[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ithout strength, you’re nothing. Your physique will be average at best, while your performance goals? Forget about ‘em. Strength is the root to all physical happiness, and without it you’ll keep on gaining the fat and losing the muscle. With strength, you’ll run faster, perform better, hit harder, exercise longer, and you’ll be able to last longer in bed. Buddy, you’ll be a fucking machine.
One of the fundamental reasons a lot of us find it hard to build up our strength is down to the fact that we lack a strategy. Just like a business needs a strategy to be successful and lay down their daily goals, you need a strategy to help you stay focused in the unending pursuit of total strength.
Recognise The Big Four
Squats without deadlifts are pointless, just like bench press is pointless without shoulder press. Put them all together and what do you have? Strength!
It’s a simple equation – in fact, it’s not even an equation, it’s just common fucking sense – but the deadlift, squat, shoulder press and bench press are the big four you need in your life if you’re gonna build up your strength. Omit one, and may as well omit them all.
The Barbell Is King
Oh, you don’t like barbells?
Fine, stay weak.
You see, too many people nowadays put way too much onus on all the latest new fangled equipment. But all the fads, trends and gimmicks don’t hold a candle to the barbell. Our tip is to always start your workouts with the good old barbell. Lifting heavy is a good way to start in your pursuit of strength.
Simplicity Is The Key
Like with most things in life, your strength-building strategy must be based around the fundamental precept that you’ve gotta keep things simple. A lot of personal trainers like to keep count of your rep speed, but this just puts too much pressure on you. It complicates matters. Instead, we advice that you concentrate on raising and lowering your weights without doing any unnecessary counting. If you keep track of a tempo, you’re just needlessly ramping up the pressure.
Keep A Log
A strategy is nothing without a log, and after you’re done with your workout, you should keep track of what you’ve done. This means writing down your exercises, as well as your sets and reps. Also, make a note of how you feel the workout went, as well as what your best lifts were. You should record how many reps you did with a certain weight too, so that you can then go onto improve these figures. A log is a record, but it can also act as motivation, as well as showing you where you can improve.
