But first, why would you care to increase your strength on your lifts? One word: Progress.
You will only gain lean muscle if you progressively lift more (heavier) weight over time.
It's this progressive overload that forces the muscles to adapt and grow to handle the increased overload. The stronger you get, usually, the more lean muscle you'll build, providing you support it with good nutrition.
So here are 2 things you can do right now to instantly increase the weights on all of your lifts.
1. Warm up correctly.
By attempting to lift heavy without warming up first, you will not be able to use your heaviest weights possible.
Much like a pro baseball pitcher needs to toss lightly before throwing real hard, you want to warm up with light reps and sets before attempting to lift your heaviest weights.
But don't warm up too much, to the point you're fatiguing the muscles before you get to the heavy sets. Only warm up to the point where you feel ready to handle your heaviest weight for your sets.
This could vary from 2 sets of 6 to 8 reps on smaller muscle groups like biceps and triceps...
...or it could be as many as 4 sets of staggered reps (10, 8, 6, 3) for larger muscle groups and more demanding exercises like squats and the bench.
Again, the key to warming up is to do just enough reps with a light enough weight so that you get the muscles ready without making them tired.
Warming up correctly is one of the best ways to increase your strength on your last heavy sets.
2. Rest enough in between sets.
On average, you want to rest about a minute in between your warm up sets and 2 minutes or more between your heavy sets. If you do not rest enough in between your heavy sets, your muscles will still be tired from your last set and will not be able to handle the most weight possible.
Again, less weight means less overload, which in turn will mean less muscle growth as a result.
So before starting your next heavy set, make sure you feel as strong as you did for your first set you performed. Again, this could be anywhere from 2 to 3 minutes of rest between your heavy sets.
This rest in between heavy sets is a great time to walk around and think about how great your next set is going to be.
Or you can use the time to grab a drink of water or stretch out a little bit. The key is to make sure you've rested enough so you feel ready and able to handle the heaviest weights possible.
There you have 2 ways to instantly increase the strength on all lifts.
Warm up correctly before beginning your heavy sets and rest enough in between them.
People today don't just want to know how to build muscle, they want to know the fastest way to build muscle. There are hundreds of fitness gurus out there who all claim to know exactly how to do just that, but do they really? One good way to tell is to verify that their programs focus on some of the five key rules of muscle building.
1. Cardio Does Not Build Muscle
Biking and running are great exercises for those who are exercising simply to stay in shape and maintain their health. But these types of conventional cardio exercises are not very effective methods of building muscle because they do not generate the level of muscle fatigue that is needed for maximum muscle growth.
2. Eat More Meat
Your body needs lots of protein in order to create muscle mass, and red meat is the best possible source of protein for anyone looking for the fastest way to build muscle. Red meat contains all of the nutrients and fats that supply your body with energy and help to build muscle mass.
3. Multiple Muscle Groups Are Key
If you want to build up muscle mass fast, you need to target multiple muscle groups all at once. The more muscles you target and stress, the greater the metabolic reaction you activate. The increased metabolic reaction results in an increased build up of muscle mass.
4. Maximize Your Workouts For Maximum Gains
The more you put into your workouts, the more you will get out of them. So if you want major muscle gains fast, you need to put in major effort. Lifting heavier weights is the best way to do this because lower reps with heavier weights will build up muscle mass faster than higher reps with lighter weights.
5. Don't Forget Recovery
You should not train every single day because your body needs sufficient time to recover from each workout. When your muscles are not given an opportunity to rest, they weaken and become more easily damaged. So punishing your body with daily workouts is not the fastest way to build muscle, it is a good way to really hurt yourself.
Sure, there are lots of people that ignore this advice and appear to be healthy and muscular. Keep in mind that you really have no clue how healthy they are, or how much long term damage they are actually doing to their bodies. Be smart and take care of your body by allowing it proper recovery time.
Programs that incorporate these five important rules of muscle building are probably not going to be very useful to those of you looking for the fastest way to build muscle. So make sure that you take the time to find one that does, otherwise you will have a very difficult time achieving significant muscle gains.
Both Lebrunny & Tyler Whitman are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Lebrunny has sinced written about articles on various topics from Fitness, Lose Weight and Build Muscle. Discover how to build muscle and lose fat in the least amount of time. Personal trainer and natural bodybuilder Shawn Lebrun shows you how to get the maximum amount of muscle and definition possible. Check out. Lebrunny's top article generates over 110000 views. to your Favourites.
Tyler Whitman has sinced written about articles on various topics from Metabolism, Build Muscle and belly fat. For the check out the. Tyler Whitman's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.