7 helpful tips for strength training

1. Load your muscles more often

Many athletes divide the body into several zones and train each of them once a week. For example, chest exercises are done on Mondays, after which the pectoral muscles rest until the next Monday.

With this division, it turns out that you work out each muscle group only once a week. Taking into account the adaptation to loads, the peculiarities of the development of strength and muscle hypertrophy, such a scheme will very quickly cause a training plateau.

To avoid this, you need to increase the frequency of training, and in order for the muscles to recover, reduce the overall load and alternate pulling and pushing exercises. Here is an example of a training scheme:

The first day … Pulling exercises for the muscles of the back of the thigh, back, biceps.
Second day … Pushing exercises to work out the quadriceps, rectus abdominis muscle, deltoid muscles, triceps.

If you train 4-6 days a week, each muscle group will have time to work 2-3 times.

Frequent intense training stimulates muscle growth, provides quick recovery, and increases strength twice as fast. Try this program for two months and compare the results.

2. Do metabolic completion

Like other muscles, our heart requires regular attention and adequate exercise. And nothing will make it pump blood as intensely as 10-20 minutes of metabolic completion of a workout.

At the end of the session, boost your metabolism with the EMOM (Every Minute on Minute) method. You do the exercise at the beginning of each minute and rest the rest of the time.

Do the Farmer's Walk exercise with kettlebells or dumbbells, throw a medicine ball against a wall or target, or jump onto a platform. The load should be such that you can complete the exercise in 25-30 seconds, and the rest of the minute to rest. Repeat 10-20 times.

3. Exercise slowly

Muscle growth is impossible without fiber damage. Most of the muscle is damaged during the eccentric phase of the exercise. If you drop the barbell to your chest in the bench press or squat, there is practically no eccentric phase in your exercises.

If you want to increase muscle growth, always control your weight. Increase the time under the pressure of the projectile by controlling the slow eccentric contraction.

4. Make the rear chain work

The posterior chain is the muscles located at the back of the body, from the neck to the Achilles tendons. Long hours of sitting weaken these muscles, which can reduce your athletic performance.

To activate your posterior chain muscles before training, do the following exercises.

Chin pull in a crossover

power sports: pull to the chin in a crossover

This exercise is beneficial for shoulder joints and posture. It helps reduce harm from sitting, slouching and looking at a screen.

Do not take this exercise as a strength exercise. Take it lightly and do a lot of reps. Concentrate on the movement of your shoulder blades: they should gently slide back as you pull the rope towards you. Hold the rope near your face for 1–2 seconds.

Change the forward and reverse grip from set to set, or even within the same set. For example, do the first 8-10 times with a straight grip, and the next 8-10 times with a reverse grip. Depending on the grip, the angle of rotation and the way the muscles are activated change. Do 3-4 sets of 12-20 reps.

Raising the hips

Before exercises such as deadlifts or squats, you need to activate your glutes to maximize their strength during strength training.

Lifting the hips with a barbell will warm up the gluteal muscles and prepare them for the load. Do three sets of 15 warm-ups for each workout.

5. Don't skip classes

Every coach has ever heard the question, "Which program is best for building muscle and increasing strength?" The answer is always the same: "The one that you do all the time."

Nothing replaces work done consistently over time. Only this will help you achieve your goals.

6. Use the upward repetition technique

Few exercise to muscle failure. Real muscle failure means you don't finish the last rep, and people avoid it because they are afraid of injury or ashamed of dropping the projectile.

In the best case, we do until the will refuses (as long as we want to do) or until the technique fails (as long as we can perform the exercise with the correct technique), but much more often we end the approach when we have completed the required number of repetitions.

By finishing earlier, you reduce your potential. But the technique of upward repetitions will not allow you to do this.

Drop set

In a standard drop set, you continue to exercise until your will or technique fails, then reduce the weight by 10–20% and continue. This technique is best suited for dumbbell workouts and machine exercises.

Take dumbbells with a weight so that you can do the exercise 8-10 times, and then take the dumbbells 2-5 kilograms lighter with each set. Finish with the lightest dumbbells.

Devilish drop set

The devilish drop set is very simple: 6-6-6. Get a weight that you can do about 8 reps with. Do six reps, then drop 10% of the weight and do six more reps. Then drop another 10% and try six more times. If you choose the right weight, you will be able to complete all sets with the correct technique.

Mechanical drop sets

Instead of losing weight, you are doing a simpler exercise. Mechanical sets are great for pull-ups.

Pull up with a wide grip as many times as you can. If you can do more than 15 times, use the weight. Then do eccentric pull-ups to volitional failure. In this exercise, you pull yourself up to the horizontal bar with a jump, and return to the hanging position as slowly as possible.

After that, do horizontal pull-ups on the bar. If preparation allows, place your feet on a raised platform, if not, leave them on the ground.

Rest pauses

Pauses are when you do your normal set to volitional refusal, then hold the weight for 10-15 seconds, and then do as many reps as you can again.

Two alternations of pause and rest are enough. Choose a weight so that you can do 6 reps in the first set. In the second, try to do 3-4 repetitions, and in the last, 1-2.

7. Don't forget about mobility

Do mobility exercises at the end of each workout when your muscles are filled with blood and your joints are well lubricated.

Spend a few minutes on these simple stretching exercises so you can improve your technique and master more complex movements. Stay in each pose for 10-30 seconds.

Baby pose

This exercise stretches your latissimus dorsi, shoulder muscles, and hips.

Sit on the floor with your legs bent under you, lie on your stomach on your hips and stretch your arms forward. Try to relax.

Deep squat

Lower yourself into the squat as deep as possible. Hold onto something solid if necessary. Bend and stretch your back. Relax in this position and allow your hips to open.

Stretching the calf muscles

Place your foot on a platform inclined at a 45 degree angle, or on the edge of a step. Shift your body weight onto your leg by rotating it clockwise. Perform 2-3 rotations, then counterclockwise.

The movement should be so light that from the side it is not at all noticeable that you are moving your leg. This exercise will have a good effect on the mobility of the ankle and the ability to bend the foot towards you.

Dead hang

Grab a horizontal bar or bar shoulder-width apart, lower your shoulders and pull them back. Just hang, feeling your core stretch.

Hip flexor stretch

For those who sit a lot, the hip flexors are often shortened. Here's a great way to stretch them without harming your lower back.

Get down on one knee. The angle between the thigh and lower leg and the thigh and body should be 90 degrees. Tighten your buttocks, twisting your pelvis, lower your shoulders, bring your shoulder blades together, tighten your abs. Maintain tension until the end of the exercise.

From this position, swing back and forth a little. Due to the tension of the buttocks, you will feel a pull in the groin.

Dove elevation pose

Find a horizontal surface from knee to mid-thigh. Place your shin on this surface, as shown in the photo, pull the sock over you - this will help protect the knee.

Lean forward gently and linger in this pose. This is the best exercise for developing hip mobility. If you can't sit deep with your back straight, this is an absolute must-have for your workouts.