Strength and diet, are they related?

[ILiftAlone]

SS may not be the program for you if you do not want to gain weight. Nothing wrong with wanting to stay at your current size, but i would find it hard to recover from 3x5 programming if I was not in a caloric surplus. Doesn't mean that its impossible, but there may be better programs for your goals.

[Leeuwer]

Well ... you can do it, but you have to evaluate your reasons for it.

I weigh 165lbs at 5'8 at a fairly low body fat and my best lifts are a 550lb deadlift(belt), 440lb squat(belt), 286lb bench press and a 175lb strict press(working on that..). 100 meter time is 10s97h. Not world class, but I am proud of my lifts.

This took me about eleven years, with its ups and downs ...

I can write a hundred-page essay on the challenges getting stronger at a lower or stable weight poses, but really, evaluate your reasons. If it is vanity, well, get your body fat percentage handled first, but understand that you can lose fat if you simply get your diet in order and train hard. You will take longer to gain strength, but it is doable, provided you are disciplined enough.

In the past I have "bulked up" several times only to "lean down" afterwards and always ended up with a positive gain in muscle and strength, even though my bodyweight has not changed a lot over the last few years.

Simply staying light because you play soccer is not a good reason. Many successful soccer players are much heavier than 167lbs. If you feel you are fat or want to see your abs, get that in order and then gain the strength and the muscle. You do sound like a beginner, no offence, so just train and go to soccer practice and everything will be all right. Body fat will stay low, muscle mass and strength will increase. (with that awesome skill called patience)
Insecurities about your body often obscure what you actually want to accomplish, so be aware of that.

[Marotta]

Those numbers are impressive at 165.

[OCG]

Those numbers are very impressive. I'd wager you might be able to hit 700 in the DL if your bodyweight hit ~200.

[Raleighwood]

Those numbers are very impressive. I'd wager you might be able to hit 700 in the DL if your bodyweight hit ~200.

The numbers are good, but I wouldn't say very impressive if it took him 11 years to do it. Maybe 11 years of casual, non-effective programming

[spiderman]

Pavel writes about getting stronger without gaining size and weight in Power to the People. He says there will be some weight gain at the beginning due to increased mitochondria in muscle cells to provide more energy. He calls that just getting to your correct weight. After that strength can increase while weight remains constant by increasing recruitment. I heard through the grapevine that he deadlifted 500 lbs at 5'11" and 180 lbs bodyweight. Blowdpanis is strong but quite light. So apparently you don't have to blimp to get stronger but getting stronger is will take longer.

I'm not sure why gaining some muscle mass would be bad for a soccer player.

[selters]

Supposing I want workout for strength. Supposing I don't want to get bigger anyway (Even though it's not easy, I know, shut the fuck up). Supposing I workout and bust a nut everytime, but simply eat regular food and eat at maintenance with no supplements, will this hinder progress? I heard strength is only related to the efficiency of your CNS and if you've recovered or not, and does not need extra caloric intake to progress. Is this true?

Sure. You can progress without gaining weight, but progress will be a lot slower than if you don't gain weight.

[selters]

The numbers are good, but I wouldn't say very impressive if it took him 11 years to do it. Maybe 11 years of casual, non-effective programming

I disagree. Numbers like that are impressive regardless og how long a person trained to reach them. Most people are not able to train well for 11 years. Most people will find excuses like "well, I got other priorities in life, got injured, whatever". Everyone can get good results, but very few peple do. That's why I admire people for getting good results, not for what could have achieved.

[Tom Campitelli]

The numbers are good, but I wouldn't say very impressive if it took him 11 years to do it. Maybe 11 years of casual, non-effective programming

Your numbers and bodyweight, please. Preferably from competition.

[Tom Campitelli]

For giggles, I went over to Powerlifting Watch to dig up some drug tested, raw, American records. They can be found at:

http://www.powerliftingwatch.com/records/raw/american

At 165 pounds, the records are:

Squat - 550 pounds
Bench - 418 pounds
Dead - 672 pounds

I just dug up the 2010 Penn State track and field results to see what collegiate athletes run a 100 m dash in. The best times for a few of the athletes ranged between 10.6 and 11.1 seconds.

Provided Leeuwer is not inflating his numbers, he's doing pretty goddamn well compared to the best Americans in history for lifting and he could probably hang with collegiate sprinters at a track meet. That's fucking cool. It's very easy to sit behind a computer and say, "That's not very impressive." This is especially true when we get to watch the best in the world whenever we want on YouTube. It's also bullshit. I am impressed and most non-professional athletes would be as well.