If, like 19% of women who participated in the recent PureGym UK Fitness Report, you're motivated to move by your desire to build muscle, then it’s important that you’re clued up on training for strength vs hypertrophy. Because, while we speak broadly about the many muscle-related benefits of strength and resistance training, there are some specifics to be aware of if your intention is to gain size.
Take hypertrophy, for example, a term that refers to the increase in size or growth of muscle tissue and cells. “It occurs when the muscle fibres undergo stress or damage during resistance training, leading to an adaptation response where the muscle fibres repair and rebuild themselves, resulting in an increase in muscle size,” explains personal trainer Aimee Victoria Long.
