mprevost
Level 7 Valued Member
The neurological adaptations are basically skill. It is pushing or pulling in the optimal groove. It is using the optimal repetition speed to move through the sticking points but slow enough not to lose efficiency and push/pull too hard at the easy points. It is relaxing the antagonistic muscles as much as possible. On a bench press, for example, just 1/4 inch out of the optimal groove and you will miss the lift. An optimal lift requires some precision. The heavier the weight, the greater the precision required. This is the primary reason for doing heavy doubles or triples by the way (skill practice with heavy weight). Because this is a skill, there is a bit of transfer from one lift to another, but not much (think about the transfer from pitching a baseball to a free throw in basketball, not much).
On the other hand, hypertrophy is a gain in the contractile proteins (specifically cross sectional area), which increases the potential for generating force. It does so in a skill independent way. It transfers to any lift or movement that involves the hypertrophied muscle. Of course, greater skill will add to the force, but bigger muscles are stronger, even if skill is not developed. I am reminded this video:
Game of Thrones star The Mountain turns up at Crossfit event and CRUSHES rivals
Halfthor is showing the advantaage of hypertrophy here. His competitor has pretty good clean technique and makes the lift. Halfthor just heaves the same weight up in a sort of half reverse curl (ugly) but makes the lift with no problem. Now consider strength transfer. Of the two of them, which will prevail in a strength contest using lifts that neither has practiced? Yes, Halfthor, the one with the biggest muscles. On the other hand, his competitor shows what skill practice (neuromuscular adaptation) can do. At probably almost 200 lbs lighter than Halfthor, he makes the lift. But his high level of skill in this lift is unlikely to transfer to a great extent to other lifts.
Early in a strength training program, skill development (neuromuscular adaptations) account for most of the strength gains. Later (after a few weeks generally), hypertrophy becomes more important. You see this for sure in high skill lifts like olympic lifts or Turkish Getups.
As Anna stated, you ALWAYS get some degree of both when training. But you can train more specifically for one than another. For example:
Sets in the 8-12 repetition range, with 30 seconds rest between sets seems to be near optimal for hypertrophy. This allows the accumulation of lots of volume and fatigue.
Sets in the 4-6 rep range with 2-3 minutes rest seem to be optimal for strength (strike a balance between neurological adaptation and hypertrophy)
Sets in the 2-3 rep range with 3-5 minutes rest seem to be optimal for neurological strength gains. This allows high precision skill practice with a heavy weight, but little fatigue accumulation.
Of course, there is a hypertrophy and neurological adaptation response in all of the scenarios above, but the emphasis is different across the rep ranges. A powerlifter might use all 3 of the repetition ranges above in a periodization program to optimize strength for a meet.
On the other hand, hypertrophy is a gain in the contractile proteins (specifically cross sectional area), which increases the potential for generating force. It does so in a skill independent way. It transfers to any lift or movement that involves the hypertrophied muscle. Of course, greater skill will add to the force, but bigger muscles are stronger, even if skill is not developed. I am reminded this video:
Game of Thrones star The Mountain turns up at Crossfit event and CRUSHES rivals
Halfthor is showing the advantaage of hypertrophy here. His competitor has pretty good clean technique and makes the lift. Halfthor just heaves the same weight up in a sort of half reverse curl (ugly) but makes the lift with no problem. Now consider strength transfer. Of the two of them, which will prevail in a strength contest using lifts that neither has practiced? Yes, Halfthor, the one with the biggest muscles. On the other hand, his competitor shows what skill practice (neuromuscular adaptation) can do. At probably almost 200 lbs lighter than Halfthor, he makes the lift. But his high level of skill in this lift is unlikely to transfer to a great extent to other lifts.
Early in a strength training program, skill development (neuromuscular adaptations) account for most of the strength gains. Later (after a few weeks generally), hypertrophy becomes more important. You see this for sure in high skill lifts like olympic lifts or Turkish Getups.
As Anna stated, you ALWAYS get some degree of both when training. But you can train more specifically for one than another. For example:
Sets in the 8-12 repetition range, with 30 seconds rest between sets seems to be near optimal for hypertrophy. This allows the accumulation of lots of volume and fatigue.
Sets in the 4-6 rep range with 2-3 minutes rest seem to be optimal for strength (strike a balance between neurological adaptation and hypertrophy)
Sets in the 2-3 rep range with 3-5 minutes rest seem to be optimal for neurological strength gains. This allows high precision skill practice with a heavy weight, but little fatigue accumulation.
Of course, there is a hypertrophy and neurological adaptation response in all of the scenarios above, but the emphasis is different across the rep ranges. A powerlifter might use all 3 of the repetition ranges above in a periodization program to optimize strength for a meet.