How Can You Continue To Improve After Strength Training 2+ Years?
How can you continue to improve after Strength training for 2+ years??
In theory, becoming stronger is quite a basic principle. We lift a weight that challenges us, a weight that fatigues our muscles, causes some local discomfort, perhaps some delayed soreness, and after a period of time we select a weight that is heavier than before. Weights that previously weren’t achievable become so! Increases in strength therefore should be simple….. just make sure that every few sessions, or every couple of weeks, we add a couple of small plates to our bar or slowly work our way up the dumbbell rack, following the same steps as outlined above.
Improvements in our strength, our ‘ability to overcome an external load or resistance’ is not a linear process. The longer we train, the harder it becomes. We have to start digging deeper into our tool box and deploying new tactics in order to keep getting stronger.
But before we get into that, let’s briefly review how in the initial stages of training we are able to become stronger quite quickly, the newbie gains phenomenon! It’s essentially a mixture of physiological, neurological and mechanical adaptations and improvements that happen in quite rapid succession and which over time will dampen and become less apparent. Let’s start with neurological and mechanical as they’re closely linked.
Our brain is responsible for sending signals and messages to our muscles in order for them to contract, the more muscles being asked to do a job simultaneously, the more complex it becomes. It takes time for these motor neuron pathways to become established, but when they do the result is a stronger, more coordinated and efficient muscular contraction, the result, greater strength.
Mechanical improvements essentially derive from better technique. When we understand the movement and the way in which it is sequenced and executed, we are able to lift heavier weights, coupled with the fact that our brain and muscles are able to communicate an action request far faster than before, resulting in more weight being lifted.
Physiologically, when we subject our muscles to higher levels of stress on a continual basis our muscle fibers grow in both size and number, creating a bigger muscle, coupled with the brain being able to recruit these muscle fibers more readily allows us to lift heavier loads. And as stated before, all these processes are on turbo charge for beginner lifters.
But after the honeymoon period what then?
Strength comes in different forms; maximal or absolute strength, relative strength, speed strength, strength endurance, but to name a few. It’s important to understand the context when discussing continual improvements in strength training. In the early stages of weight training you can get improvements in all of the above without targeting them specifically. The increase in performance across the board is due to brand new stimuli being introduced to the body and the requirement therefore to meet these new demands.
After a certain amount of training months or years under your belt, splitting up these categories and focusing on each as a specific training approach is important. They all inter link and are integral to each other, they all for the most part rely upon each other for continued improvement. But they can be trained in isolation, as well as simultaneously, within the same week, even within the same workout. And it’s this more refined and focused approach that will enable continued strength improvements.
Maximal or Absolute strength training coupled with Hypertrophy will be the most important two models of weightlifting needed to be incorporated into any training regime for continued improvements in strength. Between these two you’ll get the right levels of intensity, training volume and stimulus. As time marches on, improvements will slow, most noticeably in your max strength, but as highlighted, max strength forms only one part of the equation. If you’re able to turn your 1 rep max into your 5 rep max, this is a huge improvement in strength capabilities. If you’re able to squat deeper and with better technique with a weight you struggled with in the past, this too is an improvement in not only strength, but movement quality and competency. An absolute must have when your aim is to consistently get stronger.
Per week:
Lift heavy 80-100% 1rm 1-6 reps
Lift moderate loads 50%-75% 1rm 6-20 reps
Incorporate both compound and isolation/accessory exercises
Use lifting tempos, especially slow eccentrics (lengthening phase)
15-20 sets per muscle per week either directly or indirectly
Always refine technique on lighter days
Don’t always train to failure
Utilize supersets and drop sets
Seek out new exercises but don’t neglect the foundational movements
Target muscles and movements in multiple planes and angles
Train with intent
Remember that strength is multi faceted, just moving better under or over the bar constitutes improved strength
What got you here will keep you here. To continue improvements in your strength, there’s no need to seek out something new in the hope that it will revolutionize everything for you. Just make sure that each workout has a purpose and a framework. Not every rep, set or weight needs to be exact. As you gain experience, training intuitively can become an important asset. Training with intent and purpose is a powerful remedy when executed in conjunction with some of the principles we’ve discussed. Log your workouts and remember that improvements in strength come in many forms.