Hypertrophy vs Strength Training – Which One Should You Choose?
While the equipment used for these exercises is similar, there are differences in the training module.
According to studies, both hypertrophy and strength training is beneficial. The benefits are immense in terms of endurance, speed, strength, explosiveness, muscular size, and overall health.
However, not all workouts are for everyone. Depending on your fitness goals, you might require entirely different training programs.
For the ultimate physique, it’s necessary to comply with the right workout between both of these. Read this article to know the key difference between strength training and hypertrophy.
Let’s start with an introduction before jumping straight into hypertrophy vs strength training similarities and differences.
What is Muscle Hypertrophy Training?
Whether it is hypertrophy or strength training, both involve similar exercises with similar workout equipment. However, the ultimate goal of hypertrophy is completely different.
For maximum bulking, it is important that the reps are higher with lighter weights.
Hypertrophy training mainly focuses on isolation exercises focusing on a single muscle group at a time.
The common exercises in a hypertrophy training plan are:
- Bicep curls
- Dumbbell flyes
- Quadriceps extensions
Benefits of Hypertrophy Training
First off, the workout offers promising bulking results.
In the fitness world, people prefer hypertrophy over strength training because it makes muscles look good.
Other hypertrophy benefits are:
- Amplified strength and power
- Elevated caloric outlay supporting weight loss
- Improved symmetry (prevents muscular imbalance)
What is Strength Training?
Strength training programs increase your strength level. The workout enables you to increase the force your muscle exerts.
Contrary to the regular workout promoting muscle mass, it emphasizes advancing your power to pull, push, lift, squeeze, squat, and jump.
People in strength training programs perform one or two specific lifts.
This can include Olympic powerlifters who participate in an event to find how much they are able to bench press or deadlift.
To build strength, it is important your muscle fiber gets temporarily additional damage during a workout.
This is possible only with strength training including:
- Bench press
- Deadlift
- Squat
- Military press
Benefits of Strength Training
Various studies have found major benefits, which you can achieve with strength training.
The main strength training benefits are:
- Interchanging body fat with lean muscle
- Helps in weight management
- Promotes metabolism
- Manage your weight
- Elevates bone density while decreasing the risk of osteoporosis
- Lessen the symptoms of chronic diseases like:
- obesity
- arthritis
- diabetes
- back pain
- depression
- cardiac disease
After the short intro of the two workout programs, it’s time to find the answer. Hypertrophy vs Strength Training—what makes them different?
Hypertrophy vs Strength Training
Hypertrophy refers to the development of muscle tissue in the human body.
Generally, experts describe it as other types of bodily growth, but the recent trend restricted its meaning to muscular growth. In the fitness context, it means getting bigger, bulkier, and building more muscles.
In contrast, strength training emphasizes the development of physical strength. This is your natural ability to exert forces while working out or performing regular daily chores.
The strength training programs are of various types including:
- Functional Fitness Or Functional Strength: The workout preparing your physique for real-life activities.
- Maximal Strength: It focuses on your ability to lift heavy weights in single reps.
- Relative Strength: It emphasizes the forces generated by you per unit body weight. This is the number of pull-ups or a double bodyweight deadlift you performed.
Both hypertrophy and strength training workout programs focus on different physical goals.
In the fitness world, the trainers and fitness freaks have their own group, which focuses on certain workouts for certain kinds of results.
- Bodybuilders: These fitness enthusiasts are all about hypertrophy. The workout program perfectly meets their bodybuilding goals. Indeed, it increases small muscle tears for fired-up bulking.
- Powerlifters: These folks concentrate on maximal strength. However, most of them are weight class athletes, so they rely on relative strength.
In other words, hypertrophy prioritizes bulking results.
In contrast, strength training is more about enhancing overall physical strength.
Performing either workout program elevates your fitness level.
Next in the Hypertrophy Training vs Strength Training review, let’s discuss the dissimilarities and similarities between the workout programs.
Key Differences Between Hypertrophy and Strength Training
The two workouts are entirely different from each other in different aspects. Here we’ve distinguished them.
Difference #1:
- Variety: Hypertrophy requires changes in workout frequently. In other words, it relies on the principle of muscle confusion technique to guarantee greater muscle growth.
- Consistency: Firstly, strength training necessitates consistency. Consistency in workouts elevates muscle strength to a great extent.
Difference #2:
- Isolation lifts: Hypertrophy mainly comprises single-joint and isolation movements as they are best for muscle building. While it also necessitates compound lifts, that’s not the focus.
- Compound lifts: Strength workout comprises specifically compound exercises. This excludes assistance movement for muscle balance and injury prevention.
Difference #3:
- Machines: People into muscle building usually rely on machines for bulking and hypertrophy training.
- Free weights: Usually, strength training can also utilize a free weight workout along with equipment-based training.
Difference #4:
- Higher reps: Hypertrophy training emphasizes all rep ranges.
- Lower reps: Strength training requires fewer reps per set. This excludes the usual assistance exercises.
Difference #5:
- Higher volume: Generally, hypertrophy training volume differs. Still, it’s higher than regular strength training.
- Lower volume: Strength training utilizes lesser total volume per muscle group, per workout, and per week.
Difference #6:
- Complexity: Hypertrophy training consists of various diverse workouts for massive bulking for each muscle group.
- Simplicity: Strength training provides greater results with a few workouts per muscle group.
Difference #7:
- Control: Hypertrophy training methods comprise a variety of tempo ranges for muscle growth. It even includes a super-slow tempo.
- Speed: Strength training principally relies on quicker, more Intense lifting tempos.
Difference #8
- 24/7 nutrition: For hypertrophy, an appropriate diet is important as it can break or make your bulking progress. Typically, you require a caloric surplus, adequate protein, and other macros in your diet plan.
- Recovery nutrition: The diet should support strength training by stimulating recovery and muscle repairs.
Hypertrophy and Strength Training | Similarities
There are various aspects making the workouts similar to a certain extent. Here we’ve listed them out:
#1. Beginners can get stronger and bulkier at the same time. They don’t require specific workout planning or effort like advanced fitness freaks.
#2. Compound lifts are best for both strength and hypertrophy. (hypertrophy training examples include deadlifts, squats, overhead press, bench press, rows, and pull-ups).
#3. Training splits: Upper-lower, push-pull, and full-body training splits work for strength and muscle building both depending on the person.
#4. Strength matters: To any extent, to get bigger, you need greater strength. So, strength training is indispensable.
#5. Size counts, too: If you are stronger, you would get bulkier and bigger unless your diet prevents the required nutritional flow.
#6. Overload: Whether it is hypertrophy or strength training, both rely on progressive overload. It is the gradual increment in reps and weight over time to encourage muscle fitness.
#7. Dedication: Achieving the full potential in either strength or hypertrophy requires years of hard work, dedication, and consistent efforts.
#8. Height: Shorter people find it easier to lift heavier weights while developing their physique. Obviously, the shorter bar path gets them more leverage.
Now, the question arises, what to start with, should it be Strength or hypertrophy first?
How to Do Strength and Hypertrophy Training?
The above segment clearly demonstrates how hypertrophy and strength training are the two sides of the same coin.
The stronger you are, the more muscle you bulk up, and the greater muscle size, the maximum strength you receive.
Thus, in the long run, ignoring either strength or hypertrophy isn’t going to be feasible for your overall fitness. It’s not just about your physique but the underlying risks as well.
Even the pro bodybuilders and powerlifters shift workouts temporarily during the off-seasons. Sometimes, they do it for a mental and physical break, for fun, or to break through a plateau.
You can select from dozens of strength or muscle-building training programs available online. Make sure they have a similar guideline as suggested below:
Strength Training Guidelines
#1. Lift weight 2-4 days every week (twice a week is good if your workout demands physical exertion. Nonetheless, it’s better to perform strength training at least 3 days per week).
#2. Manage your splits around workouts, not muscle groups.
#3. Post warming up, start each exercise with 1-3 heavy compound lifts (like squats, deadlifts, overhead press, bench press, or pull-ups).
#4. According to your experience, try to do at least 5-10 sets of 1-5 reps per compound lift for strengthening.
#5. Lift energetically and rely on a 1-second negative (lowering) phase.
#6. Take a break of 2-4 minutes between heavy lifts.
#7. Beat your own record and step beyond your limits by adding more weights or reps whenever possible.
#8. Post heavy lifts, try using some lighter weights assistance compound and isolation movements with 5-25+ reps.
#9. For your assistance workouts, rely on rest periods of 1-2 minutes and a tempo of your preference
- Each session should last up to 45 minutes.
- Try a whey protein shake post-workout.
Hypertrophy Training Guidelines
#1. Lift 3-6 days every week (for most Individuals, 3-5 days is ideal, but don’t lift daily).
#2. Manage your hypertrophy training split around muscle groups rather than movements.
#3. Integrate a combination of both isolation and compound lifts, as well as machines and free weights.
#4. Post warming up, emphasize on most sets with 5-12 reps. Also, think about including some sets in the 1-4 and 13-25+ rep ranges as well. This is a constructive way to plan hypertrophy training sets and reps.
#5. Lift heavier weights with lower reps primarily in the training. Afterward, add reps and reduce the weights later during the workout.
#6. Practice drop sets, supersets, and rest-pause sets. These can develop your intensity, save time, and help you prevent plateaus.
#7. Beat your limits and power by involving more weight or reps whenever feasible:
- Involve rest periods of 1-3 minutes (or less during supersets).
- Think about completing your movements with lightweight “pump sets” of 25-100 reps and a piston-like “1-0-1” tempo (1-second lowering, no pause, 1-second lifting) for elevated blood flow and nutrient transportation to your muscle tissues.
- Each session may take an entire hour or longer.
- Post-workout, have a protein shake.
Strength and hypertrophy workouts are feasible for your physique development. You can focus on one to meet certain fitness goals.
However, what works best is the involvement of both at the same time. Also, emphasize heavy lifts for greater results.
At the same time, also be mindful of the risks. Weight lifting is beneficial but it comes with certain risks as well.
Risks Associated with Hypertrophy and Strength Training
Weight lifting is an evergreen fitness trend, and its popularity isn’t going to decimate. However, with various benefits for your physical development, some underlying risks remain as well.
For beginners, it’s important not to underplay the game without knowing the basics. This can in turn result in your physique degrading from the path to success.
The main risks associated with weightlifting are:
- Lifting too quickly or too heavily may result in serious injuries.
- Movements outside your usual range of motion can cause damage and even injury.
- Holding your breath while lifting weight can rapidly elevate blood pressure or result in a hernia.
- Inadequate rests between exercises result in serious tissue damage or overuse injuries including tendinosis and tendinitis.
Thus, it is advisable to be gentle in the beginning. For expanding your workout dimension, go slow and steady.
Choosing the One for You
Between hypertrophy vs strength training, which one can you really rely on?
Everyone has certain bodybuilding goals. For achieving it, it’s crucial to rely on the right workout program along with the right diet and nutrition.
Hypertrophy and strength training both enable you to reach your next fitness level. However, the final outcome of both workouts differs drastically.
Hypertrophy is basically suitable for muscle-building goals in the long run. On the contrary, strength training is more about elevating physical strength.
Hypertrophy uses small workouts for longer for maximum muscle tearing. This gets you a quicker bulking result.
Whereas, strength training utilizes workouts increasing the muscle force you exert during workouts.
What’s surprising here is that both the training programs complement each other. Understand this, the bigger muscle, the more strength, the more strength, the bigger muscle.
In essence, hypertrophy and strength training go hand in hand.
This is why experts and trainers recommend involving the combination for both training programs. Our suggestion also aligns with the same.
Hypertrophy vs Strength Training for Fat Loss
When it comes to fat loss, both training programs offer feasible results. Still, hypertrophy supports weight loss to a greater extent.
When your body has more muscle, you automatically begin to burn out the stored fat. The less stored fat you have, the more muscular your physique appears.
So, we give thumbs up to hypertrophy training for fat loss. It meets the dynamic demands of physical wellness.
The Takeaway
Neither hypertrophy nor strength training is better. They are interrelated, intertwined, and complementary to each other.
Thus, rather than focusing on one, you should focus on a combination of both.
Luckily, beginners can get the results of both training programs at once. They don’t require extensively programmed workout sessions; even simple workout programs work for them.
It isn’t the workout that matters only. It is your dedication, efforts, consistency, your diet, and nutritional flow as well.
So, never underestimate these aspects of fitness if you’re really serious about getting bigger or stronger.
Starving for more fitness news? Catch up with the latest in weight loss, metabolism, and workout programs on our homepage.