Strength vs Bulk

[mejess1964]

Ok...so I see where people are talking about bulking and occasionally somebody mentions strength only. What is the difference? If there is a difference I want to know the best cycle for strengthening...I have no interest in bulking...unless that is the same as strengthening.
Thanks

[thephoenix25]

There are two types of muscle fibres of interest on this topic, put simply, one type is responsible for strength and the other is responsible for mass. Different training regimes result in one or the other being targeted.

A rep range of 8-12 targets the muscle fibres responsible for muscle mass
A rep range of 3-6 targets the muscle fibres responsible for strength

This is not to say if you only train for strength you will never get bigger or if you only train for mass you'll never get stronger, it doesn't work like that, but in general, the differing rep ranges will determine which type of fibres are targeted.

*edit*
I would just like to add, that it sounds like you are very new to bodybuilding/strength training. On that basis I'd like to point out that you shouldn't be looking at using steroids before at least 2 years of dedicated training. You will very likely injure yourself if you use steroids before conditioning your body to this type of training. Steroids aren't like the hype you may see on the TV, you have to have already put a huge amount of effort and learnt a great deal about training, diet and nutrition. There is a massive amount of information you need to know about steroids and their safe usage before you even think about your first cycle. There are significant repercussions from using steroid wreaklessly.

This is an excellent thread that describes all you need to know about cycling and the preparation required before you use.
http://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-s...rst-cycle.html

[mejess1964]

Thanks Phoenix...
Not new to lifting, just the language. I have been in a private gym with just me and my trainer and have never talked about strength vs mass. I have been lifting a powerlifting regimen for 7 years now. It's just that once I started reading about cycling I started noticing strength vs bulk and started second guessing what I thought I knew. Wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.
Thank you for the link and the education! I appreciate it.

[ScotchGuard02]

I'm 5'11" & 205lbs, I still look like my avatar. I bench 1RM @ 405# and 36 reps at 225#. This is the heaviest I've been in my life. I've always been a slender guy until I hit about 45 yo. When my body metabolism slowed down, I gained muscles. This is my experience and it's not backed up by clinical double blind test. There is a natural rhythm to the body. If you are eating well and exercising, your body will stabilize at a natural weight. I have found it very difficult to increase size from that normalized weight. The basis for size I have found is food. If you want to be a big man, you have to eat like a big man. The AAS is only augmenting the food. AAS is temporary, food is consistent. If you stay on cycle for 5 years because you want to look huge, you'll get hurt! Size or strength? I don't see an exclusive OR between the two. If you eat well, exercise hard, and cycle AAS. You're gonna get bigger and stronger. Strength is partially genetic. Some guys have stronger tendon/bone attachment and ligament/muscle attachments. We can all develop those attachments but some guys just have God given gifts. We will all reach a limit of our size and strength, eventually.