This is from my weekly email newsletter but I republish it here for sharing and referencing. If you're not already a subscriber you can join below:
Two years ago, a five foot small Venezuelan woman named Stefi Cohen walked onto the stage of a powerlifting competition in front of a virtual audience of thousands. Weighing in at only 115 pounds, Stefi deadlifted 456 pounds to set a new world record for the weight class.
She lifted almost 4 times her body weight ...
How is this possible!?
Here's a picture of one of her lighter attempts that day.
She looks strong right? But not HUUUGE.
Which has to make you wonder, how is she lifting so much weight without giant bulging muscles? How does someone so small lift so much?
The answer is that strength is not the same as muscle size. Muscle size is of course related to strength but it is very much not the same thing. And the techniques used to build strength do not necessarily result in larger muscles.
Gaining strength without size is very important for athletes that have to stay in a specific weight class or for whom total weight really matters. Think cyclists or boxers for example.
But it's also relevant to a lot of people, usually women, who fear that if they do weight training they'll start developing bulging "manly" muscles.
When it comes to longevity and general health, however, building strength is one of the most important things you can do, regardless of your sex.
So how does it work?
From a physiological perspective, there are three main categories of adaptation that contribute to strength. As you progress through a weight or strength training program you'll start to become more efficient at each.
Most importantly, you can become stronger through each mechanism without any increase in muscle size.
At a very high level, your muscles are able to move because they're hooked up to neurons. When your brain tells your muscle to contract it sends a neurological signal to all the neurons in your muscle.
Here's where things get interesting.
Which neurons actually fire, how quickly they fire, and the timing of their firing is all highly variable depending on your level of training and adaptation.
If you are stronger, it's because more neurons can be recruited from the same brain signal, they can fire more rapidly, and they can fire in sync more effectively. Similarly, your nervous system learns which muscles to contract and which to relax.
This plays a large role in how much force can be generated per pound of muscle.
Without getting any larger, your muscle cells can become effective at generating force thus making you stronger. They do this through
Energy efficiency, at a cellular level, can include things like increasing the number of certain types of chemical receptors and thus your sensitivity to neurological stimulus. The contraction speed can also change such that more of your muscles contract faster.
If you've heard of type 1 (slow twitch) and 2 (fast twitch) muscle fibers, your body can actually change the ratio of type 1 to type 2 so that you have more fast twitch fibers.
Finally there's the efficiency and strength of the fascia that holds your muscle tissue together as well as the actual tendons that connect to your bone.
If you have stronger tendons, you can pull harder against them and generate more force. Similarly, the angle at which your tendons and fascia bind to your bone, also known as the pennation angle, can dictate how efficiently you can generate power.
It's true, you'll probably never need to lift 400 pounds. But these principles apply across all strength levels and a lack of strength is often a contributing factor to musculoskeletal pain.
Even if your muscles haven't changed in size, it is still possible to lose strength due to inactivity. Your body relies the strength of your musculature to keep your joints in place and correctly aligned. Weakness or instability can lead to joint deterioration or make you more prone to accidents and injury, particularly as you age.
So even if you don't want to be as strong as Stefi, it's still important to do strength training no matter who you are.
I promise you won't accidentally become the hulk ;)
Be well,
Nick