training techniques

How important is strength in bodybuilding?

To answer this question it is necessary, as always, to analyze the question from the physiological point of view.

why does the force increase?

The chart shows the role of the two main components of strength in improving performance:

the rapid initial improvement of strength in a subject who starts weight training is at the expense of the nervous component. The individual quickly acquires the neuromuscular coordination and control skills necessary to optimize the athletic gesture.

Subsequently, when the nerve capacities are optimized, each additional increase in strength is mainly due to the increased cross-section of the muscle (hypertrophy).

Therefore it is not said that an athlete stronger than another is even more muscular. It is true however, that if an athlete acquires muscle mass through strength training he becomes stronger. Also the opposite discourse is correct and that is:

if an athlete who trains constantly with weights for a few months increases his strength after this period, his muscular hypertrophy increases accordingly.

In conclusion strength training stimulates hypertrophy in the advanced athlete. But is the increase in strength really the winning weapon in the development of muscle mass?

Muscle hypertrophy depends on six main factors: genetic, environmental, nervous, endocrine, nutritional and sports.

So the increase in strength is just one of the many aspects that leads to an increase in muscle mass. For example, strength training necessarily involves longer recovery times and returning to training that particular muscle district before complete recovery can frustrate our attempts to gain muscle mass. Furthermore, the correct technique of execution (which in the case of heavy lifting is often lacking) and genetics should never be forgotten since not all of us respond equally to certain training stimuli.

How to conclude? Simply saying that the factors that come into play in bodybuilding are so many that it is difficult to generalize the topic. Once again the watchword is to vary, often and with rationality, the results will come accordingly. There are periods in which to focus on strength, others in which to focus on intensity and others in which it is better to concentrate on technique. None of these types of training should be excluded a priori.