I'm Getting Stronger, But Not Bigger (Muscle Strength and Muscle Size Relationship)

Getting stronger but not bigger is a completely normal thing, and in this video you'll learn exactly why this phenomenon happens.

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A lot of guys experience the phenomena of being able to increase strength while there's no visible increases in muscle size.

And at this point we usually freak out because we're not sure what to do. On one hand we're progressing with strength on key lifts but hypertrophy seems to be lagging behind.

This happens to all of us at some point, and first things to know is that it's completely normal. There's nothing wrong with your program if you're experiencing fast strength gains. Keep doing what you're doing.

Especially as a beginner because getting a solid base of strength in the first year, and learning the lifts is extremely important for your long term physique development.

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Key Points:

Getting stronger without gaining size is a very common occurrence especially with beginners.

In essence what this means is that your body is still going through a process of neurological adaptations and you're unable to load the current muscle mass you have with the appropriate magnitude to induce a greater hypertrophy response.

What this means is that your body is learning how to lift. New neurons are writing and firing together. And this is a dominant adaptation as we start lifting weights.

Hypertrophy is taking a secondary role until we can load our muscles with the appropriate amount of weight.

Thus it takes a while for visible changes to muscle size to happen.

Overtime however as we get more efficient with utilizing our musculature hypertrophy can occur to a greater extent.

And one important thing to understand is that both of these processes are happening at the same time. They're not exclusive, there's just one dominant adaptation at a time.

Once new muscle is built, the body will again go through a period of neurological adaptations to utilize the newly built lean tissue.

Hypertrophy in essence isn't a direct adaptation, it's occurs when body needs increased force production and adaptations to higher work load.

This simply means that progressive tension overload is the key component. We must lift heavier weights over time in order to progress.

And as long as we have that component of progressive overload our body will keep adapting by increases neurological efficiency and through muscle hypertrophy.

People who look same year to year are usually those who either aren't progressing with their lifts in the gym, or aren't feeding their body enough calories to build new muscle tissue.

Both are detrimental to long term progress.

So keep in mind that you can limit your strength by not allowing your muscles to grow and by not allowing the appropriate energy intake.

And also you can limit your muscle growth if you're not exposing your body to higher and higher loads over time.

Hope your enjoyed the video.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions!

Talk soon, Mario

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Music Used:
Jim Yosef - Firefly [NCS Release]

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[ObservingStuff]

I want the strongest muscles with the least bulk as possible. I would love to be able to easily bench 350 lbs while only looking like a string bean.

[danganoza]

Agree with this, this happens all the time. You're brain is learning to use all the little muscles and complexity of learning a lift. It's not so much that you're getting stronger.. The strength was there.. It's just that you're learning to use your full strength, therfore can put more weight in the same lift and you won't see "growth". Sounds like some DBZ thing haha. Great video bro, the knowledge in this video is awesome. Hypertrophy for the win!!

[ntpfthwrld]

So basically if you're getting stronger you're on the right track. Just keep going

[discoprince]

I hope to get a little toned then mainly do this to maximize potential straight, like a secret strong guy.

[MarioTomicOfficial]

First :) And as always if you have questions don't hesitate to post them in the comments below. Hope you guys are having a great day! -Mario

[idontknowagoodname]

The only thing I don’t want is to build a lot of muscle to the point I can’t even bend my arm.

[codebreakerowns]

Appreciate the consistent content bro!!

[liviodinaj]

A lot of my friends used to have this problem and it would be always so confusing

[دكتورمحمدضياءمحمدأحمد]

So i have some qustion
1- is soreness mean growth muscle?
2- whats best way to train for both strength and muscle growth ?
3-can i do my workout like GTG technique instead of doing it in 1 hour like any normal workout ?
4- whats best rest time between set for strength and hypertrophy and how many set and rep is best ?
I had those qesition for 100 year and no body answer ...

[watermelonsugar]

Awesome Video Mario!!
Thanks for all your motivating and inspiring video's...very informative and helpful😎💪
Keith....

[brkfst]

I've been training for 10 months now, I gained a lot of strength but little size? I do 8-12 reps usually and train 3 times a week.

[paolomandica]

It was a year that I was looking for an answer to this question! Thank you man!!

[DJbufik]

Hi, I wanted to ask 1 thing. I want to become stronger but I don't want to get much bigger because I want to stay agile. If it does work like that. Can you tell me what is the best thing to do? Is it about diet or specific workout?

[bruhnisher]

I'm to skinny to get big, I just need strength.

[crazymonkey]

so weird cuz i’m 130 and bench press 155 and my friends is like 150 benching the same

[poifire-hpvb]

Loving all of your videos lately bro! Ive been super successful in finding what works for me thanks to all of your info. Question: When doing intermittent fasting to cut down fat, i know a lot of people break their fast around 1 or 2, but sometimes I dont even wake up till 11am due to my schedule so im conflicted on what time I should break my fast. Is it more about how long you are awake and active before you break your fast or more about being consistent on the exact time you break it?

[genin]

who would complain about this? wish I could stronger.. have not been able to get stronger or bigger in the past 6 years.. complete dead stop stall for me..

[anas._yk]

What if i told that I’m the opposite
What does that mean?

[Musashiryu]

Thanks for the info! Quick question - say I need to stay in a weight class, but want to get stronger. What's the best way to avoid the hypertrophy response. Limiting calories? Limiting protein? I think the main idea is to limit your rep ranges to about 2-4 reps, but is that the only step required?

[locngo]

My dumbell chest press among other things increased from barely able to press 40 kg to now 80kg with ease. I am much stronger and look much more muscular. But inBody jumps around each week. How it is possible that strength and look changed dramatically and inBody not change at all