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Article
Emphasizing Task-Specific Hypertrophy to Enhance Sequential Strength and Power Performance
Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology
  • S. Kyle Travis, East Tennessee State University
  • Ai Ishida, East Tennessee State University
  • Christopher B. Taber, Sacred Heart University
  • Andrew C. Fry, University of Kansas,
  • Michael Henry Stone, East Tennessee State University
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
1-1-2020
Disciplines
Abstract

While strength is indeed a skill, most discussions have primarily considered structural adaptations rather than ultrastructural augmentation to improve performance. Altering the structural component of the muscle is often the aim of hypertrophic training, yet not all hypertrophy is equal; such alterations are dependent upon how the muscle adapts to the training stimuli and overall training stress. When comparing bodybuilders to strength and power athletes such as powerlifters, weightlifters, and throwers, while muscle size may be similar, the ability to produce force and power is often inequivalent. Thus, performance differences go beyond structural changes and may be due to the muscle’s ultrastructural constituents and training induced adaptations. Relative to potentiating strength and power performances, eliciting specific ultrastructural changes should be a variable of interest during hypertrophic training phases. By focusing on task-specific hypertrophy, it may be possible to achieve an optimal amount of hypertrophy while deemphasizing metabolic and aerobic components that are often associated with high-volume training. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to briefly address different types of hypertrophy and provide directions for practitioners who are aiming to achieve optimal rather than maximal hypertrophy, as it relates to altering ultrastructural muscular components, to potentiate strength and power performance.

Comments

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

DOI
10.3390/jfmk5040076
Publisher
MDPI
Pages
1-25
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Citation Information

Travis, S. K., Ishida, A., Taber, C. B., Fry, A. C., & Stone, M. H. (2020). Emphasizing task-specific hypertrophy to enhance sequential strength and power performance. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 5(4), 76. Doi: 10.3390/jfmk5040076