MM #2: Building Muscle vs Getting Stronger - Can you do both?

Happy Monday, Legends!

Today’s article discusses some important nuances about the differences between training for strength and training for hypertrophy (muscle growth).

There is some overlap in the approach, but long story short: you can’t optimize for both simultaneously.

You should know which of the two is your priority.

But first:

A Tweet

I love this - I’ve talked about this technique before to increase self-respect but never thought about it in terms of relationship advice.

You attract the energy you put out.

A Quote

A friendly reminder that you are making more progress than you think.

Success isn’t linear.

Sometimes it feels like you’re grinding away with no results, but I can promise you: if you’re showing up and putting in your best, you are making progress.

Trust yourself.

Content

Fun fact: today’s article is essentially a summary of this video.

Dr. Mike Israetel is one of my most trusted voices in sports science; definitely check out his content if you haven’t heard of him.

This video is about 30 minutes long, but it’s worth your time if you’re serious about making progress in the gym.

Ask most people why they’re going to the gym, and you’ll typically hear “to get bigger and stronger.”

These goals seem to complement each other intuitively, and to an extent, they do.

And if you’re new to the gym, you’ll get bigger and stronger immediately, no matter what program you follow.

But as you get more advanced, these goals begin to diverge. 

It’s possible to accomplish both in the same program, but if you’re looking to optimize one or the other, you’ll have to choose.

For the longest time, I really only considered the rep ranges as the main difference between the size.

2–5 reps at heavy loads to build strength.

6–12 reps at lighter loads (taken to muscular failure) for hypertrophy.

Turns out this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I’ve been going down the rabbit hole recently to expand my knowledge since I’ve recently launched a coaching offer, and I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for the nuances between training for size vs. training for strength.

In particular, this video by Dr. Mike Israetel from Renaissance Periodization breaks it down clearly and succinctly.

If you’re spending time in the gym, it’s definitely worth the watch!

But here are the main takeaways:

Differences in Weight (Load)

Basic strength (the ability to produce force ) is optimally trained with reps in the 3–6 range.

Overall hypertrophy, however, is optimal in a rep range of 5–30. That’s a massive range, but there’s only a tiny overlap with optimal strength training.

The problem with training for hypertrophy using the 5–6 rep range is that these sets are difficult to recover from.

You won’t be able to continuously add more high-quality sets in this range.

If you try to get enough volume for hypertrophy with these heavier sets, you’ll become too fatigued and unable to recover.

This is why hypertrophy training is typically recommended with lighter loads — approximately 65% of your 1 Rep Max. 

But when you spend a lot of time pushing to failure with these loads, you dilute your ability to recover to perform the heavy loads you need for strength training. 

Differences in Volume

Your total workout volume is your sets x reps x weight.

Strength training is far more fatiguing per set than hypertrophy training.

A heavy set of 3 on Deadlift beats you up on a whole other level from a set of 12 Lat Pulldowns.

For this reason, Dr. Israetel emphasizes that you “have to be on” for strength training.

Hypertrophy is a different ball game — you can still get great results when you’re fatigued.

There is a ton of nuance behind this, but the clear takeaway is that the ideal volume for strength training works out to maintenance or even less for hypertrophy.

That means that doing enough work to encourage hypertrophy will exceed the ideal volume for strength training, and to stick to the ideal volume for strength training, you will not get enough to stimulate ideal hypertrophy.

This is the main point and why you should choose whether to build strength or muscle with your current gym cycle.

Differences In Progression

I recall hearing Dr. Layne Norton say that hypertrophy is cool because there are many ways to skin the cat.

You have options for how to increase the work when it comes to hypertrophy. 

You can add more sets. You can add more reps. And you can add more load (meaning that you increase the weight).

In strength training, there is only one way to get better. 

You have to add more load. That is the driver. 

Not sets, not reps. Weight on the bar.

So how you progress and add more work looks different depending on whether your goal is more muscle or more strength.

Here’s Mike's example:

You’re deciding how much weight to add to your incline bench the following week.

Do you:

1. Add 15 pounds and keep sets the same?

2. Add 5 pounds + 1 set?

Option a is better for strength since the greatest increase was to the load.

Option b is better for hypertrophy since the greatest increase was to sets.

The progression for a program geared toward strength or hypertrophy will look different for this reason. 

Strength programs will have lower volume, more recovery, and focus on load increases.

Hypertrophy programs will be mostly focused on adding sets. Load increases will happen more gradually.

Difference In Frequency

Training for hypertrophy requires the targeted muscle to be healed, but it doesn’t need the same recovery from your nervous system or joints.

Therefore, hypertrophy programs can be consistently high-volume throughout the week.

The stimulus is far harder to recover from if you push hard with strength training.

An optimal breakdown of sets for strength training might look like:

Monday: 2–4 reps with at 95%

Wednesday: 4–6 reps at 75%

Friday: 4–6 reps at 60%

You won’t be able to recover from the demands of strength training while incorporating enough hypertrophy training throughout the week.

Differences In Exercises

Strength training focuses more on the progression of the exercise over the muscle.

People who want to jack up their squat want a stronger squat, not just “stronger legs.”

You want to keep your compound movements consistent throughout the week.

Hypertrophy training benefits from exercise variation. Not choosing random exercises every week, but having a wider selection to target more muscle groups.

Someone training for hypertrophy prefers to include back squats, leg presses, and hack squats as their main quad exercises throughout the week.

Someone training for strength would want to perform back squats, back squats, and more back squats.

Mike points out that powerlifters train with 2 or 3 different exercises, whereas bodybuilders train with 9 or 10.

How to Do Both

Okay, so finally, we get to the burning question:

Dr. Mike Israetel would want you to understand that you can’t optimize for both at the same time, but if you must pursue both, here are the golden rules:

• Do heavy compound movements first in the 3–6 rep range (when you’re fresh)

• Keep your accessory hypertrophy sets in the 6–12 rep range (instead of going as high as 30)

• Rely predominantly on increases to the load, not adding more sets.

Good luck with your gym progress!

When you’re ready, here’s how you can work with me.

I have 5 spots available for 1-1 Fitness coaching.

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