Plateaus, where whatever strategy, program, and exercises you’re using no longer works.
Although, sure, there might be necessary changes you need to make to push through these plateaus,
mistakes you are making now might actually be the bigger culprit.
Let’s take a look at 3 potential strength training mistakes you should try to fix now.
Number 1, It’s your form.
Perhaps attributed to ego lifting and/or fitness influencers where proper form is as foreign
as carbs are on keto.
The reason why form is important is not only because of obvious safety reasons and saving
you from awkward looks at the gym, but also that it will engage and activate the appropriate
muscle groups for the exercise.
Activation of other muscle groups that shouldn’t be involved or should only be involved at
lower capacities often occur with poor form.
These muscles mistakenly end up doing more of the work than they should, which limits
activation and stimulation of the proper muscle groups, thus lead to poor adaptation.
In short, there’s no reason for you to skimp out on practicing good form.
It will help you deliver the training stimulus to the right muscles, creating the best environment
for adaptation and pushing you to even greater heights in the future.
Number 2, you’re not training for hypertrophy Now this might be confusing for some, especially
people new to training, as it’s common to believe that building muscle and getting stronger
should be one of the same.
Although the overlap between training to get stronger and training to get bigger is quite
high, there are noticeable differences in their adaptation mechanisms that require separate
types of training.
Strength training often involves lifting heavy weights close to your one rep max, which drives
strength-based adaptation mechanisms like neuromuscular adaptation and skill development.
But perhaps the most important factor for strength gains is actually having more contractile
units, the proteins in your muscle fibers that contract and produce force.
This is where muscle growth, or myofibrillar hypertrophy, comes in.
Although lifting heavy can to an extent increase myofibrillar hypertrophy, it’s probably
not the most optimal approach.
Building muscle doesn’t REQUIRE heavy lifting, rather more on increasing work volume and
muscular fatigue.
Both can very well be achieved with a wide range of reps and intensities, even the low
rep ranges used in strength training.
Most commonly, though, it is achieved best with a moderate approach, using moderately
heavy loads hitting 6 to 12 reps per set for about 3 to 5 sets.
This moderate approach allows for achieving high volume in a relatively short amount of
time.
Using heavier weights often means needing more sets to achieve similar volume, which
increases session times.
It’s also more difficult to reach near-failure with heavier loads since it might jeopardize
proper fatigue thresholds.
In short, to get stronger, you’ll also need to get bigger.
When you get bigger, you have more muscles to work with and adapt for strength.
Best approach is to have some sort of periodization, be it daily or through training blocks, that
emphasize phases of strength AND hypertrophy.
And finally, number 3, you’re trying to work through pain.
Unfortunately, many of us try to eek out and push ourselves as far as we can, sometimes
to the detriment of our own health when we ignore pain signals.
We need to listen to our bodies when pain or discomfort arises beyond the feeling of
the usual soreness.
Working through pain more often than not actually leads to a worse situation.
Plus, pain inhibits complete muscle activation.
So not only are we risking hurting ourselves further but we’re also not able to give
full effort in the first place.
Best practice is to get your pain checked by the appropriate professionals, not your
local bro trainer, but rather a referral from your primary doctor, a physical therapist
or someone that specializes in exercise-based pain.
After that, come back slowly and meticulously with your lifting.
Start lighter and use more single-joint isolation exercises before you move back to the big
stuff.
And there you have it.
Three potential strength building mistakes you are currently making.
I know I’ve made mistakes, especially with the whole pain stuff.
But don’t be like me and avoid these mistakes early.
Your deadlift PRs will thank you for it.
Let me know about other strength mistakes you might have made in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to like it and share it with your one rep
max-loving friends.
As always, thank you for watching and GET YOUR PROTEIN!