10 Strength Training Strategies You Need To Try | Men's Journal Men's Journal Cancel OK ✕ Men's Journal Your account Account Purchase Subscription Address Sign Out Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions Info First Name Last Name Email Address Phone Number Birthday (optional) Gender Edit info Save Cancel Shopping Preferences What type of traveler are you? Lone Wanderer My Besties are Coming Beach Bum Get Me Off the Grid Bae-cationer Family-Style First Class Farer Backpacker Adrenaline Junkie International Jetsetter City Slicker Resort Hopper Cruise Connoisseur Stay-cationer Service Nomad Frequent Flyer Self-Care Devotee What do you do after work? Meet up with friends Grab a bite out Get my sweat on Get gourmet in my kitchen Craft a cocktail Crack a beer Enjoy a glass of wine Stream my favorite show Hang with my dog Disconnect & meditate Get crafty Self-Care sesh Curl up with a book Keep up with classes Tackle that home improvement project Select your favorite footwear brands Select your favorite automaker brands Select your favorite store brands Tools Unsubscribe from All Newsletters Unsubscribe Delete My Account By clicking here you agree that your In Touch Weekly, Life & Style, and Closer Weekly accounts will be deleted Delete Manage My UsNow.com Subscription Manage Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms and Conditions Sign Out Your Orders You haven't placed any orders yet. Status Fulfillment Total Order details: Image Product Price Qty Your Subscriptions Yes, please send me the Us Weekly Daily Newsletter with the latest news and photos of my favorite celebs! Yes, I also want to receive information about promotions, events, sweepstakes, giveaways, and other offers from UsMagazine.com and trusted partners! Yes, I’d like to receive the Stylish by Us Weekly Newsletter packed with the latest celeb trends, product picks and more! Yes, I’d like to receive the Shop With Us Weekly Newsletter to stay up to date with the latest celebrity shopping trends! Yes, please send me the Mens Journal Offers and Promotions Yes, please send me the Mens Journal Whiskey Wednesdays Yes, please send me the Mens Journal Newsletter Yes, please send me the In Touch Weekly Newsletter with the latest news and photos of my favorite celebs! Yes, I also want to receive information about promotions, events, sweepstakes, giveaways, and other offers from In Touch Weekly and trusted partners! Yes, please send me the Life & Style Newsletter with the latest news and photos of my favorite celebs! Yes, I also want to receive information about promotions, events, sweepstakes, giveaways, and other offers from Life & Style and trusted partners! Yes, please send me the Closer Weekly Newsletter with the latest news and photos of my favorite celebs! Yes, I also want to receive information about promotions, events, sweepstakes, giveaways, and other offers from Closer Weekly and trusted partners! Receive emails from Us Weekly Marketplace Add Men's Journal Need an account? Sign up now! Forgot password? By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and that you have read our Privacy Policy. with your social account Continue with Google Continue with Facebook Continue with Amazon Continue with Apple We won't post to any of your accounts without asking first Men's Journal Sign Up Already have an account? Login Your password must include: Min 8 characters Min 1 lowercase character Min 1 uppercase character Min 1 number Sign Up I agree to the terms of the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy Men's Journal Forgot your password? Enter your email to receive activation code. Reset Password * Please note that this form cannot be used to reset your Google or Facebook password. Visit Google or Facebook to do that. Get back to the Men's Journal Reset your password An email has been sent to with a recovery code. Please enter it below: Enter new password Your password must include: Min 8 characters Min 1 lowercase character Min 1 uppercase character Min 1 number Submit Toggle Navigation Men's Journal Men's Journal Facebook This link opens in a new window Twitter This link opens in a new window Instagram This link opens in a new window RSS This link opens in a new window Login Account Open Comments Health & Fitness 10 Strength Training Strategies That Will Never Die James Michelfelder by Jim Wendler Comments Strength is the foundation of everyday acts of athleticism (like hitting a 300-yard drive in golf) and not-so-human feats (like J.J. Watt’s 5’1″ box jump.) Strength isn’t limited to muscle size and capacity. When you get stronger, you’re better able to lose weight, run faster, and hit harder. Which is why we’ve got 10 no-frills strength-training tips to help you make everything in your life feel just a little bit easier (and much lighter). 1 Own the big four The squat, deadlift, bench press, and shoulder press are the best strength-training exercises, period. The chinup and row are great moves too, but don’t make them the focus of your workout—they can be assistance lifts to complement the bench and shoulder press, keeping your pulling muscles in balance with the pressing ones. 2 Use barbells first Forget all the fad equipment. The barbell is king, dumbbell is queen, and everything else is a court jester—they may have their place, but they’re not essential. Start your workouts with barbell exercises, such as the “big four,” as described above. Barbells let you load a lot of weight, and lifting heavy is the first step toward getting stronger. Once your heaviest strength exercises are out of the way, you can move on to dumbbell and bodyweight training. 3 Keep it simple Some trainers make their clients lift with a certain rep speed, like three seconds up, one second down. That’s great for advanced lifters, but if you’re just starting out know this: There’s no need to count anything but reps during a set. Simply focus on raising and lowering your weights in a controlled manner, pausing for a one-second count at the top of the lift. Using an arbitrary tempo can lessen tension on your muscles or force you to use varying amounts of weight, slowing your progress. The only way to be sure you’re getting stronger is if your loads consistently increase. 4 Maintain a log Write down your exercises, sets, reps, and the fate of each workout. Keep track of your best lifts and the most reps you’ve done with a certain weight on an exercise. Constantly strive to improve those numbers. 5 Don t overdo it Try to stick to three or four lifts per workout. Keeping your workouts short helps you take advantage of hormonal surges. When you do too many exercises in a session, at least some of them get done half-assed. All you need is one main lift per workout (one of the big four), one or two assistance lifts (for keeping the body in balance and further strengthening the muscles that perform the main lift), then core or specialty work at the end. Doing any more lessens your results. Related Best Protein Powders That Taste Good Too Read article 6 Think five You should rotate many different rep ranges in your workouts, but sets of five seem to offer the best blend of muscle size and strength gains. If you’re pushing through one of the big four moves during strength training, you’ll find that your form often breaks down after five anyway. 7 Add weights slowly The main reason people plateau and stop gaining strength is that they go too heavy for too long. Abandon your ego and do your main lifts using 10% less than the most weight you can lift for the given rep range. Increase the weight each session — but by no more than 10 pounds — and stick with the same lifts. You’ll rarely plateau again. 8 Take to the hills Cardio is a must if you want to be lean and healthy, but long-distance running or cycling increases levels of hormones that break down muscle tissue. To get stronger while getting leaner, do cardio in short, intense bursts. Go to a moderately steep hill and sprint to the top, then walk back down. When you’re ready, sprint again. In your first workout, do only half as many sprints as you think you could. In your next workout, do two more sprints than you did the first time. Continue adding two sprints to your workouts until you can’t improve anymore. Then do sets of sprints. 9 Balance your strength training Whatever you do for one side of the body, you must do for the other side. Follow that rule in your workouts and you should be able to avoid injury and muscle imbalances. If you’re doing squats (mainly a quad exercise), also do Romanian deadlifts (which hit the hamstrings hard). Your chest exercises should be balanced with back-training lifts. You don’t necessarily have to do your balance work in the same session, but it should be done in the same week. In general, follow a ratio of two-to-one between your pulling-and-pushing movements. So if you bench-press on Monday (and most of the world seems to), you can do chinups on Tuesday and bent-over lateral raises on Thursday, for example. Every other pressing exercise you do should follow this formula. 10 Do strength training exercises correctly You may think you know how to perform the big four, but you could probably get more out of them. Here are some quick pointers for each one. Squat: Begin the squat by pushing your hips back as far as you can. Keep your lower back arched and you should feel a stretch in your hamstrings. When your hips are bent, begin bending your knees and squatting low. This is what you need to squat maximal weight. Deadlift: Use the same stance you would to perform a jump — your legs should be narrowly placed. When you bend down to grab the bar, keep your hips down and your back straight, with your shoulders directly over your knees. Bench Press: Start with your head off the bench. Keeping your feet steady, grab the bar and pull your body up off the bench and forward, so that when your butt comes down on the bench your lower back is very arched. Squeeze your shoulder blades together. Your range of motion should be significantly shorter for stronger pressing. Shoulder press: Flare your lats when the bar is at shoulder level. It will allow you to use more weight. For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube! More News Early Fitness and Wellness Gifts on Sale Gift Guide 2022 A New Scientific Study Says Eating Late Increases Risk of Obesity Can THC Products Help with a Hangover? Everything You Need to Know SR9009 (Stenabolic) Results: I Tried It For 1 Month. Here’s What Happened Performer 8 Review – Legit or Is It a Scam? How to Get More Exercise During the Day All Stories More Videos The MJ5: Tony Hawk on His Favorite Gear, Why He Always Carries His Board, and More Here's the Difference Between Bourbon and Whiskey Young Guns and a Supercharged Catamaran: U.S. SailGP Team Takes on New York City More from Health & Fitness Early Fitness and Wellness Gifts on Sale Gift Guide 2022 A New Scientific Study Says Eating Late Increases Risk of Obesity Can THC Products Help with a Hangover? Everything You Need to Know SR9009 (Stenabolic) Results: I Tried It For 1 Month. Here’s What Happened Performer 8 Review – Legit or Is It a Scam? How to Get More Exercise During the Day Best Sleep Habits to Optimize Performance, Wellness, and Longevity Easy Snacks to Boost Your Protein Intake Top 10 Delta-8 THC Gummies for Sleep, Anxiety, and Pain