Getting Stronger to Get Bigger
By: Eric Cressey
I’ll start this article off with a question:
How many of the “regulars” in the typical commercial gym are actually what one would consider lean, muscular, or strong?
I haven’t lifted in a commercial gym in years, but my memory definitely serves me correct when it tells me that it couldn’t be more than 10-15% of those in attendance. That’s not to say that everyone in the other 85-90% aren’t trying, though. Plenty of gym-goers work hard, but don’t have the results they want to show for these efforts. 
Why does this happen? After all, they all certainly made great progress in the first 8-12 weeks of their exercise program – and it took them from the untrained stage to the beginner stage. Everybody makes these improvements, though. What most individuals don’t realize is that progress halts unless they change things up and kick their programs up a notch by adding strength training and interval work. Just riding the elliptical nice and easy or playing around with the 3-5-pound weights won’t get the job done.
Meanwhile, you have a lot of intermediate trainees who have “been there, done that” who poke fun at beginners because they haven’t discovered the same Holy Grail of strength training and interval training that enabled them to advance from beginner to intermediate. What’s actually quite ironic (and it is irony, because it’s tragic how badly this sabotages people’s program) is that, all the while, most of these intermediate trainees are missing out on valuable training secrets that could take them to the “advanced” stage. I know because almost a decade ago, I was one of those guys who literally spent 14 months trying to figure out how to get from a 225-pound bench press to a 230-pound bench press. Sad, but true.
Well, I’m happy to report that I’ve now got a 365 bench press at ~190 pounds, and along my strength training journey, I learned a lot of lessons – almost too many to share, in fact. And, that’s one reason why I created Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Beter.
You see, beginners can make strength gains on as little as 40% of their one-rep max. Past that initial 8-12 week “rookie” period, the number moves to 70% - which is roughly a 12-rep max for most folks. In other words, if you can bench press 100 pounds after your first eight weeks of strength training, you’ll need to have at least 70 pounds on the bar to set the stage for strength gains.
Later, I’d say that the number creeps up to about 85-90% - which would be about a 3-5-rep max for an intermediate lifter. In other words, as you get to a 200-pound bench press, anything under 170-180 pounds won’t be sufficient for directly improving strength. This last range is where you’ll find most people who head to the internet for strength training information – because this is the point at which folks get really frustrated with stagnancy.
What’s interesting along these lines is that enhancing one’s performance – particularly with respect to strength gains – really sets the stage for long-term muscle mass gains. Very simply, you don’t meet many “big dudes” who aren’t also “strong dudes.” Muscle strength and size are not mutually exclusive – and some of the best bodybuilders on the planet would tell you the same thing. In fact, I have gained more muscle mass “accidentally” in years as a powerlifter than I gained “intentionally” in years as a wannabe bodybuilder. For me, the biggest window of adaptation was in getting stronger – and that’s what I did. My upper back, hamstrings, and glutes just weren’t going to stay small if I did what it took to get to a 660-pound deadlift. It’s just adaptation to imposed to demand.
How does this work? Well, the stronger you are, the most “work” you’re going to be doing in classic “hypertrophy” (muscle growth) zones. If Lifter A can bench press 300 pounds, and he’s doing sets of 6 (call it 83% of his one-rep max), he’s moving about 250 pounds in that set. If Lifter B bench presses 260 pounds, he’s working at about 215 pounds. If both do four sets of six reps, you’ll see that Lifter A is doing a lot more total work (force times distance). Lifter B needs to get his maximal strength up – and then return to these classic hypertrophy training zones to reap the benefits anew.
The “Cliff’s Notes” version to this is that if you want to get bigger, you absolutely have to get stronger at some point along the line. And, it’s a good idea to address that sooner than later.
To take the guesswork out of all this and try some programming that considers all these crucial factors (and a whole lot more), check Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better.
About the Author
Eric Cressey, MA, CSCS is the president of Cressey Performance, based just west of Boston, MA.
- Adam Bornstein
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