerlifting competition with hybrid training. Also very few bodybuilders win bodybuilding competitions with a power building approach. To achieve specific adaptations at a high level the phase potentiation approach produces better results than a mixed adaptation approach especially approaching competition.

[@MegaW3rd]

I agree in the general sense. But like Matt responded if it’s sport based the SAID principle is going to be very selective in sport applied

[@bryansimms9530]

U dont look very big or strong to me