Does resistance training-induced muscle growth contribute to strength gain?

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to test if resistance training induced muscle hypertrophy leads to greater strength gains. Methods: Nine untrained men had their upper limbs randomly divided into two conditions: hypertrophy + strength (HST) and strength (ST) training. Participants trained twice a week for 10 weeks. HST-arm performed a hypertrophy-oriented training protocol for 6 weeks and then a 4-week strength-oriented training; while ST-arm did not train during the initial 6 weeks and performed the 4-week strength-oriented training. Hypertrophy-oriented training consisted in 3 sets at 40% of 1RM until failure in the unilateral pull-down exercise, and strength-oriented training consisted of 3 sets of five 5-s maximal elbow flexion isometric contraction. Muscle thickness, 1RM and maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) were assessed before (pre), after 6 weeks (mid) and at the end of the 10-week (post) training period. Results: Muscle thickness and 1RM did not change in both arms (P > 0.05). However, HST was the only condition that elicited a change in MVIC (P = 0.03). Although no changes in muscle size was observed, only the group that performed the hypertrophy-oriented training increased strength during the strength-oriented period. Conclusions: Although we did not find differences in strength increase between the experimental conditions, we speculate that it may be interesting to include a period of hypertrophy-oriented training before strength-oriented training, as we have reported increased strength in this condition.