The problem Of muscle hypertrophy: Revisited

@article{Buckner2016ThePO,
  title={The problem Of muscle hypertrophy: Revisited},
  author={Samuel L. Buckner and Scott Justin Dankel and Kevin T Mattocks and Matthew B. Jessee and J Grant Mouser and Brittany R. Counts and Jeremy P. Loenneke},
  journal={Muscle \& Nerve},
  year={2016},
  volume={54}
}
In this paper we revisit a topic originally discussed in 1955, namely the lack of direct evidence that muscle hypertrophy from exercise plays an important role in increasing strength. To this day, long‐term adaptations in strength are thought to be primarily contingent on changes in muscle size. Given this assumption, there has been considerable attention placed on programs designed to allow for maximization of both muscle size and strength. However, the conclusion that a change in muscle size… 
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50 Citations

Is muscle growth a mechanism for increasing strength?
Muscle hypertrophy and muscle strength: dependent or independent variables? A provocative review
TLDR
A number of studies show a clear dissociation with increase of muscle size with no change or even decrease in strength and, vice versa, increase in strength without increase in size.
Resistance training induced changes in strength and specific force at the fiber and whole muscle level: a meta-analysis
TLDR
The results support the hypothesis that the neural adaptations play a large role in increasing isotonic whole muscle strength, but also demonstrate that an improvement in specific tension of type 1 muscle fibers is present.
Resistance Training Recommendations to Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy in an Athletic Population: Position Stand of the IUSCA
Hypertrophy can be operationally defined as an increase in the axial cross-sectional area of a muscle fiber or whole muscle, and is due to increases in the size of pre-existing muscle fibers.…
Muscle growth: To infinity and beyond?
TLDR
The available studies indicate that the muscle growth response will plateau, and additional growth is not likely to occur appreciably beyond this initial plateau, however, the current study durations are a limitation.
Muscle size and strength: another study not designed to answer the question
TLDR
In conclusion, analyses like these provide little information to explain the true role of exercise-induced muscle growth as it relates to exerciseinduced muscle strength, and it is suggested that this question is best answered though study design rather than retrospective correlations.
The contraction history of the muscle and strength change: lessons learned from unilateral training models
TLDR
Ways to test the idea that strength change may be dictated by the contraction history of the muscle are discussed, of importance among injurious populations undergoing rehabilitation, seeking to find the most efficacious exercise regimens.
Causal Mediation Analysis Could Resolve Whether Training-Induced Increases in Muscle Strength are Mediated by Muscle Hypertrophy
TLDR
Here, resistance training researchers are introduced to causal mediation analysis and it is recommended that it be used to resolve the current debate on hypertrophy.
Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy, but Not Strength in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial
TLDR
There seems to be a dose-response relationship between RT volume and muscle hypertrophy, but not for MS gains in postmenopausal women in PW.
The Association of Handgrip Strength and Mortality: What Does It Tell Us and What Can We Do With It?
TLDR
Establishing a high baseline of strength earlier in life may have long-term implications related to mortality and disease and there may be critical periods during growth/development during which individuals can establish a higher baseline.
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References

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TLDR
This manuscript will review recent acute and chronic data which suggests that exercise intensity may be playing less of a role with skeletal muscle hypertrophy than previously thought.
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TLDR
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TLDR
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TLDR
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TLDR
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TLDR
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TLDR
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Neither load nor systemic hormones determine resistance training-mediated hypertrophy or strength gains in resistance-trained young men
TLDR
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