Posted on September 19, 2016 by Jenny Cromack

Strength training has numerous benefits beyond simply counting numbers. It has been shown to enhance speed, agility, recovery rate, injury resilience, joint health, bone mineral density, and even endurance performance. So here are 15 tips to get stronger which you can include in your training sessions and develop your strength, quicker and more efficiently.

tips to get stronger

  1. Prioritise full range of motion before load. Working the muscle through a full range of motion will facilitate greater strength in the long term.
  2. Rest enough between sets. If you’re jumping into sets without full recoveries (min 2 mins 30s) you’re not giving yourself the best opportunity to lift the loads required to develop strength effectively.
  3. Build balance across your body. All of the planes of movement are connected, for example if you’re stronger on your bench press than your pulling work, you need to prioritise your pulling.
  4. Spend some time away from heavy loads, moving light loads fast is a great strategy to increase neural recruitment, and stimulate those fast twitch fibres.
  5. Make subtle changes in the movement every 4 weeks. For example change the incline, change the foot position, change the bar position. These subtle changes will tap into new motor units helping to develop strength: a progression for squatting strength might look like:
    1. Front Squat 4 weeks
    2. Back Squat 4 weeks
    3. Box Squat 4 weeks
    4. Sumo Squat 4 weeks
  6. Eat Correctly. You need carbohydrates to fuel these gruelling workouts, if you’re in a calorie deficit or low carb protocol its going to be very difficult to get stronger.
  7. Rest frequently. If you’re new to strength training, 3 sessions a week will be more than enough, completing 4, 5 or even 6 sessions a week will lead to overtraining very quickly.
  8. When lifting aim to move as explosively as possible, slow repetitions in strength training may not be as effective as moving quickly.
  9. Always start your session with your heaviest lift first.
  10. Don’t complete trunk work until the end of the session. I am also reluctant to let individuals train the trunk in the 24 hour period before strength training, as it may compromise the lift.
  11. Warm up sets are important. Don’t just jump straight to your weight, spend 3-4 sets slowly building the weight.
  12. Don’t complete cardio before strength training, it is fine to do afterwards but never before. Intervals should always come at the end of a strength session.
  13. Change the intensity weekly, as a rule of thumb work in cycles of 4 following the below loading format:
    1. Week 1: 75% 1RM
    2. Week 2: 80% 1RM
    3. Week 3: 85% 1Rm
    4. Week 4: 90% 1RM
  14. Spend time working the stabilisers, think posterior deltoids, rhomboids, gluteus  medius, rotator cuffs etc.
  15. Record everything! If you don’t record you don’t know the numbers, you can only improve what you record!

Good luck and hopefully you will see results with these tips to get stronger.