When people start exercising, people have different goals. Some want to lose weight to look great naked or get healthier, others want to get fitter, and a few others want to build strength. If you really want to get stronger, you need to focus on specific key principles. Apply the following 7 tips to get stronger.
Develop a Strength Protocol
The first principle to getting stronger is to have a strength protocol. Keep in mind the principle of specificity, “the body’s adaptation or change in physical fitness is specific to the type of training undertaken.” Simply said, you improve what you train for. If you are looking to build strength, you should be performing sets of 1 to 6 repetitions. If you are able to do a lot of reps, you’re probably not using heavy enough weight. Performing fewer reps allows you to increase the weight.
You should, also, keep in mind the principle of progression. You shouldn’t increase the weight by more than 10% each week. This allows for gradual body adaptions while reducing the likelihood of developing injuries. In the beginning, you should start with a 5% increase and build from there. If putting a program together is challenging, you can always find a fitness professional to develop an individualized protocol for your individual needs and goals.
Use Perfect Technique
You always have to work on your technique. Many people think that in order to lift stronger, they’ve got to compromise their form in some way. Never sacrifice proper form over an increase in weight. This is cheating! By cheating on your form, you are not recruiting the proper muscle fibers for the exercise and you are likely to injure yourself.
If you find yourself experiencing lower back pain when you are doing squats and deadlifts, you need to deload, but also make sure that you fix these problems right away. Many chiropractic care services can help, but if you want to avoid taking painkillers and struggling to get out of bed in the morning, form is crucial.
Compound Movements
Another tip to get stronger is to focus on compound moves. It’s as simple as that! Compound movements are going to recruit more muscle fibers simultaneously, and they are going to send that clear message to the muscles that they have to work harder. There’s nothing wrong with isolation exercises, but if you want to get stronger faster, you’ve got to focus on what they call the big five – bench press, deadlift, squat, shoulder press, and pull-up (or lat pull-down).
Hydrate & Fuel Your Body
It is vital to keep your body hydrated so it can perform at its best. You should drink at least 20 ounces of water about 60-90 minutes before your workout, a few ounces every 15-20 minutes during the workout, and 16-24 ounces post-workout.
At the same time, you have to fuel your body. You should have a healthy meal at least 2 hours before working out or a healthy snack 30 minutes before training. You should also eat a healthy snack high in protein and complex carbs within 30-45 minutes post-workout. Doing this will accelerate recovery and improve your gains.
You cannot subsist on a diet of salads if you want to get stronger. If you find yourself struggling to grow, unable to perform, or feeling constantly hungry, you are probably not eating enough or your choices are not nutrient dense. Ensure that you have a diet that is solid in good-quality protein – eggs, meat, fish – and carbohydrates. Also, you shouldn’t neglect fats – healthy fats, even saturated fats, are good for you. They will make you feel more satiated and you will allow you to lift better.
Rest
Another primordial tip to getting stronger is rest. In order to build strength and avoid injuries or over-training, you must allow your body to recover. Neglecting this tip will halt your progress. It is essential to incorporate active recovery techniques and rest days into your program. In addition, you should get enough and good-quality sleep, 7-9 hours each night can allow your musculoskeletal system to regenerate so you can continue to increase your loads.
Warm-Up
You might see people warming up with the barbell for the first set, but you need to understand the purpose of warm-ups. You have to remember that your body will take some time to get into peak performance. So this means working with your body to give it what it needs. Warm-ups can involve stretching, lifting the barbell a few times, or even something that just heats your body up. Going for a run completely covered in thermals can get a sweat on, but will also work wonders to get the blood moving to the appropriate areas.
Train Your Weak Points
The last tip to get stronger is to focus on the weak parts of your body. Remember, you are as strong as your weakest link. You have to remember that if an exercise like the deadlift is weak at the top, you could use exercises like a rack pull to train this portion of the deadlift. Also think about exercises such as isometrics, which is a wonderful way to send signals to those muscles and improve the mind-muscle connection. So if you have a specific sticking point in an exercise, you could use isometrics at that point, and rest, before coming back to it.
To be the strongest version of yourself, you need to focus your efforts on specific principles. When you overload the neuromuscular system with the appropriate protocol and techniques by fueling your body properly and allowing it to reset. This gives your body adapts and rebuilds stronger. Follow these 7 tips to get stronger and you’ll make true gains.
To a Fitter Healthier You,
The Fitness Wellness Mentor
