Ep. 286 - Is Hypertrophy Training a Waste of Time for Powerlifting?

Iron Culture

The trio is back to discuss a classic Iron Culture topic: how much does increasing muscle mass contribute to strength? But, before we can answer how much, we must acknowledge that some in the scientific community doubt whether hypertrophy contributes to strength at all! What is the source of this skepticism and how do we resolve this debate? Tune in to learn not only how getting jacked impacts strength, but also the importance of study design, what is needed to make causal inferences, and how to make conclusions in the absence of ideal data.

00:00 Reviewing reviews (and adding a missing reference)

Cook 2019 Body Mass and Femur Length Are Inversely Related to Repetitions Performed in the Back Squat in Well-Trained Lifters https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30640306/

MASS Research Reviews https://massresearchreview.com/

16:29 End of the extended banter and into the topic (getting into some research design)

24:25 Breaking down the first study and correlated changes

Tromaras 2024 Lean Body Mass, Muscle Architecture and Powerlifting Performance during Preseason and in Competition https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38804455/

Brechue 2002 The role of FFM accumulation and skeletal muscle architecture in powerlifting performance https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11990746/

Ye 2013 Relationship between lifting performance and skeletal muscle mass in elite powerlifters https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23828289/

Xu 2021 Measurement of visceral fat and abdominal obesity by single-frequency bioelectrical impedance and CT: a cross-sectional study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34635516/

Ferland 2023 Body Composition and Maximal Strength of Powerlifters: A Descriptive Quantitative and Longitudinal Study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37637239/

38:51 The responses to different lines of evidence

Bhasin Testosterone dose-response relationships in healthy young men https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11701431/

Warneke 2023 Comparison of the effects of long-lasting static stretching and hypertrophy training on maximal strength, muscle thickness and flexibility in the plantar flexors https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37029826/

Wohlann Influence of 8-weeks of supervised static stretching or resistance training of pectoral major muscles on maximal strength, muscle thickness and range of motion https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38240811/

53:10 A methodology shoutout to the sceptics

Buckner 2021 Do exercise-induced increases in muscle size contribute to strength in resistance-trained individuals? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33724646/

1:02:06 Omar’s argument and closing out