38 adults, with, at least, 1 year of consistent lower body training completed an 8 week program to see which of the two produced better results:
Group 1: Increased Weights while keeping the Rep Range consistent
Group 2: Increased Reps while keeping the Weights consistent
The Resistance Training program was done 2x a week on non-consecutive days Workout:
Free-Weight Back Squat
Leg Extension
Straight-Leg Calf Raise
Seated Calf Raise
Both groups would do 4 Sets for each exercise, and after finding the adequeate weight, both groups started week 1 on the 8-12 Rep Range.
The results were similar for Hypertrophy overall, with a “modest” result favouring the increase of Reps for the Rectus Femoris.
For strength, the results slightly favoured the increase of Weights.
And although those results are somewhat to be expected, and show that you CAN increase Strength, even with inadequate training, if your goal is to optimize Strength Training, here’s 3 improvements that you can use:
1 ) Specify your training
The pre and post Dynamic Strength Tests for a 1RM used a Back-Squat in the Smith Machine.
If you take a look at the workout again, you’ll see that the Back-Squat prescribed in the workout wasn’t on a Smith Machine, but with a Free-Standing Bar.
If your goal is to optimize Strength Training, specially for a specific test, make sure you’re training that EXACT movement in order to get the best improvements possible (PMID: 37582807).
2 ) Lower the Rep Range
Although 8-12 is a very good spot for Hypertrophy, it’s not that great for Maximal Strength improvements.
Staying between 1-6 Reps with Weights above 80% of your 1 RM seems to be the most optimal spot for Maximal Strength Training (PMID: 37414459).
3 ) Rest as much as you need!
One thing they told the participants was that they could only afford a Maximum of 2 minutes of rest in between Sets.
If your goal is to Maximize Hypertrophy that is somewhat fine, but for Strength, where getting your muscles to Concentric Muscular Failure isn’t necessarily the main goal, without sufficient rest, you won’t be able to perform the movements with the desired effort, and therefore, not get as much results as you could.
Main Reference:
