Is it pointless to lift if your calorie surplus is very low?

Well you're not going to build strength lifting 3 sets of 10-15 for everything.

Keep your reps under 5 (per set) if you want to build strength.

If you have low energy due to insufficient calorie intake, you might be better of doing some xfit. It will make you fit, but doesn't require much effort.

Ex Phys wrote:

Well you're not going to build strength lifting 3 sets of 10-15 for everything.

Keep your reps under 5 (per set) if you want to build strength.

Ignore this clown.

Strength without size is pointless. People should see that you spent some serious time in the weight room.

Aim for 3 sets of 8-10 reps. You will gain strength, too, but this will also pack on some nice size.

Lifting without an additional calorie surplus is beneficial, IMO.

I have improved my pushup, pullup, and dip reps without gaining any noticeable mass. I do not know anything in the science of this, but I feel as though I am making what muscle I do have stronger without building more.

To give you an idea that I am not gaining muscle, I am actually losing weight while my reps have been increasing. 5'11" and 135lbs.

Interesting, you're actually slimmer than I am, possibly. I am about 8 lbs lighter, and 4 inches shorter

Arm Chair Wrestling wrote:

Lifting without an additional calorie surplus is beneficial, IMO.

I have improved my pushup, pullup, and dip reps without gaining any noticeable mass. I do not know anything in the science of this, but I feel as though I am making what muscle I do have stronger without building more.

To give you an idea that I am not gaining muscle, I am actually losing weight while my reps have been increasing. 5'11" and 135lbs.

Real xfit guy=pewdershcmitt

Answer: There's still some use. You won't actually build more muscles, but you can make the muscles you do have stronger through teaching your body's systems to recruit more fibers and lift more efficiently, what the bodybuilders would call 'CNS adaptions'. But you wouldn't make nearly as many strength gains as someone who was adding mass as well.

Everyone on the planet should know about the Program Picker:

http://www.rohitnair.net/pp/

Sorry, but wrong..

e333333333333 wrote:

Real xfit guy=pewdershcmitt

You're a 128lb runner (assuming since this is letsrun) that benches over 100% of your BW in high-rep sets? I'm one of the stronger guys on my college XC team and can't come close to that. I smell bs

Why would I make this up? None of you guys have strong upper bodies. What I'm doing is not really impressive, considering I'm so light. That's the equivalent of like 8:00 running pace. Almost everyone in the gym benches significantly more weight than I do.

tse wrote:

You're a 128lb runner (assuming since this is letsrun) that benches over 100% of your BW in high-rep sets? I'm one of the stronger guys on my college XC team and can't come close to that. I smell bs

You're not sorry, liar.

[quote]OP wrote:

Why would I make this up? None of you guys have strong upper bodies. What I'm doing is not really impressive, considering I'm so light. That's the equivalent of like 8:00 running pace. Almost everyone in the gym benches significantly more weight than I do.

Even more skeptical now. If you've been lifting for a year you'd have a pretty good understanding of the correlation between weight and strength. Using your analogy, it'd be like running 8:00 pace at a very old age.

Anyways, lying or not, I'm going to reiterate what I just said. I'm in no way a fitness expert but you need a certain number of calories and nutrients to build muscle. Roughly, you need your weight in grams of protein. I'm sure someone with knowledge on the subject can give you better advice but you answered your own question. You'll never build the muscles you need to improve your strength if you don't eat the right quality and quantity of food.

Is it pointless? Probably not. You're working your existing muscles, probably converting some excess mass to muscle, and getting your heartrate up so you'll inevitably be more defined. But if your goal is to increase strength; yes, it's pointless.

Sorry, just come to terms with the fact that you + your XC team is not good at bench pressing. I'm not making these numbers up lol. Thanks for the advice.

tse wrote:

You're a 128lb runner (assuming since this is letsrun) that benches over 100% of your BW in high-rep sets? I'm one of the stronger guys on my college XC team and can't come close to that. I smell bs

Hate to break this to you but in any sort of absolute sense his bench press performance sucks.