Does strength inevitably come with large belly?

[ondrejprochazka]

Hi everyone, I have been lifting weights for 10+ years and I finally built a body that I wanted. Now I am kind of thinking what else I can do to become stronger.
I noticed a significant improvement during the last ~1.5 years, when I gained around 10 kg and pushed my 1RM in all big moves by 20 - 25% (bench-press ~135 kg, squat 160 kg, deadlift 195 kg). But this also came with around 2 extra inches around my waist, so I am at 35.5 now. My problem now is that if I want to progress in the gym, I tend to get too tired in the middle of my workout to push hard enough. The obvious solution seems to be just to eat more but my experience tells me that it will add even more fat onto my belly that already starts to protrude.
Therefore my question is: if I want to continue with strength training do I have to accept that I will become fatter or is there a way how to still look good naked and be very strong?
For some reason I cannot upload my latest inBody scan...
Age 32
Height 184 cm
BW 97.7 kg
Skeletal muscle 47.1 kg
BF 16.4 kg
BMI 28.9
BF% 16.8
Thanks

[radrd]

Are you doing any conditioning work? Sounds like you just lift and your cardio sucks.

[air2fakie]

Only if you’re fat.

[ondrejprochazka]

Are you doing any conditioning work? Sounds like you just lift and your cardio sucks.

I go to work on my bike which accounts to 20 or 30 minutes per day. When I did crossfit once or twice per week, I just didn't have enough energy to progress with weights because I was exhausted.
I'm not asking because I'd be somehow dissatisfied but rather to ask someone more experienced with heavy weights.

[TAWS6]

I’m just as strong at 12 percent as I am at 15 percent. I’d imagine the fatter you become to an extreme level, the better your leverages would become. A big fat tub of goo would definitely have to move the bar though a far less range of motion than a lifter who is lean. If you’re a walking bulk you may also have more energy possibly. In your case lack of conditioning and cardio is probably an issue. Also the stronger you become in the gym the more you need to better program for energy management. Aka specialization or heavy light setup. You can’t just go in the gym and expect to squat 315 for reps, benching mid 250s and then do everything else in a single work out at that level.