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2018 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

November 26, 2018: Train like Superman, not Clark Kent! How to Gain Strength

Written by Shawn Mike

Do you find that, after a period of training, you are not seeing results? You aren't alone. Many of us put in the graft in the gym and the effort, but end up leaving to look in the mirror and see nothing resulting from all of that effort. If you are sick of training like Superman but still looking like Clark Kent, then it might make sense to change it up a bit and go down a different route.

If you want to start piling on the strength and seeing some real gains from all of your hard work and your effort, then we recommend that you take the following advice to heart. If you use some of the ideas that we have waiting for you here, you should be much more likely to get through the day and actually feel good about the results that you see.

So, what do you need to do if you want to start producing some gains which are actually worth your time? What can you do to change things up and start seeing meaningful results physically as you begin to work out more?

Less is more

One of the first changes that we recommend comes from making a decision on what kind of rep ranges you will do. Lots of men will be able to do large rep counts, but if you aren't doing it *right* then is there really any point?

Less is always more in the workout experience. If you want to start genuinely building strength in a way that is going to lead to tangible benefits, then you will get more out of a workout that uses less reps and instead works more on long-term physical improvement through shorter but stronger movements.

Strength is generally better built when you start working on lower rep ranges, usually on one to five rep workout. This is because you allow for your body to get used to that rep range, making the muscle fibers work easier and thus produce better results.

One of the worst mistakes that you can make is to keep doing long sets of reps. It might impress others in the gym, but the reason you aren't seeing gains is that your body then becomes used to doing those long ranges, meaning your body has less ways to build-up muscle as you want.

Eating matters, too

One of the worst ways to build strength is to cut out actual meals and just start using those workout shakes and similar. While good in a pinch, you will find that this stuff lacks the nutritional diversity that you need to enjoy the workout - and see results.

So, if you are going to be working hard on building up muscle, you need to give your body the right amount of fuel. While working on strength training can mean that you have a bit more leeway to eat stuff that someone looking to lose weight would need to avoid, don't think you can just eat quarter pounder burgers and burn it all off.

To make this work, eat as many carbs as you can the night before. Carbs take a while to get through the body, and you will be able to use the carbs from last night to make a lasting impact on your workout quality. It's quite a tough thing to get right, though, so we recommend that you spend some time working out with a fitness instructor who can help you to better understand the right diet moves for you.

Don't ignore cardio

Many men who are capable of doing some big workouts are actually people who are out of energy in a flash. OK, so you can do a lot of lifting - but can you actually last the pace? Many people forget about doing cardio work alongside their workout regime. We recommend that you if you want to start really making the most of your workout that you get used to getting your heart up to the 105-120 beats per minute range. This way you can go about making sure that you benefit from the cardio training without making your muscles hurt.

If you push too much, then you can be in too much pain to do both a full strength and cardio workout. This leads us to skipping many of our exercises, and if often will see us ditch the exercises which tend to make the biggest difference to our strength.

So, if you want to start getting into good shape and building up actual strength, then you should look to take cardio into account. While you will get plenty of cardio via strength training anyway, a bit of light cardio on top will make a difference to your overall gains.

Rest up properly

The last thing that you need to do if you wish to train to be strong is to rest properly. Many people see 'rest is for the weak' and presume it means that if you want to be strong then you need to fight through the pain barrier. Brave, yes, but also quite stupid. We recommend that you instead put a lot of emphasis on the quality of your rest.

Resting up properly matters, as it is increasingly easy to burn out if you do not get enough rest and practice. We recommend that during workouts you take a 3-4 minute rest per set to allow for proper recovery before moving on to the next set.

Take rest seriously after workouts, too. Make sure that you can get the right kind of sleep per night - seven to eight hours in most cases. Remember that if you do a workout then you need to rest a bit more at night to allow the body to recover. If you want to see some meaningful results during a workout, make sure you aren't burning the candle at both ends every night.

Keep these tips in mind, and you should be able to be far more like the superhero than the office worker from the famous comic books!

Protein Bee have provided the infographic below which outlines "55 Exercises You Should Try", follow their guide and you could end up looking like Superman!

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