It would a lot of strength to lift that weight

03.11.202321.08.2022 admin 0 Comments

It would a lot of strength to lift that weight

Задание №6681.
Чтение. ЕГЭ по английскому

Установите соответствие между заголовками 1 — 8 и текстами A — G. Используйте каждую цифру только один раз. В задании один заголовок лишний.

1. Tastes from abroad
2. Out of style
3. Musical tastes
4. Lifting weights
5. Trendy styles
6. Dining out
7. Exercise routine
8. Musical exercise

A. Forming a band, even if only as a hobby, can be good fun. Of course, it can go beyond that if you get really good. You can play at festivals, and if the crowd loves you, it’s an amazing experience. It’s even a great way to get a workout, especially if you’re playing the drums. It takes a lot of energy, and it can actually help you get fit.

B. Rugby players need strength to push the other guys round the field. That’s why it’s essential for them to build muscle mass, and there’s only one way to do that. They’ve got to hit the gym and start pumping iron. It’s incredibly hard work and it’s not for everyone. They’ve also got to take it slowly, because it’s not a good idea to lift too much too soon.

C. It’s important to try new things. In fact, it’s almost necessary, because we get bored with doing the same thing day in, day out. Luckily we live in a multicultural world. Take food, for example. No matter where you are, it seems that someone from far away has opened a restaurant featuring cuisine from their homeland. That’s something different for a change.

D. In order to get in shape, you have to do more than just go to the gym once a month. You need to go at least three times a week. You must set up a schedule and stick to it. Even when you work forty hours a week, you have to arrange to head off after work for gym time. And you should exercise for a set amount of time with every visit.

F. Some people don’t dress like other kids from their school because they simply don’t feel like keeping up with all the latest trends. Trends change every year anyway, if not more often. For some, second-hand shops are their favourite shopping experience. You can find all sorts of funky clothing there, and who cares if it’s something most people wouldn’t wear?

G. The style of music we listen to says a lot about who we are. People who prefer classical music have refined tastes and an appreciation for the arts. Those who like heavy metal enjoy being energetic when they listen to music. Fans of pop music enjoy staying up-to-date with trends. And those who like old music like to imagine what life was like in a different era.

Решение:
Заголовок 8 (Musical exercise. — Музыкальное упражнение) соответствует содержанию текста A: «It’s even a great way to get a workout, especially if you’re playing the drums.»

Заголовок 4 (Lifting weights. — Поднятие тяжестей) соответствует содержанию текста B: «They’ve got to hit the gym and start pumping iron.»

Заголовок 1 (Tastes from abroad. — Вкусы из-за границы) соответствует содержанию текста C: «Take food, for example. No matter where you are, it seems that someone from far away has opened a restaurant. »

Заголовок 7 (Exercise routine. — Упражнения) соответствует содержанию текста D: «You need to go at least three times a week. You must set up a schedule and stick to it.»

Заголовок 6 (Dining out. — Ужинать вне дома) соответствует содержанию текста E: «But eating in restaurants is such a great, social experience.»

Заголовок 2 (Out of style. — Вне стиля) соответствует содержанию текста F: «You can find all sorts of funky clothing there, and who cares if it’s something most people wouldn’t wear?»

Заголовок 3 (Musical tastes. — Музыкальный вкус) соответствует содержанию текста G: «The style of music we listen to says a lot about who we are.»

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Источник: Тесты для подготовки к ЕГЭ по английскому языку, 2019. Вербицкая М., Манн М., Тейлор-Ноулз С.
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Strength Vs Hypertrophy [A Complete Guide On What You Need To Know]

Strength vs hypertrophy: Which one should you focus on?

After reading this post, you’ll learn:

These are the strategies that I have used to add over 25 lbs of muscle to my frame, and almost triple my strength.

Let’s get started!

Disclaimer:

Although we are doctors and personal trainers, we are not your doctors. The content on this site is for informational purposes only and should not substitute the advice from your healthcare professional. All kinds of exercise and dietary activities are potentially dangerous, and those who do not seek counsel from the appropriate health care authority assume the liability of any damage or injury which may occur. Please read our full Disclaimer for more information. Also, this post may contain affiliate links: meaning we may receive a commission if you use them.

Okay, let’s get started.

What Is The Difference Between Strength And Hypertrophy?

Hypertrophy training is exercising for the purpose of growing bigger muscles. (i.e increasing muscular size).

Strength training is exercising for the purpose of making your muscles stronger. (I.e, being able to lift more weight).

While they might sound similar, you can change your training style to target different goals.

This is done by changing the number of sets, reps, and amount of weight you lift.

Which Is Better?

Neither strength nor hypertrophy is better, as both are necessary to improve your health and fitness.

Hypertrophy training involves the use of lighter weight and more repetitions. This will allow you to learn proper form and build up muscular endurance.

Strength training requires the use of heavier weight, which decreases the number of repetitions you can do.

The one you should do depends on your lifting experience and your training goals.

If you are a beginner, focus more on hypertrophy.

Does Hypertrophy Make You Stronger?

A bigger muscle always has the potential to be a stronger muscle. So yes, hypertrophy training will make you stronger to a certain extent.

However, you won’t ever achieve your maximal strength if you never train with heavy weight.

This is why powerlifters and olympic weightlifters are much stronger than bodybuilders, despite being much smaller.

Does Strength Matter For Hypertrophy?

On that same token, strength training will also build muscular size to an extent.

But once you reach a certain level, strength training won’t continue to increase the size of your muscles.

The main determinant of muscle growth is total volume. (Aka the number of sets and reps you do).

In general, you won’t be able to do a lot of volume if you only train for muscle strength all the time.

Should I Train For Strength or Hypertrophy First

So what should you do as a beginner? Strength or hypertrophy first?

If you are a beginner, you should always train for hypertrophy first.

By using the hypertrophy rep range in your early career, you will be building muscle AND gaining strength.

Take your time to develop some muscle mass, learn the proper technique, and gain confidence under the bar.

The loads required for strength training can challenge your technique, and cause lead to muscular and joint injuries if not used properly.

With that said, once you become an intermediate- you can train for both strength and hypertrophy.

Can I Do Both Strength and Hypertrophy At The Same Time?

It is possible to train for muscular strength and muscular hypertrophy in the same training session.

What Sets & Reps Do You Need For Hypertrophy & Strength

That’s because the amount of time your muscles are under tension (aka longer sets) appears to be the biggest factor in causing muscle growth.

So here are the sets and reps you need to do.

The Optimal Rep Range For Hypertrophy

It is extremely important that you focus on movement patterns, rather than individual muscles. Movement patterns represent compound exercises, and these hit multiple muscle groups simultaneously.

For example, let’s say you:

That is a total of 9 sets and 90 repetitions of Quadriceps Work per week, WITH the added bonus of hitting your glutes and your hamstrings for 9 sets indirectly as well.

Why Should You Train For Hypertrophy?

How Often Should You Train For Hypertrophy?

Alright that’s all for hypertrophy for now.

Let’s move on to strength.

Section Recap:

The Optimal Training Volume For Strength

Since strength training requires you to lift heavier weights, you will not be able to perform as many sets and reps as you can with hypertrophy training.

Volume and intensity are inversely proportional. The heavier the load you are lifting, the less volume you will be able to do.

The weight that you use for strength training must be heavy enough to induce muscular fatigue at around 5 reps or less per set.

Train for strength only after you have developed a decent baseline of strength and comfort with the basic functional compound lifts.

The Optimal Rep Range For Strength

Most importantly, the weight needs to be challenging.

How heavy should the weight be?

The weights should be

80% or more of your one rep max.

Your one-rep max is the most weight that you can lift for one repetition with good technique.

Again, this bears repeating…

It is important to note that the really heavy weights should be reserved for experienced lifters who have developed great technique on the various lifts.

Use your judgment.

If you cannot maintain good form when performing the exercise, it’s probably a good idea to decrease the weight.

Why Should You Train For Strength?

Strength is one of those characteristics that are useful for anyone in any situation. When you train for strength you

General Guidelines

80% of your 1 Rep Max or more

If you aren’t an experienced lifter (at least 2-3 years of consistent exercising), you should spend no more than 1/3rd of your training on strength gain.

The more experienced you are, the more strength training you can and should do.

How strong should you be?

Check out our strength standards for busy people so you can set some realistic strength goals for yourself.

Section Recap:

Strength Vs Hypertrophy Physique

The biggest person may not necessarily be the strongest person.

In fact, the people with the most amount of skeletal muscle mass (professional bodybuilders) are nowhere near as strong as the strongest athletes (powerlifters, Olympic lifters, and strongmen) despite being “bigger.”

Here are some extreme examples of physiques you might see in athletes who train for maximal hypertrophy vs maximal strength.

Why is this the case?

This is a byproduct of the way you train.

If you want to be strong, then you must dedicate a portion of your workout routine to strength training.

What About Muscle Fiber Type? Does That Influence Hypertrophy & Strength?

There are three different types of skeletal muscles, which are beautifully described in this video.

The leading theory is that Type 1 (or slow twitch) muscle fibers respond best to hypertrophy training, aka high reps low weight, and that Type II (fast twitch) respond best to strength or power training, aka low reps high weight.

However, it appears that most muscles are composed of both types of muscle fibers, and aren’t all type 1 or type 2.

In addition, it is impossible to tell whether your particular muscles are predominantly type 1 or type II. Therefore, trying to train each muscle based on its type should not be your priority.

The bottom line?

All muscles should be trained through a variety of different rep ranges.

The Most Important Strategy To Make Long Term Progress

Now that you have an idea for the appropriate amount of training volume you need for muscular size and strength, let’s talk about long-term progress.

As we discussed in Part 1, the training stimulus must be progressive or increasing over time.

The easiest way to do this is to increase the weight you are lifting over time, or to increase the repetitions you are doing at a particular weight over time.

In short, you must do a little bit more than you did before.

This is the entire concept of Progressive Overload.

Obviously, this cannot go on forever. If you try to do this continuously, your body will plateau, or you will get injured.

So how do we bypass this?

The easiest way to circumvent this problem is to keep rotating the exercises that you are performing every 8-12 weeks in your weight training.

Constantly doing the same exercise over and over with increasing weights or increasing reps can eventually lead to overuse injuries and pain.

Focus only on 1-2 variations of an exercise at a time, and then switch them every 8-12 weeks.

For Example

And for the Squat Pattern

By rotating the exercises, you are training your muscles in different ways and forcing them to adapt to new stimuli every 2-3 months. You build better overall strength and keep your training fun and engaging.

Keep track of your progress for every exercise in a journal or electronic notepad.

Every time you return to a variation you have previously done, compare your new levels of strength to where you were before.

Get stronger in every variation possible. Keep the long-term picture in mind.

A Complete Hypertrophy & Strength Program

Now that we have covered all of the important topics related to gym workouts, you can go and check out the WCT Strength Programs For Busy Professionals.

It is a ready-made 15-week training template that uses all of the principles laid out in this article and more.

And the best part?

The workouts are designed to be completed in 30-35 minutes a day.

The Bottom Line On Creating A Strength & Hypertrophy Split For Long Term Progress

Any health and fitness professional would agree that improving your lean muscle mass percentage is extremely beneficial for just about everyone.

In order to reap the maximum benefit of your exercise program, it is ideal to increase your muscular size and your muscular strength.

To Recap:

Next you should read

Now we turn it over to you:

Have you primarily trained for hypertrophy or strength?

Comment below and let us know.

Alex Robles, MD, CPT / Brittany Robles, MD, MPH, CPT

Alex & Brittany Robles are physicians, NASM Certified Personal Trainers, and founders of The White Coat Trainer: a resource dedicated to improving the health and fitness of busy professionals using time-efficient strategies. Their advice has been featured in My Fitness Pal, Prevention, Livestrong, Reader’s Digest, Bustle, The Active Times, and more. Learn more about them here.

References:

2 thoughts on “Strength Vs Hypertrophy [A Complete Guide On What You Need To Know]”

Never seen anyone break down training for different body types. Usually the body types are only in reference to diet.
I of course want both size and strength. Popular term now is «powerbuilding». Easier said than done after a few years of serious training. I really do want to hit a 405 squat next year while staying under 175.
Are you running a specific program? Like 5/3/1, cube, Juggernaut, etc…

Hey Grant
Yea I’ve noticed it on myself and others who I have trained that different body types can handle different types of training regimens.
And yes, I agree with you. Power building has become very popular over the last couple of years. We are starting to learn that it is important to have both components in your training, no matter how much experience someone may have.
I definitely think that you can hit 405 at 175. Usually technique is the first thing i look at when someone is struggling to gain strength. Do you feel that your squat form is solid?
Currently I am running a hybrid program that I create for myself and my wife. It takes príncipes from all of the lifting programs that I have done or read about (including block periodization, 5/3/1, Mike Tuscherers RPE System) etc.

The Healing Power of Strength Training

Everyone knows that weight lifting increases physical strength. But, for some, it can give psychological power, too.

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By Danielle Friedman

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When Cheng Xu was serving in the Canadian Armed Forces as a paratrooper and infantry officer, he experienced a series of traumatic events in rapid succession — his best friend and fellow officer took his own life, a soldier under his command was injured during a live fire exercise and a close friend’s father was kidnapped.

He felt like the world was collapsing around him everywhere except at the gym, where he trained in competitive Olympic weight lifting.

“The only thing I had that anchored me was weight lifting, because that was the only place where I felt safe,” said Mr. Xu, 32, now a doctoral student in Toronto. Surrounded by the clinking and clanking of barbells, he slowly discovered what he described as “the healing properties of strength training.”

Psychologists have long established that exercise is beneficial for mental health, and over the past decade, research has also shown that it can be a valuable tool for addressing post-traumatic stress disorder. Now, despite weight lifting’s associations with violent bursts of brawn, growing numbers of people who’ve experienced trauma are finding that pumping iron is a balm. For many, the sport’s healing powers come down to the fact that, where trauma has left them feeling helpless, powerless and weak, lifting helps them feel strong — not only physically, but also psychologically.

“Lifting gave me a sense of agency,” said Mr. Xu. “It gave me a sense of control.” And in time, he said, these feelings led to his recovery.

Learning to literally push back

People who’ve experienced trauma have long gravitated toward the weight room, drawn, in part, to the promise of increased physical strength. But these lifters have historically received little guidance on how to train in a way that supports their mental health and recovery. Lifters have also had to navigate a fitness culture that often glorifies a “no pain, no gain” approach, with a focus on performance and superficial appearances over long term well-being.

“There is a lot of toxic masculinity in strength training,” said James Whitworth, an exercise physiologist and health science specialist at the National Center for PTSD and assistant professor at Boston University’s medical school, as well as a disabled combat veteran.

But as more people of all genders and abilities have discovered the benefits of strength training, the weight lifting community is becoming more inclusive and expansive. Mental health groups also have begun to formalize lifting as a therapeutic tool and educate trainers in how to coach clients living with physical and psychological trauma. At the same time, the scientific community is beginning to study why, exactly, some people with trauma find lifting heavy things helps them recover.

“There’s something in weight lifting and working with resistance” that builds resilience, said Chelsea Haverly, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Hope Ignited, a Maryland-based organization dedicated to educating organizations and clinicians about trauma. “Not only in the brain, but also in the body.”

Last year, Ms. Haverly and Emily Young, a licensed clinical social worker and certified personal trainer, created a trauma-informed weight lifting certification program for trainers, in an effort to bring its mental health benefits to more clients. With lifting, Ms. Haverly said, “it’s not just, ‘I can do hard things.’ It’s ‘my body can do hard things.’ It’s ‘I have not felt strong, and now I feel like a beast.’”

Rachel Sloane, a 36-year-old respiratory therapist and mother of two, who was diagnosed with complex PTSD in early 2021 after enduring physical and sexual abuse, experienced this transformation firsthand. She initially turned to weight lifting out of a desire to take better care of her body, but the more she trained, the more she felt safe, calm and grounded outside the gym.

Understand Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The invasive symptoms of PTSD can affect combat veterans and civilians alike. Early intervention is critical for managing the condition.

“I was not even attempting to use lifting as a means of managing my mental health,” she said. But “it gave me a means to physically push back — against all of the fear and powerlessness I was feeling all of the time.”

It has also given her “a growing memory bank of moments when I could move everything that was in my way,” she said. After years of feeling helpless, “it’s created more experiences of feeling powerful and strong and capable.”

Finding the right form of exercise

As more people with trauma affirm the benefits of lifting, Dr. Whitworth and other psychologists are working to better understand the psychological and neurological mechanisms behind its potential as a therapeutic tool.

“Improving someone’s physical strength in a way that they can see and feel may be particularly potent for individuals with PTSD,” said Dr. Whitworth, by “helping to reframe their worldview, as well as their views of themselves.”

While nearly every kind of exercise is beneficial for people with psychological trauma, said Dr. Whitworth, they reap the most psychological benefits when they engage in moderate-to-high-intensity training, which includes weight lifting. High-intensity resistance training, specifically, has been shown to help improve sleep quality and anxiety, which can improve overall health and well-being.

And yet, people who’ve experienced trauma often avoid exercise entirely because of the physical stress response it can generate — a rapid pulse, heavy breathing, raised body temperature — which may remind them of their trauma. For this reason, helping patients find the type of exercise that feels right for them is essential.

Yoga is often recommended to people with trauma because of its focus on breathing and mindfulness, but it isn’t for everyone. “There’s a whole cohort of people that are terrified of it or not drawn to it for any number of reasons,” said Mariah Rooney, a licensed clinical social worker, yoga teacher and weight lifter based in Denver. Some clients find that yoga’s relative quiet and stillness can trigger anxiety, she said.

In 2018, Ms. Rooney was a co-founder of the nonprofit Trauma Informed Weight Lifting, which offers clients an alternative form of movement. “There are already people who are turning to lifting, consciously or unconsciously, as a part of their own recovery and healing,” she said. She founded her group, in part, to offer more people opportunities to lift in a safe, healing way by educating trainers, coaches and therapists on strength-training’s mental health benefits, as well as conducting research.

Some people who find yoga too sedate find refuge in moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise such as running and cycling, which studies suggest can be especially helpful for people with trauma. But others struggle with it, in part because they find exercising in public spaces such as parks to be triggering.

The power of exertion in increments

In her 2021 book “Lifting Heavy Things: Healing Trauma One Rep at a Time,” the Manhattan-based certified personal trainer and trauma survivor Laura Khoudari explained that one reason she and others connect with lifting is because it offers regular pauses in intensity — which allow them to check in with themselves and assess how they’re feeling, which in turn helps prevent becoming overwhelmed.

“The breaks give your nervous system a chance to settle down,” said Ms. Khoudari, who has also completed coursework in body-oriented trauma therapy and become a leading advocate of lifting as a form of healing. “When we’re dealing with trauma, our nervous system generally has less capacity for stress, and also less resilience,” she continued. “And so you can use strength training to push on the edge of how much stress you can take.” Over time, this can expand our window of tolerance.

For this reason, Dr. Whitworth and others said weight lifting might be a helpful tool for people undergoing exposure therapy, during which therapists encourage patients to focus on their traumatic memories for short, controlled increments — not unlike the cyclic nature of strength training. Over time, this exposure can defuse the memories as well as the related physical stress.

“The idea is that they may be really anxious at first,” said Dr. Whitworth. But “over time, patients start to process the fact that those memories and feelings are not dangerous.”

Pairing this therapy with high-intensity exercise such as weight lifting, he said, might be “particularly beneficial.”

For many people with trauma, weight lifting also helps them feel at ease in their bodies. As Ms. Rooney explained, “Bodies are often the harbingers of trauma and the holders of trauma,” which leads many people to experience a kind of mind-body disconnect. For example, if someone has experienced a physical trauma relating to their torso, they may feel detached from that part of their body as a coping mechanism. But weight lifting can help to reconnect the mind and body.

Take the back squat, Ms. Rooney said, in which lifters hinge at the hips and knees while resting a weight on their shoulders. “There’s something about having, for example, a barbell, on your back that’s like, ‘Whoa, suddenly I can feel my spine. I can feel the back of my body. And I don’t remember the last time I felt the back of my body,’” she said.

Danielle Friedman is a journalist in New York City and the author of “Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World.”

How to Gain General Strength

What’s the best way to develop general strength? We get this question a lot. CrossFit claims to emphasize functional exercises to develop functional strength. Is functional strength a real thing? And does doing functional exercises really improve our general strength?

Strength training sounds like it would be designed to develop general strength, and it certainly can be, but more often than not it’s rooted in powerlifting, and thus built around improving our 1-rep max strength on the low-bar squat, bench press, and conventional deadlift. Those are great lifts, they engage a ton of muscle mass, and we absolutely need to be strong in order to lift a big total. But is our general strength best measured by how much we can lift for a single repetition on those three lifts?

Next, there’s calisthenics. Calisthenics is often said to be ideal for developing real-world strength because we’re learning to lift our body weight and move our bodies through space. If someone is good at push-ups, chin-ups, planks, and planches, and a variety of gymnastics movements, they must have good general strength, right?

Finally, a lot of bodybuilders train to build bigger muscles, thinking that bigger muscles are stronger muscles. And that’s kind of the whole point. People do bodybuilding workouts because they want to look strong. But compared to powerlifters, bodies are often comparatively weaker on the big compound lifts. Why is that?

What is General Strength?

General strength means different things to different people. Some people think of strength as simply being able to carry a few bags of groceries up the stairs, whereas other people think of general strength as being specific to how much we can squat, bench press, and deadlift for a single all-out repetition (1-rep max). Some people are primarily training to improve their general health and appearance, whereas other people want to be the strongest person they know.

I think one of the better ways to describe general strength is being able to lift heavy things through a large range of motion. If we have strength through a full range of motion in every major movement pattern, then we’ll be strong when we squat even deeper than powerlifters do, we’ll be strong when we lift more than a single repetition, and we’ll be strong on lifts that powerlifting doesn’t measure, such as the chin-up, overhead press, and even the humble biceps curl, making our strength much more versatility.

Speaking of the biceps curl, the other trap to avoid is thinking that only compound lifts develop general strength. That’s not the case. If you want to be able to carry something heavy in front of your body, lifts like the deadlift and front squat can be quite helpful, yes, but what about our biceps? Our biceps are often our limiting factor. And so how much we can curl is a good measure of our general strength, too.

The more narrowly we define our strength, the less versatile it represents. But then on the other hand, the more widely we define our strength, the harder it becomes to measure and improve.

The Link Between Muscle Size, Strength & Health

Our goal with Outlift (and Bony to Beastly and Bony to Bombshell) is to help people become bigger, stronger, healthier, and better looking. If we’re trying to improve in all of those areas, then we can define our general strength in a way that lines up with our other goals.

The good news is that some of the main factors line up:

For the most part, training to build bigger muscles is an effective way of gaining general strength, and training to gain general strength is a good way of building bigger muscles.

How Strength & Aesthetics Diverge

However, there are some cases where general strength, health, and aesthetics diverge. For instance, a high-bar back squat is one of the very best lifts for improving our general strength and fitness, but has almost no impact on a man’s attractiveness (study). Male attractiveness is more strongly linked to our upper-body size and strength. So, for example, building bigger side delts give men broader shoulders, which looks great, but side-delt training isn’t an important aspect of our general strength—it’s not used in any major movement pattern—and the muscles are too small to have much of an impact on our overall body composition or fitness.

For women, different disparities emerge. Having muscular hips, shoulders, legs, and backs is great for developing general strength, improving health, and giving more of an hourglass physique. Adding in extra hip exercises to build bigger hips is perfectly healthy and further improves general strength, and seems to have a disproportionate effect on a woman’s attractiveness, so no contradiction there.

On the other hand, doing extra biceps training may not have a noticeable effect on a woman’s aesthetics. It would, however, make it much easier to carry things around in front of them, which is one of the most useful kinds of strength. The same is true with neck training. Building a more muscular neck is an important part of our general strength, especially since it helps to reduce concussive impact, but it probably wouldn’t improve a woman’s appearance.

Finally, for both men and women, most bodybuilding and strength training programs don’t include loaded carries, which are one of the most important aspects of our general strength. Being able to carry weight at our sides, in front of us, in a racked position, and overhead is one of the most important things we can train for. It’s not the best way to improve our muscle size or powerlifting strength, but I’d still argue that it’s an important part of a general strength program.

For the most part, becoming bigger and stronger will make us look better, especially if we can stay lean while doing it. There are disparities between general strength and aesthetics, absolutely, but they tend to be fairly minor. Some men might spend extra time building broader shoulders and some women might spend extra time building a bigger butt without caring how it affects their strength. But that’s fine. The foundation of their training can still have a strong overlap between muscle size, strength, and aesthetics.

How Well Does Powerlifting Develop General Strength?

Powerlifting does measure our strength. It doesn’t measure general, strength, though, it measures a specific type of strength. It measures our 1-rep max strength on three arbitrary lifts, and outside the sport of powerlifting, that probably isn’t the best way to measure our strength.

That’s not to say that the back squat, bench press, and deadlift aren’t great lifts. They are. It’s not to say that they don’t test several aspects of our strength. They do. And it’s not to say that 1-rep max strength doesn’t prove that someone is strong. It does. But there are other lifts, other rep ranges, and other measures of strength that are equally important.

For example, I’d argue that how much we can low-bar squat for a single repetition is slightly less indicative of “general strength” than how much we can front squat for ten reps. With a low-bar back squat, we’re in a bit of a weird position that’s designed to improve our leverage, we’re cutting the range of motion short (at legal powerlifting depth), and we’re trying to create a lot of overlap with the deadlift by sitting back into the lift, allowing us to more fully engage our glutes.

With a front squat, we’re using a more natural movement pattern that’s specifically designed to improve our general strength, we’re bearing around twice as much load with our spinal erectors (given the longer moment arms), we’re sinking far deeper, and we’re working our knees through a much larger range of motion. It’s also a more distinct movement from the conventional deadlift, allowing our two lifts to develop two distinct movement patterns instead of merging them both into one. As a result, I think for many people, the front squat is better for gaining muscle size, strength, fitness, and improving our appearance.

I’ve heard some people argue that the bench press is a less functional movement than the overhead press. But that’s not quite right. The bench press challenges our chest and shoulders at longer muscle lengths than the overhead press, making it better for stimulating muscle growth. It develops many of the same muscles, but it stimulates more growth in them, and so the bench press is quite a good way to improve our general strength in those muscles. However, the push-up does all of those same things, and it can be modified to use a larger range of motion (e.g. deficit push-ups) and can be loaded somewhat easily (such as by wearing a weighted vest or backpack). So the bench press isn’t the only way to get those benefits.

With that said, the overhead press develops core stability, strengthens our shoulders in a different range of motion, puts more emphasis on our shoulders and upper chest, and works our traps quite hard. It might not be better than the bench press, but there’s no reason to train it with any less fervour than the bench press. Both are important.

With the conventional deadlift, it’s hard to argue that it’s not an accurate measure of general strength. It measures how much weight we can pick up from the floor. And most powerlifters practice the deadlift with pretty stellar technique (especially when compared with strongmen, who have over twice the rate of deadlift injuries).

So this isn’t me saying that the Big Three powerlifting lifts aren’t a good way to measure strength. They are. It’s just that there’s more to it than that. Plus, testing our 1-rep maxes on the lifts is unnecessary for most people. There’s nothing magic about training specifically for 1-rep max strength instead of, say, 10-rep max strength. In fact, since training for 10-rep max strength would make it much easier to build muscle, I’d argue that it’s a faster way to develop general strength.

Finally, there’s no reason to favour barbells over dumbbells. Yes, barbells generally allow us to lift heavier, which can mean bearing greater loads with our spinal erectors, obliques, abs, tendons, and bones. That’s an important aspect of our general strength. But dumbbells make up for that disadvantage by requiring greater amounts of stability. There’s no reason to think that someone training with dumbbells would have less general strength than someone training with a barbell.

So, to summarize, strength training and powerlifting are both great for developing general strength, and the squat, bench press, and deadlift are some of the best compound lifts for measuring it. However, outside of the sport of powerlifting, there’s no need to pick those three specific lifts, to do them with a barbell, or to test our 1-rep max.

How Well Does Bodybuilding Develop General Strength?

A bigger muscle is a stronger one. In fact, research on powerlifters shows that the best predictor of muscle strength is muscle size (study). Similarly, research done on recreational lifters training at a university gym found that upper-body muscle strength predicts muscle size, which then predicts how attractive somebody’s body is rated. The stronger someone is, the more muscular they look, and the more attractive they’re rated (study).

Building bigger muscles is by far the best way to gain strength in those muscles. Most of us know that intuitively. But bodybuilders aren’t always able to lift as much as powerlifters. How can that be?

General strength is more than just the strength of our individual muscles. Having big biceps means that we have strong biceps, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we can carry a lot of weight. After all, even just to curl a barbell, we need to support that weight with our spinal erectors. If someone builds bigger biceps by dutifully doing machine biceps curls, they might not even have the general strength needed to do standing barbell curls.

If we expand this out to the big compound lifts, it’s easy to imagine how someone could have big muscles but be unable to lift very much. Someone might have big traps from doing shrugs, but if they use lifting straps, they might not have the grip strength to even hold the barbell in their hands. If their spinal erectors aren’t strong, they might not have the strength to pick that barbell up from the ground. As a result, it’s not uncommon to see guys with big muscles who can’t squat, deadlift, or bench press much weight. It’s not that their big muscles aren’t strong, it’s just that not all of their muscles are big enough.

However, this problem disappears if we root our training in the big compound lifts. If we do our deadlifts before our shrugs, our spinal erectors and grips get the work they need to grow bigger and stronger. If we do chin-ups and barbell curls before heading to the machine curl, then we don’t need to worry about our spinal erectors not being strong enough.

Besides, having big spinal erectors is an important part of building an attractive physique, both for men and women. They help us stand taller and straighter, and they make our torsos look thicker and stronger. As a result, most bodybuilders who know what they’re doing include lifts in their routines that are designed to bulk up their spinal erectors: deadlifts, barbell rows, good mornings, reverse hypers, and so on.

Bodybuilding is a great way to develop general strength, especially if the routine includes a variety of compound free weight lifts that train the various movement patterns through a full range of motion. If that’s being done, then building bigger muscles means gaining more general strength.

How Well Does Calisthenics Develop General Strength?

Yes, calisthenics is one of the better ways to train for general strength, especially when the workouts are designed for building muscle.

When compared against the other ways of training for general strength, calisthenics has some advantages and disadvantages. One the one hand, bodyweight training tends to engage quite a lot of muscle mass, the lifts have natural strength curves, and we’re quite strong at them, making it good for gaining muscle size and strength.

On the other hand, it can be hard to progress the lifts, some of the best lifts will eventually become too light (such as deficit push-ups), and some of the more advanced variations aren’t as good for gaining size and strength (such as one-arm push-ups).

The deficit push-up.

The main limitation with calisthenics, though, is that it makes training some movements and muscle groups much harder. There’s no bodyweight movement that successfully mimics a heavy squat or deadlift. Yes, we can train our quads, hamstrings, and spinal erectors with bodyweight training, but it’s hard, and it doesn’t put the same load on our tendons or bones.

The best way to train for muscle size and general strength, then, is to combine the best of calisthenics with the best of barbell and dumbbell training. We can do deficit push-ups and bench presses, chin-ups and rows, barbell squats and pistol squats. And we can do deadlift variations. That’s not the only way to gain muscle size and strength, but it’s the most efficient and the most effective way.

Calisthenics, bodyweight training, and gymnastics are great for developing general strength, but just like powerlifters would be well served by adding in the chin-up, gymnasts tend to develop better general strength with the addition of free weights.

Should Bodybuilders Test Their 1-Rep Max (1RM)?

So, as we’ve covered, strength training, bodybuilding, and calisthenics can all be great ways to develop general strength. However, each different form of training has a different way of measuring that strength. If we measure strength via our 1-rep max (1RM), then people who do strength training will seem stronger than bodybuilders. But is that fair? Yes and no.

On the one hand, our 1RM is indeed a good measure of our maximal strength. The bigger our muscles are, the more force they can potentially produce, and so the more weight we can lift. Yes, there’s a neurological component to it as well, which is where strength training shines—we learn how to activate all of our motor units at once—but how much we can lift will still be determined by the size of the relevant muscles. This creates a strong link between our 1-rep max, our muscle size, and our general strength.

On the other hand, testing our 1-rep max can introduce a needless risk of injury, and it also means specializing in something we may not be interested in. Does the average bodybuilder want to spend a couple of months every year strength training so that he can test his 1-rep max? After all, he won’t be building very much muscle during those months. And is that worth the risk of getting an injury? Maybe not. Powerlifting isn’t very dangerous, but it’s quite a bit more dangerous than bodybuilding.

As a result, most bodybuilders will prefer to test their rep maxes (RM) instead of their 1-rep max (RM). For instance, if you typically do the bench press for sets of ten repetitions, then you can test your 10-rep max (10RM) to see how strong you are. And that 10RM will be a good indicator of your muscle size, general strength, and progress over time. Just as good as your 1RM, and likely quite a bit better, since that’s a test that you’ve been training for this entire time. What’s even better about measuring our strength using our preferred rep maxes, though, is that the test itself causes muscle and strength gains.

When we’re testing our 1RM, we’re interfering with our training. We’re introducing fatigue, injury risk, and spending time doing something that isn’t going to help us make any progress. So the more often we test our 1RM, the lower our progress becomes. When we test our 10RM, though, that set is ideal for stimulating muscle growth. The more often we test it, the faster we grow. And the more we grow, the stronger we get. There’s no downside to measuring our progress anymore.

Unless you’re a powerlifter, it’s probably better to measure your progress, muscle size, and general strength with rep maxes instead of 1-rep maxes. For instance, if you’re training for muscle size with a typical bodybuilding routine, you might want to test your 10-rep max instead.

How Strong Should We Be?

To be completely honest, most of us can develop a healthy amount of strength quite quickly. Within a year or two of serious weight training, most of us can be handling a barbell with a couple of weight plates on either side, doing dozens of push-ups, and doing a few chin-ups with a full range of motion. For our general health, that’s probably all we need.

There’s no reason to think that going from a 405-pound deadlift (4 plates) up to a 495-pound deadlift (5 plates) will improve our general health, but some people will spend a decade trying to do it. If we define general strength as useful or healthy strength, that might be overkill. We might be better served by doing more cardio.

What’s a Respectable Amount of Strength?

Sometimes it’s fun to get stronger than we need to. Sometimes we want to be impressively muscular or lift fearsome amounts of weight. That’s where general strength takes on a bit of a new meaning. We aren’t asking what type of strength is the most practical, we’re asking what type of strength is the most impressive.

This is quite subjective, but depending on who you ask, there are a few impressive lifts that a man can have:

For women, there are some other feats of strength that tend to crop up:

Do we need to be impressively strong to keep ourselves in good health, have an attractive physique, and have enough strength to go about our lives? No. But it’s still cool.

Summary

Making our muscles bigger is the best way to make them stronger, training in moderate rep ranges is the easiest way to build bigger muscles, and we don’t need to train in low rep ranges to develop general strength. Our 1-rep max is no more indicative of our general strength than our 10-rep max. That means that some aspects of bodybuilding are quite good for developing general strength.

But it’s not enough. Practicing the big compound lifts is crucial for developing the muscles that we need to be generally strong, such as our spinal erectors. Progressive overload is an important part of consistently gaining both muscle size and strength. And free weights tend to do the best job of developing strength that translates to everything we do. That’s why strength training brings a lot to the table.

Calisthenics can be good for developing general strength, too, especially in our upper backs and biceps. The two main bodyweight exercises, push-ups and chin-ups, rival the very best strength training lifts. If our goal is to become bigger and stronger, they’re worthy additions to our bulking routines.

The good news is that none of this is mutually exclusive. We can build our workout routines around big compound lifts, such as the squat, deadlift, bench press/push-up, overhead press, and chin-up. We can lift in moderate rep ranges to build muscle mass and improve our work capacity. And we can focus on gradually growing stronger, always fighting to outlift our past selves.

If you can lift a lot of weight on a well-rounded selection of big compound free-weight lifts, you’ll be generally strong. Feel free to test your 1-rep max, 5-rep max, or 10-rep max. It doesn’t matter. Both low and moderate rep ranges measure general strength. The same goes for the specific lifts you choose. We favour the “Big Five” hypertrophy lifts, but you can choose lifts that suit your body and your goals.

If you want a customizable workout program (and full guide) that builds these principles in, check out our Outlift Intermediate Bulking Program. Or, if you’re still skinny, try our Bony to Beastly (men’s) program or Bony to Bombshell (women’s) program. If you liked this article, I think you’d love our full programs.

8 Ways Strength Training Boosts Your Health and Fitness

Every workout plan should include strength training — and bigger muscles are just one of the health benefits you’ll reap.

If you knew that a certain type of exercise could benefit your heart, improve balance, strengthen bones and muscle, and help you lose or maintain weight, wouldn’t you want to get started? Well, studies show that strength training can provide all those benefits and more.

“The basic principle is to apply a load and overload the muscle so it needs to adapt and get stronger,” explains Neal Pire, CSCS, an ACSM-certified exercise physiologist and account manager at The Gym at Englewood in Englewood, New Jersey.

Tips for Working Out: Strength Training

Why is strength training so important? Listen to tips from Kelsey Wells, a trainer with the workout app Sweat and creator of the PWR weight training programs.

At its heart, strength training is based on functional movements — lifting, pushing, pulling — in order to build muscle and coordination needed for everyday activities, explains Ramona Braganza, a Los Angeles-based celebrity personal trainer, certified by the Canadian fitness education organization Canfitpro.

“For some people, the phrase strength training is intimidating, but it’s enhancing your ability to move safely and effectively in your life,” she says. For example: Your ability to lift something and put it on a shelf, carry your groceries in the door, bend down and pick something up, or get up after you’ve fallen down. “Getting up off the floor requires you to recruit muscles in your upper body, abs, legs, and glutes,” Braganza says.

And you need to rest in between strength training workouts.

“You don’t get better during workouts; you get better in between,” says Pire. “You should give yourself a day in between strength training to allow your body to recover and rebuild the muscle tissue from the stimulus of lifting or resistance.”

How Strength Training Helps Your Health

Besides the well-touted (and frequently Instagrammed) benefit of adding tone and definition to your muscles, how does strength training help? Here are just a few of the many ways:

1. Strength Training Makes You Stronger and Fitter

This benefit is the obvious one, but it shouldn’t be overlooked. “Muscle strength is crucial in making it easier to do the things you need to do on a day-to-day basis,” Pire says — especially as we get older and naturally start to lose muscle.

2. Strength Training Protects Bone Health and Muscle Mass

Likewise, the HHS physical activity guidelines note that, for everyone, muscle strengthening activities help preserve or increase muscle mass, strength, and power, which are essential for bone, joint, and muscle health as we age.

3. Strength Training Helps Your Body Burn Calories Efficiently

All exercise helps boost your metabolism (the rate your resting body burns calories throughout the day).

But when you do strength, weight, or resistance training, your body demands more energy based on how much energy you’re exerting (meaning the tougher you’re working, the more energy is demanded). So you can amplify this effect depending on the amount of energy you put into the workout. That means more calories burned during the workout, and more calories burned after the workout, too, while your body is recovering to a resting state.

4. Strength Training Helps Keep the Weight off for Good

Because strength training boosts excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, it can also help exercisers boost weight loss more than if you were to just do aerobic exercise alone, Pire says. “[Resistance or strengthening exercise] keeps your metabolism active after exercising, much longer than after an aerobic workout.”

That’s because lean tissue in general is more active tissue. “If you have more muscle mass, you’ll burn more calories — even in your sleep, than if you didn’t have that extra lean body mass,” he adds.

5. Strength Training Helps You Develop Better Body Mechanics

“Balance is dependent on the strength of the muscles that keep you on your feet,” Pire notes. “The stronger those muscles, the better your balance.”

6. Strength Training Can Help With Chronic Disease Management

For the more than 30 million Americans with type 2 diabetes, strength training along with other healthy lifestyle changes can help improve glucose control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a study published in June 2017 in Diabetes Therapy.

7. Strength Training Boosts Energy Levels and Improves Your Mood

And we all know a better night’s sleep can go a long way in keeping mood up.

8. Strength Training Has Cardiovascular Health Benefits

Getting Started: How to Add Strength Training to Your Routine

If you’re looking to add strength or resistance training to your routine you have a lot of options, Pire notes. You definitely don’t need a gym membership or expensive weight machines, he adds. “Squatting on a chair at home, pushups, planks, or other movements that require you to use your own body weight as resistance can be very effective. The more intensity and volume and variety that you can apply to your body the greater the response,” he says.

Braganza agrees, adding that continuing to challenge yourself by adding free weights or using a weight machine at the gym or altering the tempo you perform the exercises at will help mix things up to create the adaptations your body needs to build strength.

If you have any health issues, ask your doctor what type of strength training is best to meet your needs and abilities. You can also work with a fitness expert to design a strength training program that will be safe and effective for you.

Even hiring a trainer for one to three sessions can be essential in helping you learn the correct form for strength exercises and help you create a well-rounded program right for your body, goals, and other health risks, says Braganza.

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It would a lot of strength to lift that weight