why am i getting stronger but not bigger???

[flipcrab85]

ive gotten substantially stronger, i went from a 225 one rep max on bench press in Oct 07 to 290, but i dont find that ive gotten any bigger than what i was, is it due to my height 6-5. im pretty good when it comes to my diet. im on a bulking phase right now , ive added weight (about 15 lbs) but not really any size. like all of my measurements are pretty much the same.... any idea as to what i can do different to help with the mass?

[kingkole02]

Natural diet will do this. I suppose you only take supplements like protein or other forms of whey?

Creatine or testosterone or other forms of supplements will usually hold water weight giving your the false impression of size, once off you loose the size.

I tried creatine for about a year while loosing weight, and testosterone, I swear at 165 I looked bigger then I do now at 180, but I lift almost a third more now. Then I went all natural.

"Call it Bro-Science, I really don't give a s***. It's proven results for me."

[vdub232]

You can increase strength in 2 ways... 1 is hypertrophy - increasing the cross sectional area of the muscle. This allows for more "cross-bridges" to form and subsequently, greater contraction.

A second way to increase strength is by neural adaptations. This means you have a better ability to recruit motor units.. you can look at is as your body using the muslce mass you already have in a more efficient way. So that has to do with how your nervous system activates your muscles... hopfully that makes sense.

So maybe your body is making neural adjustments and this is why you are not seeing an increase in muscle mass w/ an increase in strength.

Also, remember that the rep range and rest period for hypertrophy is 6-12 and 1-2 minutes. If you are focusing on increasing strength right now, you are probably using a lot of sets below 6 reps and longer rest periods.

Have you tried enlisting high intensity techniques, such as drop sets, supersets, forced reps, rest-pause, ect.?

[flipcrab85]

You can increase strength in 2 ways... 1 is hypertrophy - increasing the cross sectional area of the muscle. This allows for more "cross-bridges" to form and subsequently, greater contraction.

A second way to increase strength is by neural adaptations. This means you have a better ability to recruit motor units.. you can look at is as your body using the muslce mass you already have in a more efficient way. So that has to do with how your nervous system activates your muscles... hopfully that makes sense.

So maybe your body is making neural adjustments and this is why you are not seeing an increase in muscle mass w/ an increase in strength.

Also, remember that the rep range and rest period for hypertrophy is 6-12 and 1-2 minutes. If you are focusing on increasing strength right now, you are probably using a lot of sets below 6 reps and longer rest periods.

Have you tried enlisting high intensity techniques, such as drop sets, supersets, forced reps, rest-pause, ect.?

yea it makes sense, i do drop sets as well as, my "normal" sets are about 10-12 reps with maybe a minute of rest, just long enough to catch my breath. from what i know (not much) i seem to be doing things right, so maybe it is a neural adjustment and now that that is correct maybe i may start to SEE something more...or it could be that due to my size it will take longer to physically see things in comparison to someone 5'7", that seem to explode overnight

[flipcrab85]

Natural diet will do this. I suppose you only take supplements like protein or other forms of whey?

Creatine or testosterone or other forms of supplements will usually hold water weight giving your the false impression of size, once off you loose the size.

I tried creatine for about a year while loosing weight, and testosterone, I swear at 165 I looked bigger then I do now at 180, but I lift almost a third more now. Then I went all natural.

"Call it Bro-Science, I really don't give a s***. It's proven results for me."

yea i do primarily use only proteins , creating makes me feel more "puffy"...
im alot more solid than b4...

[kingkole02]

Typically you want to change in routine any where from 2 weeks to 4 weeks depending on person. When you adjust anything have to do with training you find a new area that will increase something else.

Our bodies respond to demand and level out, so if demand is consistently changed, your body will never quite level out and always have one direction, up.

[Jodeci]

i had the same problem, when i used to train my way, i grew huge and fast. After a period of off time, i trained under the guidance of a reli big guy but it just didnt work for me. i guess u have to train in a way u find suits u best.

[quietstormx1]

i have the same problem man. im 6'5 too and find it hard to get bigger, but my strength has gone up. i weigh less and lift less then you, but i went from reppin 75lbs 8x a year ago to reppin 145lbs 8x. with little gain of mass.

one thing i noticed yesterday was how big of a difference the creatine i was taking made. prior to vacation (left for vaca 2 weeks ago) i was taking creatine for about 2 months. i was up to 195lbs, tipping to 196. go on vaca, come back, relax for a week and finally go back to the gym yesterday and im down to 189lbs. i couldnt believe it. i thought i was finally getting somewhere with a diet, only to realize the creatine gave me about 5lbs of water weight (im assuming, altho i did eat less then normal when on vaca).

i think it has alot to do with a bigger frame. my friend whos about 5'10 went to iraq for a year with the reserves. he lifted for maybe 7 months while there and blew up...funny thing is he didnt eat as much as i do and probably didnt even lift right (he thought shrugs were for his lats).

[kingkole02]

one thing i noticed yesterday was how big of a difference the creatine i was taking made. prior to vacation (left for vaca 2 weeks ago) i was taking creatine for about 2 months. i was up to 195lbs, tipping to 196. go on vaca, come back, relax for a week and finally go back to the gym yesterday and im down to 189lbs. i couldnt believe it. i thought i was finally getting somewhere with a diet, only to realize the creatine gave me about 5lbs of water weight (im assuming, altho i did eat less then normal when on vaca).

(he thought shrugs were for his lats).

Creatine I have found adds water weight to most people and gives a sense of false strength. I have used and that is what happen with me. The balloon effect. Got off a lost like 5-8 lbs and went down in most of my exercises, had taken about another 6 months to get back up, but with more solid muscle.

Although I can say that creatine allows you to train longer, about 30 minutes or more extra if you wish. It also helps if you are a mover (furniture) carrying a 75lb refrigerator (mini) up 4 flights of stairs, both apartments, really sucks. Creatine helped keep me going though.

Interesting stuff, I've tried to study it but all I really found helpful is this.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/gastelu14.htm

(he thought shrugs were for his lats) Thats pretty funny. Well atleast he will have strong traps, lol.

[happysnowman123]

Well your bf% is 17 which isn't exactly bad. Do you have an endomorphic or mesomorphic metabolism? I'd say the foolproof way would be to hit 250 lbs. , and then try and drop it to like 230, or get your bf% down to under 10%. everybody gets huge by just getting super heavy and then super ripped, I'd say at 6'5" 230 lbs. 9%bf you'd look pretty good
I'm personally trying to hit 215-225lbs. w/ around 7 or 8%bf and I'm 6'4". my problem's the opposite, getting bigger but still super weak!

[flipcrab85]

im eatin like crazy tryin to gain some good weight, and it aint workin for me, ive even resorted to taking iso-mass gainer and it isnt really helpin me much, and just the two shakes a day i drink that alone adds 1400 calories. and im thinkin im on my way to eating the worlds supply of chicken and eggs...i guess all i can do is keep trainin and keep eatin

[Diesel31]

im eatin like crazy tryin to gain some good weight, and it aint workin for me, ive even resorted to taking iso-mass gainer and it isnt really helpin me much, and just the two shakes a day i drink that alone adds 1400 calories. and im thinkin im on my way to eating the worlds supply of chicken and eggs...i guess all i can do is keep trainin and keep eatin

Try switching up your time-under-tension when performing your lifts. Do a 3-2-2 tempo (three seconds to lower, two second pause, two seconds lift). You wont be able to lift as much weight, but the muscle contraction you'll get will be more than worth it.

[curt_james]

i guess all i can do is keep trainin and keep eatin

That's the ticket right there.

Your height probably isn't helping in the "get swole quick" department, but some people just respond by getting big. Others not so much. I've got to gain a good 10 to 15 pounds for my arms to grow at all and then my waist goes up, too, so it's a pain, yeah.

You made a tremendous strength gain, though, and one thing I read and believe is that strength typically comes before size. It might not be an equal rate for all lifters but generally the stronger you get the bigger you get. Maybe you just have to get even stronger.

Keep eating and lifting, like you say! Wishing you success.

[kingkole02]

two shakes a day i drink that alone adds 1400 calories.

Wow!

What kind of body type do you have again?
Your strength advancement has definitely come from the supplementation, to a point. At 1400 calories that is almost half of what your body probably requires in calories alone.

Just keep eating correctly and training.

As mentioned before, change your routine some, that will cause trauma to your body by introducing new exercise material, giving you a shock effect. Works for me every time.

[flipcrab85]

my caloric intake needed to maintain my current weight is at 3400. so i need to be above that to be adding weight, correct?

[Mr Boom]

Weight gainer my friend........

[lifthard101]

you probably are getting slowly bigger, you wont notice as much because you see yourself every day. remember as a natural you may only gain 10-12 lbs of muscle a year which is only a pound a month...so yes, just keep eating and training and good things will happen, as long as you are progressing your weights and slowly gaining weight something has to change in your body...theres no way to go from benching 200 to 300 and not get ANY bigger

[lifthard101]

You can increase strength in 2 ways... 1 is hypertrophy - increasing the cross sectional area of the muscle. This allows for more "cross-bridges" to form and subsequently, greater contraction.

A second way to increase strength is by neural adaptations. This means you have a better ability to recruit motor units.. you can look at is as your body using the muslce mass you already have in a more efficient way. So that has to do with how your nervous system activates your muscles... hopfully that makes sense.

So maybe your body is making neural adjustments and this is why you are not seeing an increase in muscle mass w/ an increase in strength.

Also, remember that the rep range and rest period for hypertrophy is 6-12 and 1-2 minutes. If you are focusing on increasing strength right now, you are probably using a lot of sets below 6 reps and longer rest periods.

Have you tried enlisting high intensity techniques, such as drop sets, supersets, forced reps, rest-pause, ect.?

this is also very true... i found a workout program here that i like that seems to get both the benefits of strength and hypertrophy but again remember... you might not notice day to day growth...wait 8-12 months then find some old pics of yourself..

http://www.strengthandscience.com/wordpress/?p=15

[snth3tic]

Im the same way, 6'5" 205 pounds with a max of 245 on the bench. Last year at this time i was 140 pounds with a max of 150. I also go to a military school so the only supplements we can take (which btw i have to sneak in) is protein. I worked out for 6 months solid training for strength, every week trying to add 2.5 pounds to my previous week's lift. I take Arnold's advice and it has worked so far: If you reach a plateau, add weight! Every week add more weight than the last week, and if you can't do anymore, stay at that weight for 2 weeks then add more again. It works like a charm.

*Train for strength, add weight, and EAT!!

[sonnychopra]

i have the same problem. im 5'10" and about 170lbs. i gained 40lbs since i graduated high school about 3 years ago but since then im stuck. my bench press 225 have gone from 1 rep to 6 on a good day. i can deadlift 315 for reps. i squat 300. all my exercises constantly go up in weight yet i cannot gain one pound. i just get more toned and ripped up. what should i do?

[musicianman]

i have the same problem. im 5'10" and about 170lbs. i gained 40lbs since i graduated high school about 3 years ago but since then im stuck. my bench press 225 have gone from 1 rep to 6 on a good day. i can deadlift 315 for reps. i squat 300. all my exercises constantly go up in weight yet i cannot gain one pound. i just get more toned and ripped up. what should i do?

thread = 2 years old

[indianguju]

i just started taking Creatine powder. is it bad. I also take WHEY protein.

[lilrob2000]

k hi

[lilrob2000]

i just started taking Creatine powder. is it bad. I also take WHEY protein.

<3 whey

[Spartanbaziotis]

Old thread is old. Doubt this fellow is having the same problem four years later...

[buffman1993]

but if your geting susanasly stronger you have to be building muscle right?

You can increase strength in 2 ways... 1 is hypertrophy - increasing the cross sectional area of the muscle. This allows for more "cross-bridges" to form and subsequently, greater contraction.

A second way to increase strength is by neural adaptations. This means you have a better ability to recruit motor units.. you can look at is as your body using the muslce mass you already have in a more efficient way. So that has to do with how your nervous system activates your muscles... hopfully that makes sense.

So maybe your body is making neural adjustments and this is why you are not seeing an increase in muscle mass w/ an increase in strength.

Also, remember that the rep range and rest period for hypertrophy is 6-12 and 1-2 minutes. If you are focusing on increasing strength right now, you are probably using a lot of sets below 6 reps and longer rest periods.

Have you tried enlisting high intensity techniques, such as drop sets, supersets, forced reps, rest-pause, ect.?

[dtownsound]

Old thread is old. Doubt this fellow is having the same problem four years later...

The discussion is still useful and informative, regardless of the OP date

[Caleb623]

Typically you want to change in routine any where from 2 weeks to 4 weeks depending on person. When you adjust anything have to do with training you find a new area that will increase something else.

Our bodies respond to demand and level out, so if demand is consistently changed, your body will never quite level out and always have one direction, up.

Lol what? How can your body not respond to something? If i did bench press and nothing else for chest as long as i kept increasing weight i would always get bigger... Your body can't just not respond to something because it's "used" to it. As long as you apply progressive overload it will always tear your muscle fibers.