Is Bulking Required for Strength Gains

kitkat4141

During my unintentional bulking I was able to increase the amount of weight lifted. Currently cutting and have decided not to go back to my previous lower weight but somewhere in between.

This experience has caused me to wonder if I will need to undergo future bulk/cut cycles in order to make strength gains. Can any of the experienced ladies out there answer this question?

neandermagnon

you can gain a lot of strength without gaining any new muscle tissue, especially if you're a relative beginner. Most strength gains initially are due to neurological changes, i.e. your nerves get better at making the muscles work, so you work more and more of your muscle fibres properly, plus improvements in form, and other ways that your body is basically learning how to handle heavier weights. you can make these gains while training at a deficit. your muscles may even appear to get bigger while eating at a deficit due to retaining water and having a more efficient blood supply, i.e. they get more blood than before.

actual increases in the amount of muscle tissue you have can only happen when eating at a surplus, training very hard and eating enough protein. Under these conditions the body actually grows new muscle tissue, and they will slowly get bigger and you will get a corresponding strength increase from this. under some circumstances this may happen when not eating at a surplus, e.g. muscle memory gains (i.e. where you had the muscle mass before, lost it, and are now regaining it) or in over-fat beginners, who may for a short time be able to gain a little muscle while losing fat. Other than that though it's really not possible to gain muscle without a surplus....BUT a lot of strength gains come from neurological adaptation which should happen at a deficit. You need a sensible deficit though, too big a deficit will result in loss of strength due to loss of muscle mass.

kitkat4141

Thanks