Size vs. Strength Training

You know how much I praise lifting weights, don't you? But don't get me wrong when I tell you that lifting heavy weights isn't always good for you. I know this sounds confusing, but there is a difference between healthy weight-lifting and retarded weight-lifting. There are even two main categories of lifting, size training and strength training...

• Strength Training: 

If you are looking for strength-training, you want to increase force production. Size-training, on the contrary, is about getting a pump and creating little damages to your muscles so they can repair themselves and grow bigger. (The reason why you get muscle-soreness).

Strength training should consist of few reps but heavier weights instead, but don't forget the proper form,trying to still control the movement. So, real low-rep strength-training is primarily neuromuscular. Meaning that you teach your body to bring more muscle into the game to increase your power.

• Size Training: 

Size training is more physiological. This means that you give your body a little upgrade in its size. You are forcing your body to develop tissues and grow stronger AND bigger. This may sounds exactly like strength-training , but your main focus is to build bigger muscles, not stronger ones.

Therefor, you don't have to worry about losing your strength when you want to increase your muscles' size. All types of training can have neurological benefits, it's just a matter of the right balance between reps and weights.

A lot of people misunderstand bodybuilders by thinking that bodybuilding is about lifting heavy-ass weights, right? But, it is about using your weights as a tool to increase your muscle tissue. If you are throwing as much weight on the bar, whether to boost your ego or to impress the people around you, you are completely on the wrong way.

Now what happens when you go too heavy?

• You decrease the time under tensions because you are too busy cheating on your form to lift your weights.
• You can't control the movement because it's way too heavy and you look stupid because you are trying to lift it up again. (maybe looking like a 'about-to-explode' tomato haha)
• You have no 'brain-muscle-connection' , because (again) you have struggle to do the movement right.
• You are using too many other muscles to lift your weights, meaning you can't train your muscle isolated.

To get to the point: No one cares how much you lift in the gym, unless they are doing the same mistake...

Nevertheless, if you don't manage to lift for sets of at least 6 reps, you are more likely to train for strength, if you keep proper form. Otherwise it's just bad lifting and you won't make yourself stronger nor 'bigger, you are simply risking injuries.

To improve muscle size you should:

• Have a strict and proper form
• Control the lowering movement for at least 3 seconds.
• Have a sane and healthy muscle-brain-connection and feel the movement in your muscles. 
• Avoid to lock completely out, meaning that your muscles should be under tensions throughout the whole movement, for every rep. (e.g if you do a dumbbell-curl always try to have your biceps under tension even if you lower the movement , and don't pause between each rep )

So once again, if you love lifting-weights, like me, always keep in mind WHY you are lifting weights and HOW you are lifting heavy weights. Control every movement, feel your muscle, feel the burn and always keep your muscle under tension. You will achieve better results if you lift lighter weights and control the movement, than if you lift heavy and look like a retarded ego-driven wanna-be lifter. 

With that said, enjoy your next pump. xX

Me doing close-grip lat-pulldowns