Building strength WITHOUT gaining size?

[Cactus kid]

Does anyone have any tips on how to do this?

 

[DWinVA]

Lower weight and higher reps. When I lift I go for 3 sets of 15-20 reps.

God Bless.

 

[Jeff Martin]

4 things come to mind:

Yoga
Pilates
body weight excercises. Before you think Yoga and Pilates are women, go do it...it will change your mind.
Higher rep, lower weight if using free weights.

 

[cmc]

Google 5x5 strength program. I needed to build strength back post surgery and the program works. Very simple an the key is to take it slow and not jump ahead even when you feel like you can. I can't believe that I've stacked on 60lbs on my squat doing more than I ever have in my life, and I'm over 40.

 

[ndbwhunter]

A workout consisting strictily of low weight and high reps will do well to build endurance and stamina, but it will do little for strength. The 5x5 program mentioned above, or any type of german volume workout, are excellent workouts for building strength. I would do 4 - 6 weeks of high weight low reps, followed by 6-8 weeks of low weight high reps (cut phase).

 

[Warren1726]

Lower rep (2-6) high weight lifts illicit maximum central nervous system responses. The heavier you go the more muscle fiber recruitment you get. These changes create strength gains with less size gain. Higher rep ranges 8-12 bring about more hypertrophy (muscle size gain) and even higher 15-20, is muscle endurance.
I'd also suggest utilizing the big compound lifts (deadlifts, squats, bench, pull-ups, and their variations) they are the best way to increase strength quickly.

 

[Moose Drool]

My vote is for Bill Starr's 5x5. Stick to the basics, lift heavy weight and low reps you won't gain much size if any.

 

[whitingja]

Go for endurance instead of strength. Moderate weight, high reps. In general, in order to get "Strong", you will put on weight. But there is good weight and bad weight. I'd rather have the muscle weight than the adipose kind. Focus on the core and full body exercises...cleans, thrusters, even burpees do wonders. And honestly, too many people neglect the legs, which are the most important muscles when hunting. Good luck.

 

[Nalgene]

I would worry when I got to big rather than worry about not getting to big? What is your concern? This kind of question baffles me. Have you gotten to big in the past?

 

[Poser]

Strength is defined as the ability to exert a given amount of force.
Power is defined as strength plus speed.

1 to 4 reps increases pure strength but not muscle mass
4 to 9 reps increases both strength and muscle mass
9 to 15 reps increases strength, muscular endurance and muscle mass
15 to 30 reps increases muscular endurance with little to no increase in muscle mass or strength.
30 to 50 reps increases muscular endurance with no effect on muscle mass or strength.
50 to 100 reps increases muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory endurance with no increase in strength and possible loss of muscle mass and fat.

Lower reps assumes heavier weight than high reps. The heavier weight assumes the last of the reps occurs just before positive failure -what you can perform unassisted.

-source: Mark Twight, Extreme Alpinism

For an athlete (speed, power and endurance focused -but no body building), much of your strength training should be focused around heavy lifting with low reps. Short, heavy sessions as opposed to moderate, long sessions. You can do endurance work (hi rep) during the metabolic conditioning portions of your workouts.
There is also a concept of "Strength for endurance" -by adding heavy weight training, you increase your time until exhaustion.

Lift heavy: 75%-95% of your your 1 rep max, mostly in reps of 2-3. Check your 1 rep maxes periodically.

That's my 2 cents, but I don't claim to be an expert.

 

[Cactus kid]

I would worry when I got to big rather than worry about not getting to big? What is your concern? This kind of question baffles me. Have you gotten to big in the past?

Haha I know it's an odd question. I was, at one time, a competitive bodybuilder and competitive power lifter. I was quite large, to the point most clothing wouldn't fit and I got awkward glances on a regular basis.

I've laid off of weight training a few years and have finally got to a point I look nornal, which I like. I have started running and mountain biking, and I feel great. I was wanting to incorporate some weight training recently (to help in the mountains) and gained 10 lbs of mass in a month. This poses a new problem for me! I know how to get big, I know how to get strong, I know how to get lean. But I have no clue how to get stronger without gaining size!

I'm in a unique spot. If I go ultra low reps, like 1-4 reps, I am training my CNS and I am putting myself a risk for injury. Much higher, I'm putting back on muscle mass that I don't want.

So far guys, thanks for the advice! Some knowledgable guys on here.

 

[Cactus kid]

Poser, what is this "Extreme Alipinism" you quoted?

 

[Poser]

Poser, what is this "Extreme Alipinism" you quoted?

This was the first book that specifically addressed sport specific training for Alpinism. Since it came out in 1999, a few more books have followed by Twight and a handful of other authors. Twight went on to form Gym Jones, an invitation only gym for pro athletes (climbers, skiers, MMA fighters etc) in SLC and gained notoriety for training the cast of the 300 films as well as Man of Steel, a few other films as well as contracts for the military.

Since no one has gone so far as to address the specific needs of training for hunting in the form of a dedicated book, the demands of hunting and alpinism are similar and the concept of "training to hunt" is still basically in its infancy, the alpinism resources are good sources to referance: http://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Alpinism-Climbing-Light-Fast/dp/0898866545

 

[LJ Buck]

check out strongswiftdurable.com Thishas a ton of workouts for mountain sports.

 

[pete]

If you used to bodybuild/powerlift in the past, you obviously know how to program your lifting to gain/lose size or weight, or get stronger. Maybe it would be good to identify your ideal size, where additional size gain becomes counter productive. Also, this may or may not help, but I recently started SS and put on 20 lbs, and felt big and strong, but sore, plodding, and slow. I took a big deload, got back to the amount I was lifting before, but I feel a TON better. I know I'm not suggesting anything you don't already know, but it can be hard to accurately assess our own condition when we have nothing to reference it to.
Not to hijack, but how do you balance running with your lifting? My knees hate me when I'm running and squatting in the same week.

 

[Zuludog]

My vote is for Bill Starr's 5x5. Stick to the basics, lift heavy weight and low reps you won't gain much size if any.

^^2 That book rocks. I've had a copy since 86 and it is still valid today.

 

[mohawk32]

Stick to the 3-5 rep range, don't eat as much, and skip GOMAD.