Does muscle hypertrophy contribute to strength gains?

[Kyle Martin]

Just read an interesting "scientific" article that makes the case that getting strong leads to hypertrophy but hypertrophy doesn't necessarily lead to getting strong. Article advocates for a greater emphasis on high intensity rather than lots of reps at low intensity. I thought it fits nicely with the Starting Strength method and thought you'd find it interesting.

Exercise-Induced Changes in Muscle Size do not Contribute to Exercise-Induced Changes in Muscle Strength | SpringerLink

This pretty much goes along with my limited experience, I find I personally get stronger by lifting heavier than spamming volume.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Science. You can't argue with Science. Or Springer.

[Michael Wolf]

I'm confused. Have we ever advocated that getting bigger muscles was bad, or not an important part of the training process? Do you think the food we try so hard to get you poor skinny bastards to start eating during the LP is supposed to go 100% to fat? That when a skinny kid actually listens and goes from 6'1" 145 to 200 over a 4-6 month LP in which his squat goes from 95 to 335, that he hasn't gained a whole bunch of muscle mass?

While we have a preference for a focus on higher intensities, particularly in the Novice and early Intermediate stages, where did anyone get the impression that we don't think gaining muscle mass is a very important part of the process?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I think the OP is on our side here. Since a guy with a 500 deadlift is bigger than the same guy with a 200 deadlift, and he got that way by doing 5s.

[FatButWeak]

This is a classic example of why we should ignore Science(!) when it totally contradicst your eyes, your experience and your granny's wisdom, as I have argued before on these boards. Science(!) also tells us there are 5,286 genders. Now its telling us that Doug Young was a pussy. Get the fuck out of here with your "Science(!)." Next it will tell us water isnt actually wet.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Fat, why do you still live in California?

[Kyle Martin]

Yes, I'm definitely on your side in this one. I love muscle mass and want to have more of it, I just thought the article was interesting because it directly addressed the volume vs intensity conversation. That said I admittedly can't vouch for how good the article is hence my quotes around "scientific."

[Yonason Herschlag]

After five years of progression on the SS program, it’s extremely hard to make any further progress in strength gains. What’s even more frustrating is that one has to constantly work extremely hard just to maintain one’s strength.

I am not qualified to give advice on this subject, but perhaps sharing what has helped my sanity against these frustrations can help some others in similar situations.
For me, seeing daily progress in something gives me emotional satisfaction.

I can easily progress in aerobic ability, as I’m in poor shape in that arena. I can also make some progress in physical appearance by doing some hypertrophy programming and body building protocols such as focusing more on inclined bench, and/or isolation exercises for biceps or certain areas of deltoids that appear underdeveloped. I’m thinking about taking up Tai-chi and perhaps get some boxing lessons. At 55 years old, my blood pressure has gotten a little out of hand, so focusing on aerobics, flexibility (stretching) would probably benefit my heart-health. I also had some tendinitis issues in my pecs that held back my bench, and I’ve found that high volume work on rotator cuffs has been beneficial for this.

Long story short, all this alternative physical activity is shoring up my physical weaknesses (a chain is as strong as its weakest link) and benefiting my overall health, while the lapse from the SS protocol has resulted in some losses in power-lifting strength. I’ve managed to minimize losses by maintaining a power-lifting protocol once a week, and I plan to cycle back into SS on and off in the future.

My main point is that by getting out of the tunnel vision of ONLY SS programming, for me personally, I see incorporating hypertrophy protocols with a broader array of programming will benefit my mind and health and in the long run (10-20 years from now) I feel that I will be able to lift heavier than would I focus my entire life exclusively on power-lifting.

[Ivan Stepic]

I got another masterpiece that came out recently: Exercise-Induced Myofibrillar Hypertrophy is a Contributory Cause of Gains in Muscle Strength | SpringerLink

"Exercise-Induced Myofibrillar Hypertrophy is a Contributory Cause of Gains in Muscle Strength".

Who pays for this?

[FatButWeak]

Fat, why do you still live in California?

Yeah. I dont. We might need to discuss that.