Different styles of training, involving various rep and intensity schemes, lead to distinct physiological adaptations.
A fascinating new study led to these conclusions by examining the differences between sedentary individuals, competitive bodybuilders who perform more low-weight/hip rep type training, and power athletes who perform more high-weight/low-rep type training.
Unsurprisingly, the bodybuilders had larger muscle fibers, whereas the power athletes had stronger muscles. What was surprising, however, was that the power athletes did not have much more overall muscle than the sedentary individuals and also that the power athletes did not possess a greater amount of fast-twitch muscle fibers.
Conclusions
Many people may think that the findings of this study are obvious, but the reality is that the different adaptations that occur depending on rep range and training style are not well established in the research literature. Some studies have even suggested that high-rep and low-rep training will produce identical adaptations as long as the muscles are trained to failure. Thus, this study provides a different perspective and a unique angle to discern the effects of different training styles.
One question that remains, however, is the role that genetics play in these findings. It is possible that rep range does not play as much of a role as indicated and instead, some people simply respond to strength training by building bigger muscles while some people respond by gaining more strength, and that athletes choose whether to compete in bodybuilding or powerlifting depending on which category they fall in. More research will be needed to control for this possibility.
References