I know that when building muscle you not only need to train with high volume in both reps and weight but also you need to have a caloric surplus in your diet as well. However what if you want to just make strength gains, then is that possible to do so without consuming extra calories in your daily diet?
I personally feel that if your taking in enough calories that your not losing weight from week to week your taking in plenty in order to build strength. I Dont think I have ever heard of any one saying you can build strength with just enough calories to maintain current body levels.
[quote]Reed wrote:
I Dont think I have ever heard of any one saying you can build strength with just enough calories to maintain current body levels.[/quote]
I’ll be the first then, Yes, you can easily gain strength without a increasing caloric intake.
I cant believe anyone would think otherwise, it is obvious that powerlifters get stronger while staying in the same weight class, therefore, are not increasing their calorie intake over their caloric usage.
I went from being 163 pounds, squatting 429, to being 167 pounds, squatting 515. Only 4 pounds bodyweight difference.
I did that in one year, just train hard, and you will get stronger. Of course eat lean protein. But it is ridiculous to think you cant get stronger without doing the bulk/cutting method.
The worst thing in all of bodybuilding today, is this obsession with bulking and cutting among beginners. Chances are you could lose some fat and gain msucle mass, which is what happens when you lift the diet the same
Of course you can gain strength without gaining weight. But if you’re training hard, you’ll probably be eating quite a bit. It won’t be above ‘maintenance’ though because you won’t gain weight, but I would imagine it would increase as your BMR increases.
[quote]@JC_Tree_Trunks wrote:
[quote]Reed wrote:
I Dont think I have ever heard of any one saying you can build strength with just enough calories to maintain current body levels.[/quote]
I’ll be the first then, Yes, you can easily gain strength without a increasing caloric intake.
I cant believe anyone would think otherwise, it is obvious that powerlifters get stronger while staying in the same weight class, therefore, are not increasing their calorie intake over their caloric usage.
I went from being 163 pounds, squatting 429, to being 167 pounds, squatting 515. Only 4 pounds bodyweight difference.
I did that in one year, just train hard, and you will get stronger. Of course eat lean protein. But it is ridiculous to think you cant get stronger without doing the bulk/cutting method.
The worst thing in all of bodybuilding today, is this obsession with bulking and cutting among beginners. Chances are you could lose some fat and gain msucle mass, which is what happens when you lift the diet the same[/quote]
429 to 515 is pretty amazing gains for one year. I wanted to bring my non-impressive squat up about 60lbs and thought i was setting a high achievement for one year. What kind of squatting did you do every week?
I see. However, what I am actually trying to ask is if whether or not it is possible to constantly gain muscular strength without gaining any muscular mass at all. I ask this because I know that there are a lot of females of powerlifting, olympic weightlifting, and other power (or speed-strength) athletes who are so small in weight and size yet can lift at least 3 to 4 times their own bodyweight if not more.
I mean if that’s true then why does it matter in the long-run that males of powerlifting, olympic weightlifting, and other power athletes have more testosterone and muscle size than women? I mean, yes I know that more testosterone means more protein synthesis which means more muscle and bone mass gains, which further means even more strength gains on top of having made strength gains from stronger neuromuscular activation in the given muscles; therefore, men will naturally always have an edge in strength, speed, and power compared to women in most cases.
Yet, can’t females of powerlifting, olympic weightlifting, and other power athletes end up being just as strong as the males in those sports by building even more neuromuscular strength than the males or something like? Sorry, I probably should have phrased the question in my original post this way before.
You can get stronger without getting bigger, but only to a point. Eventually your muscle mass will act as a strength ceiling and you’ll have to get bigger if you want to further increase your strength.