Top 4 Training Tips For Optimal Size And Strength

Looking for more size and strength gains? Then you have to get your training program dialed in! Training for optimal progress is so much more than simply picking weights up and putting them down. Yes, doing that is a good start, but eventually you have to start paying closer attention to the finer details of your program in order to truly maximise your progress for the longer-term. Many people (often beginners) overlook the importance of proper training programming when it comes to maximising their muscle growth. A few things I usually see: they more often than not fall into the trap of lifting too heavy too soon, they overlook the need for effective exercise technique, using too much volume, doing the same stuff over and over again and, not properly programming in enough recovery (e.g. rest days/deloads). Well, all these things eventually catch up with you, leading to the so-called dreaded plateaus! (a period of no progress). So, in order to avoid this potential problem, its good practise from the get go to make sure your training program is optimally set up.

 1) Learn Great Technique, Then, Learn It Again!

The foundation of any great training program should be to learn proper and effective exercise technique. Really, it should be the first thing you focus on. Learning how to properly perform a movement ensures that not only do you reduce the chances of injury, but, you also ensure you are activating all the correct muscle groups. When you learn a movement pattern for the first time, these movements are imprinted into your brain. This means that if you start off with crappy technique, you are teaching your brain to learn and reinforce this. I see this very often with beginners! They learn poor technique from the get-go only to later ask: why have I stopped progressing. Simple, you have been using suboptimal technique all this time! Small technique changes can go along way! So, if you want to get off to a good start and keep making progress, then ensuring efficient movement technique is going to be your top priority.

2) Learn The Basic Compound Movements

Your basic compound movements are the squat, deadlift, bench press and row (barbell and dumbell). What is great about these compound movements is that they represent all the basic movements you do in everyday life. So, by becoming proficient in these movements, not only will you perform better in the gym, but also, outside of the gym! Sounds great! The term compound here means several. With compound exercises, you train and stimulate many muscles at the same time. As a result, not only do these exercises help you build up a more balanced physique, it also elevates protein synthesis (muscle building) to greater extents than single isolation exercises (e.g. a bicep barbell curl), thus translating into more potential gains. A great training program will be programmed mainly around these simple compound movements. Spending most of your energy on these exercises over tons of smaller movements will benefit you to a larger extent over the long-term.

3) More Volume Is Key To More Muscle Gains

The primary driver of more muscle growth is volume. Over recent years, the research has been overwhelming. More volume over time is the most important factor when it comes to maximising your progress. Volume is simply reps x sets x weight and when one or more of these go up over time, so does your potential for more muscle mass. In order to optimise your training program for maximum muscle growth, your training volume should start off low and gradually increase over time. If you always stick with the same reps, sets and weight, than you will never force your body to adapt and get bigger and stronger. When your body is ready, increase the amount of work you do over time. No matter how small the increases over time, increases do need to happen if you want to move forward.

4) Growing Happens When Recovery Happens

If you ask me, one of the hardest things to do is to have rest days or deloads (periods of lower training volume). Once you get into the flow of training and progress is on the up, it can be hard to pull back. Most of the time, we just want to keep pushing harder and harder. Progress is addicting, and once we experience it, we can't stop training. Our bodies tell us to take a break, our minds tell us to keep going. I know guys, it's hard! I know this feeling all to well! But, recovery is an important part of the whole growing process. Going to the gym is important, it provides the stress to your muscles to signal them to grow. However, you don't actually grow in response to this stress until you go through your recovery periods. Training without recovery is simply never going to give your muscles a chance to develop. Periodically, it's good to program days off or periods where you train with lower volumes. This will give your body a chance to breath from all the intensive work you have been doing and to set the growing process in motion. Following your recovery periods, your body is then ready to go through further with those intensive workouts. Trust me, there are times where you feel you can push through with your workouts and skip the recovery days, but if you do this, i can guarantee you, your body will crash at some point. Remember: training is to stress, while recovery is to grow!

Article written by Stephen Moreton