How to get strong, not just muscular

How Strength and Muscle Size Workouts Differ

In general, training for strength and muscle size is similar; both modes involve resistance training to fatigue the muscles and rest for muscle recovery. The difference is that for a beautiful relief it is enough to tire the body. You can do this with heavy, medium, or even light weights - if the muscle fibers are loaded enough, they will grow.

Fatigue also plays an important role in strength training, but factors such as:

The work of the nervous system. The more muscle fibers the nervous system can excite, the more force they will produce. Therefore, it is not enough to increase the volume of muscles - you also need to force the central nervous system to activate them to the fullest.
Tendon stiffness. The faster a muscle contracts, the less force it produces. In response to strength training, the tendons become stiffer and limit the rate of contraction, which allows the muscles to release more strength.
Intermuscular coordination. In our body there are muscles that perform opposite functions - antagonists. For example, the shoulder flexes the biceps, and the triceps flexes (and is its antagonist). The quadriceps extend the knee, and the muscles on the back of the thigh flex. In order for all the force that the muscle has produced to go to a good cause, its antagonist must relax and not interfere. The better the coordination between muscle groups is established, the more weight you can lift.

To pump all the qualities necessary for the development of strength, you need to train in a certain way.

How to Exercise to Increase Strength

Follow the specification principle

You can build your quads equally well in different movements, but for strength development it is important to focus on the exact exercise in which you want to improve your performance.

So, if you intend to increase your 1RM on your back squat, do the back squat; if your goal is to press 200 kg from the chest, do the bench press in training.

This does not mean that your entire program should consist of one or two exercises.

You can and even need to connect additional work, focusing on your weak points. For example, for the bench press, not only the pecs and triceps are important, but also the shoulders and latissimus dorsi, so you can easily add various rows, pull-ups and extensions to your workout - and benefit from it.

But your main movements - those in which you want to increase 1RM - should be basic. Include them in every workout and do them at the very beginning, while the central nervous system and muscles are still fresh.

Use heavy weights a few times

Training intensity is very important for developing strength. In power loads, it will depend on the working weight - the higher it is, the greater the intensity.

Compared to using medium and light weights, working with heavy equipment (80-90% of 1RM) trains the nervous system to use more muscle fibers, increases tendon stiffness and the number of fast IIA-type muscle fibers needed to produce maximum strength.

Do three sets of two to five reps with 80-85% of 1RM and rest 3-5 minutes between sets.

Numerous studies,,, prove that it is precisely such training that develops strength most effectively.

Take time for the technique

Technique does not affect the muscle's ability to generate strength, but it also largely determines your strength performance. Flaws in technique make it difficult to fully realize the potential of the muscles.

To correct inaccuracies, work with a coach who has experience working with strength athletes. If this is not possible, study the tutorials on the topic, film yourself on the phone and look for mistakes yourself.

Just record videos of work with heavy weights close to your 1RM - these are where all the technical flaws are most clearly manifested.

Concentrate on external objects

While moving, you can focus on the work of the muscles - "tighten your biceps with all your might" - or on a specific task like "pushing the floor with your feet."

Research shows that focusing on external objects and tasks increases intermuscular coordination and promotes strength development.

Don't think about your muscles - let your body decide what to strain and when. Instead, focus on a specific task: "push the buttocks into the bench", "squeeze the barbell," "push the floor with your feet."

Try the dynamic effort method

Its essence is to perform an exercise with light weights (30-50% of 1RM), but at the same time move as quickly as possible.

Such training is used to develop speed-strength abilities, which are useful in sports involving jumping and short sprints, throwing, hitting and other work in which you need to apply maximum strength in the minimum time.

Dynamic efforts train the nervous system to quickly engage many muscle fibers at once. This will come in handy when lifting heavy weights and will improve intermuscular coordination - the ability to turn off antagonists that can interfere with movement in time.

Sports research author Chris Beardsley has argued that dynamic effort will benefit athletes who have never focused on speed-strength development. If a person came to power sports, for example, from martial arts or football, the method in question will not give him any special advantages.

Add dynamic effort to your workouts if you haven't tried explosive exercises before or are involved in sports where speed is important as well as strength.

Do jumps and pit jumps, sprints with or without sleds, strength training with 30-40% of 1RM in an explosive manner - these are the weights that allow you to develop maximum power in the exercise. When it comes to sets and reps, don't do a lot - three sets of two to five reps will be enough.

Keep in mind that explosive training will tire the nervous system a lot. In order not to get injured and not to reduce performance in heavy exercises, add dynamic efforts no more than once a week.

Include eccentric training

There are different options for the tension of muscle fibers: concentric efforts - when the muscle shortens during contraction; eccentric - when lengthened; isometric - when it does not change the length.

Eccentric training is a method of work in which the eccentric phase of the exercise is heavier or longer than the concentric one. For example, when you lift a dumbbell for biceps for 2 seconds, and return it back for 6 seconds.

During eccentric contraction, the muscle produces 20-60% more strength, gets tired faster and is more significantly damaged. As a result, strength indicators grow in all phases of the exercise.

For example, in one study, over four weeks of eccentric training, participants increased strength 2–4% more than those who exercised with standard training. The results were even better for experienced athletes: in four weeks in the eccentric group, the 1RM in the squat increased by 8% more than in those who did the regular program.

A review of 20 scientific studies found that when using heavy weights (high intensity), eccentric training provides greater gains in strength than traditional training.

There are different ways to add eccentricity to your program:

Practice concentric with two limbs and eccentric with one. For example, lift a dumbbell with both hands and lower with one. Use 70-80% of 1RM, count to five silently in eccentric phase. This format can be used for biceps and triceps exercises with dumbbells or on the block.
Use two movements: multi-joint and single-joint. Do the first in an explosive manner; in the second, do only the eccentric phase. Examples: taking on the chest + curling the arms for biceps with a straight grip; bench press with a narrow grip + extension on the triceps lying. Do four to five sets of five reps at 90-110% of 1RM on the second exercise (in which you will only do the eccentric phase).
Extend the eccentric phase. This is the easiest option and works for any movement. Perform the concentric phase in an explosive manner and stretch the eccentric phase for 6-12 seconds. Take a weight that is 60–85% of 1RM - the larger the weight, the shorter the eccentric phase. For example, if you squat with 85% of 1RM, go down for 6 seconds, and if with 60% of 1RM - 10-12 seconds.
Leave only the negative phase … In this case, your set will only consist of one repetition. Set your weight to 110-130% of 1RM and do an eccentric phase of 4-10 seconds depending on the load. So you can do, for example, bench press or squats, but only in a power frame with safety stops!

As with explosive loads, eccentric exercises should not be done in every session. Add them to your program every 1-2 weeks.

How often to exercise to increase strength

It depends on your skill level:

Beginners are advised to exercise three times a week, do four approaches for each muscle group, and select the weight so that it is 60% of 1RM. For untrained people, this intensity is quite enough to ensure a steady increase in strength and muscle. In addition, lighter weights will not allow injury while the technique is not yet at its best.
Amateur athletes with an average level of training are recommended to train twice a week, do four approaches for each muscle group, but at the same time use already 80% of 1RM.
Experienced athletes should train twice a week and do eight sets for each muscle group. In this case, the weight in the exercises should be 85% of the 1RM.