== Training for aesthetics, athleticism and strength ==
I always find it funny when, either in powerlifting or on average fitness forums, people argue about whether they should train for size or strength.
Why not both, and then some more?
When I'm asked to comment on the training of a novice lifter, or write a program for one, I'd look at all three:
Aesthetics: muscle mass, symmetry, fat mass
Athleticism: basic bodyweight movements, basic athletic skills, activation of important muscle groups, mobility, agility
Strength: absolute/maximal strength, starting strength (not the program), explosive strength, endurance strength
The three are interrelated and weakness in one would halt the progress in others. Let me elaborate.
=== Aesthetics ===
Bigger muscles improve leverage and produce more force, which benefit both athleticism and strength.
More mass require higher volume (aka more time under more tension) which can't all be done by pure strength movements. Additional bodybuilding movements helps a lot here.
Symmetry improves strength. Try benching with one arm smaller than the other.
Lower fat mass means better pound to pound strength, which is very beneficial if you're in a weight class that is not super heavyweight. Getting leaner means you can either move down to a lower weight class and thus gain a higher ranking, or give yourself more room in the current weight class for gaining muscle mass. It obviously would improve your athleticism (agility, mobility, higher power output) and in certain lifts like the deadlift, it improves your leverage too (can get hip closer to the bar).
Having a better physique often improves your confidence in daily life, which has a nice feedback to strength training.
=== Athleticism ===
If you can't feel and activate your muscles, you won't build them very well.
If you're fit, you have a higher work capacity which means you can do higher lifting volume and frequency. Both will improve your muscle building and strength practice.
If you're competent at basic athletic movements, you will learn lifting techniques very easily compared to people who don't know how to correctly squat bodyweight, pushup, pullup, jump, lunge, run, swim etc. i.e nearly every adult who googles for a routine from the Internet like Starting Strength. The latter make it worse for themselves by doing a routine that addresses nothing of their major weaknesses (lack of athleticism).
If you have at least just more than enough mobility than required for a lift, you will be able to get into a better position and produce stronger force for the lift. If you don't have the mobility for it, you will waste a lot of energy fighting your own body, probably wrecking a muscle, tendon or joint in the process.
If you can't squat your own bodyweight competently, putting a heavy bar on your back will not make you stronger or more muscular. If you can't do a correct pushup, benching with weights will not help you. If you can't activate your abs in a basic plank or hollow body position, or your glutes in a glute bridge, or know how to do a basic hip hinge in, say, a kettlebell swing, deadlifting will destroy your back.
=== Strength ===
When you're stronger, everything is easier.
If you're building muscles for aesthetics, and wonder why your chest won't grow when you're barely benching 5x5 at 70kg.... the answer is to get stronger (i.e build maximal strength) so that you can do your volume work at 10x10x70kg or more, after all the strength work. Same if you're wondering why squatting 3x8x100kg isn't making you a quadzilla.
You don't have to focus on strength as a #1 priority if you just want a better physique, but muscles do not grow with light weights. Remember the golden bodybuilding rule: time under tension i.e more volume with heavier weights.
Strength is a skill, and the nervous system plays a large role in recruiting muscle fibers for the lift. When you train strength as a skill, you learn and teach your body to recruit more muscle fibers. The more muscle fibers are recruited, the more adapted they will become to reach their genetic potentials. If you're not recruiting more muscle fibers, you can't build more muscle mass.
If you squat 2xBW on the bar, then doing air squats for conditioning will be a lot easier, and also your vertical and sprint time will improve as well.
=== So.... what program should I do? ===
Look at the above three categories and see which areas you're lacking. Then add exercises to address that weakness. Don't be a slave to your current program, but don't go around copying other people's programs minus the context either.
If you have small arms, do direct arm work, even if some Rippetoe disciple says you shouldn't.
If you want your chest to grow, but the program only tells you to do 3x5 bench (15 reps total), maybe you should be adding 3-5x10 DB bench afterwards.
If you have weak abs, do ab work, even if Strong Lift dudes tell you that compound movements already work your core plenty.
If you're gassed after a couple of hours of weight training, you need better conditioning. If you need to take 10+ minutes rest after a set of squat because your heart beats too fast, you probably need to do some cardio.
If you regularly wake up the next morning after squat/deadlift day feeling like you got run over by a truck, it's not you being hardcore like Facebook memes say, it's a sign that you train harder than you recover.
If you can't do a bodyweight squat to nice depth and a straight back, stop adding more weights to the squat bar every session because Starting Strength says so.
If you can't do a single pull-up, or can't do basic ab exercises competently, perhaps deadlift shouldn't be in your program yet.
You get the idea. Slowly, learn how your body works, what weaknesses you have and simply address them. The goal is to eventually know how to train yourself. That's how I coach people too, so they can be self-sufficient and figure things out for themselves.
If a program you're doing doesn't address all 3 categories for you, find a program that does, or add things you need to the existing program. Typically for novices to intermediates, I'd write a 3-days a week strength program, and tell them to pick another 2 days to do GPP which essentially are basic bodyweight exercises, athletic movements, cardio, conditioning, mobility, etc.
I always find it funny when, either in powerlifting or on average fitness forums, people argue about whether they should train for size or strength.
Why not both, and then some more?
When I'm asked to comment on the training of a novice lifter, or write a program for one, I'd look at all three:
Aesthetics: muscle mass, symmetry, fat mass
Athleticism: basic bodyweight movements, basic athletic skills, activation of important muscle groups, mobility, agility
Strength: absolute/maximal strength, starting strength (not the program), explosive strength, endurance strength
The three are interrelated and weakness in one would halt the progress in others. Let me elaborate.
=== Aesthetics ===
Bigger muscles improve leverage and produce more force, which benefit both athleticism and strength.
More mass require higher volume (aka more time under more tension) which can't all be done by pure strength movements. Additional bodybuilding movements helps a lot here.
Symmetry improves strength. Try benching with one arm smaller than the other.
Lower fat mass means better pound to pound strength, which is very beneficial if you're in a weight class that is not super heavyweight. Getting leaner means you can either move down to a lower weight class and thus gain a higher ranking, or give yourself more room in the current weight class for gaining muscle mass. It obviously would improve your athleticism (agility, mobility, higher power output) and in certain lifts like the deadlift, it improves your leverage too (can get hip closer to the bar).
Having a better physique often improves your confidence in daily life, which has a nice feedback to strength training.
=== Athleticism ===
If you can't feel and activate your muscles, you won't build them very well.
If you're fit, you have a higher work capacity which means you can do higher lifting volume and frequency. Both will improve your muscle building and strength practice.
If you're competent at basic athletic movements, you will learn lifting techniques very easily compared to people who don't know how to correctly squat bodyweight, pushup, pullup, jump, lunge, run, swim etc. i.e nearly every adult who googles for a routine from the Internet like Starting Strength. The latter make it worse for themselves by doing a routine that addresses nothing of their major weaknesses (lack of athleticism).
If you have at least just more than enough mobility than required for a lift, you will be able to get into a better position and produce stronger force for the lift. If you don't have the mobility for it, you will waste a lot of energy fighting your own body, probably wrecking a muscle, tendon or joint in the process.
If you can't squat your own bodyweight competently, putting a heavy bar on your back will not make you stronger or more muscular. If you can't do a correct pushup, benching with weights will not help you. If you can't activate your abs in a basic plank or hollow body position, or your glutes in a glute bridge, or know how to do a basic hip hinge in, say, a kettlebell swing, deadlifting will destroy your back.
=== Strength ===
When you're stronger, everything is easier.
If you're building muscles for aesthetics, and wonder why your chest won't grow when you're barely benching 5x5 at 70kg.... the answer is to get stronger (i.e build maximal strength) so that you can do your volume work at 10x10x70kg or more, after all the strength work. Same if you're wondering why squatting 3x8x100kg isn't making you a quadzilla.
You don't have to focus on strength as a #1 priority if you just want a better physique, but muscles do not grow with light weights. Remember the golden bodybuilding rule: time under tension i.e more volume with heavier weights.
Strength is a skill, and the nervous system plays a large role in recruiting muscle fibers for the lift. When you train strength as a skill, you learn and teach your body to recruit more muscle fibers. The more muscle fibers are recruited, the more adapted they will become to reach their genetic potentials. If you're not recruiting more muscle fibers, you can't build more muscle mass.
If you squat 2xBW on the bar, then doing air squats for conditioning will be a lot easier, and also your vertical and sprint time will improve as well.
=== So.... what program should I do? ===
Look at the above three categories and see which areas you're lacking. Then add exercises to address that weakness. Don't be a slave to your current program, but don't go around copying other people's programs minus the context either.
If you have small arms, do direct arm work, even if some Rippetoe disciple says you shouldn't.
If you want your chest to grow, but the program only tells you to do 3x5 bench (15 reps total), maybe you should be adding 3-5x10 DB bench afterwards.
If you have weak abs, do ab work, even if Strong Lift dudes tell you that compound movements already work your core plenty.
If you're gassed after a couple of hours of weight training, you need better conditioning. If you need to take 10+ minutes rest after a set of squat because your heart beats too fast, you probably need to do some cardio.
If you regularly wake up the next morning after squat/deadlift day feeling like you got run over by a truck, it's not you being hardcore like Facebook memes say, it's a sign that you train harder than you recover.
If you can't do a bodyweight squat to nice depth and a straight back, stop adding more weights to the squat bar every session because Starting Strength says so.
If you can't do a single pull-up, or can't do basic ab exercises competently, perhaps deadlift shouldn't be in your program yet.
You get the idea. Slowly, learn how your body works, what weaknesses you have and simply address them. The goal is to eventually know how to train yourself. That's how I coach people too, so they can be self-sufficient and figure things out for themselves.
If a program you're doing doesn't address all 3 categories for you, find a program that does, or add things you need to the existing program. Typically for novices to intermediates, I'd write a 3-days a week strength program, and tell them to pick another 2 days to do GPP which essentially are basic bodyweight exercises, athletic movements, cardio, conditioning, mobility, etc.