getting alot stronger, but not bigger

[garruk]

im trying to pack on the pounds, and ive been in and out of the gym for around half a year now.


my bench press has gone up from 155 to 205 and my squat has made even better progess.

however, while my strength is making great progress i feel like im not getting any bigger. i still weigh the same amount at 155.

help out a noob?

 

[Julius_Seizeher]

Dude I know exactly what you are talking about. In my case, I achieved the X shape but my weight never changed, then I have since gotten visibly bigger but my weight has only went up about ten pounds.

**** it, I think muscles, strength, cut, and health are the things to focus on, and bodyfat % is obviously much more crucial than bodyweight anyway. Just keep training.

 

[AAAgent]

i was like this too before. I realized you gotta eat ALOT, ALOT of times. I have been eating a large breakfast. Then inbetween breakfast and lunch i normally eat an orange and 2 banana's. Then i eat a large lunch. When i get home i Eat a large dinner. I'm known among my colleagues as the guy that doesn't waste his food and cleans his plate haha. I've eaten 5 slices of pizza for lunch before (it was cheap $1 a slice).

Workout harder and take in even more calories. The thing is, if i decide to save some money because i'm spending too much on food, i'll drop like 4-5 pounds in a week easily. I'm fluctuating currently between 173-180. I used to be around 162.

 

[Jitterbug]

Training is just a stimulus. You get bigger through eating.

 

[Fuglydude]

Training is just a stimulus. You get bigger through eating.

This is the best answer here BY FAR!

Garruk always remember that bigger doesn't necessarily mean stronger and stronger doesn't necessarily mean bigger. I can comfortably go up against your average big 220-lb gym dude and out perform him in many of the bigger compound movements like deads, squats, dips, pull ups, powercleans, etc. However, I'm only 185. Strength is highly neurological in nature. Its all about neuromuscular efficiency, and really learning the movement. Always remember than lifting big weight is above anything else a SKILL. Yes, large muscles will help, but if you don't know HOW to lift heavy, you simply will fail when it comes to the lift.

This is something I slowly discovered while changing over from heavy lifting to more of a bodybuilding/hypertrophy type program. I was close to 195 at my heaviest, yet my deadlift and even my squat weren't nearly as heavy as they should have been. This is because my lifting mechanics were off at this new heavier weight and my body didn't know how to lift heavy.

As Jitter said, getting big is ALL about diet. I simply can't stress this enough. Diet conquers all... its about 3/4 of fitness. If you aren't eating enough you simply will not get bigger. On the other hand strength is quite trainable, and assuming you have a good coach and reasonably good nervous system you can actually get VERY strong w/ just moderate increases in size.

If you wanna get bigger focus on eating a lot more calories. At your weight you should aim for around 3500 calories and 250 g protein/day. Also train with more of a slow, controlled motion and really focus on pumping blood into your muscles. Make sure you're well hydrate pre-work out. When it comes to hypertrophy volume is king. You should still do your big compound movements, but also incorporate isolation work.

In summary: strength and size are two completely different things. Strength is about neurological efficiency and learning a skill. Size is about hypertrophy: something that is attained through eating tons of food and lifting higher volume w/ more slow controlled reps.

 

[garruk]

This is the best answer here BY FAR!

Garruk always remember that bigger doesn't necessarily mean stronger and stronger doesn't necessarily mean bigger. I can comfortably go up against your average big 220-lb gym dude and out perform him in many of the bigger compound movements like deads, squats, dips, pull ups, powercleans, etc. However, I'm only 185. Strength is highly neurological in nature. Its all about neuromuscular efficiency, and really learning the movement. Always remember than lifting big weight is above anything else a SKILL. Yes, large muscles will help, but if you don't know HOW to lift heavy, you simply will fail when it comes to the lift.

This is something I slowly discovered while changing over from heavy lifting to more of a bodybuilding/hypertrophy type program. I was close to 195 at my heaviest, yet my deadlift and even my squat weren't nearly as heavy as they should have been. This is because my lifting mechanics were off at this new heavier weight and my body didn't know how to lift heavy.

As Jitter said, getting big is ALL about diet. I simply can't stress this enough. Diet conquers all... its about 3/4 of fitness. If you aren't eating enough you simply will not get bigger. On the other hand strength is quite trainable, and assuming you have a good coach and reasonably good nervous system you can actually get VERY strong w/ just moderate increases in size.

If you wanna get bigger focus on eating a lot more calories. At your weight you should aim for around 3500 calories and 250 g protein/day. Also train with more of a slow, controlled motion and really focus on pumping blood into your muscles. Make sure you're well hydrate pre-work out. When it comes to hypertrophy volume is king. You should still do your big compound movements, but also incorporate isolation work.

In summary: strength and size are two completely different things. Strength is about neurological efficiency and learning a skill. Size is about hypertrophy: something that is attained through eating tons of food and lifting higher volume w/ more slow controlled reps.

awesome post. thanks alot.

really looking at changing up my entire regimen now

 

[AbrahamLincoin]

im trying to pack on the pounds, and ive been in and out of the gym for around half a year now.


my bench press has gone up from 155 to 205 and my squat has made even better progess.

however, while my strength is making great progress i feel like im not getting any bigger. i still weigh the same amount at 155.

help out a noob?

Hi,,,
Its good to know about your progress with respect to strength.Can you please share you diet plan and work out routine with me so that I can advice you better on this topic?Try any weight gainer supplement if you are not using one up till now.Increase your caloric intake.

 

[Pimp-sicle]

I have this same problem too, however I just put on 3 lbs of muscle in the past 2 weeks after months of pretty much running in place and I look visibly bigger too. Here is what I did:

1. Started using a Mass Gainer instead of whey protein
2. Started taking Creatine 189
3. Started using an N.O. Booster and Thermogenic pre-workout(Thermogenic's burn calories but for some reason I still gain muscle on it and look more ripped...maybe it makes up for the fat loss with the added stamina/reps in the gym...or that could be the N.O. booster and the Thermogenic is holding me back, I dunno).
4. Started lifting to failure, except on bench. Burning yourself out on bench can handicap everything else you do, its a very demanding process.

With all due respect you did not put on 3 lbs of pure muscle in 2 weeks. Most seasoned lifters will be lucky to put on 8-10lbs of muscle in a entire year of training.

Anytime calories ingested exceed calories burned you will gain weight, but that weight will be a mix of water, muscle and some fat. Looking at the supplements your taking, you most likely are holding more water and also gained a bit of muscle and a little fat.

If your goal is to get bigger, why are you taking a thermogenic? Look most guys try and emulate professional strength athletes or bodybuilders based off what they see in the magazines. Do you realize that aside from the obvious steroid use, they only look like that (huge and ripped) for a few days a year (for the contest)? The rest of the time they are stuffing their face, putting on mass and yes a lot of it is fat in order to be able to then cut.

Think about it like a clay sculpture you are molding.

You can't make something out of nothing....you need to have extra clay in order to crave the "excess" out and make the sculpture look the way you want.

Lifting til failure regularly will not help you put on size, it will make you stronger, but also HIGHLY increase your chances of over-training and injury. Its a little ironic that you mention burning yourself out on the bench, when your burning yourself out everywhere else.

Again no disrespect intended, just trying to help you realize where your going wrong.

If you have a hard time putting on weight you need to re-evaluate your program.


1) Your nutrition is inadequate for your demand

and

2) Your training is too much for your system at the moment.


If your goal is straight up strength and gaining size you should stick to a hypertrophy style of routine. This entails keeping the majority of your sets between 6-12 reps and increasing the load accordingly.

Again back to the clay sculpture example, your currently stripping away most of the clay (burning all the calories in your over-training work out) and then wondering why your not growing more efficiently.

I assure you if you stop taking the creatine, you will drop 2-3 lbs within a week or so.

I don't know your lifting experience, but if your relatively knew you might want to look into a program like Starting Strength or Beyond the Brawn, or even a Mad Cow 5x5 program.

Less is more, especially for relatively new lifters who are not on drugs.


EDIT: Didn't read all the replies and see that Jitter and Fugly pretty much covered what I was trying to say. I will say that excess training (which is very common in the uneducated "more must be better" mentality, will hold back growth, but diet is really key.)


PIMP

 

[Quinlan]

I think, you are using supplements with your exercising which is cause of your weight.... If i am right, you must stop supplements instantly...