best way to gain strength?

[wanderlusty]

I've been doing a lot of reading for a long time. Most of the advice I've seen has fallen into two categories. Toning and bulking. The former is afraid of too much bulk or strength for women, so concentrates on cardio and large numbers of reps. The latter seems to be all about bulking up, you know, real body building stuff. Of course both create strength, but neither seem to prioritize it. Personally, I want to get strong. Not strong like an olympic lifter, but strong enough to carry myself well and feel capable.

So, what's best for strength? Reps amounts? Set amounts? Diet?

 

[poohbear]

I think all women want to get stronger. On this board, most of us have learned that bulking is practically impossible for a woman, with the exception of the genetically freaky or ones using assistance in high amounts.

Like you said, you can get stronger doing either, but it depends on how much time you have (your goal). I was able to accomplish my strength gains doing tons of aerobics (because I taught it) and simple, basic exercises 3/8 w/ 1 set warmup in two months. However, I think my years of experience (experiments) in the gym helped out. I ate 60%C, 25%P, 15%F.

cheers

 

[wanderlusty]

thanks for the reply especially the f/p/c info.. I see so much varying information on what works best.. scared that I'll have to figure it out for myself

the nice thing about exercise seems to be that as long as you work hard and regularly, you'll get healthier.

I didn't mean to imply that most people don't care about strength, but most of the books and magazines I have read don't seem to prioritize it. I'm unsure if the workouts for professional bodybuilders are the most efficient for pure strength? Maybe they are? I've read that strength doesn't necessarily equal mass, but I'm not clear on how all it works.

I'm not afraid of bulking up, so if the same workouts and nutrition are best for gaining strength then that's what I want to do. But if some of it is only for the purpose to bulk, then I don't want to spend time and effort on that part. I know that it's hard for women to bulk up, but most of the material I've seen is for those who are trying to do so (with the help of supplements, etc)

 

[Phemomena]

for strength gains, it only makes sense that you want to be able to move the most possible weight, sooo, stick to low reps...

drop sets are supposed to be good to get you past sticking points... that's when you lift a weight that you can only lift for 3-5reps you should be fatigued almost to the point of failure by rep5, drop the weight down (these are easiest done on machines where you can change the pins, or free weight exercises where you can pick up a different set of dbs) and do another 4-6 reps, drop down again and do 6-8 reps... if you can, drop once more and go for 12...

drop sets are usually incorporated into a routine as the last set of a particular strength exercise... (those being the 'big' exercises, pulldown for back, chest press for chest ... squat for legs (which is hard to get the weight off, a couple friends can be really usefull here)...) in otherwords, those exercises that use the most muscles in the group...

other strength theories include partial reps... (where you take a weight that is way to heavy for you and do a quarter of a rep with it...) and forced failure (this is where you safely work a muscle to the point where it gives out)... i don't use these two... they're a little advanced for me and i don't recommend them to a beginner...

basically most bb train for an increase in strength... if you are not constantly challanging a muscle with new weights or exercises it's growth will stagnate... thus increasing weights generally results in an increase in muscle mass...

good luck

 

[keiko]

Hi!

Here's a link on some different eating plans:

http://home.earthlink.net/~vinnyi/dieting/diets.htm


I like Isocaloric which is easy for me to figure out now, but when I started I used an on-line Food Diary called FitDay.com There are others but I like all the graphs and charts so I could see my progress.

http://www.fitday.com

I have a fair amount of muscle mass and I was very interested in straining for strength, rather than size.

So, I do compound movements, I work each body part one day a week (I split chest/back/legs)

And I lift very, very heavy for 6-8 reps., then drop for 10. And--heresy--I only do the two sets. If I was starting out, I 'd do another set for 12, after dropping the weight.

Once I started lifting very heavy, my strength gains were astonishing. As heavy as you are, you are no doubt much, much stronger than you might think and certainly stronger than the casual observer would give you credit for.

While I'm not suggesting that you should do anything unsafe, don't be afraid of the heaviness--you leg press is great!

Good luck, take pictures of yourself so you can look back and be proud, don't worry about the scale and keep us posted!

 

[poohbear]

If you are a beginner to lifting, I wouldn't suggest going too heavy with really low reps until you learn the proper form for each exercise. Also, it takes time to build up strength. Bones, tendons and ligaments must have adequate time to catch up with muscle (strength) gains, else injury will result. I knew a friend who used AS and trained extremely heavy. The tendons in his should didn't get a chance to catch up and tore both shoulders. He has to get them scoped every once in awhile because of the scar tissue.

I'm starting to go off topic... sorry.

Anyhow, stick with 8 reps. Once you hit 9 or 10, then up the weight a little. If you can do 6 clean reps then that's ok, but try for 8. Also, check out sites on competitive weight lifting. Their routine are as basic as you can get, but look at them. They're strong MOFO.

Keiko's one body part/week routine is great for strength gains because the muslces get plenty of rest.

Anyhow, I have to watch a movie w/ the Mr. so, I'll sign off for now.

---------------------
train hard, but stay safe

 

[Phemomena]

as mentioned on another thread... negatives are another great way to increase strength... you usually need a partner who can help you on the 'positve' or contraction side of the motion for these...

negatives are also a slightly more advanced technique that require strict form...

and, as poohbear mentioned, starting out make sure that you are really careful.. learn proper form and technique prior to lifting weights that are challenging... an injured muscle is the furthest thing from a strong muscle...

 

[wanderlusty]

phemomena I have decided to drop my core reps to 6-8. That seems to be a nice compromise, and I think I can make good gains there (since I'm still relatively weak)

I do drop sets now when I don't quite make the reps that I want to. But it's interesting to see that they are usually done with the 'big' exercises.. I had just been doing them willy nilly

At what point does someone stop being a beginner? Is it core strength? Mastery of form? Intuitiveness about one's body?

Keiko Thanks for the links. Do you think excercising a body part twice a week has diminishing returns? I have been having about 4-6 days of rest in between working a muscle group (although I'm nervous about the arms because I've split them and not sure there's no overlap)

I know my legs are pretty strong, prolly because of all the extra weight they have to tote My abs are strong too, and my back wan't too strong at first but I made fast gains. My problem has always been upper-body.

I'll definetly keep you guys posted I really like this forum.. everyone has been so helpful.

poohbear I'm not sure if I'm a beginner or not. I've been lifting off and on (off and on being key) since seventh grade.. so what, ten years? I took weightlifting class in college and saw a trainer for about six sessions (that REALLY helped my form, but I can't afford it any more). I have a good idea about form, although squats still make me nervous. However, I've never stuck with a routine for more than two months (at the very max!) so I don't have much strength or experience with really heavy weights. I have been lifting for seven weeks now, and have seen big gains in strength and with that ability to keep good form.

Phemomena That does kinda worry me because I have never really been injured before, so I don't have basic understanding of what it means.. and I catch myself doing stupid things occasionally (like working through bad pain). I try to be careful though.

spatterson Yeah I wish I could afford a trainer, but being a student has its negative consequences on income. My workouts are pretty intense these days, much more than in the past, and now I generally feel sore the next few days (a phenomena I used to think was only for the first couple workouts). Sometimes I don't work out my hardest though, because I have an idea of how many reps I want to do, and so I psychologically limit myself to being able to do that much.

 

[keiko]

While I don't think that 2x a week will hurt you, just make sure you get plenty of real rest--sleep, non stress activities, etc. I have a job that keeps me hopping around outside (I plant other people's gardens) and the 1x a week is just fine for me.

It's good to get in the habit of going to the gym though, and since lifting is so much more fun than cardio, why not train a couple of times a week. You can always vary the weight and go heavy one session, slightly less the next time you go.

 

[Heather Darling]

Train in the 4-6 rep range. If you're able to do more than 6 reps with a weight then it's too light for what you're trying to do. Also, stick to the basic lifts like bench, squat, deadlift, miltiary press, barbell curls, and dips. Keep the sets low and workouts short and high intensity.

This isn't going to give you the kind of fat burning workout you may be used to so you may have to up the cardio to avoid putting on the fat.