Strength increase and muscle growth

[Ana]

I understand that you can't build muscle on a deficit. If you are dieting and your strength does increase on some occasions during the time you are on a deficit, does that translate to muscle growth? Technically no, so what does that mean exactly?
Does it just mean you're getting physically stronger even though your muscles aren't getting bigger?
This puzzles me.

[Erik]

Strength can come from improvements in muscle cross sectional area (increased size) or from neurological improvements (improved efficiency of the nervous system to recruit high threshold motor units).

Significant muscular and strength gains are generally not possible while eating significantly below maintenance. Notice, I said significant. In some cases, people can gain some muscle while losing fat and many, with intelligent dieting/training will gain some strength. I've seen this many times in my own clients (stable bodyweight yet decreased measurements). Same goes with strength gains, which I find even more common, particularly during the early stages.

That said, the gains pale in comparison to training with more substantial food intake as anyone who's gone from a diet to a 'bulk' can attest to.

But again, many strength improvements are neurologically based. Chances are if you're making even small strength gains on a diet, you're at the very least, maintaining your muscle. This is great, since many people, due to any number of reasons, lose at least some muscle when they diet. So if you're losing muscle, the neurological improvements will probably be overshadowed by those losses.

So the answer is yes, it means you're getting stronger without an increase in muscular size.

[Ana]

That's a great explanation thanks :)

[mackie]

That's a great explanation thanks :)
Yes, it was.