Alex Hoffmann - Bigger Muscles or Stronger Muscles? Or Both?

This is today's ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association) Newsletter. They offer a basic, one-size-fits-all model for training either for size or for strength, although to his credit, Hoffmann admits that individuals vary in their response to stimuli.

Here are a couple of the basics (followed by an exceptions that combines both goals into a single workout):

So how do muscles get stronger?

How can we use this information to help our clients who want to get stronger, but not bigger? We have to consider the amount of weight lifted, the number of reps, and the rest period.

And how do muscles get bigger?

Now you might be thinking that this is common sense, right? Lifting heavy weights make you stronger, but is this also the best strategy for getting bigger muscles?

The quick answer is no. It is not likely that following the recommendations for increasing muscle strength will lead to optimal muscle hypertrophy.

Of course, there are MANY and varied exceptions to these "rules." One of my favorite training protocols is Chad Waterbury's Anti-Bodybuilding Hypertrophy Program (ABBH Program) - see here for the foundation, then here for The Waterbury Method, then here for the science behind his program design. If you want to lose fat as well, see here.

For me -- my strength, my recovery, my limitations -- the 10x3 program is the most successful size program I have used. In the 2nd iteration, Waterbury combines 10x3 with 4x6, which also makes a nice workout strategy for strength gains (slightly less) and hypertrophy (slightly more) due to the higher overall volume in the program design.

The basic idea of strength is low-rep sets, and the basic idea of hypertrophy is volume, and by combining low-rep sets with moderate volume, lifters can get both outcomes from the same program.