- Introduction
- Basics of muscular strength training
- Best methods to train muscular strength
- Straight sets
- Pyramid set training
- Split training
- Samples of muscular strength training programs
- Suitability for developing athletes and physical education
- Final thoughts
- Sources
Introduction
Muscular strength describes your ability to efficiently recruit as many motor units as possible to produce as much force as you can. If you have yet to read about the theoretical background of muscular strength training, we highly suggest you check it out here.
If you’re already familiar with the subject and want to focus on training, you’ve come to the right place! Here you can find out how to create your own muscular strength training program. We even have some free sample training programs to choose from!
Basics of muscular strength training
Muscular strength training uses weights of nearly 80-100% of your maximum with only 1-3 repetitions in each set. The amount of sets ranges from five to six with 2-4 minute breaks in between. As you will be lifting weight close to your physical limits, you must maintain good technique and remember to rest enough between sets. This will make sure you keep progressing as an athlete and stay healthy in the process.
Muscular strength training utilizes very heavy resistance to overload the muscle and creates small tears (microtrauma) inside the muscle. As our bodies tend to overcompensate the repair process, the muscles become stronger in the process. This is also known as supercompensation and it forms the basis for any type of strength training. However, since the muscles adapt and become stronger, you must also maintain progression in your training. This means constantly adding more weight or repetitions to further stimulate the muscles. This is also known as the progressive overload rule of strength training and it is the main building block of strength training. Consistently adding more weight means you will grow stronger and become an even better athlete.
Your training must also be specified to your sport and individualized according to your personal needs. After all, your aim is to improve your own performance. Athletes also often forget that strength development and learning happens when you rest. Thus, it is important to remember to rest and get enough sleep to maintain progress. This is especially important since your body is not able to receive a maximal stimulus for the next 48h after maximal strength training. However, after 72 h your strength gains will start to decline. Therefore athletes often perform muscular strength training once or twice a week to keep their strength levels as high as possible.
Here’s a simple chart if you want to create your own muscular strength training program.
Muscular Strength Training
Weight at 80 - 100% of your maximum1 - 3 maximum effort repetitions5 - 6 setsRest for 2 - 4mins between setsFull-body & isolated exercisesEmphasis on off-season training but also performed throughout a competitive season
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Best methods to train muscular strength
Muscular strength training requires heavy resistance with fewer repetitions and long rest periods. In addition to regular “straight set” weight training, muscular strength can be trained effectively with pyramid sets and different types of split training. This ensures that your nerves stay sharp and able to recruit muscles the best way possible. After all, your goal is not to fatigue the muscle but rather to improve muscle activity and recruitment.
Straight sets
Straight sets are the easiest and most commonly used training method for improving strength. This is because it incorporates the same amount of weight and repetitions in each set. Usually, these sets range from three to five.
The benefit of straight sets is that they are great for beginners and can be varied according to your goals. For maximum strength, you need more weight with fewer repetitions whereas muscular hypertrophy requires more repetitions with slightly less resistance. Of course, the same principle can also be used for muscular endurance training.
Straight sets can also be combined in various ways to create supersets that incorporate different muscle groups back-to-back with no breaks in between. For example, doing 10 pull-ups and immediately moving on to 12 repetitions of weighted squats. Once you have completed this set it is time to rest before performing the next superset.
Pyramid set training
The basic principle of pyramid sets is that it changes the weight around 5-10% from set to set. Naturally, as the resistance gets heavier the number of repetitions will be lower. Pyramid training can also be divided into wide pyramids and narrow pyramids, which describe the change in repetitions or resistance from set to set. As the name suggests, wide pyramids have a wider range of repetitions and weights during a single session – and vice versa.
Pyramids are also the only training method that utilizes weights that are above the maximum amount of weight you can lift (110%). Changing the resistance during a single workout session is extremely effective because it offers a varied stimulus for the muscle. You can ever do a reverse pyramid set for more challenge.
Split training
Split training focuses on a specific muscle group or body part during a single workout session. It can also be divided in a few different ways. The most common splits are upper body/lower split, agonist/antagonist split and push/pull split.
Upper body/lower body split alternates between upper body and lower body training during a single day. It is often used for improving general fitness rather than athletic performance.
Agonist/antagonist split (the muscle responsible for a movement/its opposing muscle) alternates between opposing muscle groups. For example, hamstring day followed by a quadriceps day. This kind of workout routine is often divided into three workouts a week.
"The goal of muscular strength training is to work the nerves - not the muscles themselves."
Push/pull split (or sometimes push/pull/legs split) often incorporates both upper body and lower body exercises during a single day. However, one day focuses on push workouts whereas another one concentrates on pulling exercises. For example, focusing on biceps, triceps & shoulders on one day and curls & rows the next day.
More advanced training methods include splitting workouts between major muscle groups; legs, core, chest, shoulders and arms. Each training session focuses on fully exhausting the muscles to stimulate growth while giving other muscle groups some much needed time to rebuild and recover. This is more commonly known as body-part split, which is often used in bodybuilding due to its ability to build more contractable muscle mass. That said, there are tons of variations when it comes to split training, so picking out the best one always comes down to personal taste.
While split training is a popular training method for improving muscular hypertrophy, studies have shown that multiple training sessions for the same muscle groups during a week are more effective for overall strength development. That is why powerlifters or Olympic weightlifters never use this training method.
After maximal strength training your body is not able to receive a similar stimulus for the next 48h. However, after 72h your strength gains will start to decline.
Physiological effects of muscular strength training
Since muscular strength training focuses on enhancing muscle recruitment through the nervous system, it is not trying to exhaust the muscles themselves. With this in mind, lifting the heaviest weight possible will not result in added muscle mass, but rather in a more powerful and efficient performance. This enhanced muscular efficiency leads to improved strength capability and reduced risk of injury. Additionally, studies have proven that muscular strength training also improves anaerobic energy production and reduces delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after working out.
Muscular efficiency refers to your body’s ability to adapt according to the way you use it. As a result of both sports-specific training and weight training, you can perform former skills with more power, greater precision and with less effort. For example, even endurance athletes can improve their performance if every step produces more power than before.
Reduced injury risk is a huge benefit of muscular strength training. The reason why strength training can improve injury prevention is that stronger muscles, joints, ligaments and bones can withstand the ground reaction forces that athletes face in high-intensity sports.
Improved anaerobic energy production describes how well your body can perform using anaerobic energy production. Consistent muscular strength training increases the amount of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), Creatine Phosphate (CP), free Creatine and Glycogen inside the muscles, where they can be used for anaerobic energy production more efficiently. Additionally, strength training also improves your ability to tolerate lactate and resist fatigue. The reason behind this is that stronger muscles require less effort to produce a submaximal (below your maximum) movement.
Muscular strength training also improves movement efficiency and injury prevention.
Samples of muscular strength training programs
So you’re looking into becoming stronger without the added bulkiness of muscle mass? Lucky for you, we’ve created some sample training routines for your convenience. We’ll also be constantly adding more options to choose from.
Intermediate arm strength program
1. Bench press
- Weight at 80% of your maximum
- 3 repetitions
- 3 sets
- Rest for 2mins between sets
2. Overhead press
- Weight at 80% of your maximum
- 3 repetitions
- 3 sets
- Rest for 2mins between sets
3. Wide-grip pull up
- Weight at 80% of your maximum
- 3 repetitions
- 3 sets
- Rest for 2mins between sets
4. Bicep Curls
- Weight at 80% of your maximum
- 3 repetitions
- 3 sets
- Rest for 2mins between sets
5. Weighted dips
- Weight at 80% of your maximum
- 3 repetitions
- 3 sets
- Rest for 2mins between sets
Intermediate pyramid set program
1. Bench press
- Set 1: 3 repetitions at 85% of your maximum
- Set 2: 2 repetitions at 90% of your maximum
- Set 3: 1 repetition at 100% of your maximum
- Set 4: 3 repetitions at 85% of your maximum
- Rest for 2mins between sets
2. Overhead press
- Set 1: 3 repetitions at 85% of your maximum
- Set 2: 2 repetitions at 90% of your maximum
- Set 3: 1 repetition at 100% of your maximum
- Set 4: 3 repetitions at 85% of your maximum
- Rest for 2mins between sets
3. Wide-grip pull up
- Set 1: 3 repetitions at 85% of your maximum
- Set 2: 2 repetitions at 90% of your maximum
- Set 3: 1 repetition at 100% of your maximum
- Set 4: 3 repetitions at 85% of your maximum
- Rest for 2mins between sets
4. Bicep Curls
- Set 1: 3 repetitions at 85% of your maximum
- Set 2: 2 repetitions at 90% of your maximum
- Set 3: 1 repetition at 100% of your maximum
- Set 4: 3 repetitions at 85% of your maximum
- Rest for 2mins between sets
5. Weighted dips
- Set 1: 3 repetitions at 85% of your maximum
- Set 2: 2 repetitions at 90% of your maximum
- Set 3: 1 repetition at 100% of your maximum
- Set 4: 3 repetitions at 85% of your maximum
- Rest for 2mins between sets
Deadlift narrow pyramid set
1st set
- Weight at 85% of maximum
- 3 repetitions
- 4mins rest between sets
2nd set
- Weight at 90% of maximum
- 2 repetitions
- 4mins rest between sets
3rd set
- Weight at 100% of maximum
- 1 repetition
- 4mins rest between sets
4th set
- Weight at 90% of maximum
- 2 repetitions
- 4mins rest between sets
5th set
- Weight at 85% of maximum
- 3 repetitions
- 4mins rest between sets
Intermediate powerlifting routine 1
1. Warmup
- Rowing for 15mins
2. Front squat
- Weight at 85% of maximum
- 1-3 repetitions
- 3 sets
- 2min rest between sets
3. Bench
- Weight at 85% of maximum
- 1-3 repetitions
- 3 sets
- 2min rest between sets
4. Deadlift
- Weight at 85% of maximum
- 1-3 repetitions
- 3 sets
- 2min rest between sets
5. Overhead press
- Weight at 85% of maximum
- 1-3 repetitions
- 3 sets
- 2min rest between sets
6. Power clean
- Weight at 85% of maximum
- 1-3 repetitions
- 3 sets
- 2min rest between sets
Note that we are not responsible for any injuries that may occur during these drills or practices. Always remember to train within your own limits and at the guidance of a professional instructor.
Muscular strength training relies on the progressive overload principle - you must constantly add more weight to have the same effect.
Suitability for developing athletes and physical education
Versatile training is crucial for a growing athlete because it provides the strength foundation needed for more sports-specific training methods. Additionally, since you grow taller and heavier you must make sure you are strong enough to sustain physical the demands of intense training.
Muscular strength training is often regarded as unsafe for growing athletes. However, there’s no real research to back up this claim. Even though there is a common misconception that heavy resistance training will stunt your growth and cause injuries on your joints and muscles, that is not entirely the case. In fact, resistance training can be perfectly safe and improve both your strength and coordination.
However, you must remember that heavy resistance training can be very straining for your muscles, ligaments and joints. Thus, you should always have professional guidance at your disposal to make sure your core strength and technique are good enough and to prevent any possible injuries. This way you can also learn how to assist others and gain some valuable information on how to periodize your training for the most benefit. Therefore, muscular strength can somewhat be utilized in physical education. That said, it is not suggested to test your one-rep maximums during class unless you are working with a very advanced group. Instead, your focus should be on performing more repetitions with less weight. This veers more into muscular hypertrophy territory – even close to power training if done in an explosive way.
In the long run, a well-balanced workout routine will not only enhance your performance but prevent injuries as well.
Final thoughts
Muscular strength training is vital for any athlete striving to become the best in their field. Not only does it help you maintain a good basic level of strength, but it also improves your performance if done correctly. That is also the reason why strength muscular strength training should be incorporated into nearly every athlete’s training routine regardless of the time of the season.
Aside from the progressive overload rule of strength training, the most important aspect of becoming stronger is to train with enough resistance and rest long enough between sets. This will make sure you will focus on enhancing muscle recruitment instead of the muscle itself. Thus, ensuring you will become stronger and more powerful without added muscle mass. On the other hand, if your sport relies on this, you may want to consider muscular hypertrophy training as well.
Training aside, you must also make sure that you balance it out with proper nutrition and sufficient rest if you want to maintain progress effectively and safely.
Did you learn anything new about muscular strength training? Let us know in the comments below!
Sources
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Daniel Kiikka
Daniel Kiikka holds a Master’s Degree in sports science, with a focus on sports pedagogy. After graduating from the University of Jyväskylä in 2015, Daniel worked nearly a decade within the world-renowned Finnish educational system as a physical education and health science teacher. Since 2021, Daniel has worked as a Lecturer at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
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