Strength without Size

Training Powerlifting
1

Bottom line: I want to keep getting stronger / keep pushing up the numbers, but I also want to stop getting bigger. I’m tired of buying new clothes and after gaining about 25 lbs of good weight I don’t want to gain much more.

Background: I lift with moderately heavy volume (6x/week), low rep scheme on core lifts (usually 2-6 reps/set, 20-30 total reps) followed by supplemental lifts/machines, and I’ve only been lifting for strength for about 15 months (i.e. linear periodization is still making gains). Numbers are not high (Squat 380, DL 390).

Is there an approach / program / rep scheme that will help maintain strength gains while minimizing hypertrophy?

Thanks!

Nate

2

wat.

Try crossfit.

3

.

4

Dont eat as much pretty easy… Or stop buying expensive clothes lol

5

There isn’t a program thats goal is to keep you from gaining any kind of mass/size

6

If you are carrying some extra bodyfat you can cut a bit, bulk a bit, back and forth with maintenance phases in between for a few months at a time to stay around the same weight and get leaner and more muscular. If you are small and skinny then you are out of luck. You can’t just eliminate hypertrophy from your training because your muscles can only generate so much force at a certain size, once you max out neural adaptations you are stuck and you will probably plateau long before then. If you are serious about powerlifting then adding some muscle mass is most likely a good idea in the long run.

7

5’10" 205lbs 11% bf with a 390 DL? For how many reps?

8

This the powerlifting forum. Do you compete as a powerlifter? Because, if you weigh 205 you are close to the bottom of your weight class. Maybe you should just try to fill out the <220 weight class. Do you have experience cutting weight overnight? I mean have you done meets and made the 198 class?

9

I would think you should do the opposite of putting on size so cut volume and make your eccentric phases shorter. You should put emphasis on speed and your power. Maybe even venture into calisthenics, those guys aren’t big, but are still pretty jacked.

10

[quote]Facepalm_Death wrote:
This the powerlifting forum. Do you compete as a powerlifter? Because, if you weigh 205 you are close to the bottom of your weight class. Maybe you should just try to fill out the <220 weight class. Do you have experience cutting weight overnight? I mean have you done meets and made the 198 class?[/quote]

If he’s walking around at 205, I would consider him to be a guy who’s at the top of the 198 class. 7 lbs of weight can be cut by someone without any prior experience.

I don’t think, at this point, he should be pushing the 220 class at all. He’s obviously carrying too much fat to be competitive in a low weight class in general. I competed as a 181 a month ago, at his height, and put up a 1471 total. It sounds like he’s barely clearing 1000, at a higher weight class. At the rate he’s going, he’d still be non-competitive as a 220, and he’d probably be fatter. Plus the title of the thread is ‘strength without size’, lol.

So in summary: fix the diet. Get strict with what you eat, and keep training hard. That’s really all it will take to get you closer to your goals.

11

[quote]flipcollar wrote:

[quote]Facepalm_Death wrote:
This the powerlifting forum. Do you compete as a powerlifter? Because, if you weigh 205 you are close to the bottom of your weight class. Maybe you should just try to fill out the <220 weight class. Do you have experience cutting weight overnight? I mean have you done meets and made the 198 class?[/quote]

If he’s walking around at 205, I would consider him to be a guy who’s at the top of the 198 class. 7 lbs of weight can be cut by someone without any prior experience.

I don’t think, at this point, he should be pushing the 220 class at all. He’s obviously carrying too much fat to be competitive in a low weight class in general. I competed as a 181 a month ago, at his height, and put up a 1471 total. It sounds like he’s barely clearing 1000, at a higher weight class. At the rate he’s going, he’d still be non-competitive as a 220, and he’d probably be fatter. Plus the title of the thread is ‘strength without size’, lol.

So in summary: fix the diet. Get strict with what you eat, and keep training hard. That’s really all it will take to get you closer to your goals.[/quote]

flipcollar I’m going to have to pick your brain about weight cutting soon.

OP, do what the other guys said: cut the fat, don’t worry about scale weight. Just get stronger.

12

I don’t know how lean you are, but if you just get lean, stay there and just train for strength with relatively low-volume, minimalist training. Although if you are natural, you probably can’t be “too big” while being lean. What are your numbers?

13

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]flipcollar wrote:

[quote]Facepalm_Death wrote:
This the powerlifting forum. Do you compete as a powerlifter? Because, if you weigh 205 you are close to the bottom of your weight class. Maybe you should just try to fill out the <220 weight class. Do you have experience cutting weight overnight? I mean have you done meets and made the 198 class?[/quote]

If he’s walking around at 205, I would consider him to be a guy who’s at the top of the 198 class. 7 lbs of weight can be cut by someone without any prior experience.

I don’t think, at this point, he should be pushing the 220 class at all. He’s obviously carrying too much fat to be competitive in a low weight class in general. I competed as a 181 a month ago, at his height, and put up a 1471 total. It sounds like he’s barely clearing 1000, at a higher weight class. At the rate he’s going, he’d still be non-competitive as a 220, and he’d probably be fatter. Plus the title of the thread is ‘strength without size’, lol.

So in summary: fix the diet. Get strict with what you eat, and keep training hard. That’s really all it will take to get you closer to your goals.[/quote]

flipcollar I’m going to have to pick your brain about weight cutting soon.

OP, do what the other guys said: cut the fat, don’t worry about scale weight. Just get stronger. [/quote]

Anytime. I’ve written it out in my log if you want to see what I did for my last meet, beginning of June. And if you post a question in my log, I can be more specific for what you, personally, should do. Reed is a good resource as well.

14

[quote]DaneMuscle wrote:
I don’t know how lean you are, but if you just get lean, stay there and just train for strength with relatively low-volume, minimalist training. Although if you are natural, you probably can’t be “too big” while being lean. What are your numbers?[/quote]

He said he squats 380 and dl’s 390. plenty of room to improve at his weight.

15

[quote]flipcollar wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]flipcollar wrote:

[quote]Facepalm_Death wrote:
This the powerlifting forum. Do you compete as a powerlifter? Because, if you weigh 205 you are close to the bottom of your weight class. Maybe you should just try to fill out the <220 weight class. Do you have experience cutting weight overnight? I mean have you done meets and made the 198 class?[/quote]

If he’s walking around at 205, I would consider him to be a guy who’s at the top of the 198 class. 7 lbs of weight can be cut by someone without any prior experience.

I don’t think, at this point, he should be pushing the 220 class at all. He’s obviously carrying too much fat to be competitive in a low weight class in general. I competed as a 181 a month ago, at his height, and put up a 1471 total. It sounds like he’s barely clearing 1000, at a higher weight class. At the rate he’s going, he’d still be non-competitive as a 220, and he’d probably be fatter. Plus the title of the thread is ‘strength without size’, lol.

So in summary: fix the diet. Get strict with what you eat, and keep training hard. That’s really all it will take to get you closer to your goals.[/quote]

flipcollar I’m going to have to pick your brain about weight cutting soon.

OP, do what the other guys said: cut the fat, don’t worry about scale weight. Just get stronger. [/quote]

Anytime. I’ve written it out in my log if you want to see what I did for my last meet, beginning of June. And if you post a question in my log, I can be more specific for what you, personally, should do. Reed is a good resource as well.
[/quote]

Awesome, thanks. I’ll swing by closer to meet time - my next is October 11, so I’ve got time.

OP, apologies for the mini-hijack.

16

Oh my bad I didn’t see. I agree, he shouldn’t need to get bigger to get stronger at that level.