A crucial part of being prepared for emergencies is to be fit enough to last the duration of the crisis and take the extra physical demands on your body. This requires some level of training. To gain the most out of your strength training program, you need to have a proper warm-up, start slow, maintain proper breathing and a steady tempo.
Many bodybuilders focus on building their muscle mass, which is a fancier term for increasing their overall strength. To do so, they go through rigorous strength training programs.
It helps their muscles get stronger and strengthens their whole body. Although some might think a strength training program is very harsh and puts a lot of strain on your body, that is not the case when done properly. It all depends on how much you can handle at the beginning and slowly toughen things up by yourself.
With that said, let us look at a few tips for building a successful strength training program.
1. Have A Proper Warmup
No matter what sort of workout you are doing, whether it is strength-building or stamina-building, you absolutely must have a warm-up session first.
It helps increase your body temperature and allows better blood circulation since the veins become stretched and carry more blood. Good blood circulation and relaxed/stretched muscles is a must to avoid injuries from working out.
But you cannot just do any warm-up session. Your warm-up session should depend on what type of exercise you are doing.
For example, if you want to train your legs’ muscles, then there is no point in stretching your arms. So be sure to include a good warm-up session that compliments your workout routine.
2. Start Out Small
Strength training is not something you are going to complete in one day. It takes several months of intense workouts. This is why if you rush things, you will gain nothing and risk injuring yourself.
So it is always optimal to start slowly with smaller workout routines.
For example, if you want to train your biceps, you should not immediately go with heavy dumbbells. You might strain and hurt yourself.
Start from smaller and lighter ones, do regular preps and slowly increase the weight. Weight should not be the focus of your workout. – it should be your form. To build your form, you must let it grow slowly.
This is even more important for neck training. You do not want to strain your neck on the very first day.
3. Maintain Stable Breathing
Maintaining proper breathing is an essential part of working out. . Be sure to breathe in and out as you are working out.
Many people might believe that if they hold their breath while exercising their muscles, the muscles will develop much faster. But in reality, doing so will cause nausea and make you vomit – or worse.
This is because holding your breath puts a lot of pressure on your stomach. And to release the tension, you may accidentally vomit due to the strain on your stomach.
The ideal breathing should be exhaling as you lift something up and inhaling as you lower them down. If you want to strain the muscles, meaning you want to keep the weight lifted, then breathe slowly as you firmly keep the weight over your shoulder.
4. Have A Steady Tempo
Having a steady tempo means you will have a consistent speed and rhythm to your workout. You will often see that when people lift, they lift and lower the weight quickly at the beginning, but as they keep doing so, their speed drops. This is not an ideal tempo.
An ideal tempo should maintain the same speed throughout the workout. Lift something up by counting from one to three, then put it down by counting from one to three. This will allow you to have a steady speed all throughout the workout.
5. Put The Necessary Strain On Your Muscles
Since the strength training workout aims to build your strength, you cannot do so if you do not push your muscles beyond their limit.
If you feel comfortable with a certain weight, such as 5 kg, then push a bit higher and gradually take on 10kg or even 15 kg.
Because if you push higher and can maintain it, it is good for you. If not, you can lose some weights and start from there.
6. Have A Proper Workout Routine
All your workout programs should follow a strict routine. The routine should include focused exercises to build up a particular set of muscles of the body at a time.
An example would be; one day for your arms, a day for your legs, and a day for your core. With this routine, you will have a steady growth regarding overall fitness.
7. Listen To Your Body
Indeed, everyone cannot do all exercises. Your body will comfortably do one sort of workout but badly react to another. It all depends on how much you can endure and whether your body can take on such exercises.
If you feel a steady pain while doing that workout, then you need to stop doing it. Listen to your body. Seek professional advice from your doctor if the pain persists and let them guide you.
8. Include Every Muscle
Your strength training program should include all of your muscles. You cannot just solely focus on your biceps or your core. Doing so might make your body appear weird where you have buffed up arms and very skinny legs.
Build all the muscles of your body and not just a particular one. Allocate one or two days for each muscle group to gain steady growth.
9. Take A Break From Time To Time
Your body needs some time to rest as well. During resting, your muscles can repair and rebuild themselves to be ready for the next rigorous training.
Without a proper resting period, you will see that your muscles will feel numb no matter how much you work out. So take a break of 48 hours per week from your workout to take care of both your physical and mental health.
Final Thoughts
Strength training programs are not just to build a lean muscular body. It teaches us endurance, discipline, and patience while making us stronger. It takes a lot of dedication to complete a program, and if you are a beginner, you should follow these easy tips to work out safely.