Do you feel like you HAVE to stick to certain rules in the gym?
Are you trying your best to follow the rules but you’re still not getting the results you want?
Looking for a path that you can take control of?
You are not alone. After a decade of working on Steel and working with 100s and 100s of clients, I have found that the road to results and building better relationships with the gym has multiple lanes–and you are the driver.
Today’s blog is about Steel’s Strength Training PRINCIPLES, and how you can use them to push yourself further than you have ever been before.
Now, I feel it is important to explain the difference between tactics and principles.
Principles are a broad overview of what you should be doing. These are the outside lanes of the highway. If you stay within the lanes of the highway–adhering to the principles–you can use different tactics to get to your destination. These tactics can change with your needs during different seasons of life.
There are lots of magazines, blogs, and channels that offer tactics that promise you a specific result; however, they don’t disclose that it is a tactic and not a principle.
So that is my goal, to show you these principles that I have found for you to use to guide your tactics in the gym.
Here is exactly what we’ll be covering:
1) Choose Exercises That Allow You to Train Hard, Pain Free
2) Start Too Light
3) Always Use Good Form
4) Train with Mostly Compound Movements
5) Train 2 to 4 Days Per Week for 45 Minutes
6) Quality > Quantity
7) Progressive Overload
Choose Exercises That Allow You to Train Hard, Pain Free
This isn’t me saying your muscles aren’t going to feel the burn or be fatigued–that’s the fun part.
What I mean is you should choose exercises that allow you to train hard while not aggravating your joints. Whether you have a history of injury or not, some exercises just don’t work well with some peoples’ joints.
Being in the gym should make you feel the good burn, not the hurt and ache.
Tons of exercises can be interchanged and lead to similar results so switch that exercise to your needs and train harder without the pain! We love helping our clients find the right exercises that fit their body and showing them that the gym is fun at Steel.
Start Too Light
You don’t have to lift the heaviest weight to be successful. It’s actually encouraged you start too light.
One thing I have heard that has stuck with me is, “Leave your ego at the door.” I know from experience that starting lighter is 10x better for you than diving straight into heavy weights. By starting light, you can focus on having good form which will give you the most out of your workout.
There’s plenty of time to grow and increase the weights you lift. Lifting too heavy early on can cause bad form issues, injury, and increase frustration with failure.
If you stick to increasing the weight you lift over time, you will reach your goals faster.
Starting with a light weight allows you to perfect your form, in the long run allowing you to lift heavier. Trust me, you are going to get to your goal if you start too light and stray from being too aggressive in the beginning.
Always Use Good Form
Having good form is the most important aspect of strength training. Safety and efficiency are the direct results of using good form.
Just like I said earlier, starting light allows you to learn the form and master it before lifting heavier. This will protect you in the long run mentally and physically.
Tons of injuries come from lack of good form. These injuries will prolong your goal, cost money, and cause serious pain. If you get injured because of form, you are going to be out of the gym and frustrated with yourself.
So, use good form to keep yourself healthy and on track towards your goals!
Efficiency comes in with helping you get the MOST out of every exercise. Using good form allows your muscles to truly gain strength from your workout, allowing you to reach your goals faster.
Train with Mostly Compound Movements
What is a compound movement?
This is any movement that uses multiple joints. Squats and deadlifts are where you bend at the hips, knees, and ankles. Bench press, pushups, and dumbbell bench press use your shoulders and elbows.
These have the most effect as they utilize multiple muscle groups during one exercise.
While your workout should be mostly compound movements, we still need isolation movements towards the end of the workout. We can show isolation movements a little love!
Isolation movements are single joint exercises. Crunches at the waist, triceps extension at the elbow, and lateral raise at the shoulder. These are good at targeting specific areas that you want to work on.
Isolation is great; however, compound movements are more efficient, give better results, and really push you and your muscles to the limit which is why they should make up the majority of your workout.
Train 2 to 4 Days Per Week for 45 Minutes
Every person differs in this aspect. It is based on your goal, where you are starting from, your schedule, and other outside forces. If you can only give 2 days per week to the gym, that is great! If you can give 4 days per week, that is also great! It is all based on your personal preference and goals.
It is 1000% up to you; after all, you know your body better than anyone else.
Just 45 minutes in the gym starting at 2 days per week is going to propel you towards a better version of yourself. Getting up to 3 or 4 days per week will help you progress even faster.
When in doubt about how many days a week you want or think you can work out, start with less. Start with 2 days and work your way up.
It is the same concept as starting too light with weight–you have plenty of time to increase the number of days you workout. It is better to start low and aim high rather start high and have to back down.
Quality > Quantity
This is my favorite by far. We care more about quality of sets vs. quantity of sets. Good form, the right weight, and the right compound movements all play into the quality of a workout.
Once you have been working with certain movements for a few weeks, you want to make sure you are taking them close to failure. This allows you to push yourself which ultimately is what makes you stronger over time.
Failure is the point where you cannot move the weight anymore. You don’t have to necessarily go to failure each time, but you should strive to go until you only have 2 to 3 reps left in the tank.
Instead of doing a bunch of low quality sets, you should have high quality sets–fewer sets with each going close to failure. This is what is going to take you from where you are now to where you want to be.
4 sets of 10 reps done with 5+ reps left in tank is not nearly as effective as just 2 sets of near failure sets. Trading close to failure is hard, but quality results are direct effects of quality sets.
And look, if quality is the same…the more sets you do (as long as you can recover from them), the better results you’ll get. BUT doubling your number of sets will NOT double your progress. It will provide better results, but the law of diminishing returns is at play here.
Most people are better off doing way fewer sets at a much higher quality. And their results will skyrocket!
Progressive Overload
Over time you want to increase your weight and contiue to push yourself by progressively lifting more weight.
After a few weeks of doing an exercise, look into increasing the reps or weight you’re using.
It is important to note that pushing yourself to lift more weight or perform more reps does not equate to forcing yourself to go above and beyond every workout. Over time you are wanting to build that strength, but it is a process that does take time. You have to love your body enough to not force it into something it doesn’t want to do.
Your body is a temple! You should take care of it and make sure you are doing the right things to keep it healthy. Forcing it to go harder than it is able can lead to burnout and injury. Instead, focus on doing slightly more than you did the last time when possible!
Having quality workouts that include good form, the right weight, an adequate amount of time spent at the gym, the best combination of workouts, and pain-free movements are how you can take care of your body!
If you’re ready to get started on your Strength Training journey and put these principles into practice but you want coaching to make sure you stay safe and get the best results possible…we’d love to work with you!
Talk soon!