From Strength to Size: How to Shift Focus for Muscle Growth?

[Wonder Land]

Hey everyone,

I'm just getting back into training after a long break and could really use some input from the community.

A bit about me:
I’m currently at 90kg with an estimated body fat of around 25–30%. My background is in powerlifting, which I’ve trained for several years prior to my break.

Training approach:
Over the past 5 weeks, I’ve been following a variation of Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program (I sub pull-ups in place of power cleans). I train for strength 3 times a week and also do cardio 5–6 days per week for 40–60 minutes each session.

Nutrition: [intermittent Fasting 16/8]
I'm eating clean — lots of lean protein (chicken, fish, high-protein cheese), a ton of salad, some healthy fats, and a moderate amount of carbs. [I would say 50-100g daily] I’m being mindful of food quality and portions.

Goals:

1. My main goal is to reduce body fat and get leaner.

2. Another important goal for me is to build visible muscle mass — not just to be strong, but to look more muscular as well. In fact, I’d even be willing to shift my focus away from pure strength if that helps me achieve better muscle development.


Question for you guys:
Given that I’m already lifting, doing steady cardio, and eating well — what kind of training tweaks or strategy shifts would you recommend to maximize fat loss while still promoting muscle growth? Should I adjust my lifting volume, split, intensity, or cardio approach?

Would love to hear your thoughts, especially from those who’ve been in a similar spot!

 

[Wonder Land]

Forgot to add:

Right now, my working sets (5 reps each) are:

Squat: 110kg (ass to grass)
Bench Press: 90kg (full range of motion)
Deadlift: 100kg
Military Press 45kg

The weights are progressing steadily, and I make a point of maintaining strict, clean form — deep squats, controlled bench press, and full range of motion on all lifts.

Also — I’ve noticed that while my strength is going up and I feel like I’m starting to look leaner, my body weight is dropping pretty slowly. Some weeks, it doesn’t move at all. Could this be a sign that I’m losing fat while gaining muscle at the same time? Is that common in this kind of situation?

 

[neutrino]

Welcome back!

My honest opinion: keep doing what you are doing. Currently you are seeing strength going up, fat loss continuing, and more lean physique coming out. What more could you want? Yes, naturally we want more of this, however, you are getting yourself into a position of overcomplicating things by splitting hairs - there is no need for that because you have not plateaued.

I am going to give you the same advice I give to newcomers and those that are returning: your primary focus should be to fall in love with the process. Once you acquire this, the rest will come naturally. Loving what you are doing eliminates the need for "discipline and motivation" and will naturally lead into a path of additional learning and discovery. Flipping too many switches at once can leave you feeling overwhelmed and could lead into a situation in which you lose track of which change produced the benefit you seek.

Keep doing what you are doing until it stops working...THEN make an adjustment or 2 and observe - if progress picks up again, keep going. If not, make other adjustments.

The fun part in all of this is finding out what works for YOU and YOUR lifestyle. You will go crazy getting advice from dozens of sources, all with different recommendations.

 

[buck]

I did 5-8 reps to put on most all my size. Strength and size can happen at the same time. Keep training and keeping your calories/macros in check and you will get where you want to go.

 

[Wonder Land]

I did 5-8 reps to put on most all my size. Strength and size can happen at the same time. Keep training and keeping your calories/macros in check and you will get where you want to go.

Thanks for the reply, that makes sense.

Quick question though — something that’s been confusing me:

At my gym, I often see powerlifters who lift really heavy weights — way more than most people — but they don’t look very muscular or particularly lean. Some of them honestly look like they just train casually, even though their strength is clearly elite.

On the other hand, I see other people lifting much lighter weights, but they look far more muscular, defined, and overall “fit.”

How does that happen? Is it mostly genetics, diet, training style — or something else I’m missing?

 

[Catteni]

For someone who is pressed for time anything wrong with doing a warmup set then a heavy set until failure? Or only doing 2 working sets?

 

[dudebroftw]

I’ve always been told higher rep pump workouts are good for volumizing the muscle.

Low rep heavy is good for density and strength.

 

[Wonder Land]

For someone who is pressed for time anything wrong with doing a warmup set then a heavy set until failure? Or only doing 2 working sets?

From my personal experience, as we get older, it's essential to stretch and warm up properly before diving into working sets — otherwise, the risk of injury increases significantly (speaking from experience).

Here’s the warm-up routine I use before my main working sets:

1. 5 reps @ 50% of working weight
2. 4 reps @ 60%
3. 3 reps @ 70%
4. 2 reps @ 80%
5. 1 rep @ 90%

Then I move on to my working sets:
3 sets of 5 reps (3x5) at 100% of my working weight.

 

[Wonder Land]

I’ve always been told higher rep pump workouts are good for volumizing the muscle.

Low rep heavy is good for density and strength.

Well that's exactly what I was wondering..
Why online people tend to say that powerlifting would have a better impact on muscle growth and at the gym I see people lifting lower weights high reps and it seems like it works for them

 

[dudebroftw]

Well that's exactly what I was wondering..
Why online people tend to say that powerlifting would have a better impact on muscle growth and at the gym I see people lifting lower weights high reps and it seems like it works for them

A lot of it also depends on your choice of gear as well. Training - you’ll notice with higher rep sets you get a better pump. Chase that for volume growth.

 

[mexbeast]

Thanks for the reply, that makes sense.

Quick question though — something that’s been confusing me:

At my gym, I often see powerlifters who lift really heavy weights — way more than most people — but they don’t look very muscular or particularly lean. Some of them honestly look like they just train casually, even though their strength is clearly elite.

On the other hand, I see other people lifting much lighter weights, but they look far more muscular, defined, and overall “fit.”

How does that happen? Is it mostly genetics, diet, training style — or something else I’m missing?

Power lifting is all about moving the weight from point a to point b, building muscle is about stimulating the muscle with as much tension as possible, so feeling the muscle while lifting is more important, that is why some what lighter weights may be preferred,. It's not black and white though.

 

[drafty_c]

Hey everyone,

I'm just getting back into training after a long break and could really use some input from the community.

A bit about me:
I’m currently at 90kg with an estimated body fat of around 25–30%. My background is in powerlifting, which I’ve trained for several years prior to my break.

Training approach:
Over the past 5 weeks, I’ve been following a variation of Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program (I sub pull-ups in place of power cleans). I train for strength 3 times a week and also do cardio 5–6 days per week for 40–60 minutes each session.

Nutrition: [intermittent Fasting 16/8]
I'm eating clean — lots of lean protein (chicken, fish, high-protein cheese), a ton of salad, some healthy fats, and a moderate amount of carbs. [I would say 50-100g daily] I’m being mindful of food quality and portions.

Goals:

1. My main goal is to reduce body fat and get leaner.

2. Another important goal for me is to build visible muscle mass — not just to be strong, but to look more muscular as well. In fact, I’d even be willing to shift my focus away from pure strength if that helps me achieve better muscle development.


Question for you guys:
Given that I’m already lifting, doing steady cardio, and eating well — what kind of training tweaks or strategy shifts would you recommend to maximize fat loss while still promoting muscle growth? Should I adjust my lifting volume, split, intensity, or cardio approach?

Would love to hear your thoughts, especially from those who’ve been in a similar spot!

Since you have a powerlifting background, you have a solid foundation for strength, but shifting toward hypertrophy usually means increasing your total volume. Starting Strength is great for raw power, but to see more "visible" muscle, you might want to move into a higher rep range, think 8–12 reps instead of the traditional 5.