Hey guys, Sean Nalewanyj here of SeanNal.com and BodyTransformationTruth.com and today
I want to answer a very common question that people ask me all the time which is why am
I getting stronger but not bigger.
Yes, it’s perfectly possible for you to make noteworthy gains in strength without
any real size gains to go along with it.
See, in simple terms, your body can basically produce strength gains in two primary ways.
The first is through muscular hypertrophy, or growth and this refers to an actual increase
in the cross-sectional area of the muscle itself.
And if you’re trying to pack on muscle size, this is obviously the type of gain that you’re
after.
And the second is through neural adaptations.
And in this case, your body is basically becoming more efficient at recruiting motor units and
making use of the muscle mass that you already have.
If you’ve been gaining strength without the size to go along with it then this is
the primary adaptation that you’ve been experiencing.
While it’s possible that this is happening as a result of an improperly structured workout
plan, it’s not very likely that this is the case.
If you’re already in the gym and you're making consistent strength gains over time
then you'd have to be making some pretty basic fundamental errors in your training structure
in order for your workout plan to be the root of the problem.
So here are a few possible, but unlikely scenarios.
Number 1, you’re mostly performing sets of 3 reps or less.
This would primarily result in gains in strength and power rather than actual hypertrophy.
Secondly, you’re performing sets primarily of, in excess of 12 reps.
And this is going to primarily result in increases in endurance again rather than hypertrophy.
Another possibility, you’re only performing a couple sets per muscle group per workout.
This is going to prevent you from creating enough metabolic fatigue in the muscle in
order to produce significant size gains.
Another possibility, you’re training each muscle group less than once every 10 days
or so.
You could still produce size gains in this way, but it would be a much more gradual process.
And finally you're training or rather you're not training all of your muscle groups equally.
If all you’re doing is going into the gym to train your “showy” muscles like your
chest or your biceps, or your abs then the overall changes to your physique are going
to be far less noticeable and take a much longer period of time.
So if you’re making any of those basic errors, you're going to want to fix those immediately.
You're going to want to make sure that you’re sticking to a hypertrophy-based rep range
anywhere between 5 and 12.
You're going to want to make sure that you're hitting each muscle group at least once per
week, that you’re performing multiple sets per muscle group during each session and that
you’re training your entire body with equal focus and intensity.
However, assuming that you already have these basic training principles in place, which
I'm sure most of you do, then your lack of size gains likely has nothing to do with your
actual training plan at all.
Yes, your current plan could probably be tweaked and improved further but if you’re employing
all of those principles that I just mentioned and you’re making consistent gains in strength
as well, then your workout plan is already structured at least well enough to produce
noticeable gains in muscle size.
So, what's the real problem here?
Well, it's pretty simple and it’s your diet.
More specifically, you’re not consuming an adequate calorie intake each day.
Remember, in order for you to build a significant amount of muscle, you have to provide your
body with a calorie surplus each day by consistently consuming more calories than you're burning.
Now this is known as the “law of energy balance”, and without this in place, your
gains are basically going to be non-existent.
So if you’re gaining strength without the size then the chances are that you’re consuming
a level of calories each day that is either right at or right around your calorie maintenance
level.
You’re taking in enough for your body to maintain its current weight, but you're not
providing that additional excess that is needed in order to fuel new hypertrophy gains.
It’s possible that you’re already aware of this, but if you’re simply “winging”
your diet each day without tracking anything then there’s a very good chance that you're
still going to end up missing the mark.
So what's the basic solution here?
Well, you need to find out what your calorie maintenance level is, increase it by about
15 to 20 percent and then track your intake each day in order to make sure that you're
falling within the proper range.
For the very best results you should ideally be tracking your individual macronutrient
intake as well, so your proteins, your carbs and your fats, but at the very least you’re
going to want to make sure that your calorie intake is nailed down.
Total calorie intake is the primary, underlying foundation of your entire nutrition plan and
if this basic principle is not being employed then you’re completely wasting your time
at the gym.
So, how do you go about calculating this?
Well, the easiest option is to just head over to SeanNal.com and access my Free Bodybuilding
Macronutrient Calculator, which I'll link in the description box below.
This is going to completely automate the process for you and it just requires you to punch
in a few basic stats about yourself.
Not only does the calculator outline your daily calorie needs, but it's also going to
cover your protein, carb and fat needs as well.
Or, if for some reason you want to calculate this all manually then you can check out an
article that I wrote previously called “How Many Calories Per Day To Build Muscle" which
I'll also link in the description box as well.
This one simple shift in your bodybuilding program is immediately going to take you from
a place of complete stagnation to consistently gaining brand new muscle size every single
week.
So thanks alot for watching this video lesson.
I appreciate all the support.
If you found the information useful here today please make sure to hit the Like button, leave
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Also make sure to check out my complete fully structured step-by-step muscle building and
fat loss programs over at BodyTransformationTruth.com.
The link for that is in the description box below and make sure to join the Facebook page
for daily tips and updates.
The link for that is also in the description box.
Talk to you again soon.