Strength-building phase?

[john917v]

Hi, all. I had joined Golds in Nov. of last year, but that was when I thought that you should do body-part-specific exercises exclusively, and had a much more lenient 3 meals/day diet. In January, I got serious about building. Since then, I have been eating 6 meals a day, each usually being about 560 cals, and made up of as few processed foods as possible. I am adamant about taking mixing an electrolyte/malto packet into my water bottle for every workout, and having complex carbs and a scoop of PP for pwo. I also sleep at least 7 hrs a night, but I strive for 8. I have noticed strength gains, but not too much in terms of size increase. The question is; When you guys (and gals) went from your normal body type, and began hypertrophying, how was your growth process?
Thanks in advance,

-John

[HSfootball16]

as long as the strength is going up you should be fine. remember it doesn't happen overnight. it will take years to get big. you've been lifting for 6 months. be patient.

[john917v]

I've got rock-solid determination to get big. But, I had heard that you can see visible results in about 6 weeks. Is this another myth, like the isolation-exercise mentality?

[EricT]

^^^^Absolutely.

Your first strenght gains can be almost exclusively neural improvements. Think of this as your body getting better (your brain and nervous system) at using the muscle you already have. So this is why you don't always notice too much growth at first. That doesn't mean your aren't getting any you just don't see it.

But it will come. Focus on your strength development and you will grow...of course providing you eat well. The stronger you get the more successful will be your efforts to just hypertrophy.

One size fits all time frames don't work. Also those kind of quick results can be of a major all fluff and very little go and they are usually the result of high rep high volume stuff. Size gains that come with relatively less strenght improvement tend to be more fleeting.