Strength Training Basics
Defining Your Goals
Before you pick a program and set up a solid eating plan, it’s important to define your goals. Take a minute to think about your long term goals, and write them down. Try to make goals realistic but challenging. A 400 pound bench press might be possible in 5 years, but it certainly can’t be achieved in 6 months by 99.99% of the population.

Once you have defined your long term goals, it’s time to think about short term goals. No small step is too insignificant. Think about where you want to be in a month, 6 months and a year.

And remember, the key to reaching any goal lies in maximizing your effort. Never waste a single set. Strong bodies are built “one extra rep at a time”, using small but consistent steps.

The 7 Primary Natural Strength Movements
If you are looking to build strength, the best place to start is by analyzing what the human body does well. We are built to perform certain movements and lifts with ease, utilizing multiple muscle groups and maximum leverage.

The 7 primary natural strength movements and lifts that the human body performs well are:

Horizontal Push – Pressing/pushing a weight away from the torso. An example of a horizontal push movement is the bench press.
Horizontal Pull – Pulling/rowing a weight towards the torso. An example of a horizontal pull movement is the bent over barbell row.
Vertical Push – Pushing/pressing a weight overhead, away from the body. An example of a vertical push movement is the military press.
Vertical Pull – Pulling a weight towards the torso from overhead. An example of a vertical pull movement is the pull up or lat pull down.
Squat – Bending at the hips and knees while keeping a semi-upright torso, as if reaching for something on the ground before you. An example of a squat movement is the barbell squat.
Lift From Ground – Lifting an object off the ground from a position of maximal leverage (bent knees and hips). An example of this movement is the barbell deadlift.
Carry – Holding an object in one or both hands and walking and/or running. An example of a carry if a yolk or farmer’s walk.
There are many other movements the human body does well, such as jumping and shrugging, but most of these movements are derivations of the above 7 movements. What this means is that if you improve your strength on most or all of the 7 primary movements, your body will be able to perform nearly any task with power.

The Primary Strength Building Exercises
Most strength building workouts are very similar and nature, and comprised of a core group of several lifts. These lifts are all variations of the 7 primary natural movements.

Squat and front squat.
Bench press and close grip bench press.
Military press and push press.
Deadlift and Romanian deadlift.
Barbell and dumbbell rows.
Power cleans and Olympic lift variations.
There are also several other exercises that can be very beneficial to the novice trainee looking to rapidly build strength:

Pull ups (palms away from body, wider grip)
Chin ups (palms facing the body, narrow grip)
Dips
Planks
Weighted abdominal exercises such weighted sit ups and cable crossovers
Glute/ham raise
Good mornings
Side bends
Farmer’s walk
It should be noted that this is not a comprehensive list. For a complete list of quality exercises, please check out the “assistance exercise listing” that appears later in this article.

The Fastest Way for a Novice to Build Strength
It’s not uncommon for novice (beginning) lifters to fall into the trap of looking for a magic strength building workout or training system. Here’s what you need to remember: there is no magic system. The key to making rapid, consistent progress comes from following these essential rules:

Stay Persistent – Stop making excuses and missing workouts. If you want to improve your strength you need to make it to the gym week in and week out.
Stay Basic – Stay with a basic program. Simplicity works well. Training evolution, or complexity, is something you will need in the future – but not now. Get strong on the basics. Most popular strength building systems feature a minimalistic structure using the same effective strength building movements.
Don’t Undereat – To maximize your efforts in the gym you must also make sure you are eating properly. Undereating, or eating too much junk food, can greater inhibit progress.
Make a Plan – You can’t enter the gym without a goal. Plan and know when and how you will add weight to the bar. A strength building training system requires a progression plan. No workout should be random, or without a specific goal.
The Big 4 Lifts – Plus 1
At the core of most strength building programs are the barbell squat, deadlift, overhead press and bench press. The power clean is also widely used.

The squat, deadlift and power clean are considered posterior chain movements. A posterior chain exercise works nearly every muscle in the back of the body, from head to toe, including the back, glutes, hips, hamstrings and more. Squats and deadlifts are considered the king of all strength building movements.

Overhead and flat bench pressing are push movements. Pushing exercises work (to varying degrees) the shoulders, chest, back and arms. A properly structured strength building approach will achieve to strike some semblance of balance between flat bench and overhead pressing so that shoulder girdle health can be maintained.

Do I Need a Belt?
Is a lifting belt needed? This is a popular, and often heated debate. While there are valid points on both sides of the argument, most experienced lifters choose to perform heavy work with the use of a lifting belt.

Here are some pros and cons to wearing a lifting belt:

Pro - A lifting belt can help support your spine.
Pro - A lifting belt allows many experienced strength athletes to squat and deadlift more weight, maximizing training sessions.
Pro - A lifting belt can provide confidence.
Con – A lifting belt can cause slight changes to your lifting form. When first using a belt, don’t rush into using it with heavy weight. Work on your form with a belt using lighter weight first.
Con – A lifting belt that is cinched too tightly may restrict blood flow and/or cause change sin blood pressure.
The Role of the Central Nervous System
While it is the role of muscle tissue to move or lift heavy weight, the central nervous system (CNS) also plays a vital role in the process. The CNS acts in many ways like a power source – as it is awakened you will start to recruit more and more muscle fibers into play.

This is one of the reasons why a proper warmup protocol is required before heavy training. If you attempt to lift a heavy weight before “waking up the CNS”, you will be trying to move this iron using fewer muscle fibers. The result will be a great strain on the joints and connective tissue, and a greater chance of injury.

The power of the CNS can be tested following any heavy training session. After your heavy work is completed, try dropping the weight on the bar by 25% and performing a set. This set will feel unbelievably light, simply because your central nervous system is fully engaged, recruiting maximal amounts of muscle tissue.

How Often Should I Test my 1RM?
There is no urgent need to frequently test your one rep max (1RM) on exercises. Heavy lifting at the one rep max level is physically demanding and can require weeks of recovery.

Instead of frequently testing your one rep max, focus on progression of weight each workout. Push yourself on sets, using good form, and add reps and weight when possible.

Most strength training workout systems will involve some form of low rep work that requires a consistent addition of weight. Many novice programs utilize 5 rep sets and have a structured method of adding weight. You can use this heavy 5 rep set to approximate your 1RM using the calculator on Muscle & Strength:

Calculate your one rep max.
If you do want to test your one rep max, limit the attempts to every 3-6 months, and take several training days off afterwards to allow for recovery.

How to Test your 1RM
The structure of these progression schemes are designed to help stimulate your CNS for maximum performance. Do NOT ignore them and take big jumps. Big jumps in weight do not sufficiently stimulate the CNS, and can result in a sub-par performance. Big jumps will also increase your potential for injury.

Rest. Don’t rush. Follow the recommended rest guidelines when testing your bench press max. This isn’t a sprint. If you don’t have enough time to properly test your one rep max, then wait until a day you do.

Allow your body the proper time in between heavy sets to regain its strength. Some of the reps may seem easy, and you may not need to rest 3 minutes. If this is the case, rest a minimum of 2 minutes and attempt the next rep.

Use the following progression schemes based on your approximate one rep max. Rest a minimum of 2 minutes between challenging sets, and up to 3-5 minutes between taxing attempts if need be.

Continue along until you reach a rep that is very challenging. Once you do so drop the next attempt to an additional 5-10 pounds, using your best judgment. If you fail on a rep, use your best judgment and drop down to a more manageable weight.

If you fail on a second rep, stop the workout.

100-199 Pound One Rep Max (1RM)

Bar x 5 reps
Bar x 5 reps
75 x 3 reps
95 x 1 rep
115 x 1 rep
135 x 1 rep
155 x 1 rep
175 x 1 rep
195 x 1 rep
200-299 Pound One Rep Max (1RM)

Bar x 10 reps
135 x 5 reps
185 x 3 reps
205 x 1 rep
225 x 1 rep
245 x 1 rep
265 x 1 rep
285 x 1 rep
300-399 Pound One Rep Max (1RM)

Bar x 10-15 reps
135 x 5 reps
185 x 3 reps
225 x 1 rep
275 x 1 rep
305 x 1 rep
325 x 1 rep
345 x 1 rep
365 x 1 rep
385 x 1 rep

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