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Would gaining too much muscle mass be detrimental to a pole-vaulter? I am currently 5'8" 145 lbs with low body fat and do a large amount of high-rep low weight conditioning. I have been considering going to the weight room on a regular basis this winter to build more muscle, however I am afraid that gaining more muscle mass could be bad for vaulting. Should I stick to high-rep low weights or should I work on increasing my strenghth?

Develop your lower body power.

I think you should work on strength more than on building muscle. More muscle will just give you extra weight, which you have to lift over the bar. So i'd do more weight low reps. Also why is it necessary to do all this weight lifting, doesn't it only work on arm/leg muscle? I'd work more on ab strength.

It also depends how many reps and sets you are doing.....if you are doing upwards of 15 reps in a set, you are not going to bulk up very much.......also, if you are doing sets of 6 and below you will not likely bulk up either........8-12 rep sets will increase your muscle mass......15 and up endurance.......around 6 would be strength....and 3 down would be power......

Also, you really won't gain much weight during a 4-6 week winter training cycle unless you are doing 7 sets of each exercise.

What looks strong and what is strong are not always the same thing. You can never be too strong, but you can definitely get too big. If you are looking to increase strength, start with your core it is the most important and without a great core all other area's of the body can't reach their maximum potential. As long as runway speed is not sacrificed getting stronger will only help, but it is really your explosiveness you want to try to improve. I still have yet to hear anyone say, "Man that would be a great pole vaulter if only he /she weren't soo strong / explosive...." There is nothing wrong with lifting weights, just make sure it is only one part of many exercises / drills / runs, etc. in workouts and not the only part of the workout. If you find yourself looking like Schwarzenegger you are probably too big.

How old are you and how many years have you been training, because that also plays a big part into what type of weight room you should be doing? I would think an average 5'8 frame could be a little bigger than 145lbs and still not have to worry about being too big, but you may not need to be bigger, you could just as easily need to be smaller. It really varies from person to person what your ideal size would be. I think every vaulters goal should be to improve their athleticism. If that means getting bigger or smaller or bulkier or thinner it really doesn't matter as long as you are faster and stronger.

If you want to maximize the weight room, add in or step-up the level of Olympic lifts like power cleans and snatch. Make sure you learn how to do them properly if you have not ever done them. You would get the most benefit by increasing weight in these types of lifts. Most other lifts are good for general strength and should be part of your routine, but doing them at very heavy weights is not as important.

I am almost 5' 8" and almost 150 and i would consider myself a little shrimp. although i am a lot bigger then I was when I was 135 and 5' 8"

If you could get stronger and lighter at the same time, that would be money in the bank. Any weight you gain has to be more than offset by commensurate strength gains. And it has to be the right kind of strength. There are a lot of body building / football workouts out there that will do nothing but hurt your ability to pole vault. One season, when I was coaching the vaulters at OU, my entire crew rebelled against my training program. The football strength coach took it upon himself to criticize my workouts. He told my athletes that if they wanted to get stronger they had to get a lot bigger, and my workouts weren't going to do that for them (which was true). They let him take over their weight training. I was still trying to make a living competing, so I just let them go their own way and focused on my own workouts. The results were predictable. I wish I had been less self-centered and had taken the effort to confront the situation. As it was, they were all ready to be the best linebackers they could be when it was time to compete in the pole vault. The moral is, don’t listen to body builders or football coaches when designing you strength building program. Get a good workout from someone who knows the vault.

Tim is right, the old theory that "the stronger and more hypertrophy, the better" is very innaccurate, especially for an event like the pole vault. A pole vaulter needs to have a very efficient neuromuscular system, so what you want to do is focus on exercises that train the CNS; Olympic lifts, sprints, long jumping, plyos/shock training, and pole vaulting a lot! Because the only way you get really good at something is by doing it.