# Necessity of hypertrophy cycles for long-term strength goals

**URL:** <https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/necessity-of-hypertrophy-cycles-for-long-term-strength-goals/9760>\
**Category:** Training Q&A \[Moderated\]\
**Created:** [October 25, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/necessity-of-hypertrophy-cycles-for-long-term-strength-goals/9760 "2020-10-25T21:33:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sievert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@sievert](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/u/sievert)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/necessity-of-hypertrophy-cycles-for-long-term-strength-goals/9760/1 "2020-10-25T21:33:42Z")

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Hello,

To be brief, I don’t enjoy doing hypertrophy-focused training cycles, but I will do them if they’re essentially a requisite to meet my long-term goals. My goals are to maximize strength in the bench, squat, deadlift, and press _while staying at or below my currently-lean body fat %_.

Which approach do you think is likely to result in meeting that goal with less headaches?

1.) Strength I → Strength II → Strength III → Who knows?  
2.) Strength I → Hypertrophy/Powerbuilding I → Strength II → Hypertrophy/Powerbuilding II → etc.  
3.) Something else.

Thanks so much, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to answer our questions for free.

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**Author:** ![Jordan\_Feigenbaum](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/forum.barbellmedicine.com/jordan_feigenbaum/32/1315_2.png) [@Jordan\_Feigenbaum](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/u/Jordan_Feigenbaum)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/necessity-of-hypertrophy-cycles-for-long-term-strength-goals/9760/2 "2020-10-26T17:40:48Z")

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I don’t think I can predict this without knowing anything about how your training response has been so far and any current data about you.

That said, all of our strength programs have a significant amount of volume that should also increase hypertrophy outcomes. I do think that taking short breaks from pure strength work can be useful in the long-term pursuit of 1RM strength increases, but most of your training should be strength focused. I’d lean towards #1, but if you got great results from Strength I, I would probably just repeat it.

-Jordan