Tips to Making Sure you Get Stronger at the Gym

We all want to get stronger and build muscle - but, as many of you have found out, it is just not as easy as going to the gym a few times a week. It takes a strict routine, involving everything from your diet to your sleep pattern to truly get stronger. Finding the motivation and energy to intensify your workouts is also key. If getting stronger is your target, what should you be doing to maximize your trips to the gym? It will take a lot of work, and maybe more time than you realize, but the end can more than justify the means.

Getting more intense

First and foremost, to get stronger you need to push yourself further. Pick up some heavier weights and get to work. Increase your reps too. Anything you can do to push your muscles to new levels of resistance will help in building stronger and bigger muscles.

Similarly, you should begin to reduce the rest time between reps/exercises. Adding in a superset where you do two exercises for the same muscle set with no break can really get your muscles burning. 

Forced reps are another common way to increase strength, but for these you will need help. Forced reps require you to continue working out after your muscles have reached the point of failure. These reps will fatigue additional fibers in your muscles, which further stimulates growth. Don’t implement forced reps in every exercise, but once or twice a week will be more than enough to do the trick. The more you push yourself, the more you muscles will respond - just don’t hurt yourself! 

Warm up

Before hitting the weights you should get your body warmed up. I’m not just talking about breaking a sweat by going for a light jog, but try to do things to loosen up all your joints like jumps or throwing exercises. Even jump roping can be a surprisingly good warm-up.

Getting to every muscle

Along with doing more intense workouts, you need to make sure to workout every muscle in the area you are trying to strengthen. You can do this by altering the current workout you do, or by adding in an entirely new exercise into your routine. This helps stimulate your muscle tissue and encourage growth - again, the key to becoming stronger. Lifting weights barefoot (if your gym allows it) can help make additional muscles work as well. 

Exhaust your main muscles first

If you target the wrong muscles early in your workout, you can bring an entire region to exhaustion before even getting to the primary muscle zone. To counter this, you should begin pushing your main muscles and then move on to your poorer muscles later in the workout. 

Eating right

Eating right is another key to building muscle. Something as simple as having a good breakfast can help you have the strength and motivation to finish a workout. You also need to include the right supplements into your diet to help build muscle fiber. Proteins and carbs are a necessity. Caffeine (under moderation) is also a big help before your big workout. There is no magic supplement like 1285 muscle claimed to be for building muscle strength, despite what the internet or infomercials may tell you.

Once you get your routine down, stick to it and wait for the benefits to start showing up. If you are struggling with motivation, I’ve always found that working with someone stronger can help get me through to the next level. Gym memberships aren’t cheap, so you need to make the most out of every visit. Sticking to a routine like what is laid out above will make sure your visits to the weight room are as beneficial as possible.

This is a post by Ashley Williamson. Ashley is a freelance writer from Wisconsin and an occasional guest-blogger interested in topics related to health and fitness. When she is not working she likes to travel and read as much as she can. if you have any question feel free to leave a comment.