Hypertrophy vs strength

[carolyn3]

Cathe,
I'm unclear about the difference between hypertrophy and strength. If I'm building strength aren't I also building muscle and definition?

I'm asking because I just finished STS 3.5 month rotation and want to repeat Meso 3 using Option "B" for the legs this time. But I also want to get more muscle definition, so I'm not sure what to do.

Cathe, I'd appreciate any info you can give me on this. Thanks, I love STS!

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

You are not alone Carolyn, this is actually a quite common question. I agree, it can definitely get confusing but let me see if I can explain it more clearly. There are certainly similarities and some overlap between hypertrophy and strength training, but they’re not the same thing. With hypertrophy your goal is to increase the size of your muscles, while with strength, your goal is to lift or move a heavy weight or object. For instance, let's look at a body builder. A bodybuilder trains for size and thus uses a program that focuses primarily on hypertrophy. Though the bodybuilder may have HUGE muscles, he/she will not be able to lift as heavy of a weight as a power lifter can of the same body weight whose workout routine is designed around strength workouts. Yes, the bodybuilder will be strong when compared to a non weightlifter, but nowhere near as strong as a person who REGULARLY trains by lifting heavy weights and low reps. In the third mesocycle of STS we use a rep range of 8 to 6 reps for this strength cycle which is actually a bit on the high side for a strength workout. So there is a blend of hypertrophy and strength benefits in this mesocycle.
I hope this helps you make your decision.

Cathe,
I'm unclear about the difference between hypertrophy and strength. If I'm building strength aren't I also building muscle and definition?

I'm asking because I just finished STS 3.5 month rotation and want to repeat Meso 3 using Option "B" for the legs this time. But I also want to get more muscle definition, so I'm not sure what to do.

Cathe, I'd appreciate any info you can give me on this. Thanks, I love STS!

 

[healthy_vegan]

Size versus density?

Thanks for your response, Cathe.

When we talk about "putting on" muscle, is this largely through hypertrophy training, or do strength and endurance training also add muscle to our bodies (perhaps density versus size)?