"Bulking up" vs strength training vs building muscle mass

What's the difference? Can strength be gained without increasing bulk? Can strength be increased without increasing muscle mass? Biochemically speaking, how do the processes differ if at all?

E.g. can I get stronger without getting heavier? (and without losing fat)

If I get stronger will my muscles necessarily become larger?

Is there any neurological aspect to strength training?

I realize this question is a bit vague, but I lack the knowledge to ask suitably specific questions. So please feel free to tell me I need to read up on X, Y and Z.

jfslocum said:

What's the difference? Can strength be gained without increasing bulk? Can strength be increased without increasing muscle mass? Biochemically speaking, how do the processes differ if at all?

E.g. can I get stronger without getting heavier? (and without losing fat)

If I get stronger will my muscles necessarily become larger?

Is there any neurological aspect to strength training?

I realize this question is a bit vague, but I lack the knowledge to ask suitably specific questions. So please feel free to tell me I need to read up on X, Y and Z.

Bulking can be dirty or clean. Clean is recommended here, which means mostly muscle mass gain with as little fat as possible.

Or recomping is known as increasing muscle while reducing fat, over a period of time is also recommended here.

Bulking most importantly means increasing muscle mass which is due to strength training + good nutrition

Some rep/set combinations and times under tension stimulate mass gains more than others.

It's a matter of degree more than kind though.

There is aboslutely a neurologic component to strength development.

It's all good. It all happens together and I wouldn't focus on getting one over the other. Just find the workouts

that you like and workout hard, and you will get results. If you want muscle mass gain, you'll need your diet in order.

If you're 18-30 it also helps! But if not, gains in all areas are still possible.

Josh has addressed all of these issues in various posts. Check the stickies in Nutrition and Strength forums.

A moderator perhaps can direct you better.

FutureisNow said:

Bulking can be dirty or clean. Clean is recommended here, which means mostly muscle mass gain with as little fat as possible.

Or recomping is known as increasing muscle while reducing fat, over a period of time is also recommended here.

Bulking most importantly means increasing muscle mass which is due to strength training + good nutrition

Some rep/set combinations and times under tension stimulate mass gains more than others.

It's a matter of degree more than kind though.

If I want to focus on strength and don't really care about building muscle mass or bulk, are there targeted exercises to facilitate such goals?

There is aboslutely a neurologic component to strength development.

Is this more physiological, where with training the nerves under conscious control are able to push the muscles closer and closer to their peak power output, or is it cognitive, where one trains the self to be able to more consistently reach maximum exertion?

It's all good. It all happens together and I wouldn't focus on getting one over the other. Just find the workouts

that you like and workout hard, and you will get results. If you want muscle mass gain, you'll need your diet in order.

If you're 18-30 it also helps! But if not, gains in all areas are still possible.

So, to give a little more context, I'm an amateur gymnast who's already in pretty good shape (I have a FL, BL and straight body planche on rings). I have no real desire to increase my bodyweight or become more bulky. My goal right now is to maximize my strength/bodyweight ratio so that I can perform more advanced ring strength elements.

Josh has addressed all of these issues in various posts. Check the stickies in Nutrition and Strength forums.

A moderator perhaps can direct you better.

Thanks, I'll look through those some more.

Strength can be gained without adding additional mass. A term you'll hear quite frequently is 'CNS adaptation'. I can't offer a technical explanation, I can just say it deals with muscle fiber recruitment and activation as your body adapts to a particular movement.

I just wanted to point out that it sometimes takes a bit of experimenting to find the right balance between weight and strength. Take a look at weight classes, boxing would be a good example. A boxer can do well in his weight class but sometimes sees a performance increase by moving up or down a weight class. Don't necessarily limit your weight and prevent yourself from reaching an optimum strength level, play with it a bit as you get stronger and see what works best for you.

Agree with opktic169 and just add that unless you eat more than you are burning it will be very difficult to add mass. Perhaps you may shift some around. So if you focus on eating a high quality diet, but keep the calores at about your resting metabolism plus your activities expenditure, Bob's your uncle. You may want to track this or just go by your hunger.

Pretty much the GB program is strength orientated. If you follow the WOD, reps are typically around 5 which is more geared for strength and they are performed with power generation in mind. Sometimes Josh recommends doing excercises slowly, which is advice directed at those looking to add mass. It's also good for strength/strength endurance. When you workout to near failure

that is where the growth stimulus is strongest.

Personally I don't think gaining mass in the areas that you would harm gymnastic performance. I am not an expert but bigger

arms/shoulders shouldn't hurt any moves that I'm aware of, and could help with some. Is your concern aethestic or are you already

the "incredible hulk"? But again, unless you are reguarly eating above your requirement, it will be difficult to get a lot bigger.

FutureisNow said:

Personally I don't think gaining mass in the areas that you would harm gymnastic performance. I am not an expert but bigger

arms/shoulders shouldn't hurt any moves that I'm aware of, and could help with some. Is your concern aethestic or are you already

the "incredible hulk"? But again, unless you are reguarly eating above your requirement, it will be difficult to get a lot bigger.

My concern is mechanical - if I get heavier, I have to be that much stronger to life myself, and it makes tumbling harder

I wouldn't consider myself the incredible hulk, but I'm already reasonably big.

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You're already training gymnastics, probably several years and haven't gotten huge so far. Why would that change?

I personally don't think there is a cause for concern, or that your belief that gaining mass in functional areas would make lifting your body relatively harder. Yes, if it were in the legs it would be a problem. But there is little leverage disadvantage to having larger

back, shoulders or arms, especially if they are stronger than before. Again, you won't get much bigger unless you increase

your food eaten.

Perhaps others will disagree or can tell you something I'm missing, but I honestly would not worry.

I'm not terribly concerned. I'm primarily curious about the biological differences between gaining strength and gaining muscle mass, and I figured that if said differences can be exploited to optimize my strength:weight ratio, that'd be a nice bonus.

The WOD probably are the way to go then. I think they will increase your strength primarily. Work is not focused on a single area for a long time but on all aspects. You are quite strong now but I think there is some room for improvement still. Working the on fundamentals additionally will increase your strength and competence performing the moves you do now as well as open up the possiblities for new ones.

Hopefully a more advanced gymnast can comment if there are specifics he thinks you should work on.

Happy progress!