Was one of your New Year’s resolutions this year to hit the gym and build a considerable amount of physical strength?
If so, you’re not alone. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people make this their ultimate goal.
However, building strength is no easy task, so if you found yourself giving up within one or two months, don’t be ashamed.
Getting stronger takes time, dedication, and education.
Therefore, if you’re interested in finally meeting your fitness goals, continue reading. Here’s how you can build strength as a beginner.
Create a Split You’ll Stick With
A workout split organizes your workouts by the various days of the week. For example, you’ll do legs on Monday, arms on Tuesday, and cardio on Friday.
This system can keep you organized, but it also ensures you target every muscle group for those impressive gains.
Prepping for your workouts ahead of time will also save you the stress of arriving at the gym, and feeling unsure of what to do.
Before beginning your fitness journey, ensure you have a solid split. You can create your own by answering some of these questions.
How Many Days Will You Devote to Working Out?
Ask yourself how often you’re willing to work out each week. Be honest with yourself, so you’ll create a routine that you’ll stick with.
If you work late on Thursdays, make this a rest day. You don’t have to rest on Saturdays and Sundays. Place your break in the middle of the week if you have to! It’s your personal routine, after all.
Because building strength can be exhausting, you’ll need to give your body ample breaks in between rigorous days at the gym. Recovery is just as important.
Sort Out the Workouts
Write this next part down on a piece of paper or type it into your phone. You need to separate which body types you’ll do on each day.
Write Down Your Exercises
Lastly, write down 7 to 8 exercises for each day. Watch video tutorials on how to do each so you’ll have a good idea of how to perform them when you arrive at the gym.
Learn More About Strength Training
Strength training is one of the only ways you can build total strength and power.
To understand why this is such a prevalent mode of exercise, you need to learn about the principle of progressive overload.
Think about a young boy who has been told he must carry a young calf up a mountain every day until it becomes a full-grown cow. Obviously, the boy doesn’t possess enough strength — yet.
Every day, he carries the small calf up the mountain. Though the calf grows larger with every session, the boy also becomes stronger.
Since he becomes accustomed to the work, the slight changes in the calf’s weight on a day to day basis don’t feel dramatic.
This principle also happens in the weight room. You may not be able to squat 200 pounds yet, but give this process the same time and dedication, and your body will also learn how to handle heavy weights.
This bodily response is also referred to as progressive overload theory. Like the name states, your body will get progressively stronger, the more weight you overload it with — just like the boy with the calf.
Aren’t human bodies amazing things!
Strength Building Exercises for the Lower Body
Some of the most popular strength-building exercises for the lower body include the following.
Squats
Squats are a compound exercise, which means they target several muscles at once. This powerhouse of an exercise works the calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes.
Since it’s such an intense exercise, put this movement at the beginning of your workout when building up your physical strength.
Deadlifts
The deadlift is a lower body exercise that targets the hamstrings, glutes, core, and lower body. This movement requires you to hinge at your hips, making it difficult for beginners.
Practice with light weight before moving onto heavier resistance.
Calf Raises
This exercise targets the calves. Since this muscle group is accustomed to being worked vigorously, try a heavy weight and high repetition range to feel the burn.
Leg Extension
This machine is fantastic for the quadriceps. Look for it the next time you’re at the gym.
Lunges
Lunges can be tricky to master, as you will need to recruit your core stabilizers to balance your entire body.
However, this exercise is also incredible for building lower body strength. Try a side or reverse variation.
Hack Squat
Most commercial gyms have a hack squat machine. These are fantastic if you’re new to squats as they offer some stability to help you with your form.
The machine is on a fixed path, so you don’t have to worry about your balance.
Strength Building Exercises for the Upper Body
Rows
Do rows with a barbell, dumbbells, or a machine. This pulling exercise works the biceps and the back muscles thoroughly.
You can try an upward or a bent-over variation. Experiment with whatever feels most comfortable.
Military Press
The military press is a phenomenal exercise that works the biceps, deltoids, and the back. Try a sitting or standing variation with free weights or on a smith machine.
Bicep Curl
The bicep curl targets the bicep brachii. However, don’t use the momentum from swinging your arm up to power the exercise. Lower the weight, concentrate and focus on using your sheer strength.
Chest Press
The chest press is another compound exercise — this one works multiple muscles in your upper body. It works the pectoralis major and triceps specifically.
Tricep Extension
This is a smaller muscle group, but training the triceps is important if you want to build up your total power and strength.
Do this exercise on a cable machine.
Pull the cable down towards the ground, while keeping your elbows still. Hold this position before allowing the cable to move back up again.
Create SMART Goals When Building Physical Strength
This next bit of advice is a common secret used by personal trainers. They work with their clients to set SMART goals. This is an acronym that stands for goals that are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Timely
If you are serious about your intentions, you’re more likely to stick to them. So, make SMART goals both in and out of the gym, and you will see results.
Powerlifting
When building strength, there are two training styles you can work with.
This first one is a style that powerlifters and strength athletes use. When using the powerlifting style, lift weights that are 85 to 95% of your maximum strength.
Keep your repetitions low, around 4 to 6, as not to tire your body out. Focus on doing compound lifts, like squats, deadlifts, and chest press.
Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding varies slightly. Aside from gaining strength, bodybuilders also have aesthetic goals — to grow certain muscle groups. To gain strength AND size, stick to a 8 to 12 repetition range.
Also, throw in some isolation exercises like bicep curls and tricep pull-downs. Stick to weights that are around 65% of your maximum strength.
Nutrition
Improving your nutrition is another dense topic that is crucial to building physical strength. Food and exercise go hand in hand, and you can’t neglect one or the other, or you could risk losing your progress.
Surplus Versus Deficit
When talking about dieting in the fitness world, there are three terms you will likely hear.
Surplus.
Deficit.
And maintenance.
These each elicit different responses.
Think of your body as a car. It needs fuel to drive, so make sure you are filling it with enough food to power your body through the day.
Eating at a surplus gives you enough energy to grow your muscles.
This number also means eating over your total daily energy expenditure or your TDEE. The TDEE represents the total amount of calories your body burns on an average day.
Eating around slightly above this will help you achieve new levels of strength. Aim for 150 to 350 calories abovie your daily count.
Furthermore, eat enough calories from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Focus on consuming whole foods for energy as well. Finally, track and measure your food to ensure you’re eating enough.
Deficient diets are used when an individual wants to lose weight, as they have to eat less than their TDEE. But this dieting style doesn’t apply to strength building.
Your Common Questions About Strength Building Answered
Should I Do Cardio When Trying to Get Stronger?
You should be doing some form of cardiorespiratory exercise, even if you’re trying to build up your strength.
However, it’s important to note that you should not run long distances throughout the week. You will deplete the muscle mass you’ve worked hard to build. Instead, try high intensity interval training to preserve your muscle mass.
Should I Take Supplements When Bulking Up?
Keep your coins in your pocket and only invest in what you really need. Protein powder can come in handy if you’re not eating enough throughout the day. It can serve as a useful substitute and make up for a diet void of protein.
Pre-workout can also come in handy, but due to the large caffeine count, use it sparingly. A cup of coffee can work fine as well.
Above all else, eat a diet full of vitamins and nutrients, as no pill can replace a proper diet!
Do I Need to Eat a lot of Meat?
You may have this picture of a strongman eating a dozen eggs and a large steak at breakfast to power their workout. However, don’t be fooled.
Even vegetarian people can build an impressive amount of strength by eating plant protein. Plant protein from beans, lentils, tofu, and vegetables is just as adequate as eating a meat-centric diet.
Eat around 1 kilogram of this macronutrient per pound of bodyweight.
What’s Better? Machines Versus Free Weights
Most fitness centers are separated into two sections: machines and free weights.
But which is best for building strength. They each have their pros and cons. Machines take the stabilizing aspect out of an exercise, but they are easier and wonderful for individuals with joint issues.
Free weights are more challenging, but also help you burn more calories and give you more freedom when moving.
In the end, start with machines and work your way towards using free weights if you’re serious about weight lifting.
Overcoming Mental Barriers
We have discussed lifting and nutrition; however, there is another aspect of fitness that people have trouble with.
Accountability.
The reason most people tend to give up on their goals after two months is because they forget about how bad they want to achieve their goals. Prevent this from happening to you by implementing some of these practices.
Change Your Mindset
The next time you’re sitting on the couch, questioning whether you should go to the gym or not, stop putting yourself down.
Stop telling yourself that you’re ‘unfit,’ and thus have no energy to go exercise. Train your brain to believe that you are already in great shape.
Since ‘fit’ people never miss a workout, shifting your mindset will make you feel more excited about the gym. Also, think about how you’ll feel after working out.
No one has ever regretted working out — recall about that feeling of accomplishment and success, instead of dreading the process.
Workout With a Partner
Building physical strength is a common goal; therefore, you’re bound to find someone in your circle of friends that is willing to workout with you.
Schedule your workouts together, and you can track each other’s development and motivate each other too.
Some Final Words on Building Strength
Getting stronger is no easy task — but it’s not impossible either. Anyone, regardless of what their fitness starting point is, can do this. Weightlifting knows no age, gender, or limits.
As long as you follow this outline, stay consistent, and pay close attention to your nutrition, you are bound to meet every single short and long-term goal you’ve always wanted to reach.
So, what are you waiting for?
Go out, fall in love with lifting, and learn about all the incredible things it can do for your body.
