Getting stronger has many health benefits besides maximizing weight loss & muscle building. In this article, you will learn how to get stronger fast, along with diet, home & gym workouts.
You cannot build strength by sitting all day on a sofa while eating and watching movies. For building strength, it is important to be physically active and perform some exercises.
Are you ready to put in the efforts and work needed to get stronger?
If yes, make sure you read this article to the very end.
Before getting into any strength training regime, it’s important to follow a set of rules that will guide you.
Here are the rules –
1. Focus On Compound Exercises
Compound movements are exercises that work on more than one muscle group at a time. For example, a deadlift is a compound exercise that works both back & hamstrings.
Benefits of compound exercises include –
- Increases strength
- Improves flexibility
- Burn more calories
- Build muscle mass
- Improve inter-muscular coordination.
2. Lift Heavy With Lower Reps
Strength training involves lifting heavyweight with lower reps, ideally between one to five reps. Moderate reps are good when you are training for hypertrophy aka muscle building.
However, to get stronger, you need to build strength with heavier weight and lower reps. For Instance –
- 3 sets of 6 reps
- 4 sets of 5 reps
- 5 sets of 2 – 4 reps.
- 3 sets of 1 RM ( 1 rep maximum, the heaviest you can lift )
3. Increase Weight Gradually
Leave ego aside and gradually increase weight each session – but by no more than 10 pounds. When we try to increase more weight, form suffers, and bad form can cause serious injuries.
When to increase more weight?
Not many people follow this rule but it’s highly effective. For example, you are lifting 90 kg and you did 3 sets for 5 reps each, but on the last 4th set, you only did 2 reps, two reps less than previous sets.
Now, you have to stick to the same weight until you can do 5 reps on all 4 sets. Once you hit this target, increase the weight by 10 pounds.
4. Keep A Log
Keeping a track of your reps, volume, and intensity of every session can help you constantly pushing and striving to improve those numbers.
5. Watch Your Nutrition
Building Strength, Gaining muscles, or losing weight. Whatever your goal is, if you lack nutrition you’ll face a hard time achieving it.
To build strength and muscles, it’s important to eat a proper diet consist of protein, carbs, and fats.
You don’t have to cut off carbs or eat less carbs –
Today, almost every other person is following a low or no carbs diet due to the fear of getting fat, without knowing the fact that you only get fat when you consume more than you burn.
To build strength, you need to eat carbs. Carbs are the primary source of energy and help power your workouts. And strength training burns calories more efficiently, so it’s unlikely for carbs to turn into fat unless you overeat.
Strength and muscle building foods –
6. Take Longer Rest Periods
You may have seen strength athletes usually take longer rests than bodybuilders between sets. It’s because heavy weight are much more taxing on body’s nervous system than light weights.
When you take long rest between sets during strength lifts, it helps you recover from the previous set in order to perform the next set.
Rest between 2-4 min between sets on your first lift. Increase the rest as you increase the load.
What are some workouts to build strength and muscles?
1. Barbell Deadlift – One of the best exercises to improve overall strength, mainly focus on glutes, hamstrings, and back.
2. Barbell Squats – King of all exercises. Builds strength in thighs, knees, and hip flexors.
3. Barbell bench press – The best exercise to build strength and chest muscles, hits lower, upper Pectoralis Major, Anterior deltoid, and triceps.
4. Barbell overhead press – One of the best upper body strength enhancer exercise, helps build strength in shoulder, core, and almost hit every part of shoulder.
5. Bent over barbell row – Hits all of the back muscles and helps build strength in arms.
What are some workouts to Get Stronger at home?
Many people don’t have access to the gym and equipment. If that’s you, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
You can build strength at home also with the workouts, without using any equipment.
- Handstand Shoulder Press
- Push-Ups
- Decline Push-Ups
- Push-up Plus
- Chin Up
- Pull-Ups
- Single-Leg Squats
- Lunge
- Plank
Frequently Asked Question –
Can you Get Stronger while losing weight?
Gaining muscle and gaining strength are two different things. Gaining muscle during weight loss is difficult or rather impossible but it is absolutely possible to gain strength while losing fat.
According to this study, losing weight has no impact on muscle strength.
The reason most of the people lose strength during weight loss is not calorie deficit or tapering down carbs. It’s their way of training. Many people start training with light weights in high rep ranges and that’s where the problem beings.
When you start training with light weights your body adapts the change and considers that you no longer need the strength to lift more.
So, continue training with heavyweights, keep track of the weight you lift, and gradually increase it every week.
Bottom line –
Building strength and getting physically strong makes the body look better, lean, and provides long term health benefits. It also helps keep your bones strong and fight back against muscle loss.
Get Stronger and Better. Thanks for reading Live Fit Now.
