Happy Sunday!
A lot of us want to get stronger. A lot of us want to build
muscle. But, a lot of us go about it in many, many wrong ways. There are THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of programs out there. Every single one of them claiming "This is the BEST program to build muscle" or "The last program you will EVER need". And more and more bullshit.
Truth is. What you really need is something so simple. The basics work extremely well when it comes to building muscle and getting stronger. Everyone just wants to make it so complicated like it's some crazy science, when in reality, it's not. You need three things:
- A solid program consisting of compound and isolation
lifts.
- Progressive overload + pushing reps close to failure.
- Consistency, consistency, consistency.
Thats it.
Here's how you create that solid program:
- Start with a basic warmup:
- Get the muscles activated that you are planing on using during that workout.
- If you are doing squats; start with some ankle mobilization, knee banded squats and core isometrics to fire everything we need during a squat.
2. Hit your compound lifts FIRST:
- Compound lifts are things such as deadlifts, bench press, squats, overhead press - think big movements that require more weight. These should be done when you have the most energy which is usually at the beginning of a session. Start with those, then hit your bicep curls at the very end of the
workout.
3. Perform accessory work and isolation movements:
- Once your compounds are done, you can move toward isolation movements - think bicep curls, chest flies, calf raises & single joint movements where you aren't lifting as heavy as above.
4. Hit some cool downs or conditioning:
- Cardio and conditioning should be done AFTER you strength train. If building muscle and getting stronger are your top priorities, we need to lift FIRST. Cardio will just stripe you of energy that you will need during
lifting.
- A 5-10 min. LIGHT warmup on a cardio machine is TOTALLY fine - just don't overdue it.
5. Be SUPER consistent:
- Your strength training program shouldn't last 1 day or 1 week. You need to perform
the same exercises over and over again to really get stronger at them. I run 6-8 week programs with ALL of my clients. I personally run 8-12 week programs for myself. Switching it up all the time won't get you results.
Think about the above when working out yourself or when choosing a class to attend or a personal trainer to work with. If your strength training sessions are not looking like the above, you may need to look elsewhere. Or! Look at my app below and I'll have everything figured out for ya 😉.
Have a great evening!
