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QUESTION:
Charles,
I'm a 17 year old varsity wrestler.
I want to strength train, but cannot outgrow my weight-class.
Can I get stronger without gaining any weight?
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ANSWER:
If you're trying to get stronger
without a weight gain I would recommend relatively
heavy explosive weight training with very little emphasis on the
eccentric portion of the lifts.
You obviously should not train the
same way a bodybuilder does (unless you want to increase your bodyweight).
However, if you do realize a weight gain from low-rep strength training,
you probably are headed in that direction anyway.
What I mean by this is that if you
gain weight as an adaptation to low rep, high intensity work, it
tells me that you are already neurally efficient as you are going
to be at that weight and can only see physical (as opposed to technical)
improvement with a bit more muscle on your frame.
This commonly happens in boxing where
a fighter gradually finds it harder and harder to make it down to
their weight class, and then must make the move up to the next class.
At your age, this scenario is inevitable, it just a question of
how long it's going to take before you have no choice but to move
up.
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