Name: Exercise Selection for Strength vs Hypertrophy Training
Uploaded: 2025-10-17T15:33:43.000Z
Duration: 10 min 12 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Strength and hypertrophy are two different adaptations.

So when training for each, variables should be manipulated to maximize whichever adaptation we are trying to achieve.

Modal verbs - B1

In this video, we will cover how exercise selection may differ when training for strength versus hypertrophy.

First, we need to cover what exactly strength and hypertrophy are.

Strength simply refers to the maximum amount of weight that can be lifted.

This is usually for one repetition, in other words a one rep max.

So the goal for strength training is to lift the most amount of weight possible, not necessarily to increase muscle size.

Strength gains occur as a result of three primary neural efficiency, technique and muscle growth.

Neural efficiency refers to how much force can be produced by the prime movers of the exercise.

So with a given muscle mass that we have, we can train to produce more force without actually increasing muscle size.

Neural adaptations are specific to each exercise and the rep ranges performed.

So we can't become efficient at one exercise and expect to be equally as efficient at another exercise.

Rather, we only develop this efficiency by performing the specific exercise we want to get stronger at with heavy loads.

Simply put, we get stronger at what we practice.

Technical efficiency is similar to neural efficiency, although it is more about making the lift more biomechanically efficient.

Over time, trainees can learn how to take advantage of biomechanics to leverage more load for any particular exercise.

An example of this is to arch the back in the bench press, which reduces range of motion and improves our leverages to lift more weight.

The third primary adaptation contributing to strength gains is muscle growth.

Simply put, if we have more muscle mass in the prime movers of a lift, then we have more contractile tissue to become neurally and technically efficient with.

This provides a larger foundation that will increase our strength potential.

So once we maximize neural and technical efficiency, the primary long term driver of future strength gains will be gains in muscle mass.

So ultimately, the key point to understand is that strength is a performance outcome.

The ultimate goal is to lift more weight over time.

Hypertrophy, on the other hand, is a different adaptation.

This refers to an increase in the size of the muscle.

This is primarily achieved via an increase in the number of myofibrils in each muscle fiber, which is basically just the smallest unit of contractile tissue in the muscle.

As we accumulate more myofibrils in each muscle fiber, we end up with thicker muscle fibers and a larger overall muscle belly.

There is also speculation that muscle growth also occurs via other adaptations such as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and hyperplasia.

But as far as we understand, myofibrillar hypertrophy is the primary adaptation contributing to muscle growth.

Either way, the end result is still an increase in muscle size, which is the outcome we are after.

For most people, we want to achieve hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes to make our physique look more muscular.

So the key point to understand here is that unlike strength, hypertrophy is a structural adaptation, not a performance outcome.

These definitions are important to understand because they will determine how we modify our training to preference each training goal.

Now that we understand the differences between strength and hypertrophy, let's lets cover how exercise selection may differ when training for each goal.

The first factor to consider for exercise selection is the principle of specificity.

This refers to how similar our training is compared with the competition requirements.

Specificity encompasses all training variables including exercise selection like we will cover in this video.

But it also includes other variables like rep ranges and load techniques, lifting equipment, etc.

In relation to strength training, specificity plays a major role in how our training is conducted.

This is because the entire training plan should be based around what exactly our strength goals are.

Do we want to improve our 1 rep max squat or do we want to improve how many bodyweight pull ups we can perform?

Whatever the goal is, there is a specificity element to the training process.

So for exercise selection we obviously want to implement the actual exercises that we want to get stronger at.

If we don't perform these exercises, we won't develop the specific neural and technical efficiency adaptations that are required to maximize strength.

Of course, the entire training program isn't going to include only specific exercises because we will also have other accessory lifts in the training plan which may have a different goal.

The principle of specificity doesn't really apply to hypertrophy training in the same way as it does for strength.

This is because hypertrophy is a structural adaptation.

So we aren't really concerned with the specific neural or technical adaptations because we don't really care about maximising lifting performance.

Rather, we are only concerned with training the muscle to get a structural response.

This can be achieved using many different exercises training the same muscle.

There are multiple exercises which can all train the same muscle group and elicit a similar hypertrophy response.

So there are no mandatory exercises for hypertrophy training.

Rather, the goal is to simply stress the target muscle.

This leads us nicely onto the next point regarding exercise selection, which is muscle stress.

This refers to which muscles receive the most amount of stress and local fatigue during the exercise.

For strength training, muscle stress is not really important.

This is because it doesn't really matter which muscles are being trained.

It just matters how much load they can lift.

Generally, strength is improved when we involve more muscles in the exercise and distribute stress more evenly among the relevant muscles.

For example, we can usually lift more weight by performing a low bar squat compared with a high bar squat.

This is because the low bar squat allows more of the glutes and hamstrings to contribute to the lift in addition to the quads.

So ultimately, we shouldn't really be concerned with which muscles are being trained when selecting exercises for strength training.

Rather, we should just implement the variation which allows us to lift the most weight.

It should be noted that we still need to understand which muscles are involved in the strength lift because we may implement accessory exercises to specifically target such muscles.

For hypertrophy training, on the other hand, it is the complete opposite.

Because hypertrophy is a structural adaptation, the goal is to stress the target muscle.

So the exercises we implement should be those which maximally fatigue the target muscle that we are trying to train.

There are many exercises which can all stress the same muscle significantly.

Although some exercises achieve this better than others.

Based on the anatomy of the muscle, the biomechanics of the lift, and

the perceived stimulus of the exercise, trainees should implement those which tend to provide the most stress on the muscle that is being targeted.

And the last consideration for exercise selection when comparing strength versus hypertrophy training is the stimulus to fatigue ratio.

This refers to the hypertrophic stimulus of the exercise compared with the systemic fatigue and joint stress the exercise induces for strength training.

Once again, this isn't really a relevant topic.

This is because we need to implement the specific competition exercises regardless of how fatiguing they are.

So even if the exercise tends to irritate your joints or is highly systemically fatiguing, there is nothing you can do about it.

You must still find a way to perform the exercise if your goal is to maximize strength.

We can always manipulate other variables like volume and frequency to minimise long term stress and fatigue.

But ultimately, we still need to perform the exercises that we want to get stronger at.

For hypertrophy training, like we mentioned, there are no mandatory exercises, so the stimulus to fatigue ratio becomes much more relevant.

We want to implement the exercises which provide the best hypertrophic stimulus and the least joint stress and systemic fatigue.

This will allow us to get the best outcomes with the lowest risk of injury and burnout.

Selecting low fatigue exercises will also allow us to make our training sessions more efficient.

In other words, we will be able to get the same stimulus with less time, effort and fatigue, or get a better stimulus with the same time, effort and fatigue.

So, for hypertrophy training, we want to select the exercises which provide us with the best stimulus for the target muscle and the least amount of fatigue.

For example, a stiff leg deadlift will provide a greater stimulus for the hamstrings and less overall fatigue compared with a conventional deadlift, making it a more appropriate choice for hypertrophy training in most cases.

So, to summarise this video, let's establish some practical recommendations.

First, we should understand that strength and hypertrophy are two different adaptations.

Strength is a performance outcome, while hypertrophy is a structural adaptation.

Therefore, we should manipulate variables to preference whichever adaptation we want to focus on.

One of these variables that we can change is exercise selection.

For strength training, we need to perform the exercises that we want to get stronger at.

This is because neural and technical adaptations follow the principle of specificity, meaning we only get better at what we practice.

On the other hand, there are no mandatory exercises for hypertrophy training.

This is because hypertrophy adaptations are triggered by muscle stress through dynamic resistance training.

So for hypertrophy, we want to implement the exercises which significantly stress the target muscle and also which have a low fatigue cost.

This will provide the best hypertrophic stimulus while simultaneously minimising injury risk.