Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcus26  Muscle size and strength are directly related. A muscle increases strength by getting bigger. |
Not entirely right - yes as a muscle gets bigger it will also get stronger, but you can improve your functional strength a lot without adding pounds of lean muscle. Strength training, without the desire to also add mass, is as much about training your nervous system (neuromuscular is the term ive seen used a lot) to perform better. Heres a really quick link i found that details it a bit, sorry didnt have time to find a better article right now
Strength vrs Muscle Mass - Talk Tennis. There will be some muscle development but nowhere near the amount youd get if you were training for both strength AND size, as most body builders do and also as most people imagine will happen if they start doing weights.
Its largely to do with diet. Basically put:
Lift weights + eat more than you burn off = build muscle and strength
Lift weights + eat less than you burn off = lose body fat and build strength (perhaps slower)
I've managed to increase some of my lifts by over 100% since this time last year and i certainly dont look like a body builder yet - which was the point I was making. I do agree of course that theres only so many gains you can make like that, but its still considerable.