Will HST give me big, but flabby muscles?

[shiphen]

Hi

I have read quite a lot about HST and it sounds great. However:

1.
Although I do not mind getting bigger, I am slightly more interested in *strength* than size.
- Does that mean that I should not do HST training?
- i.e. Should I modify my HST training for strength (in some way)? (If so how?)
- i.e. Will HST create big flabby muscles that arent actually all that strong?

Background:
I like the scientific/rational approach involved in HST. I like the idea of not training to failure the whole time. I am in my v late 40s. I like playing sports.

2.
Will the muscle size gains disappear very quickly as soon as I stop training?

3.
Someone once told me that if you gain muscle too quickly it affects your 'tissue memory' and you will lose it quickly too. Is this true?

With thanks


John

P.S. I am relatively new to weight training etc.

 

[CDB]

Hi

I have read quite a lot about HST and it sounds great. However:

1.
Although I do not mind getting bigger, I am slightly more interested in *strength* than size.
- Does that mean that I should not do HST training?

HST = Hypertrophy Specific Training. SST = Strength Specific Training.

With that in mind, what do you think is best?

And remember, all the minutia aside, an HST program vs an SST program for many if not most people is an irrelevant distinction. Put simply, if you train for strength and eat enough you will get bigger too. If you train for hypertrophy and eat enough you will get bigger, if you do it right you'll get bigger a little quicker than if you trained for strength, and you will gain strength only slower than otherwise. In the end you can't decouple strength from size as how big you get is related to how much weight you're pushing and how much you're eating. So it's two routes to the same goal, each one being the scenic route to the opposing goal. That's all.

- i.e. Will HST create big flabby muscles that arent actually all that strong?

No.