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Strength or hypertrophy: what really changes from one routine to another

The usual question when looking for a training routine is which one is best. The useful question is a different one: which parameters change depending on what you are after. Two routines with the same exercises can give different results purely because of repetitions, rest and frequency, and that is where to look before choosing between a strength routine and a hypertrophy routine.

The American College of Sports Medicine position stand on progression models, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, is a good starting reference because it is not one isolated study but the agreed position of a governing body. For hypertrophy it recommends loads of 1 to 12 RM organised in periodised fashion with the emphasis on the 6 to 12 RM zone, rest periods of 1 to 2 minutes between sets and moderate velocity, and it notes that higher-volume, multiple-set programmes are the ones indicated for maximising it. For advanced strength work the emphasis shifts to the 1 to 6 RM zone with 3 to 5 minutes of rest.

Recommended weekly frequency by level, in the American College of Sports Medicine position stand (2009).
LevelSessions per week
Novice2-3
Intermediate3-4
Advanced4-5

What almost nobody says when comparing strength training routines with hypertrophy routines is how much they overlap. The 6 to 12 repetition zone appears in both recommendations, and the exercises are largely the same. What genuinely separates them is rest — 1 to 2 minutes against 3 to 5 — and which end of the range the emphasis leans towards. For someone starting out, the strength routine and the hypertrophy routine resemble each other so closely that arguing over which to pick costs more time than it saves.

A practical consequence follows: the first thing to settle is not the exercise list but how many days you can sustain. Frequency conditions the structure, the structure conditions per-session volume, and only at the end does the question of which exercises appear. Choosing the other way round — starting from the exercises — is what produces those gym routines abandoned in three weeks.

References
  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2009;41(3):687-708.

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