Size, Not Strength

[thetopdog]

I know that if your strength goes up, your size will usually go up accordingly, but I feel as if I have gotten to a point where my strength gains are far outweighing my size gains. For example, my arms are barely 16 inches, which is sad for someone that benches 300lbs for reps, and does sets of chins at 285lbs (215 bodyweight +70lbs on a belt) for reps. During my first cycle, my bodyweight has gone up (I'm up from 196 lbs to 216lbs at a height of 5'10, probably 14%bf, which isn't bad), but I don't really LOOK that much bigger

I've been working out for 2 years, and I've always focused on getting stronger with the thought that I will get bigger along with that, but now I want to start focusing solely on size, becuase I am 100% a bodybuilder, not a powerlifter. My routine has basically been based around heavy compound movements (squat, dead, bench) and low (5-7 reps for everything except deads, 3-4 reps for deads) reps. Does anybody have any advice for me on how to change so my gains will be focused as much as possible on size? I know this is kind of a vague question. If any of you guys have routines that you think have worked for you as far as making size gains, please post them

 

[jackcity10]

sounds like your routine is on point, have you tried eating more?

 

[huskyguy]

keep your routine abbreviated=short intense core workouts only 3 days a week and get religious about eating. I was doing the same thing my strength was going up, but I was working out too much, not enough recovery and I thought I was eating enough but that was not the case. Stick to squats deads and bench. Once I changed things up a bit the results were incredible, its like someone turned on a switch.

 

[thetopdog]

sounds like your routine is on point, have you tried eating more?

Yeah, I force fed myselef throughout my entire cycle. Like I said, my bodyweight has gone up, so I know that I was getting enough calories (probably 5000 cals a day, and 300-350g of protein), although my bodyfat has been increasing too =(. I was obviously in caloric excess if I got fatter though, so I don't see why I didn't see more visible muscle gains.

 

[thetopdog]

keep your routine abbreviated=short intense core workouts only 3 days a week and get religious about eating. I was doing the same thing my strength was going up, but I was working out too much, not enough recovery and I thought I was eating enough but that was not the case. Stick to squats deads and bench. Once I changed things up a bit the results were incredible, its like someone turned on a switch.

The thing is, my routine is pretty short and bsed around the core exercises

Chest day
Bench 3 Sets of 5-6 reps
Dumbell Flys 3 sets of 5-6 reps
Incline Dumbell Press 3 sets of 5-6 reps

Back day
Chins 3 sets of 6-8 reps
T Bar Row 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Cable Row 3 sets of 6-8 reps

Leg Day
Squats 3 sets of 5-6 reps
Leg Press 3 sets of 6-12 reps

I do that every week

Every other week I also add in a deadlift day and an arm day which look something like this:

Deadlifts day
Deads 3 sets of 3-4 reps
Shrugs 3 sets of 6-8 reps

Arm Day
DB Curls 3 sets of 5-6 reps
Close grip bench 3 sets of 5-8 reps
DB Preacher Curl OR Hammer Curl 2 sets of 6-8 reps
Cable Pushdown 3 sets of 8-12 reps

 

[Mudge]

Dude if you are taking in 5000 calories a day (hard to believe) and only 300-350g protein, you are eating a bunch of shit. Thats why you are getting fat.

 

[thetopdog]

Dude if you are taking in 5000 calories a day (hard to believe) and only 300-350g protein, you are eating a bunch of shit. Thats why you are getting fat.

They were just estimates, I live in a dorm and eat in a cafeteria, so I have no idea what's in most of my food. I could be getting more than 300-350g of protein a day, basically while bulking every meal I try to consume as much meat as possible. I drink close to one small jug a day (It's 1800 cals per jug) of whole milk. Then I try to eat a few cans of tuna every day, plus about 150gs of protein from shakes (1/2 a serving of cytogainer pre workout and a full serving after, which is 900cals and 90gs of protein, usually 1 full serving of muscle milk as well, made with whole milk, and I throw in some straight whey protein either in those shakes, or separate during the day). Again, I wouldn't say I'm fat, just fatter than I"m used to. I have a very fast metabolsim so its not hard for me to stay lean

 

[blackbeard]

Dude if you are taking in 5000 calories a day (hard to believe) and only 300-350g protein, you are eating a bunch of shit. Thats why you are getting fat.

^^^^^^ i agree..most likely not eating 5kcals..your protein is too low shoot for 2g/lb

 

[thetopdog]

OK, thanks for the tips guys, I'll clean up the diet a little and up the protein, but is there anything training wise I should change?

 

[pullinbig]

throw in some high reps on assistance work. read my log for an example.

how big were your arms 2 years ago? and did you start off with a power based routine or start off like most folks with high volume stuff? what were you benching 2 years ago. same with squats and deads. improvement? if so how much?

try 1 set of 20 on squats on leg day for a while. see what that does.

and no one turns into a massive giant in 2 years, less they were already big.

 

[thetopdog]

throw in some high reps on assistance work. read my log for an example.

how big were your arms 2 years ago? and did you start off with a power based routine or start off like most folks with high volume stuff? what were you benching 2 years ago. same with squats and deads. improvement? if so how much?

try 1 set of 20 on squats on leg day for a while. see what that does.

and no one turns into a massive giant in 2 years, less they were already big.

My improvement in strength has been phenominal in my opinion

In Feb of 2003, I could bench 115lbs, I could squat proably less than 150lbs and I have no idea how much I could dead, but I'm sure it wasn't that much. Now I can bench 335 (295 for reps), squat 325 for reps and dead 325 for reps, so I would estimate my maxes for squat and deadlifts are in the high 300s (my squat and dead aren't as good as my bench is proportionately, but my lower back is weak, I'm working on it). I could also do maybe 6 chins at a bodyweight of around 160lbs, now I can do the same number of chins at a bodyweight of 215 with 70lbs hanging off me.

Based on the stretch marks I have all along my arms, I would say my arms have grown a decent amount, but I see many guys with much bigger arms than me, who are a LOT weaker. A year ago my arms were only about 15.5 inches, so they've only grown 0.5 inches in the past year, but I'm repping 295lbs on bench now while last year I was only repping 215lbs. My legs and ass have grown well, so has my back, it's mostly my arms and chest that are lagging (calves too, but that's more genetic than anything)

I will try throwing in some higher rep assistance work, thanks for the suggestion

 

[Mudge]

Milk is low GI but somehow still spikes insulin greatly. Its shit food unless you are a skinny fucker. Normal people food, is shit. Loaded with preservatives and processed carbs to taste good, but if you are eating twice as much as the normal person eats, in normal people food, you are going to look twice as shitty.

Size and strength share virtually no relationship at all, that depends on your training and diet. There are two kinds of hypertrophy, functional where you have strength, and the type most bodybuilders have where their muscles are full of energy storeage but very little in the way of increased myofibrils inside the muscle themselves. So basically they are full of goo, worthless bags of hey you look big but you lift like a girl. This is an adaptation from high volume training with little weights.

You can have both but you have to train accordingly, and eat accordingly.

 

[Mudge]

Functional and Non-Functional Hypertrophy

 

[thetopdog]

Milk is low GI but somehow still spikes insulin greatly. Its shit food unless you are a skinny fucker. Normal people food, is shit. Loaded with preservatives and processed carbs to taste good, but if you are eating twice as much as the normal person eats, in normal people food, you are going to look twice as shitty.

Size and strength share virtually no relationship at all, that depends on your training and diet. There are two kinds of hypertrophy, functional where you have strength, and the type most bodybuilders have where their muscles are full of energy storeage but very little in the way of increased myofibrils inside the muscle themselves. So basically they are full of goo, worthless bags of hey you look big but you lift like a girl. This is an adaptation from high volume training with little weights.

You can have both but you have to train accordingly, and eat accordingly.

I've been skinny most of my life, so I don't really mind getting a little bit fatter if that's what I have to do to gain. I see your point though

Your 2nd paragraph is what really interests me, I really want to get that non-functional hypertrophy, as blasphmeous as that sounds. I could care less how strong I am, I just want to get bigger. I'm already stronger than I ever thought I would be, I would honestly be fine if I never got any stronger for the rest of my life, as long as I keep growing. So maybe a high volume routine would be good for me?

 

[Insane_Man]

www.hsnhst.com

 

[thetopdog]

I just want to say thanks for all the help guys, I really love talking about training and weightlifting, and I appreciate all your input

 

[Mudge]

High volume, drugs, pink posing trunks, and a good diet.

 

[kosherfried]

lol raggin on ankur for his trunks

bah!

 

[iron addict]

High volume, drugs, pink posing trunks, and a good diet.

LMFOA

Now on a serious note, top-dog, you really can and should work for both types of growth because what happens on a high volume light-weight routine is you cap-out on the amount of volume you can do EXTREMELY fast. What happens then? You then need to work on getting stronger, so youi can use more wieght on your volume. And the reality is, it is LIKELY a non-issue. I would BET that your diet is what is holding your size gains down, not your training. And you also gave a couple clues when you mentioned what you were doing when you were on gear, and didn't mention what you are doing off. Here is the deal, unless you are committed to LONG cycles, what you do while on is of little importance to what you do when taining clean. THAT is what you need to focus on.

Your first step should be to go to www.fitday.com, or another online diet tracking service, and LOG EVERYFUCKING THING YOU EAT FOR AT LEAST TWO WEEKS. Without doing this, you are greasping in the dark for an object you have never seen before.

Iron Addict

 

[Mudge]

Fitday is great, I used it for months after every single meal. Guesswork doesn't cut the chéz.

You are limited by your diet. If you are "stuck" eating dorm food, then you aren't going to make any noticeable improvements from where you are now unless your genetics suddenly change.