You’ve been working out for a while now..
And you got results to start off with.
But you’re still not strong
Your goals seem like they’re a long way away
Your motivation is dropping and you feel like giving up.
The problem is as you grow and develop from training…
Your training must also develop and evolve to continue your path towards becoming stronger in all aspects of your life.
Most people’s training never changes, the same old exercises, same intentions, sets, reps just maybe a sneaky drop set or superset chucked in there every now and then.
If this is YOU then it’s about time to change and grow stronger
Most people who fail at getting stronger in the gym do so because of a few key reasons:
- Never focusing on actually getting strong
- Always working on their strengths and never weaknesses
- Neglecting prioritising movement quality
Putting Strength First
Are you spending all your time doing sets of 8-12 on every exercise?
There’s an old russian sport science study from back in the 80’s that gets quoted pretty frequently. This study went through all the data from their best lifters and track athletes to find the holy grail of programs to get strong and athletic. Want to know what they found?
The strongest guys lifted the heaviest weights in training and the fastest guys ran the fastest times in training.
Pretty disappointing, huh?
The thing is in that statement is the simplest but most effective means to get stronger.
‘Lift heavier weights in training’
No that doesn’t mean every session is max out Bulgarian style but you have to be aiming to progressively make the weights heavier over time. Spend some time working in rep ranges of 3-5 and focus on adding weight each session. Then bounce back to your high rep work for a period of time. This way you don’t limit your return on your efforts and get stuck going nowhere with your strength.
Nailing Your Weak Points
How many times have you thought you should be able to lift heavier weights only to find yourself stuck on the same sticking point at the same weight as last time?
You spent weeks, months even working on getting bigger, stronger quads for your squat only to have your glutes and hammies holding you back from reaching that PR.
I’ve been there too.
We like training our strong points because it makes us feel good, because we can see ourselves out lifting others in those lifts and because we know how much harder it is to hit those weak points.
The problem is when it comes time to get back under the heavy lifts your weak point is rarely any stronger than it was beforehand and you end up disappointed at your lack of progress.
What you should be doing is focusing on working your weak points to build your strengths in the lifts. Doing the stuff like our stiff leg deadlifts even though you know your hammies are going to kill for days, single leg work like lunges and step ups to build the quads and glutes.
When you look at some of the strongest lifters in the world like the guys at Westside Barbell, a large majority of their training is focused on building up their weaknesses to break through their sticking points in lifts and set PR’s.
Quality will always exceed Quantity in the long run
Ever seen the guy who always deadlifts huge weights but looks like shit doing it?
Here’s the thing, that can work for so long but two things are guaranteed for that guy:
- At some point his body is going to get beat up, injury will catch him and then he will have to go back and start again anyway.
- If he spent time working on his weak points and proper technique he would be stronger!
When it comes to moving big weights we need to have solid technique and great movement quality to help you lift to your potential and make sure you stay in the game long enough to do so.
How many times have you actually seen someone make a heavy squat look easy that has the bar drift forward over their toes?
In my whole 11 years of training I’m yet to see many cases of guys who could consistently get stronger over time while lifting with poor technique or excessive mobility restrictions.
Wrapping Up
If you feel like you’re stuck in the same lifting routine and wanted to get stronger. Make sure you are putting some time in working towards heavier weights, nailing your weaknesses and dialling in your technique.