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Can you get stronger without getting bigger? In my experience, a lot of people think that you have to spend hours in the weight room doing exhaustion sets to failure to get stronger. While this may work in a short amount of time, it will stabilize very quickly and in my opinion create a physique that is incapable of performing any form of athletic activity at a high level. This is something that I see a lot of people ruining in the gym. I repeatedly hear young people discuss how they have gotten stuck in their lifts and decide to simply try increasing the number of sets / reps, the total volume, or just keep doing the same old thing, hoping they will magically do it. stronger. This is a BIG mistake, especially if your goal is to have an average-sized lean physique, but with extraordinary muscle density.
Reduce your sets and reps to increase strength and muscle tone To get really strong, you need to lift the heaviest weights you can handle with perfect form, for very few reps. I recommend 3-5 reps. 1-3 reps for sheer strength, 5 reps for a little muscle too. A good rule of thumb is to leave the gym feeling stronger than when you entered. If you feel fatigued or sore, you did too much. I like to keep the total number of sets under 14 total. Keep the rest between sets for about 1-2 minutes. I know it sounds crazy, but trust me, you will break through your current plateau and accumulate strength this way. This is an amazing way to gain sizeless strength for a lean Special Forces body.
Why more is NOT always better Most people think that simply doing more work = better results, and I was definitely stuck in that category until a couple of years ago. Basically increasing the total number of sets or just trying to do more work will mean that you will build strength, endurance and muscle mass, but your pure strength gains will quickly stagnate. Remember those muscular guys in high school and college in “inflata-lats” and ridiculous T-shirts who seemed to subsist on a diet of protein shakes and chicken breasts (think like half the cast of “Jersey Shore” hahaha)? This is the look you will create with a high volume lift and it is simply not functional or attractive. If you combine this lifting method with a high-carb, high-calorie diet and you’re just asking for a puffy, bloated look. Say no to cosmetic facelift and train to function. Will follow the slim and dense body of special operations.
Train like a Recon Marine to get a Hollywood body This is a very popular method of raising military units that must be ready to go at any time. They can’t afford to be tired or sore from a 2-hour weightlifting session, but they still need to be incredibly strong and conditioned. Recon Marines and Navy SEALS are 2 units of the Special Forces that are a great example of the type of body and the level of conditioning that this training produces. They are generally medium in size, but with outstanding muscle tone and strength-to-weight ratio. I have been training like this for about 3 years now and have almost doubled my strength levels. I used to have trouble lifting 50 pound weights for a single row armed, and now I can easily pull a hundred with each arm at a 160 pound body weight. Whenever I start training guys for the military, the first thing we do is limit our time in the weight room as much as possible. After a few weeks, you’ll feel like a badass lifting weights heavier than half the people around you and then you’ll walk away while everyone else is still working on their exhaustion sets.
All the best, Charles Malina