Interesting study - Strength training vs. Bodybuilding for hypertrophy. If volume is

Regimented resistance training has been shown to promote marked increases in skeletal muscle mass. Although muscle hypertrophy can be attained through a wide range of resistance training programs, the principle of specificity, which states that adaptations are specific to the nature of the applied stimulus, dictates that some programs will promote greater hypertrophy than others. Research is lacking, however, as to the best combination of variables required to maximize hypertophic gains. The purpose of this study was to investigate muscular adaptations to a volume-equated bodybuilding-type training program versus a powerlifting-type routine in well-trained subjects. 17 young men were randomly assigned to either an HT group that performed 3 sets of 10RM with 90 seconds rest or an ST group that performed 7 sets of 3RM with 3 minutes rest. After 8 weeks, no significant differences were noted in muscle thickness of the biceps brachii. Significant strength differences were found in favor of ST for the 1RM bench press and a trend was found for greater increases in the 1RM squat. In conclusion, this study showed both bodybuilding- and powerlifting-type training promote similar increases in muscular size, but powerlifting-type training is superior for enhancing maximal strength.

Effects of different volume-equated res - PubMed Mobile

Do you think 8 weeks is enough for a consistent result? Were they all eating exactly the same thing?

Results aren't very surprising. At a 3RM, intensity is greater than at a 10RM, so each individual rep will potentially have a greater impact. But you won't be able to do as many reps in a set, so you'll need to do more sets. Because each individual rep is at a higher intensity than when using a 10RM, it makes sense that you wouldn't need to match volume rep for rep to get the same amount of hypertrophy, however a significant total volume is still needed to match results. So 7x3 eliciting the same hypertrophy as 3x10 is nothing unexpected.

Many will treat this as sound rationale to do low rep training for the explicit purpose of hypertrophy, because "it's just as effective." What they forget is that 3x10 with 90sec between sets and 60sec for each set is only 6min of training, whereas 7x3 with 3min rest between sets will take 3 times that long just to sit around -- then there's the actual lifting on top of that. Where two methods are equally effective for the task of building muscle, the one that can be achieved in less time is the more efficient option, and thus superior.

Of course, if the goal is to build max strength, it's pretty common knowledge that sets of 1-5 will be more imminently effective than sets of 8-12, so there's nothing new here on that front.