Hypertrophy vs. Strength Training: Key Differences

Rothstein says hypertrophy and strength training, while both exist on the same continuum, are sufficiently different from one another that there is some overlap. Andy says they differ primarily in repetition scheme, weight lifted, exercise organization, and movement. Post up in the weight room at your gym and watch people do it. You should be able to tell which type of training someone is doing based on the differences below.

Repetitions and Rest

One of the main differences between hypertrophy and strength training is the ideal number of repetitions. Rothstein explains that for hypertrophy training, exercisers typically perform 8-12 repetitions and 3-4 sets, resting about 30-90 seconds between sets. Actual strength training, he says, usually involves fewer repetitions with heavier weights. It’s common to only perform 1-6 repetitions and perform 3-6 sets, leaving enough rest time (ex: 3-5 minutes) between sets to fully recover. For context, “most of the workouts we do on the Peloton platform are in the 6 to 10 or 12 reps or 40 seconds to 1 minute range, which is more based around muscle hypertrophy and muscle endurance,” Andy says.

Weight

In hypertrophy training, you typically use moderately heavy weights, but nowhere near as heavy as in strength training, and athletes typically perform reps at 65-85% of their 1RM, says Rothstein.

In either case, you want to adjust the weight so that you’re challenging yourself with the number of reps you do. “The idea of ​​hypertrophy is to get your muscles as close to a high level of fatigue or failure as possible to elicit a hypertrophic response,” says Andy. So if you’re doing 12 bicep curls, you want a weight that you can lift that many times without breezing out. Conversely, for strength training, you want a weight that pushes you to your limit when you do 1-6 reps. If you don’t have a sense of challenge, it’s not going to give you the stress adaptations to break down your muscles and make them stronger or bigger, says Andy.

Workout Programs

Hypertrophy training is usually programmed by muscle group, Rothstein says. For example, a hypertrophy workout might be divided into exercises specifically targeting the legs, chest and triceps, back and biceps, and shoulders and core. In each workout, you’ll do several exercises that target the same muscle group (think bench press, incline press, dumbbell flyes, and pushups, all done in a chest-focused workout). “Workouts are usually designed to completely emphasize specific muscle groups, then give them two or three days off while other muscle groups are stressed on the rest days,” Rothstein adds.

For strength training, workouts are usually focused on specific movements—usually compound exercises that use large muscle groups, like squats, deadlifts, or bench presses. “Assistance exercises are then selected to help improve weak areas to increase the total weight that can be lifted,” Rothstein says. For example, a true strength workout might include heavy barbell squats, deadlifts, good mornings, leg curls, and calf raises.

Strength training also tends to be simpler, while hypertrophy training uses various lifting techniques, such as supersets, compound sets, rest-pause sets, or drop sets, to enhance the training stimulus and signal the muscles to get bigger. “These techniques don’t help much with strength, but they work really well with hypertrophy,” says Rothstein.

Which training is best for building muscle?

If your goal is to increase muscle size, hypertrophy training is your best bet—and that’s exactly what it’s designed to do. That doesn’t mean that true strength training doesn’t build muscle. “Strength training will lead to some degree of muscle hypertrophy, but not as much as hypertrophy training,” says Rothstein, and vice versa: “Hypertrophy training will lead to some degree of strength gains, but not as much as strength training.”

Hypertrophy vs. Strength Training: How to Choose the Right One for You

It all depends on your goals. What are you hoping to achieve with resistance training? Are you trying to maintain your overall health? Change your body structure? Improve your mental health? Increase longevity? Prevent injuries?

Hypertrophy training will help you build bigger muscles while improving strength and endurance. Most people will be content to focus on hypertrophy and get stronger that way unless they are trying to maximize strength for a specific goal.

However, if your primary goal is to get stronger for a specific sport (like weightlifting), task, or job, then strength training may be the approach you want to take. For example, if your job requires fitness testing and you need to achieve a minimum strength requirement, then you should do strength training to help improve your strength and achieve the requirement.

Your ability is also a factor. Because maximal strength training relies on lifting heavier weights, it is not generally suitable for untrained exercisers or beginners. True strength training is at the extreme end of resistance training, so you don’t necessarily need to take the plunge unless you’re looking for extreme results. Researchers even speculate that the difference between absolute strength training and hypertrophy training may only matter to elite athletes or those near their performance “ceiling.”

Summary

In the big picture, if you’re doing resistance training for longevity and health, you probably don’t have to worry about whether your workouts are strength or hypertrophy training.

If you want to see any resistance training results, focus first on consistency, putting in the work, and challenging yourself, such as through progressive overload. Plus, you need to support your efforts in the gym with proper nutrition and recovery.

“Don’t get caught up in the ‘am I training for hypertrophy or am I training for strength?’ Unless you’re training to be a powerlifter or bodybuilder, you’re doing both. The most important thing is to find a routine or program and stick with it.”