Goal to build strength not muscle#849

Hi,
If my goal is to increase only my strength but I don’t want to gain any muscle size, is this routine going to maintain my current size? (assuming I am eating at maintenance too of course).
Does the speed at which performing the exercises change what type of muscle is activated and whether or not size is impacted?
Do you recommend any additional form of training for this type of goal?
(I am a female model interested in increasing strength but maintaining small size is also importat so I am trying to figure out what training or sport would be most suitable for my goal.)

Heya Theo :)

In short - if you’re doing the routine and eating at mainenance, you’ll likely not end up putting on much/any muscle, but should still be able to get stronger! (depending on how much fat you currently have - the less you have; the less likely it’ll get broken down to fuel extra muscle growth - the same logic applies if you don’t yet have that much muscle to begin with; you’re just more prone to putting on more than you would be if you already had a lot)

Now in terms of additional training related things to look out for, there definitely are things you can do to bias strength more-so than muscle

In essence that comes down to primarily training in a fashion as such:

• isometrics
• a lot of movement practice but not pushing yourself too close to failure; greasing the groove so to say
• focusing on compound movements as to not push one muscle to failure as much but rather to just improve how good you are at a motion
• explosive movements (explosive pushups, pullups, squats, etc.)

the pure strength program here is along those lines: https://www.hybridcalisthenics.com/programs

Do still be sure to get enough protein nevertheless - as it’s important for recovery (in addition to an overall nourishing and healthy diet of course!) :)

I’d love to give you more background knowledge on how/why - but I don’t wanna overwhelm you with a very long message :D

So let me know if you’re interested, otherwise I hope this helps!

Hi Lars,

This was very helpful!
For isometric exercises how long should each one be performed for? Time/time between/reps/sets

For compound movements how many reps till failure should I leave in the tank? Is it better to stay in the 1-6 rep range for my goal or 16+ ?And what rest time in between sets?

And does explosive movements mean doing them as fast/ forceful as possible without compromsing form?

And yes, please do share background knowledge, its not overwhelming to me and I like to learn! :)

Great questions!

For isometrics I’d aim to stay between 10-15 seconds - though do go higher if you need the reduced intensity to avoid joint discomfort or form breakdown; the same applies for other non-time-based exercises!

With strength being your goal I’d definitely aim to stay between 1-6 reps, with 2-4 reps left in the tank; though if you’re greasing the groove (doing more sets throughout the day) then I’d leave even more reps in the tank! 16+ would end up being a lot more hypertrophy/endurance focused

And yes :) Explosive movements means that you’re doing them with as much speed as possible - good form included! Though on the eccentric/drop, I still recommend having some control as to not let your joints take all the pressure - with explosives I’d also not do more than 5 reps per set, and not close to failure, with plenty of rest between - high rep quality and speed is the goal after all, and that would only deteriorate if we’re pushing ourselves more/resting less

Rest time in general I’d leave between 3-5 minutes for strength focused training - though for isometrics it’s okay to rest a bit less as it isn’t quite as fatiguing, for that same reason it’s also okay to have the intensity (proximity to failure) be a bit higher than on dynamic movements - so “fewer seconds left in the tank” haha

Bonus information: https://www.hybridcalisthenics.com/blog/how-do-our-bodies-stronger

As well as this, which I wrote on the discord server as part of an “FAQ”:
“# Training

Training For Strength:

• General strength rep range = 3-6
• Peak strength rep range = 1-3
• Rest times = 3-5+ mins
• Intensity = 2-4 RiR

We work with these parameters to get a lot of high quality practice with high loads but without the extra fatigue and potential form break down of going to failure. This way we will improve our form at high loads as well as our neural efficiency, and of course also set a bit of a stimulus towards muscle growth - though that is best addressed separately with specific work in higher rep ranges

We aim to improve our muscle size, our form, and neural efficiency to build our strength as well as we can - if you’re just starting out, I recommend focusing on hypertrophy training as described below!

Training For Hypertrophy

• Rep range of 5-30 works pretty equally well, though for the best carryover to strength I’d stick with work mostly from 5-10, or 8-12 if the exercises are a bit less stable and you can’t keep quality form otherwise. You can still go higher than this if your form demands it, or if it’s more comfortable for your joints etc.
• Rest times = 2-3+ mins (Beginners can often use a bit less rest as they’re not pushing themselves as much and can benefit from the extra work capacity (essentially cardio))
• Intensity = 0-2 RiR (You can work with more reps in reserve too, but it requires a higher set amount) - keep in mind that this is a general guideline and can absolutely look different for beginners or someone returning from a break who don’t need to push themselves as close to failure - see more information here https://www.instagram.com/p/CxItcIGRF_f/?img_index=1

How does muscle growth happen? Primarily via mechanical tension and progressive overload - meaning that you put sufficient mechanical stress on your muscle fibres, and maintain that amount of stress by gradually increasing reps/load - in calisthenics this is often via a harder variation

Both strength and muscle is best supported by a bulk!”

I hope that’s all clear! But happy to answer more questions of course :)

To expand on isometrics, have a load that is near the limit of what you can hold. Try to hold that for 6 seconds. Do 6 reps of 6 seconds with 20 second rest times. Check out the channel NoLimitSquad as its all about isometrics and strength development

Thank you so much Lars and Chrys!

Of course!!