I want to get strong

A

andrew5665

0
Over the last four or so years, on and off, I have been working out with a personal trainer friend of mine. There has been a trend that has arisen every single time where I would train very intensely three times a week, add bulk but then seem to burn out 4 months down the track and get very fatigued.

I worked out that the reason why this was happening is I wasn't building strength gradually enough, and going too hard too fast and therefore the tree trunk that is the human body was capitulating under the strain.
I wish to start weight training again, but Im not interested in being big and not strong, Id rather look small and be strong. Im wondering if anyone has any good advise for what kind of routine I should start with.

Thank You
 
What exactly were you doing that was so intense?

As I am sure you know, to get strong you just have to eat tons and lift in the 3-6 rep range.
 
You don't just 'burn out' months later because you tried too hard. The human body does not take 4 months to burn out. It might take a few hours or a few days.

I would guess the reason you burned out is because you didnt continue to increase your food intake, your water intake, and your rest. As you increase volume and intensity, you need to treat your body better and better.

Also a good way to avoid burning out is to change up your routine. Rather than doing the same movements and increasing weight//intensity, try doing many different movements you aren't used to. They will be equally as taxing on your body since you aren't adapted to doing them, but will not burn out your muscles and CNS has badly as overloading on weight can.

Small muscles with big strength and power is the corner stone of what power lifting is all about. Take a look into incorporated some powr lifting lifts into your workout. As for building brute strength without gaining too much muscle, well, its very difficult to do as strength and hypertrophy typically walk hand and hand, but low rep high weight is typically considered to give the most bang for your buck in term of minimal size gains for maximal strength gains.

Hopefully someone here who trains that way can offer you some better and more precise advice.
 
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Well... to gain strength and not give much attention to size is what I am doing. So, what is working for me is band training... to incorporate band training into your workouts.. using powerlifting methods.

Strength is a combination of speed and power. So one day a week, for each muscle group, do approximately 50% of your max... three reps fast, about 8 - 10 sets... and the other day do more than 75% of your max, for five reps or fewer.

I use the website elitefts.com for most of my benching routines and advice. I do my own workouts for back/legs, shoulders, etc.. but base it on the above methods.


I weigh only 185 and I am just about benching 2x my weight, with incorporating bands and these methods... my pullups are in the high 20's, legit pullups. So this type of speed work one day, and power work the other day does work for me - for all body parts.
 
if you want to get strong gradually, try
starting strength by riptoe(i believe?)

either that or

bill star glenn pendlay 5x5 routine for strength. pick the appropriate skill version.

just google either and you will get routines.

some other ones that have worked for me:
the waterbury method
20 rep squats
ABBH by waterbury
smolov squat routine
 
Thanks to everyone for their input.
I started back at the gym this week and my routine consisted of squats, wide grip chin ups, bench, shoulder press, dips, all 3 x 10 on a light weigh but moved up slightly on my next session 3 days after. I also did ab work.

Should I stay on this program for the next few weeks to allow myself some gradual build up of strength?
 
andrew5665 said:
Thanks to everyone for their input.
I started back at the gym this week and my routine consisted of squats, wide grip chin ups, bench, shoulder press, dips, all 3 x 10 on a light weigh but moved up slightly on my next session 3 days after. I also did ab work.

Should I stay on this program for the next few weeks to allow myself some gradual build up of strength?
Click to expand...

Do you have any more detail of your training? If they're the only lifts you're doing then you need a lot more leg work and some more pulling too

Are you sure the fatigue you feel after 4 months isn't just boredom?
 
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