Is it Possible to be Small and Strong?
There’s no doubt that muscular size is a bonus that works in your favor for getting as strong as possible. Is it possible then to be small and strong? It appears so as there are lifters who are small but very strong. Some are strong enough to walk into most gyms and out lift a lot of the bigger guys that work out there. Here are some examples:
Hideaki Inaba at 114 pounds with a deadlift of 506 puonds
Inaba with a squat of 528 pounds in the 114 weight class
Lamar Gant doing a 634 puond deadlift in the 123 pound weight class
Galabin Boevski lifting over 400 pounds over his head at a bodyweight of just over 150 pounds.
Getting Stronger Without Getting Bigger
Is it possible to gain a substantial amount of strength without a substantial gain in body weight? It certainly appears so as many lifters have accomplished this. Some have accomplished this because their genetic tendency is to stay small matter how they work out, while others stay small because they put no emphasis on workouts that are geared towards muscular growth.
Gaining a lot of weight is based on three primary factors consisting of the type of training that is done, a genetic capacity to gain a lot of muscular weight, and diet.While some weight lifters and powerlifters may end up getting huge muscles from just doing heavy singles, doubles, and triples, most of the lifters with huge muscles make a deliberate effort to devote a portion of their workouts to building muscular size by including of a variety weight ranges and repetition ranges to achieve this. The West Side method does this and so does Brandon Lilly’s Cube Method.
Precision Point Training can be used for Size and/or Strength
Precision point training methods can be used for a focus that’s purely devoted to strength development without emphasizing muscular size, but a variety of weights and reps can also be included if you do want to develop size. If your focus is purely on strength, you can use heavy weights for part of your lifting and also use lighter weights for several mini sets, which emphasizes explosive lifting for only a few reps per mini set. If you want to build more muscles, you will also need to use moderately heavy weights in the eight to twelve rep range for full sets, which means pushing to your marker rep, or the last strong rep you can do in a set. Strong reps are reps that can be done without needing to slow your rep speed down during a set because of fatigue.
Avoid Training Extremes to Gain Size and Strength
If you are a smaller lifter, don’t panic and try to catch up with the bigger lifters by constantly pushing to failure and going for all out single rep max lifts. Learn how to find your training zone by stopping a set when the pace at which you repeat reps starts to slow down, and by training a muscle group while it is at full strength, but no longer than that. Use a single rep training max when going heavy by using the maximum weight that allows you to perform a smooth nonstop lifting motion, instead of doing super heavy grinder reps. Don’t add weight to your lifts until the weights you are already using can be lifted faster and easier. Use these training strategies on a consistent basis and you will make consistent progress. Best of training to you.