Strength training vs hypertrophy training, know the difference

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      In the realm of sports, a variety of disciplines involve weightlifting in one way or another intending to increase an athlete’s performance. Among the diverse varieties of sports, bodybuilding and powerlifting practice weightlifting as their main form of exercise, but despite both sports requiring athletes to devote countless hours at the gym, their bodies look noticeably different. This difference is all due to one main fact, strength training and hypertrophy training. Athletes in bodybuilding train to achieve muscle hypertrophy, whereas powerlifters train to maximize their strength. when it comes to body structure, bodybuilders and powerlifters share similarities and differences as they both contain large muscle mass, more specifically in their limbs and trunk, however, powerlifting athletes are often covered by subcutaneous fat, while bodybuilders use a combination of bulking and cutting phases in their diet to remove all unnecessary fat to make muscles more visible. 

 

      It is important to understand the difference between both types of training, beginning with strength training. 



Strength training

      The main purpose of strength training is to increase muscle strength and power. It involves training your nervous system to use as many muscle fibers as necessary to overcome an external force. It involves a neuromuscular adaptation in which your nervous system learns to communicate better with your muscles to create force. Strength training, or higher load training, lifts heavier weights per set with fewer repetitions, between 1 – 10, and its effects are evident after 8 to 12 weeks. 

 

      Strength training plays a vital role in most sports along with our everyday life, with the role of keeping the human body healthy.



Hypertrophy training

      Muscle hypertrophy is often achieved through resistance training. It develops strength but its main focus is to increase muscle mass, and is present in various sports, including bodybuilding. Training to achieve muscle hypertrophy means you are seeking to increase the physical size of your muscles, along with muscle symmetry, and can take several months to notice any results. The basis of hypertrophy training involves resistance training with multiple sets (3-6) of 6 to 12 repetitions and short rest intervals (60s), with a gradual increase in volume. From an analytical standpoint, muscle hypertrophy occurs when muscle protein synthesis exceeds muscle protein breakdown and results in a positive net protein balance in cumulative periods. Hypertrophy can be achieved through resistance training and protein ingestion, which stimulates protein synthesis and leads to a decrease in muscle protein breakdown.

 

      Now that we know the difference between resistance training and strength training, is it possible to combine them in our daily workouts?

 

 

Strength training + resistance training

      The truth is that hypertrophy training and strength training are interconnected.

 

      Resistance and strength training often occur at the same time since increasing your muscular size can increase your strength. Even when you train for strength, The ability to perform such exercises for longer periods can lead to hypertrophy. It is possible to adjust certain training variables in order to focus on either hypertrophy or strength training, and even learn how to combine the two. Those variables are:

 

    • Intensity: Muscle adaptations require muscles to become damaged, stressed, and fatigued. intensity affects how quickly your muscles reach that fatigue. To be effective, the intensity chosen for that particular exercise needs to be enough to generate stress while allowing you to do enough reps to reach fatigue. 
    • Repetitions: repetitions, or reps, refer to the number of times you perform the action of a particular exercise. It has an inverse relationship with intensity: as your intensity increases, your number of reps decreases. Higher levels of intensity can often improve your strength, which means that typically, you will gain the most strength when performing about 1 to 5 reps at 85-100% of your single-rep weight capacity (one rep max, or 1RM). You should perform each rep as fast as you can while using the proper form for that particular exercise to ensure your safety. Hypertrophy training usually involves more reps with a lower intensity and should be completed with about 6 to 12 reps for muscle growth at 75 to 85% of 1RM. 
    • Rest periods: rest periods are different for strength and hypertrophy training. In hypertrophy training, it is best to have a rest period between 60 and 90 seconds. Having a longer rest period may prevent the hypertrophic effect from occurring. In contrast, for strength training, it is recommended to have a test period between 3 to 5 minutes. Having insufficient rest between sets, you won’t be able to complete the necessary intensity needed to gain strength. 
    • Sets: sets are the number of times you perform the same exercise. To generate hypertrophy, focusing on doing between 3 and 5 sets of each exercise is ideal, and for strength, it is best to do 4 to 6 sets per exercise. To train for either, you will need to Bart your intensity and reps so that you can reach the ideal number of sets.
    • Exercise selection: exercise selection is extremely important for both strength and hypertrophy training, and can make a difference in your overall resistance training program. Your routine should include exercises that involve several muscle groups and joints in one action- often called compound exercises. Squats, deadlifts, and rows are examples of compound exercises, involving several muscle groups in one action. For hypertrophy, working with several groups at once may promote uniform growth. For strength, working multiple groups at once can improve your overall strength.

 

 

 

 

 

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