In my analysis of what people do when it comes to exercise for strength gains I can see 3 key areas that are generally thought to add to gains, when in fact they are probably making you weaker.
The first is the most classic error. Too many repetitions. More is not better. Why?
The answer is in 2 parts. Firstly if you can pick something up and rep it a gizzilion times you are not practising to become stronger. You are not becoming stronger but what you are doing is creating muscular endurance which is fine-tuning your cardiovascular system and your muscles to continue working under load for longer periods – that’s it. This is not stronger.
Secondly and most importantly you get entirely the wrong hormonal response from high repetition training as it relates to strength. More about this can be found here.
Endless reps may get you tired but as I have stated repeatedly, training isn’t about getting you tired it’s about making you better.
Get tired running down shots at tennis and smashing down your new, stronger service. Get tired running all day in your soccer or get tired making big hits in your rugby. And get really tired as you sit down at the 19th hole after your best round of golf, ever!
There are times when you will get tired in the gym but that is never every time!
To get stronger you work in rep ranges up to a maximum of 6, sets of 4, 5 or 6 and with at least 3 minutes between sets.
Second thing you’re likely to be doing that is not working for you is what we call touch and go reps. This is where you bounce a bar off the floor doing deadlifts, off your chest doing bench presses or even bouncing out of depth doing squats. None of these actions will get you stronger and possibly will injure you.
Practicing tempo movements with all lifts will create control that positively impacts technique, help you systemise your breathing and provide muscles with time under tension which is the ultimate creator of strength gains. There’s no room for touch and go in a tempo movement.
To get stronger you pause after every rep, reset and lift again.
And this brings us to the third thing you’re probably doing that will not make you stronger and that is you are not locking joints.
The strongest guys and girls at the Olympics are who? The weightlifters. What do they do at the top of the clean and jerk and snatch? They lock out. Why?
Because to be strong you need to use your entire musculoskeletal system which is muscles, bones, joints (and all connective tissues).
There’s a term bodybuilders use called “soft-lock” which is not locking joints like knees and shoulders doing leg presses, squats and pressing movements. They purposely do this to maintain the load of the lift in the muscles, not the joints and this makes good sense for them. They are in the business of bulging their muscles not necessarily becoming stronger. Yes they will likely be pretty strong but not as strong as they would be if they learned to use their joints like a weightlifter does. And nor will they be strong on a sports field or court because they haven’t trained their joints to be strong or resilient.
Locking joints creates athleticism and makes you stronger, too.
Start taking a different approach to your training and get stronger!
