When it comes to fitness, strength training plays an important role. It generally involves any physical movement using your bodyweight or equipment, such as dumbbells and resistance bands, to increase endurance and improve flexibility. Additionally, it helps reduce the risk of falls and injuries while offering several other health benefits, including weight loss and better heart health.
If you’ve been strength training and not getting the desired results, it is time to introspect on where you may be going wrong. Fitness coach Raj Ganpath took to his Instagram account to share 6 strength training tips for those who desire to get stronger.
Reduce the number of exercises you are doing
Raj emphasised the importance of a more focused approach, which includes incorporating a few effective exercises rather than doing 20-30 different types every week. He said, “You simply need the six big ones—the squat, the deadlift, the bench press or the push-up, the overhead press, the pull-up or the hang and the row. If you want variety, do more exercises. If you want progress, do fewer exercises and do them well.”
Technique trumps everything
Quality over quantity is his mantra and he suggested the same to his followers. “Regardless of what exercises you’re doing make sure you’re doing them with good technique, with good form because doing so means using the right muscles and that’s essentially what you need in order to get stronger,” he said.
Forget reps and load, focus on feel
The key lies not in manually checking the boxes and counting reps and load, but in feeling which muscles are being worked on while you’re doing any exercise. He added, “If you can make sure you’re feeling the right muscles and you can work hard enough, reps, sets, load, all of that will take care of itself.
Raj shared that mobility plays a vital role as it determines the range of motion. “Optimal mobility means better range of motion and that means better loading patterns which implies faster strength progress."
Sleep and nutrition
When it comes to fitness, sleep and nutrition are equally important. The fitness coach shared that real progress happens outside the gym when you give your body enough rest and feed it with the right nutrients. Increasing both yields better results.
Be patient
Finally, he advised, “Do not chase results, chase effort. The question you need to be asking yourself is not how quickly will I get stronger. It is how hard am I able to work? Am I able to do this consistently? How patient am I?”
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