Eli5: Lifting more weight without building more muscle

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Bit of a weird question. How is it that that people gain strength without getting relatively bigger or more muscle.

Imagine I can bench 100kg or 225lb for a 1 rep max. Now imagine I train hard and now can lift the same weight for 3 reps.
Its unlikely your muscles have gotten three times bigger.

What has actually changed in the body to enable this?

In: Biology

9 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

When you lift heavier weights, your body adapts in various ways beyond just building bigger muscles. Your nervous system becomes more efficient at coordinating muscle contractions, your tendons and ligaments get stronger, and you improve your technique. So, even though your muscles might not significantly increase in size, these other adaptations allow you to lift heavier weights without necessarily getting much bigger.

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