Strength Training tips for Men

Are you aiming to build muscle and strength? Maybe you’ve hit a plateau in your progress. There are a number of things you can do to improve your strength training, men in particular, and build muscle safely and effectively.

With strength training, men often find themselves wasting time going through the motions in the gym. Set yourself goals and targets but make sure they’re achievable. Record you’re progress and monitor how much you’re lifting. This way, you’ll avoid lifting the same weights week in, week out and repeating the same old workouts. This alone is likely to increase your strength within weeks.

The next tip is to take the right supplements. For strength training, men are recommended to consume some sort of protein within 15 – 20 minutes of finishing their workout. Make sure you’re taking the right supplements though; if you’re aim is to pack on muscle and weight, take a protein high in calories whilst if you’re looking for lean muscle, choose a lower calorie protein. Do your research and look at supplements like creatine, which helps supply energy to your muscles meaning you can work out harder, for longer.

Another great way of improving strength and size is to choose a lift and warm up gradually, repeating sets of around 4 – 5 reps but increasing the weight gradually. In strength training, men will usually have a one rep max; keep increasing until you reach 95% of this and perform three to five reps. Then, drop the weight 10% and do another set. Then continue your work out, working the same and then the opposite muscle group. Repeat this a week later, trying to increase the weight on the heaviest lift by around 5kg.

One part of strength training so many men neglect to consider carefully is rest periods. Whilst for muscle gain, shorter rest periods promote testosterone and growth hormone release, building up muscle and size. On the other hand, strength training requires longer rest periods. They are essential as your muscles need time to recover and failing to rest will hamper your next lifting effort. Three to five minutes rest between sets is ideal if you’re lifting heavy weights. Also, make sure you don’t overdo your workouts and take adequate rest periods between workout days.

Base your workouts around what are known as the ‘big four’ workouts; bench press, shoulder press, dead lift and squat. Use barbells whenever you can as they require you to keep them stable and let you load heavy weights. Dumbbells are also useful, and resistance training comes last.

Finally, your form is essential. Make sure you know how to do every exercise you’re doing properly and don’t cheat. Too often guys in the gym will stack a huge weight on the bench only to dip the bar a few centimetres before pushing it back. Make sure you’re touching your chest for optimum chest strength gains.