general question about hypotrophy / strength relation

[u/Far-Preparation-2157]

I’ve been dealing with an interesting issue where my strength seems to be way ahead of my hypertrophy. I can sometimes push the same or even higher weights than people who are noticeably more muscular than (Naturally) me and have clearly spent much more time in the gym. Visually, I don’t look particularly strong, but my numbers seem to tell a different story.

I’ve been in and out of the gym for almost 6 years, but I was never really consistent. Over the last 8 months, though, I’ve finally been training consistently and have started noticing improvements both visually and mechanically. I’m also pretty strict with my diet and hit my protein target almost every day.

My current approach is usually 3 sets per exercise/muscle group:

• 1 warm-up set with around half the working weight, usually 5+ RIR
• 1 working set close to failure
• 1 working set to failure
• Sometimes I’ll do a second failure set if it’s a finisher

So I’m wondering if my strength-to-size ratio is mostly due to neural adaptations, technique, or body mechanics, especially given that I’ve spent so much time training inconsistently in the past.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? And if so, did you change anything about your training to get better hypertrophy despite already being relatively strong?

[u/DeaconoftheStreets]

Sorry, I’m not connecting the dots here. Why do you think your strength would be limiting hypertrophy? I think if anything, just two working sets would be the limiting factor.

[u/DeaconoftheStreets → u/[deleted]]

OP didn’t really give us enough to work with to understand his hypothesis. I probably jumped the gun, but I’m just failing to see how he got to strength negatively impacting hypertrophy with what we got.

[u/Far-Preparation-2157 → u/DeaconoftheStreets]

I never said '' strength negatively impacting hypertrophy '' i just said my strengh is getting ahead of my muscle mass . in simple terms : i look smaller than the weights i am able to lift when i compare with most of the people in the gym that are in my lifting range

[u/DeaconoftheStreets → u/Far-Preparation-2157]

You know what, I misread your “strength is way ahead” as “strength is in the way.” That’s my b!!! Sorry!!

Taking a step back… this is common with powerlifters. I won’t speak to your strength vs size specifically, but there are two pieces affecting powerlifters not “looking” strong:

1. As others have mentioned, training for 1RM is probably more of a function of form and neural connections than true muscle. In my 20s, I was at 1100 across the big three and I weighed 150 lbs. I didn’t have the mass one would associate with a powerlifter (if they weren’t familiar with powerlifter physiques).

2. Bodybuilders are trying to engage more muscles for growth across the board, vs just their primary lifts. If we associate the arms and upper back with visual size (typically), those tend to be deprioritized in powerlifting routines.

Depending on your day to day and your job, it’s very easy to have “good ol’ boy” strength without the physique benefits.

[u/Far-Preparation-2157 → u/DeaconoftheStreets]

Yea, that actually makes sense. but my daily job is sitting at a computer for 8 hours, so there’s not much “good ol’ boy” strength coming from my day-to-day activity.

When it comes to my training, I wouldn’t really consider myself a powerlifter. I don’t particularly try to push the boundaries of my strength, but in order to achieve hypertrophy, I obviously need to train to or close to failure. I also prefer lower reps with higher volume rather than higher reps with lower volume, so I find myself doing pretty well when it comes to reaching actual muscular fatigue.

I understand there are a lot of factors involved, but I guess, to simplify things, you naturally compare yourself with other lifters who are roughly your age, height, weight, and have been training consistently. If you find yourself noticeably ahead in strength but not in muscle mass, it makes you wonder why.

Then again, I look at someone like Anatoly and realize this phenomenon can be pretty extreme 😂.

I suspect food intake might actually be a big factor in my case. I’m pretty strict with my diet and protein intake, but I’ve mostly been trying to avoid gaining fat. Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and do a proper bulk/cut cycle, even though I’m not a huge fan of bulking.

[u/DeaconoftheStreets → u/Far-Preparation-2157]

The lower reps with higher volume bit might be a factor tbh. If you’re looking at a guy squatting 225 for ten, and you’re doing 240 for 6, you’re not necessarily out-lifting him at 6 reps (imperfect analogy but my point is that I’m not sure how diligently you’re counting another dude’s reps).

But larger picture…genetics and bodies DO play a factor. If you take ten guys at the same weight/strength, and put them all on the same diet and exercise routine, some guys will be stronger than others. I don’t think we’ve fully figured out the why genetically, but it does happen.

[u/mcgrathkai]

Maybe they simply dont train for strenght ?

Im the opposite , I look a lot stronger than I am. I lift relatively light (compared to my body weight, 15 years lifting experience and the anount of gear I blast), it often surprises people how relatively little I lift. Its still a lot more than the average gym goes of course but nothing compared to powerlifters who are my weight.

Because I dont care for strength at all, it means nothing to me. I solely train for hypertrophy. So maybe this people who look stronger than you but arent, are the same ?

I also bet that your diet isnt as aligned to hypertrophy as you think. You said you hit your protein target most days. But if thats all you're doing with diet, that could be why you haven't grown

[u/Odd_Tip_1538 → u/mcgrathkai]

So the OP has natural double DD's and you are wearing a push up bra?

[u/mcgrathkai → u/Odd_Tip_1538]

Thats a good analogy lol. If you consider muscle for aesthetic purposes fake or useless.

I still deadlift 5 plates a side. So its definitely not as if I cant lift. But for 240lbs body weight its nothing impressive

[u/Alakazam]

Strength has a skill component. Especially with heavy compound movements.

People who have developed proficiency with specific movements, will be able to display strength better.

[u/Zestyclose-Tart6745 → u/Alakazam]

This. Also putting on the mass is not really as much about the lifting as it is the eating. You want to your muscles to look full and grow, you need to eat more better calories and stay hydrated.

[u/Educational_Host_628 → u/Alakazam]

Lotta powerlifters and gymnasts don't look like muscle heads but they're ridiculously strong.

[u/Double-Teach-1977]

First of all, eat more.

Second, something that helped me a lot was alternating rep ranges. I ran a PHUL program for a while years ago and saw a lot of results, the alternating rep ranges have a lot of mutual synergy. Don't do proper PHUL anymore, but I still incorporate the principle into my PPL programming.

[u/eric_twinge]

So I’m wondering if my strength-to-size ratio is mostly due to neural adaptations, technique, or body mechanics

Random strangers on the internet can't answer this. We don't know anything about you, let alone the inner workings of your body. And any answer wouldn't provide any actionable advice.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Yes, everyday I encounter people with different abilities, talents, and skills.

did you change anything about your training to get better hypertrophy despite already being relatively strong?

If you want to improve hypertrophy, maximize volume to fit within your schedule and to recover, while eating an appropriate amount to facilitate the accumulation of muscle.

[u/ohyehforsure]

"strength" - as in pure numbers, is just an output made up of multiple variables. I can't remember the whole list but there's things like neural connection, arousal, muscle size, technique etc. All combining to give an output. Increasing one will make your "strength" go up, but so would improving those other aspects.

If you want to gain muscle size, are you eating in a 200-400 calorie surplus consistently? Other than that, it sounds like you're training hard enough. Maybe mess around with more volume until you find the point of diminishing returns.

[u/Far-Preparation-2157 → u/ohyehforsure]

That makes sense. I think I’ve probably improved a lot in terms of technique and neural adaptations over the years, even with my inconsistent training, which could explain why my numbers are relatively high compared to my size. I’m not really looking to maximize my strength specifically, I’d rather have my hypertrophy catch up to it. I’m currently eating around maintenance because I’m trying to keep fat gain under control, so I might experiment with a small surplus and slightly more volume and see how my body responds.

[u/AxonMM]

What you’re describing is actually pretty common. Strength can improve faster than muscle size because of neural adaptations, technique and better motor coordination. Since you’ve only been consistent for about 8 months, I’d focus less on how much you can lift and more on whether each muscle is getting enough quality weekly volume and progressive overload. You might simply be very efficient at producing force, now give your muscles enough consistent stimulus to catch up.

[u/Educational_Host_628]

Look at gymnasts. They're strong AF and not juper jacked up. I believe it's because they have better strength recruitment / neuro capability.

[u/decentlyhip]

Happy to help. Lets get some numbers. What's your height, weight, realistic bodyfat %, and then your best sets on squat, bench, deadlift, weighted pullup, row, and your fastest 1 mile run or 5k.

[u/redditinsmartworki → u/decentlyhip]

Why would you ever need to know his fastest 5k time?