Are Stronger Muscles Bigger Muscles? Not Exactly. 3 Principles for Muscle Gains

Walk into any gym and take a look at most of the guys in there lifting weights and try to see what they all have in common.

Most people who are new to lifting weights, and even some who have been lifting for a while, are convinced that the only way to increase their muscle mass is to get stronger and lift the heaviest weights they possibly can.

While there is SOME correlation between strong muscles and bigger muscles, it is definitely not a direct causation.

Now, for most beginner to intermediate lifters, you definitely want to increase your strength.

The first year or so of lifting will yield the greatest increases in strength and muscle size that you’ll probably see in your lifting career, so you want to take full advantage of this time.

But there’s a point in every lifters career where the strength gains may be steadily improving, but the lean muscle gains have come to a screeching halt.

Ah yes, the dreaded “plateau” we all encounter at one point or another.

You see, getting stronger and getting bigger can work independently from one another.

The reason everyone continues to add weight to the bar on most lifts, such as bench press, squats, and deadlifts is not exactly because of a direct increase in strength, but rather becoming more efficient throughout the move they’re performing. 

Practice something with enough repetition and you’ll notice how much smoother and less effort it takes to perform the task optimally.

This is exactly what’s happening when you “get stronger” at a compound lift.

So what do you do when you’re getting better at your lifts, but not seeing those sought after muscle gains?
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Here’s what You Need to Know- To make those muscles grow!

Muscles respond best when undergoing these 3 processes:

-Mechanical Tension: This is the tightness in the muscle when contracted when placed under a load. Picture what your biceps are like when you are curling a dumbbell, or how your legs feel during a leg press move.

-Metabolic stress: This is what’s happening to your muscles when you perform rep after rep. The more work and reps you’re doing, the higher the metabolic stress.  This Is also known as “the pump.”

-Muscular Damage: This is partially created by forcing your body to work harder than it has in the past.  Pushing your body to do more will cause them to be momentarily damaged, which is what we’re aiming for, but we also want our bodies to repair the tissue and become bigger and stronger to handle what may be coming next.

So with these very important 3 variables, how do we maximize this information to get bigger muscles? 
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​Keep tension in the muscle at all times during a lift- Instead of focusing on moving heavy weight through space in the shortest amount of time possible, think of the weight as a tool to produce maximum muscular contraction.  This means lower the weight, perform more reps, and be sure to squeeze and contract the muscle you’re working to get the most out of it. 

Be aware of the lock out phase of the movement as you want to maintain tension in the muscle and not lose that tension. 

Use higher rep ranges to CHASE THE PUMP!- You’ve probably heard that rep ranges of 8-12 are best for hypertrophy (increasing muscle size), but reps in the 15,20,and even higher ranges have been proven effective in muscle building.  What’s important to focus on here is how close you can get to muscular failure, not exactly the weight you’re lifting. 

Isolation moves can require 20, 50, or even 100 reps for people who have been training for some time.

Track your workouts and keep on getting better!- Even when chasing the pump in these higher rep ranges, you want to be sure you’re increasing the weight you’re using over time. 

This is the progressive overload principle that is required for muscles to grow.  While you’re technically getting stronger, the key here is that you’re adding more volume to your reps which will increase mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscular damage; the perfect muscle building cocktail.