Strength Training can not make you bigger? Think Again!

Have you ever thought that strength training can’t make you bigger? Well, you’re wrong. Be prepared to have your previous biased opinions blown away! When you enter any gym, you can divide everyone into more or less three groups.

1. The short, stocky and sometimes bulgy aka The Power lifters.
2. Well muscled, ripped and lean aka The Muscle Builders.
3. Everyone else.

Simply put, very few people that do power lifting actually give a damn about being well defined and muscular and also, very few people focused on muscle building really give a damn about how strong they are. I’ve met skinny guys, that can lift almost double that of the muscle builder that’s almost twice his size.

It’s very important to notice that these two training styles, although not that dissimilar have completely different reactions on the muscle fiber.

• Hypertrophy involves the growth of the sarcoplasmic and non-contractile proteins that don’t contribute to muscle force production.
• Myofibrillar hypertrophy(as a result of strength training) occurs due to an increase in the number of myosin sacomeres inside the cell. This leads to an increase of strength of the contractile unit of the muscle.

So in actual fact the 8-12 rep mentality does not make you stronger, but does build muscle.What I’m implying is that it’s is very important to incorporate at least some strength training into your program. What I normally do is after every two months of hypertrophy, I do a month of strength training.

Think of it this way. We all know that progressive overload is what builds muscle, so after your month of strength training, you will have gained at least some strength, and will be able to lift more, ensuring you maintain progressive overload. I have also found this a great way to overcome a plateau.

Don’t be afraid to follow a strength training program, you’ll be surprised at the progress when you get back to your normal routine.

Related Muscle Shredding Posts:

• Build Bigger Muscles with a Training Journal
• Strength Training: A definite how to
• The Principles of Training to Build Muscle
• Maximize muscle gains with proper form
• The ABC’s of Hypertrophy! Download your Copy for free

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Tagged as: hypertrophy, muscle, muscle builders, muscle building, power lifters, progressive overload, strength, training