If you want to increase your strength, you will need to find the right way to do so. Building more muscles will help you to increase your strength but strength does not only mean muscles. Let’s find out how you can increase your strength.

Include the big four

The big four are squat, deadlifts, benchpress and shoulder press and you should include them in your workout because they will help you to increase your strength. These four exercises should be the focus of your workout and then you can include other exercises to complement them. While exercising you need to remember to balance your pulling mussels with pressing muscles.

Write a log

Maintaining a log will help you to increase your strength. You will need to write down your exercises, sets, reps and other important aspects of each workout. It will help you to track what you are doing and how you are performing. When you have the numbers in your hand, you can always try to improve them and do better.

Use barbells

If you have a choice between barbells and dumbbells, choose the barbell. The barbell is king, dumbbell is queen and everything else is a court jester. During their initial phase of your workout start with barbell exercises. Barbells are important because it will allow you to lift heavy weights. Lifting heavy weights is very important to become stronger. So, start with the barbell exercises and lift heavy and then gradually can reduce the weight and come to dumbbell and bodyweight training.

Set of Five

Set of five can be the optimum number of sets for you in case of any exercise. You can make as many rep ranges as you want in your workouts. Set of five will offer you the best blend of muscle size and strength gains. It will help you to gain as much as strength is possible. After five sets your form will often break down and so continuing after five saves may not offer you as much benefit as before.

Lift explosively

Speed lifts will help you to learn acceleration and power development. You need to find a weight which is about 60% of your one rep maximum weight (the weight that you can lift for just one rep). Move as fast as possible while performing the exercise. The exercises which are more suitable are box squats, speed dead and speed bench etc. If you want to challenge yourself and increase the possibility of more strength development, you can use resistance through bands and chains. Try Olympic lifts like clean & jerk and the snatch. You can also use the same principle in medicine ball throws and kettlebell swings.

Sprints and drills

Sprints and drills can also help you to increase your strength. It will increase your running speed and quickness. Sprint intervals, hill sprints or agility drills will help you to develop strength and power. When you can accelerate, it will improve your strength and fitness which will show specifically in the field sports if you play any of them.

Rest longer

Since you are focusing on strength and not building more muscle, you can rest longer to get better results. Instead of resting for 30 to 60 seconds between sets, you can increase the rest period to 2 to 5 minutes depending on the exercise you are performing.

References

1. Bull Strength Training Manual
2. The effect of training volume and intensity on improvements in muscular strength and size in resistance-trained men
3. Increasing Lean Mass and Strength