Mixed
The statistical method used to analyze the relationship between muscle hypertrophy and strength gain significantly alters the observed correlation, with hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) revealing stronger within-individual associations than between-subject correlations or ANCOVA.
If you are designing a study or interpreting research on muscle growth and strength, do not rely on simple between-subject correlations (comparing Person A to Person B). Use within-subject analyses (like Hierarchical Linear Modeling) to see how an individual's growth relates to their strength gain. For practitioners, this means individual responses vary wildly; some people get strong without growing much, and some grow without getting proportionally stronger. Do not assume muscle size is the sole driver of strength.
The associative relationship between strength and hypertrophy is highly dependent upon both method/site of measurement and analysis; large differences in variance accounted for (VAF) by the statistical models were observed (VAF = 0–24.1%).
Why this rating
Re-analysis of a controlled clinical dataset with robust statistical comparisons (HLM, ANCOVA, regression).
Source
Methods matter: the relationship between strength and hypertrophy depends on methods of measurement and analysis
Andrew D. Vigotsky et al. · PeerJ · 2018
DOI 10.7717/peerj.5071
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