Why muscle size and strength are not the same

Probably, more than once you noticed in the gym this picture: a pumped-up bodybuilder - a real mountain of muscles - squats with a heavy barbell and just barely gets up. And on other racks, the exercise with the same weight is performed by the athlete without pronounced muscles, and he does it without much stress. Let's figure out why this is happening.

What determines strength, other than muscle size

The more voluminous a muscle, the thicker its fibers and the more force it is able to generate during contraction. Therefore, bodybuilders are stronger than untrained people. But at the same time, they are weaker than strength athletes who have the same or less muscle mass. This means that in addition to the volume of muscle fibers, there are other factors that affect the production of strength.

The work of the nervous system

For a muscle to start contracting, the brain must send a signal. An electrical impulse will leave the motor cortex, reach the spinal cord, and from there, along the fibers of motor neurons, it will reach the muscle and make its fibers work.

The more fibers in the muscle contract, the more strength a person can produce. Most untrained people cannot voluntarily strain all 100% of the fibers. Even with the greatest effort, only about 90% will work.

Strength training increases the nervous system's ability to stimulate more muscle fibers. In this case, only really heavy loads work - from 80% of the maximum possible weight. The study showed that three weeks of training at 80% of the one-repetition maximum (1RM) increased muscle fiber recruitment by 2.35%, while training with light weights - 30% of the 1RM, had a negligible effect - only 0.15%.

What's more, exercise with heavy weights generally increases muscle performance.

Tendon stiffness

When a muscle contracts, energy is transferred to the tendon, the dense connective tissue that attaches the muscles to the bones and moves the joints. If the tendon is very stiff, it will prevent the muscle from becoming shorter before the joint angle changes. In this case, muscle contraction and movement in the joint occur simultaneously.

If the tendon is not stiff, during contraction, the muscle shortens faster than the flexion angle changes. The tendon lengthens and allows the muscle to become shorter before the limb bends at the joint. This increases the speed of the contraction, but decreases the strength.

Strength training increases the rigidity of the tendons, while working with larger weights - up to 90% of the one-rep maximum - gives the best results.

Ability to activate the desired muscles

All muscles in our body are interconnected. For example, biceps are involved in flexion of the shoulder joint, and triceps in its extension. The rectus muscle is responsible for hip flexion, and the gluteus muscle is responsible for extension. Muscles with this opposite effect are called antagonists.

In order to maximize the strength during movement, the working muscles (agonists) must tighten, and the opposite ones (antagonists) must relax, otherwise they will interfere. Repeated repetition of the same movements improves coordination and the ability to strain and relax the desired muscles.

Therefore, strength training is rather monotonous: athletes improve their skills in one movement and perform it better and better.

Bodybuilders, on the other hand, often change exercises, angles of flexion of joints and simulators so that the muscles do not get used, and the body is constantly under the stress necessary for their growth.

In addition, during complex multi-joint movements, in addition to agonists, other muscles are activated - synergists, which increase stability and help produce more strength. For example, during squats, the muscles of the legs do most of the work, but at the same time the press is also connected. Without his strong muscles, the squat results will be much more modest.

Therefore, in order to be strong, you need to work out all the muscles in the body involved in a particular movement. For example, weight-only bodybuilders often have fairly developed chest, shoulders, and arms, but they pay less attention to the muscles of the core. Strength athletes, on the other hand, have developed back extensor muscles, core muscles, and buttocks - they increase body stability and help develop more strength during movement.

How to build strength, and how - muscle size

If you're only interested in strength, do high weights and low reps.

Two to five repetitions per set provide maximum strength gains.

Choose multi-joint movements, ideally those in which you need to exercise strength. That is, if you want to set a record in a squat - squat, if you need to carry or push weights at work - do it in the gym: flip the tire, push the sled, perform the farmer's sinking with weights.

Your body learns to perform the movement as efficiently as possible: tense less muscle fibers, relax antagonist muscles, and engage synergists. This will give a much better effect than doing isolated exercises on the same muscle groups.

If you are not interested in strength, but only need large muscles, perform 8-12 repetitions per set and select the weight in such a way as to do them all, giving your best.

Choose different exercises and try new methods of doing familiar movements: different machine, joint range of motion, bend angle. All this stimulates muscle growth.

What to choose: strength training or muscle growth

If you don't have a specific goal and don't know exactly how to train and what to develop, check out the basic features of training for strength and hypertrophy.

Muscle-building workouts will give you a great body if you choose the right program and nutrition. Here's what you need to know about them:

Since you will be working with light weights, training is relatively safe for joints, suitable for people of all ages and physical development.
You will often change exercises and the way they are performed, and try new training methods. This is especially important for those who quickly get bored with everything.
Since muscle growth requires a lot of training volume, you will have to spend a lot of time in the gym.

If your professional or sports activity is associated with serious physical activity, make a choice in favor of strength training. With their help, you will increase the volume of muscles, albeit not so significantly, and also learn to move more efficiently and less fatigue. Here's how these workouts differ:

You don't have to do as many exercises as in hypertrophy training, and the sets themselves will be shorter due to the small number of reps.
You will mainly rotate working weights - the list of exercises will change slightly.
The load on the joints will increase, it will take a lot of time to master the technique and warm up to avoid injury. Ideally, strength training should be done under the guidance of an instructor, especially at first, until you are familiar with the technique.

If you don't have a specific goal, you can create a blended program and alternate strength and hypertrophy workouts. In this way, you will receive all the benefits and reduce the risk of injury.