When your primary goal is muscular strength, you need to build muscle for apparent reasons. As such, improving strength and building muscle essentially goes hand-in-hand. Of course, this is a simplified statement.
In other words, in the bodybuilding industry, for example, one can have the primary goal of building muscle and becoming more aesthetic without the intention of gaining strength, per se.
How is this accomplished? Through a training methodology known as ‘hypertrophy.’
In contrast, in the powerlifting community, for example, one has the primary goal of becoming stronger without aiming to build muscle. How is this accomplished? Through lifting heavier weights, most simply.
Nevertheless, in this article, we’ll be treating the act of gaining strength and building muscle as one and the same for simplicities sake. Why? Because both require similar actions to achieve said goal. Moreover, each is a common byproduct of the other. The only difference is the methodology.
Moreover, we’ll be discussing the importance of gaining strength, building muscle, and implementing a proper rest & recovery regimen. As a Chiropractor in West Vancouver, I see things from a musculoskeletal and physical health perspective a lot of the time. Hence, we’ll discuss the “bro-science” of building big muscles and its importance from a chiropractic point of view.
For starters, let’s begin at ground level and discuss how one can improve strength and build muscle as a beginner!
If You’re a Beginner
Without going into too much detail, getting started and walking through that door is the most difficult part of any fitness journey. However, as a beginner new to lifting and strength training, your only goal should be consistency and commitment.
The rest will speak for itself.
If you’ve never heard of “noobie gains” before, it’s the idea that new gym-goers can more easily see results and in a quicker amount of time, largely with little to no effort other than consistently showing up.
As a beginner looking to build muscle and gain strength, you’ll first want to nail down the basics. This early understanding of the fundamentals will set you up for longevity in the gym and ultimately result in greater quality muscle growth.
Below are a few simple tips that you can implement as a beginner to kickstart your strength gain and muscle building journey:
- Start With Your Bodyweight
Many fail to recognize that we can manipulate and use our body weight as a form of resistance training. The simple use of your body weight is especially effective for beginners because it’s safe, easy, and effective. It will also teach you proper form before adding any real weight to the mix. Most newcomers to the gym lack any preparation, goals, and basic techniques. Bad form, too heavy weights, and a poor understanding of why and how the body works lead to injury and eventually giving up altogether. As a Chiropractor in West Vancouver, I see numerous back and joint injuries that have resulted in a poor understanding of body biomechanics and training goals.
- Keep it Simple
The worst thing a beginner can do is rush into things too quickly and try more complex movements with heavier weights. Not only will this inevitably lead to injury, but It’s also a recipe for disaster in the long term. An injury will not only prevent you from training further but whatever gains you’ve built thus far will eventually recede.
Overtraining can lead to injuries. That is another common cause of most visits to our Chiropractor. Most people seem to think that if they don’t work out enough, muscle atrophy and any gains they have made will not wither away. Therefore, they work out like fiends in the gym and end up with sprains, strains, and joint injuries that set them back more than a rest period will.
- Exercise 2-3 Times/Week
Adding to the second tip about keeping it simple, all you need to do is begin your strength training journey as a beginner. To stay consistent and begin to progress, you want to start with a sustainable routine yet still elicits results. Many experts recommend that beginning with 2-3 days a week of exercise is a great place to start. It’s not too little and not too much. You need to give your body and muscles time to adjust to the new load being placed on them. Building a strong foundation, in the beginning, will provide you with a lifetime of gains and growth.
Build Muscle to Gain Strength
If you already exercise and partake in resistance training, you’re already a step ahead! However, to make consistent progress and gain muscle and increase strength, you need to become more methodical in your approach.
One of the most common and effective methodologies for gaining strength and building muscle? Progressive Overload…
Progressive Overload
In short, progressive overload involves a gradual increase in the difficulty of one or more facets of training and thus increasing total workload overtime. The hypothesis here is that by doing so, one will continue to reap the rewards of muscle growth, strength increases, or whatever said fitness goals may be.
Below are the most common ways to progressively overload the muscle:
- Increase the number of reps
- Increase the number of sets
- Increase the weight lifted
- Increase the total duration of the workout
- Decrease rest times
Whether you’re adding five pounds to a lift week-over-week, or you’re becoming more efficient with your time in between sets, over time, this progressive overloading technique will inevitably increase strength and build muscle.
You Need to Eat More!
Whether your goal is to build muscle or gain muscular strength, you need to be in a caloric surplus to do so. In other words, you need to eat more than you burn! Without a sufficient amount of calories, our bodies won’t be able to sustain the demands of our workout.
Moreover, recovery will be poor without a sufficient amount of calories, and thus, results will be poor (or non-existent).
Now, don’t get this twisted. Eating more doesn’t mean that it’s a free-for-all. Nutrition is just as important as the amount of food you put in your body. In order to build muscle and thus gain strength, our bodies need the right amount of proteins, fats, carbs, and nutrients to elicit a lasting muscular response.
Lastly, drink your water! Too often, I talk to patients about their health and fitness journey as a Chiropractor in West Vancouver, and the majority of them admit to knowing the importance of water intake yet neglect it nonetheless. Recovery of lost water, electrolytes, and minerals are absolutely important. The body cannot replenish this loss without drinking more water as part of that process.
Water provides several benefits, not to mention it’s largely what our bodies are made up of. Without getting into detail, stay hydrated, folks!
The Importance of Recovery
As a Chiropractor in West Vancouver, I’m all about listening to your body. It’s crucial not only to the general health and longevity of our bodies but also to your performance in the gym, your well-being throughout the day, injury prevention, the quality of sleep you get at night, and more.
Recovery is just as important, if not more important, than the exercise itself. And recovery doesn’t just mean rest. Recovery shows itself in several ways, from the active warm-up before a workout to the static cool-down post-workout stretches and the nutrition you intake to fuel yourself.
While many tend to ignore this crucial step of one’s fitness journey, recovery is imperative to muscle growth and strength gains. If you’re going the extra mile to curate an effective strength and muscle-building program, you may as well take one final step to curate an effective recovery regimen as well.
How often have I heard from patients that they work out 5-6 times per week with no rest. Thinking that the more they work out, the faster their gains will be. The truth is the opposite. Your body and muscles need rest to recover and grow. Sleep is a chance for the body and muscles to repair, grow and heal. The same thing is true with rest days. You don’t have to be completely inert on your rest days. Doing a light set of exercises like a short walk, a quick run, or yoga will add more to your muscle growth than hitting the weights 5-6 days a week.
