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Performance Series — Strength Training
Topic: Strength, Motor Units, Nervous System Recruitment, and Injury Prevention
Strength is not just muscle size.
In this episode of The Functional Code Podcast, Dr. Jace and Dr. Addy continue the Performance Training Series with a deep dive into strength training — what strength actually is, why bigger muscles are not always stronger, and how the nervous system learns to recruit the tissue you have already built.
After the hypertrophy episode focused on building the “factory,” this episode explains how strength training fills that factory with workers. Strength depends on motor unit recruitment, neurological drive, coordination, tendon capacity, joint control, and the ability to express force with intent.
Dr. Jace and Dr. Addy break down why strength is task-specific, why isometrics are powerful for rehab and performance, why strength and speed are connected, and why many injuries happen when the muscle can produce more force than the tendon, ligament, or joint can absorb.
In this episode, we cover:
Strength training vs. hypertrophy training
Why size does not always equal strength
Motor units and neural recruitment
Brain-to-muscle communication
Strength as a task-specific skill
Isometrics for strength and rehab
Motor unit recruitment and rate coding
Why strength can improve before muscle size changes
Rep ranges for strength training
Heavy, high-quality reps
Longer rest between working sets
Push-pull supersets
CARs and joint communication between sets
Eccentric loading and tendon preparation
Isometric, eccentric, and concentric sequencing
Diminishing returns and overtraining risk
Detrain, retrain, and stimulate days
Six-to-twelve-week strength blocks
Strength is speed and speed is strength
Adding faster intent into strength work
Medicine ball throws and athletic carryover
Training variability and real-life strength
Key takeaway:
Strength is not just how big the muscle is. Strength is how well your nervous system can recruit muscle, coordinate force, protect joints, and express power in the task you are asking the body to perform.
The goal is not just to lift more weight. The goal is to build force that the body can control, absorb, and eventually express faster.
Research References:
Cross-education: motor unit adaptations mediate the strength increase in non-trained muscles following 8 weeks of unilateral resistance training
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2024.1512309/full
The increase in muscle force after 4 weeks of strength training is mediated by adaptations in motor unit recruitment and rate coding
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6441907/
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Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider.
