Getting stronger but not gaining weight.

[BobbyGz]

I've been the same weight for about 3 months, but continue to see strength gains.

is this a case of gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time or amidoingitwrong.jpg?

[r_graz]

It's entirely possible to gain strength without gaining weight, especially for novice lifters. Sometimes it's a case of adding new muscle while losing fat, but usually not.

Strength gain is a product of both increased muscle mass and improved neural efficiency. So you can improve the neural side (i.e., your nervous system gets more efficient at moving weight), even though you haven't added any additional muscle. "Newbie gains" are almost entirely explained by this. At some point though (and that point differs for all of us), it will get very difficult to get stronger through only neural improvement. Weight-classed athletes like weightlifters or powerlifters face this wall all the time - they can only get so strong at a given body weight before additional strength would require adding new muscle, possibly pushing them into a higher weight class.

As I'm sure you already know, if you want to add muscle, you have to both progress in the weight room AND eat a surplus of calories. So if you're doing the former and not the latter, it would explain a lot. Lift weight doesn't make you gain weight all by itself.

[Zschnack]

What the guy above said.

Besides the normal newbie gains, you're more likely gaining muscle which weighs more than fat. I've noticed my body fat @% going down but my weight is still the same. I, however, am still receiving newbie gains since its nearing my third month lifting.

[weak704]

Noob gains??

I wouldn't think your going to continue getting stronger without putting on mass for much longer

[BobbyGz]

i've been lifting solid 5-6 days a week for 6 months. Should i still be seeing noob gains? I've always been in decent shape but got serious into lifting after i finished boot camp.

I Gained about 10 pounds the first 3 months and since then i've been lingering around180-182 for 3 months.

[R1C0]

I've been the same weight for about 3 months, but continue to see strength gains.

is this a case of gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time or amidoingitwrong.jpg?

change ur workout!! and EAT!!

[daddysonn]

Uh im not going to quote or neg rep but mass follows strength, not the other way around like some are saying. If youre getting stronger, just make sure youre getting a solid ammount of calories and the size will come.

[BobbyGz]

change ur workout!! and EAT!!

change workout even though i'm gaining strength

[r_graz]

Uh im not going to quote or neg rep but mass follows strength, not the other way around like some are saying. If youre getting stronger, just make sure youre getting a solid ammount of calories and the size will come.

?

Mass and strength are related, but not completely interdependent. If they were, you wouldn't have 135 lb Olympic weightlifters clean & jerking in the neighborhood of 400 lbs. But these people do exist (even if they're incredibly rare), so it must be possible to be insanely strong without having a lot of muscle mass.

Most normal humans can get a bit stronger without gaining mass, and can gain some mass without getting much stronger, but ultimately you're not going to get too far with one without the other.

So no, it's not a black-and-white "mass follows strength" OR "strength follows mass". But they are pretty closely related.