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Most experienced gym rats align themselves with one of two training modalities: powerlifting or bodybuilding. The goal is either strength or size. While a dichotomy exists between the training styles, there also exists a middle ground in which they're complementary. Here, strength is used to build size.

Once a lifter has passed the beginner stage, his or her body needs greater amounts of stress to continue growing. There are numerous advanced hypertrophy techniques to choose from, but when approached from a strength standpoint instead the size equation remains simple: Lift the most weight possible while employing the greatest volume possible. What's possible, in this instance, is governed by recovery.

Increased strength can be a catalyst for increased muscle mass, but it requires a specific toolkit and training approach. How, then, do you use strength to build size? By using these training-tested techniques approved by powerlifters and bodybuilders all over the globe!

CLUSTER SETS

Cluster sets utilize rest between reps to help you accrue a total amount of reps with a heavier weight than is normally possible in a straight set.

To perform a cluster set of, say, 5 reps, you employ 5 single reps with 20 seconds between each rep until 5 total reps are achieved. In other words, do one rep, rest 20 seconds, do another rep, rest 20, and continue in this fashion until you've completed all your reps. Clustering reps like this allows you to achieve more volume per set with weights you normally couldn't use for that many reps.

For example, let's say you can bench press 225 pounds for a straight set of 3 reps. By adding rest between reps, you could add 2 more reps to the set and press 225 for 5 total reps. Heavy weight for more volume equals bigger muscles.

This, of course, isn't the only way to arrange your cluster set; clusters of 2 and 3 reps are also useful depending on the application.

HEAVY ECCENTRICS

Hypertrophy fanatics often espouse time-under-tension's muscle-building virtues. Their enthusiasm isn't unwarranted—increasing a muscle's time under tension promotes growth. What's key, however, is keeping the intensity high while maintaining the tension. Heavy eccentrics, sometimes called negatives, tap into your strength and provide that key.

Eccentric muscle contractions—lowering a weight rather than lifting it—are the most damaging. As a result, eccentrics trigger the most inflammation and have an increased propensity to restructure muscle. If you create a lot of muscle damage, your body will adapt by adding more muscle so the same stimulus isn't as damaging the next time around.

But the process requires heavy weight. Light eccentrics teach control, but creating a disruption that will build muscle requires intensity to the tune of 75-85 percent of 1RM. (Unless you have a trained and dedicated spotter, I wouldn't recommend using 90 percent or more of your 1RM for extended eccentrics.)

You'll lower these heavy loads during eccentric phases for as long as 4-6 seconds while completing 3-6 reps in this manner per set. As the load increases, you'll extend the length of the eccentrics and decrease the reps per set.

Exercise selection is paramount: You must choose exercises that have a pronounced eccentric phase. Squat variations, bench-press variations, rowing variations, and Romanian deadlifts work best.

Always remember to keep this in mind if you’re trying to gain more mass

1. Maximize muscle building. The more protein your body stores—in a process called protein synthesis—the larger your muscles grow. But your body is constantly draining its protein reserves for other uses—making hormones, for instance. The result is less protein available for muscle building. To counteract that, you need to "build and store new proteins faster than your body breaks down old proteins," says Michael Houston, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition at Virginia Tech University.

2. Eat meat. Shoot for about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, which is roughly the maximum amount your body can use in a day, according to a landmark study in the Journal of Applied Physiology. (For example, a 160-pound man should consume 160 grams of protein a day—the amount he'd get from an 8-ounce chicken breast, 1 cup of cottage cheese, a roast-beef sandwich, two eggs, a glass of milk, and 2 ounces of peanuts.) Split the rest of your daily calories equally between carbohydrates and fats.

3. Eat more. In addition to adequate protein, you need more calories. Use the following formula to calculate the number you need to take in daily to gain 1 pound a week. (Give yourself 2 weeks for results to show up on the bathroom scale. If you haven't gained by then, increase your calories by 500 a day.)

A. Your weight in pounds: _____

B. Multiply A by 12 to get your basic calorie needs: _____

C. Multiply B by 1.6 to estimate your resting metabolic rate (calorie burn without factoring in exercise): _____

D. Strength training: Multiply the number of minutes you lift weights per week by 5: _____

E. Aerobic training: Multiply the number of minutes per week that you run, cycle, and play sports by 8: _____

F. Add D and E, and divide by 7: _____

G. Add C and F to get your daily calorie needs: _____

H. Add 500 to G: _____. This is your estimated daily calorie needs to gain 1 pound a week.

4. Work your biggest muscles. If you're a beginner, just about any workout will be intense enough to increase protein synthesis. But if you've been lifting for a while, you'll build the most muscle quickest if you focus on the large muscle groups, like the chest, back, and legs. Add squats, deadlifts, pullups, bent-over rows, bench presses, dips, and military presses to your workout. Do two or three sets of eight to 12 repetitions, with about 60 seconds' rest between sets.

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