Hypertrophy Training Is The Answer If You Want Toned Muscles. Trainers Show You How
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When it comes to working out, women often have a mix of goals that go far beyond just aesthetics or strength. It's about feeling good, taking care of your mental health, and yes, getting stronger, too. Understanding the many different methods of training that exist can be confusing to beginners and strength training veterans alike, but it's essential for building a routine that's aligned with your personal goals.
Strength training, for example, is all about increasing the amount of external force your muscles can move (how much you can lift), while hypertrophy focuses on growing the physical size of your muscle, according to Kendra Madigan, CPT, a New York City-based personal trainer. Strength training helps build functional strength for everyday activities like lifting your kids in an out of car seats, climbing stairs, carrying groceries—you name it. When people talk about wanting to "look more toned," what they're typically referring to is having enough lean mass so that their muscles appear more defined, regardless of whether they need to lose body fat. That's where hypertrophy—derived from the Greek words "hyper" meaning "excessive," and "trophy" meaning "growth”—comes in. Growing your muscles through hypertrophy training can help create that sculpted look, whether or not fat loss is part of your goal.
And you don't have to go all-in on one approach to reap the benefits—incorporating both styles of training in your routine is a great way to maintain lean muscle mass and manage body fat for overall health, according to Madigan. "Combining both strength and hypertrophy training is common to maintain overall fitness at any age,” she says. "As we get older, we naturally lose muscle mass, and after menopause in particular it can be difficult to maintain healthy body fat."
Whether you're after stronger muscles or more defined ones, knowing the difference between strength training vs hypertrophy can help you tailor your workouts to reach your goals.
Meet the Expert: Kendra Madigan, CPT, is a personal trainer at Physical Equilibrium in New York.
Strength Training Vs Hypertrophy
While strength training and hypertrophy are both types of resistance training, there are a few key differences in how workouts are programmed. The main difference is that strength training focuses on lifting heavier weight with fewer reps, while hypertrophy focuses on higher rep range with lighter (but still challenging) weight. Strength training is all about performance and how much force your muscles can produce, but it’s not going to give you that "toned" look as quickly as hypertrophy because the goal is to build functional strength, not just muscle size.
Let’s break it down further:
Strength training focuses on how much weight you can lift, using heavier loads with fewer reps (usually 3 to 6 per set), really focusing on raw power output.
Hypertrophy happens when your muscles experience more protein synthesis than breakdown, typically from moderate-weight lifting and higher reps (6 to 12 per set), really focusing on muscle fatigue.
For each form, choose a weight that you can lift with proper form, but makes it feel challenging to finish the last one to two reps. The two approaches can lead to very different results, but actually work together for most people, depending on your goals (more on that in a sec).
Benefits Of Strength Training
Strength training is centered on functional improvements and endurance, making it the best approach for overall performance and cardiovascular health, according to Madigan. Lifting heavier loads with fewer reps is a great way to boost bone density and promote overall joint stability, too. This approach is key for feeling strong and capable during everyday activities, like lifting up your kids or schlepping groceries up the stairs.
For beginners, strength training is crucial for building a solid fitness foundation. It’s also essential for anyone aiming to create a functional fitness routine—one that helps prevent injuries and promotes healthy movement patterns in daily life.
Benefits Of Hypertrophy Training
Hypertrophy training is more about aesthetics, focusing on building muscle size and definition. Lifting moderate weights with higher reps is a great approach to maximize muscle growth, and can lead to some moderate strength gains and metabolism improvements as well, says Madigan. "This type of training is helpful if your goals are aesthetic, but it’s also a key preventative measure as we age and naturally lose muscle mass," she says.
However, no matter your goals, incorporating both types of resistance training into your routine is important.
Should you train strength or hypertrophy first?
When deciding whether to train for strength or hypertrophy first, it depends on your goals, but building a strong foundation through strength training first is generally recommended. Madigan advises starting with strength training, focusing on compound movements (multi-joint movements) to develop overall strength and stability. Once you’ve built a solid base, you can incorporate hypertrophy training. “Hypertrophy training focuses more on single joint movements that isolate one or two muscle groups at a time,” she says.
Even as you start to incorporate more hypertrophy training into your routine, don’t forget the basics to maintain a strong foundation! You should still start your workouts with strength training, focusing on those basic compound movements, before you move on to more isolated hypertrophy exercises. “Working with a trainer can help to set clear goals and make sure you are using correct form and proper technique while preventing injury,” says Madigan.
Putting A Workout Together
Depending on your goals, your workout may include more strength training or more hypertrophy. Either way, consider the following to guide you in creating your own workout:
Start out with strength training.
Madigan recommends starting with your fundamental compound movements with heavy weight and low reps. Aim to perform 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 6 reps for each exercise, resting 2 to 3 minutes between sets to allow for full recovery and maximum strength output.
Examples of compound movement exercises:
Integrate hypertrophy training next.
After you’re through with heavy, big compound movements, start isolating the smaller muscles, or doing compound exercises with lower weight. Hypertrophy programming typically consists of 6 to 12 reps of 3 to 5 sets per exercise with 60 to 90 seconds rest. While there is some crossover in the types of exercises performed in both strength training and hypertrophy training, Madigan suggests the following exercises for the hypertrophy part of your program.
Examples of isolation movement exercises:
Include supersets or drop sets for hypertrophy.
Doing back-to-back exercises without rest (aka a superset) or reducing the weight after failure and continuing to lift at a lower weight (aka a drop set) is a great way to maximize muscle fatigue and growth.
Cooldown and stretch at the end.
No matter your goal—improved strength or muscle growth—it’s always important to end your workout the right way. That means taking the time for a cooldown period that includes stretching or foam rolling to promote recovery.
Sample Workout (Full-Body)
Block 1: Strength Training (Compound Exercises)
Squats: 4 sets of 5 reps
Deadlifts: 4 sets of 4 reps
Overhead Press: 3 sets of 5 reps
Pullups: 3 sets of 5 reps
Block 2: Hypertrophy Training (Isolation Exercises)
Bicep curls: 3 sets of 10 reps
Tricep extensions: 3 sets of 12 reps
Lateral raises: 3 sets of 10 reps
Hamstring curls: 3 sets of 12 reps
Will hypertrophy make me bulky?
The purpose of hypertrophy training is to develop bigger muscles, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get bulky. Bulking up is much more difficult for women to achieve and will take longer than with men because they generally have less testosterone, according to Madigan, who explains that diet and genetics have a lot to do with how training programs will affect you. For most women, hypertrophy training results in a toned and defined physique rather than a bulky one, especially when combined with a solid diet.
If you want to increase muscle mass, it’s important to be in a caloric surplus (aka eating more calories than you are burning) and getting enough protein to support muscle development, according to Madigan.
Is training strength or hypertrophy more effective for weight loss?
A routine that combines both hypertrophy and strength is key to losing weight, says Madigan. “Resistance training in general is beneficial for weight loss regardless of the specific training focus because it develops lean muscle mass, which is more metabolically active than body fat,” she says, meaning that the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest.
However, it’s important to remember you must be in a calorie deficit to lose weight, “A training program and proper nutrition go hand in hand when it comes to weight loss,” says Madigan.
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