can you gain alot of strength without getting super bulky

[Lt dan]

i know a few guys that bench 350, but they are huge as hell, not just muscle fat too. im not looking to bench 350 cuz i mean damn thats alot. that would be nice but thats not my goal. i just want more power.

is there a way to increase power alot without increasing size alot. i just want to be super cut you know?

 

[Unbridled_1]

Lt. Dan,

The guys that bench 350.... don't insult their mother. Especially if she's sick.

 

[Metaphor]

Yes, it's called powerlifting. By using 1-5 reps of heavy weight you can focus more so on your CNS and maximize strength gains without getting ultra-bulky like a bodybuilder. You say you want to be super cut, but keep in kind, being as cut as a lot of guys you see in magazines is a severe detriment to your strength. I'd say going any lower then an 8% BF and you're going to start noticing strength loss.

 

[chim_chim]

Yeah it's possible, depending on what you consider power. I'm about the same age as you(just turned 17 last week), and I benched 255 yesterday. I'm only 5'11" 180lbs, I definitely have more of a muscular look than a bulky look. I'm pretty similar to the size of Brad Pitt in Fight Club/Vin Diesel.

So I would say.....you can bench 250 without being bulky, if you can bench 350 you're most likely going to be either bulky, fat, or a freak.

 

[Metaphor]

In Fight Club I'd say Pit was 150, absolute max.

 

[wheelin&dealin]

Do an internet search on westside barbell routines.

 

[DJ Girevik]

Lt dan, it definitely is. Look up Power to the People by Pavel Tsatsouline. The man is skinny, however cut, yet has a deadlift topping 500 pounds. His routines are centered toward strength without mass.

 

[Slashco]

It's strange. I noticed that a lot of the guys like Ultimate Fighting champions, martial artists, Navy SEALs, etc., don't have huge bulging muscles. In fact, some have pretty average builds. So there must be a way to develop power without getting big. I think it has to do with speed and muscular endurance (i.e., more reps with lower weight)? Don't quote me on this, but try doing some research on it.

That being said, the strongest people in the world (i.e., guys you see on TV lifting 600 lbs or pulling a bus with their teeth) are usually really big (both muscular and fat).

 

[Komodo]

Pavel is awesome.His books are great if you want to try to become a specialforces soldier you should try his books.He has good books as far as martilaarts and strength.His site is www.dragondoor.com you might want to checkout www.elitefitness.com and www.t-mag.com .

 

[DJ Girevik]

Slashco) It's the exact opposite of what you said. Training with heavy weight for 3-5 reps, 3-5 sets, 3-5 days a week, is what gets you strong without getting you big. Bruce Lee was one of the first martial artists to train with heavy weight, and look at him. More reps with lower weight is what bodybuilders do, and they get huge but usually have little in the way of strength.

Komodo) Uhh, isn't elitefitness some prosteroid site? Or do you mean www.elitefts.com?

 

[Metaphor]

Also training in a traditional bodybuilding method of slower reps including the negative is going to rob you of speed which is ultimately a loss of power.

 

[Lt dan]

chim chim, yes im going for the brad pitt look, seein as how fight club is my favorite movie/ slash book(along with the matrix) see after i get all this power and strength im gonna go crazy and make some guy think im his other personality and kick the shlt out of him every day.

 

[K-Daddy]

I love it when people say stuff like "I don't want to get too big and bulky." You say that like you have no control over your body or how big you get. If you don't want to get big and bulky, don't eat as much. Besides, you're not going to get very big doing a powerlifting routine (low reps) because you're not going to stimulate hypertrophy.

This is like women saying "I don't work out because I don't want to get big and masculine like female bodybuilders." It's just genetically impossible to get as big as you think is "too big," and for most people, you can't get nearly that big without the use of some kind of steroids over the course of many cycles. For the average person, it's impossible to get so big that you are "too" big.

You're going to put on SOME size if you want to get stronger. It can be limited though with training and diet.

 

[Lt dan]

can csomebody give me a website on the physics of how muscles work and why muscles can lift more if they are the same size as a muscle that can lift less and so on

 

[Komodo]

No www.elitefitness.com is not a pro-steroid site they just show you how to use them.Fact is in most sports steroids are part of the game.

 

[Alpha male Female Catcher]

Originally posted by Lt dan
can csomebody give me a website on the physics of how muscles work and why muscles can lift more if they are the same size as a muscle that can lift less and so on

I just stumbled accross this site which seems to answer your question. I have believed for a while (based on my own experience) that you do lower number of sets with lower number of reps (1-4) when training for power lifting but more sets and with higher reps (6-8) for body building yet never understood why until I read this article

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/hale6.htm

 

[bud_2005]

This really confuses me because in Brad pitts workout for fight club he was doing 15-23 reps which by this article should have made him huge.

 

[blinkwatt]

i know a few guys that bench 350, but they are huge as hell, not just muscle fat too.

What do you mean by bench? Were they flat benching with barbells? If so did they touch their chest? I know most of the people I see in the gym do not even touch their chest,even the fat bulky ones who chest is twice the size of most of ours. It's simple,if they don't go down really low or touch their chest it's not a full rep,watch the NFL Combine.