Muscle Strength Training

Nowadays, it is widely accepted that muscle strength training is the most important factor for building solid muscle, lose fat, increase endurance and in general promote good health.

Before we start, let us define strength training. It is the exercise method in which we increase or maximize our physical strength. It is divided in two subcategories:

a) Strength Training and Muscle Build

b) Strength Training without Body-weight Increase

Lets us start from the second category. Strength training without body-weight increase is referred to athletes who use strength to accomplish their goals. They increase their strength through their sport activity without adding a remarkable amount of weight to their bodies. For example, bikers, swimmers hikers, footballers etch are exercising to increase their strength, but only as a mean to achieve their goals.

On the other hand, strength in weight lifting and bodybuilding is obtained through mass adding and muscle-building. Strength training in bodybuilding is most of the time a part of an annual periodic schedule.

Another question would be why is strength so important? Here are a few reasons:

1) Increased Endurance

It has been scientifically proven that strength training increases endurance. Better endurance means longer quality workouts, which is what we all aim for.

2) More Muscle

Being stronger means lifting more and lifting more simply means more muscle. Those two factors are closely related. Developing strength inevitably leads to adding more lean muscle.

3) Strength Builds Self-Confidence

When you are physically strong you will also feel mentally strong. Stronger people are much more self-confident and self-discipline and this helps achieving their goals much easier.

4) Losing Fat

I left the best for last. What many people aren’t aware of is that working on your strength is the best way to lose fat! It helps increase your metabolism and therefore lose weight easier.

After pinpointing some of the benefits of muscle strength training, let us see how we can build up our strength:

a) Try Reaching your Limits

Give your strength an extra boost by performing one or two reps more than you normally do.

b) More Reps Less Weight

This is the best training method to increase your strength. Keep your rep range at 10 to 12 and the weight load at 70% of your maximum lift.

c) More Speed

Perform the exercises quicker in order to involve more muscle fibers for the movement. More muscle fibers involvement ultimately leads to strength increase.

Muscle strength training is obligatory for any athlete regardless of the sport activity he is into. It is the basic element for any muscle or physique development.

Keep those muscles pumping!