Saturday, December 7, 2019
Strength training can be a fantastic way to improve your body composition…
It can help you build muscle… it can help you burn fat… It can even improve your mood for hours after…
But getting started can be a little intimidating.
It can take some courage to step away from the cardio machines, I get that…
The thought of stepping on the toes of muscly men with veins popping out of their skin can scare you silly.
But here’s the thing…
Once you do make the transition to strength training, you’ll never go back to sweating away on the treadmill again. No way.
Especially once you see how fast your body physique can change with this exercise.
So, to equip you with the right knowledge to begin your journey, I’ve created this beginners guide to strength training.
By the time you’ve finished this article, you’ll be fired up and ready to pump some iron!
Strength training is where you try to get as strong as possible. Pretty simple, eh?
Well, not exactly.
You see, there are some common misconceptions about what strength training is and isn’t.
Proper strength training is built around a few core concepts…
A “rep” (repetition) is one complete motion of an exercise. A “set” is a group of consecutive repetitions. For example, you can say, “I did two sets of ten reps on the bench press.”
Now, strength training focuses on lower reps (4 to 6) over higher reps (6 to 15+). This is because your aim is to lift heavier weight.
Lifting a heavy weight for a lot of reps is going to be difficult, if not impossible, which is why you want to do 4 to 6 movements of a heavier weight instead.
Studies (1) have shown that this is the best way to gain strength.
Compound exercises are exercises that train several muscle groups at the same time. This is the opposite to isolation exercises, which train one muscle group at a time.
Some common examples of compound exercises include the squat, deadlift, and bench press.
Studies (2) show that if you want to build maximum muscle and strength, you want to focus on compound exercises in your workouts.
Focus on getting stronger
Strength training is built around the premise of lifting more weight. This means there is less of a focus on reps and sets, as long as you’re getting progressively stronger over time.
Doing 30 reps of bicep curls with the barbie weights isn’t going to be an effective method for building strength.
This can be a complete mindset shift for someone who’s spent their life on aerobic exercises , such as running, where it’s all about endurance rather than power.
Sufficient rest/recovery
Because lifting heavy weights takes more intense focus and energy, you need to have sufficient rest periods between sets.
Let’s say you do 6 reps of squats for 1 set. You would then want to wait 2 to 4 minutes before completing your next set of 6 reps.
Studies (3) show that longer rest periods allow you to lift more weight.
You can use this time to rebuild your energy and strength so you can lift the heaviest weight possible again. It also prevents you from using crappy form and getting injured, so feel free to catch-up on social media in this time or look at other people in the gym to get ideas of exercises.
The bottom line of strength training is that you get progressively stronger over time. You don’t keep going to the gym and lifting the same amount of weight, otherwise you’ll be stuck at “Go”.
Now, I’m sure you’ve already figured this out, but, strength training does require you to have access to weights.
You can create a home gym, but for beginners the best solution is to sign up to a gym membership on a rolling contract.
The reason for this is because you need access to a variety of equipment, including barbells and dumbbells, and you need to be able to add more weight to the exercise each time you train.
It depends.
If you’ve never lifted a weight in your life before, you might find that you can only do about 6 push-ups or bodyweight squats.
This is a contrast to a bodybuilder, for example, who would need stacks of weight to progressively improve his strength.
Eventually though, everyone will need to start lifting weights to progress with strength training.
My recommendation is if you’re really interested in improving your body composition (that is building muscle and burning fat) then getting into the weights room is going to have the biggest impact.
If you can’t make it to a gym for whatever reason, then check out these at-home body exercises and simple kettlebell exercises instead.
And if you’re still on the fence about whether strength training is for you, then make sure you keep reading…
When it comes to improving your body physique, the aim is ALWAYS to burn fat whilst building/maintaining muscle.
This is no different for men or women. Your hormone levels decide how muscle is built for your body; men can get a big “bulky” look, whereas strong women will become more toned.
So, if you’re a woman reading this, please don’t think you’ll get all big and muscley by strength training. In fact, strength training is exactly whatever your celebrity body inspo is using to get their physique.
To understand why strength training is most effective for muscle building, you need to understand a bit about how muscles grow…
Within each of your muscles, you have muscle fibers. These look like strings on a guitar and the more you increase the tension levels in these fibers, the stronger you become.
When you lift weights, or exercise in general, you’re breaking down these fibers. This is called muscle damage and it can make you feel a bit sore afterwards, especially if you haven’t used the muscle in a while.
With sufficient protein, nutrition, and rest, your body then rebuilds and repairs these fibers, making them stronger and bigger to cope with the increased demands.
Heavy strength training with lower reps causes the most muscle damage and mechanical tension, which stimulates the most muscle growth.
So, that covers the muscle building aspect, but what about the fat-burning side of the weight loss equation?
Well, to start with, muscle is metabolically active and burns calories.The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn per day.
This makes it easier to achieve a calorie deficit and lose fat, even when you don’t do any exercise at all.
Add to that what is known as the “afterburn effect”, in which strength training burns calories for hours, even days, after your workout.
So, going for long runs might burn more calories during the run than a strength training session, but the strength training burns more calories AFTER the session (4).
The reality is, there are a number of other studies that show if you want to lose fat quickly and not muscle, then you want to include resistance training in your weight loss regimen, and heavy compound weightlifting in particular (5, 6, 7).
Hopefully, you’ve now decided that strength training is definitely something you want to consider.
But before you charge off guns blazing into the gym, you first need to choose a routine to follow…
There are plenty of strength training programs available for you to start with.
However, there are a few important things you want to “tick off” before committing to a routine in order to maximise your rewards for your efforts.
And remember, leave your ego at the door. Start off slowly for a couple of weeks and ease into your routine.
Focus on activating the right muscles and following proper form. Not only will this prevent injury, but it will improve the effectiveness of your workout.
Here are some necessary elements to a well-designed strength program…
Progressive overload
This is possibly the most important thing when it comes to strength training or weight lifting in general.
You MUST be increasing the amount of work you do each time you train.
That can usually mean higher reps or higher weights. As strength training requires lower reps (4 to 6) this means you must be increasing the weight each time you train.
For example, let’s say you’re doing 4 sets of 4-6 reps on the squat at a weight of 40kg (including the barbell).
Week 1 you do 6 reps, 6 reps, 6 reps, 4 reps.
Because you didn’t quite max out your 6 reps for each set, next week you should try to improve by lifting more…
Week 2 you do 6 reps, 6 reps, 6 reps, 6 reps.
Great. You now need to increase the weight and start again at your lower rep range.
Week 3 you lift 50kg instead of 40kg and do 4 reps, 4 reps, 4 reps, 4 reps.
This philosophy will push you to keep getting stronger, which in turn, will build more muscle and burn more fat.
If you’re lifting the same amount of weight each time you go to the gym, you won’t be making any noticeable progress.
3-day routine
A classic 3-day routine haves you working out 3 times a week with 1 rest day in between.
For example, you could workout Monday, Wednesday, Friday (but it could be any days you pick), which is great for people who don’t have as much time to spend in the gym.
In this example workout routine you will split your workouts into Push, Pull, and Legs.
This ensures you workout every major muscle 1-2 times per week.
Monday (Push)
Warm up
Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Incline Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Seated Triceps Press: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Cable Crunch: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Wednesday (Pull)
Warm-up
Barbell Deadlift: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
One-Arm Dumbbell Row: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Lat Pulldown (Wide-Grip): 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Barbell Curl: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Source This Article
It can help you build muscle… it can help you burn fat… It can even improve your mood for hours after…
But getting started can be a little intimidating.
It can take some courage to step away from the cardio machines, I get that…
The thought of stepping on the toes of muscly men with veins popping out of their skin can scare you silly.
But here’s the thing…
Once you do make the transition to strength training, you’ll never go back to sweating away on the treadmill again. No way.
Especially once you see how fast your body physique can change with this exercise.
So, to equip you with the right knowledge to begin your journey, I’ve created this beginners guide to strength training.
By the time you’ve finished this article, you’ll be fired up and ready to pump some iron!
What is strength training
Strength training is where you try to get as strong as possible. Pretty simple, eh?
Well, not exactly.
You see, there are some common misconceptions about what strength training is and isn’t.
Proper strength training is built around a few core concepts…
Low repetitions
A “rep” (repetition) is one complete motion of an exercise. A “set” is a group of consecutive repetitions. For example, you can say, “I did two sets of ten reps on the bench press.”
Now, strength training focuses on lower reps (4 to 6) over higher reps (6 to 15+). This is because your aim is to lift heavier weight.
Lifting a heavy weight for a lot of reps is going to be difficult, if not impossible, which is why you want to do 4 to 6 movements of a heavier weight instead.
Studies (1) have shown that this is the best way to gain strength.
Compound exercises
Compound exercises are exercises that train several muscle groups at the same time. This is the opposite to isolation exercises, which train one muscle group at a time.
Some common examples of compound exercises include the squat, deadlift, and bench press.
Studies (2) show that if you want to build maximum muscle and strength, you want to focus on compound exercises in your workouts.
Focus on getting stronger
Strength training is built around the premise of lifting more weight. This means there is less of a focus on reps and sets, as long as you’re getting progressively stronger over time.
Doing 30 reps of bicep curls with the barbie weights isn’t going to be an effective method for building strength.
This can be a complete mindset shift for someone who’s spent their life on aerobic exercises , such as running, where it’s all about endurance rather than power.
Sufficient rest/recovery
Because lifting heavy weights takes more intense focus and energy, you need to have sufficient rest periods between sets.
Let’s say you do 6 reps of squats for 1 set. You would then want to wait 2 to 4 minutes before completing your next set of 6 reps.
Studies (3) show that longer rest periods allow you to lift more weight.
You can use this time to rebuild your energy and strength so you can lift the heaviest weight possible again. It also prevents you from using crappy form and getting injured, so feel free to catch-up on social media in this time or look at other people in the gym to get ideas of exercises.
The bottom line of strength training is that you get progressively stronger over time. You don’t keep going to the gym and lifting the same amount of weight, otherwise you’ll be stuck at “Go”.
Now, I’m sure you’ve already figured this out, but, strength training does require you to have access to weights.
You can create a home gym, but for beginners the best solution is to sign up to a gym membership on a rolling contract.
The reason for this is because you need access to a variety of equipment, including barbells and dumbbells, and you need to be able to add more weight to the exercise each time you train.
Can you strength train without equipment?
It depends.
If you’ve never lifted a weight in your life before, you might find that you can only do about 6 push-ups or bodyweight squats.
This is a contrast to a bodybuilder, for example, who would need stacks of weight to progressively improve his strength.
Eventually though, everyone will need to start lifting weights to progress with strength training.
My recommendation is if you’re really interested in improving your body composition (that is building muscle and burning fat) then getting into the weights room is going to have the biggest impact.
If you can’t make it to a gym for whatever reason, then check out these at-home body exercises and simple kettlebell exercises instead.
And if you’re still on the fence about whether strength training is for you, then make sure you keep reading…
Why should you strength train?
When it comes to improving your body physique, the aim is ALWAYS to burn fat whilst building/maintaining muscle.
This is no different for men or women. Your hormone levels decide how muscle is built for your body; men can get a big “bulky” look, whereas strong women will become more toned.
So, if you’re a woman reading this, please don’t think you’ll get all big and muscley by strength training. In fact, strength training is exactly whatever your celebrity body inspo is using to get their physique.
To understand why strength training is most effective for muscle building, you need to understand a bit about how muscles grow…
Within each of your muscles, you have muscle fibers. These look like strings on a guitar and the more you increase the tension levels in these fibers, the stronger you become.
When you lift weights, or exercise in general, you’re breaking down these fibers. This is called muscle damage and it can make you feel a bit sore afterwards, especially if you haven’t used the muscle in a while.
With sufficient protein, nutrition, and rest, your body then rebuilds and repairs these fibers, making them stronger and bigger to cope with the increased demands.
Heavy strength training with lower reps causes the most muscle damage and mechanical tension, which stimulates the most muscle growth.
So, that covers the muscle building aspect, but what about the fat-burning side of the weight loss equation?
Well, to start with, muscle is metabolically active and burns calories.The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn per day.
This makes it easier to achieve a calorie deficit and lose fat, even when you don’t do any exercise at all.
Add to that what is known as the “afterburn effect”, in which strength training burns calories for hours, even days, after your workout.
So, going for long runs might burn more calories during the run than a strength training session, but the strength training burns more calories AFTER the session (4).
The reality is, there are a number of other studies that show if you want to lose fat quickly and not muscle, then you want to include resistance training in your weight loss regimen, and heavy compound weightlifting in particular (5, 6, 7).
Hopefully, you’ve now decided that strength training is definitely something you want to consider.
But before you charge off guns blazing into the gym, you first need to choose a routine to follow…
Choosing a strength training program
There are plenty of strength training programs available for you to start with.
However, there are a few important things you want to “tick off” before committing to a routine in order to maximise your rewards for your efforts.
And remember, leave your ego at the door. Start off slowly for a couple of weeks and ease into your routine.
Focus on activating the right muscles and following proper form. Not only will this prevent injury, but it will improve the effectiveness of your workout.
Here are some necessary elements to a well-designed strength program…
Progressive overload
This is possibly the most important thing when it comes to strength training or weight lifting in general.
You MUST be increasing the amount of work you do each time you train.
That can usually mean higher reps or higher weights. As strength training requires lower reps (4 to 6) this means you must be increasing the weight each time you train.
For example, let’s say you’re doing 4 sets of 4-6 reps on the squat at a weight of 40kg (including the barbell).
Week 1 you do 6 reps, 6 reps, 6 reps, 4 reps.
Because you didn’t quite max out your 6 reps for each set, next week you should try to improve by lifting more…
Week 2 you do 6 reps, 6 reps, 6 reps, 6 reps.
Great. You now need to increase the weight and start again at your lower rep range.
Week 3 you lift 50kg instead of 40kg and do 4 reps, 4 reps, 4 reps, 4 reps.
This philosophy will push you to keep getting stronger, which in turn, will build more muscle and burn more fat.
If you’re lifting the same amount of weight each time you go to the gym, you won’t be making any noticeable progress.
3-day routine
A classic 3-day routine haves you working out 3 times a week with 1 rest day in between.
For example, you could workout Monday, Wednesday, Friday (but it could be any days you pick), which is great for people who don’t have as much time to spend in the gym.
In this example workout routine you will split your workouts into Push, Pull, and Legs.
This ensures you workout every major muscle 1-2 times per week.
Monday (Push)
Warm up
Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Incline Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Seated Triceps Press: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Cable Crunch: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Wednesday (Pull)
Warm-up
Barbell Deadlift: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
One-Arm Dumbbell Row: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Lat Pulldown (Wide-Grip): 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Barbell Curl: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
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