Just how important is geting BIG for max strenght?

How would you rate the importance of geting big/eating big when seeking for maximal strenght ?
from 1 to 5, with
1 - too litle to bother
5 - dont even lift without eating a ton

 

5, you've only over-eaten if you're bloated and can't lift

That said it's worthless to try make up for skipped meals with a gigantic feast of fat covered in oil, many meals is the way to go.

As for being big, well I think you should get as big as you can without being a gigantic lardass and letting your flexibility, fitness, or anything else necessary for your sport get in your way. Maximum strength means getting VERY big, generally it depends on your body structure, but it's amazing how much weight you can gain (good weight) over time.

What are you training for? What's your starting point, current level and goals?

 

There are certain limits in strength that can be attained with a certain size. An increase in size will also equate to a strength boost.

 

If you are only trying to obtain maximum strength, being huge is essential. If you need to maintain your weight for a sport you can still be strong, but you won't make gains as fast. I would never say a 5 because gains can still be realized without getting huge. Obtaining maximum strength for your mass is important. I mean why would you want to be any bigger if you weren't stronger and why would you want muscle that isn't as strong as it could possibly be?

 

Exactly. I weighed around 257 or so and now I weigh 214. In the case of losing 43 pounds, my bench/squat/DL have all gone up. Now I could have stayed at 257 and gotten a lot stronger or dropped down to my healthier weight (I need to be around 205) and been just as strong.

So I would say get as strong as you can for the size you need to be at.

 

Ya, your body has a weight it likes to stay at for whatever reason. You have to force it past a certain point by mild (or severe) overeating. For example, my body likes to stay at 220 or so if I stay in fighting shape and eat until I am full but I can get it up to 250 pretty easily if I eat a lot or eat like shit.

 

I don't know how anyone would like to live a bodybuilding-type lifestyle...or powerlifting as they both require overeating. I prefer powerlifting though as you can still get damn strong if you keep your protein intake up....or just eat a shitload of carbs as possible before working out, that's what I do anyways.

Force feeding is so uncomfortable.

 

Ya, I overeat sometimes as do most of us but I was reading a strongman journal one time and this guy had a 42 oz steak for lunch! I almost threw up just thinking about trying to gag down that much cow meat.

Anything over a pound and I start to feel miserable. I can't imagine forcing yourself to that point day in and day out until you basically stretch your stomach to hold that much food comfortably. Ugh.

 

If there was a cheap and effective surgery to enlarge my stomach, I would gladly take it. :icon_twis

 

eat enough and lift and youll be surprised at how strong you cn get without needing to get huge.

 

I box 4x/week and lift 2x/week + in the morning heavy bag work or conditionig 6x/week
Been lifting about 3 years, but have very poor results, and did not gain any weight
Sq/dl 150 kg, bp 95 kg
Since you can become stronger either by strenghtening your muscles or nervous system or both, I think that my nervous system might be weak and has low potential of getting strong, so I should work more on making my muscles bigger/stronger

 

yeah, i tryied to get strong without geting big, but i just havent , like i said above

 

As a fighter is it really that important for you to be REALLY strong?

As for your training, perhaps post a workout or just look at the stickies to see what might be going wrong, it could just be a diet thing, or perhaps your reps/sets are all wrong?

 

Day 1
Squat
Bench
Bent over rows
Reversehypers
Side bend

Day 2
Deadlift
Military press
Pullups
Reversehypers
Full contact twist

Sometimes doing a variant of the lift

Sets 3-5
Reps 1-5
Most often 5 sets of 5 reps

 

Hmm that isn't a bad program, perhaps add in an assistance exercise to replace another exercise? (Ideally you wouldn't need to remove anything if you trained 3 days/week).

What's your bodyweight, do you have a good training partner etc etc?

 

increased size -> increased potential to make strength gains

that doesnt mean that you absolutely have to get bigger to get stronger its just that there are limits depending on your size

 

178 cm, 82 kg

unfortunatley I have no training partner, Im training alone in my basement

i do change exercizes every few weeks, i rotate:
squat/front sq/full sq
bench/dips/dumbell bp
rows/ db rows/ chest suported rows
deadlift/sumo dl/rack pulls
military/incline bp/ db military
pullups/ underhand pullups/mountain climbers

 

Firstly you aren't as weak as you make out, there's always room for improvement but you're not doing horribly.

Secondly, I'm not really an expert in writing programs but you've got some good compound movements and you're mixing things up which is nice, the best thing I can think of is getting a good training partner, but that isn't as easy as it sounds. It also allows you to have someone look at your form, which is important both for safety, but also for improvement (eg a partner can tell you if your benching or squatting in a different path when the weights increase)

 

Ok, thanks Alon, i guess il try to find a partner.

 

hm are you lifting heavy enough? thats the only thing that comes to mind about why youre not improving.