Strength Training: Is it Making You Or Breaking You?

Whether the goal is fat loss or building muscle, a lot of us seem to enjoy the effects of low-load, high-intensity training. We enjoy the pump and the burn during the workout, as well as the soreness that comes the next morning, but are all of those effects really telling the truth about the effectiveness of our workouts?

Does soreness mean we did a good job and worked hard?

Does a burn mean we are effectively training our muscles?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

The purpose of this article is to go through the importance of strength training as a great personal training program in the hopes of sparking an interest to incorporate it into your regimen.

Strength Training: What is It?

Although there are several different ways resistance training can help us build strength, a specific form of resistance training (simply called strength training) can help prime our CNS (central nervous system) to allow our neurons to communicate to our muscles well. This improved communication in our nervous system can allow more muscle fibers to fire, while enabling all of those fibers to engage to the best of their ability.

This form of training includes high volume, heavy-load, and low-rep work using compound (multi-joint) movements like squats, bench press, deadlifts, pull-ups, and the overhead press. Those aren’t exclusive strength training exercises, but we know them to be the best “bang for your buck” movements.

Generally speaking, strength work usually calls for three to five sets of two to five reps. Training with a high load using these weight and rep schemes put a lot of stress on the CNS, asking it to adapt and call out to more muscle fibers to fire in order to move the load. Rest periods are much longer while strength training, as it takes much longer for the CNS to recover than it does for muscles to recover.

Rest periods can usually be two to five minutes long, and this is where people start to wonder why they should even be doing strength training. “Five minutes of rest?” “Five minutes of nothing? No sweat, no heavy breathing, no cardiovascular exhaustion? It doesn’t seem like it’s doing anything for my body, so what’s the point?”

Strength Training: Why You Need to Shut Up and Do It

Sure, you may not be feeling any direct effects like tons of sweat, muscular fatigue, and cardiovascular fatigue from strength training, but that doesn’t mean it’s a waste of time. Besides, those shouldn’t be your only indicators for a good workout (more on that in another article).

One of the big reasons you may be looking for new ways to add to your personal training program is because you’re wanting to improve something about your physique. Whether you want abs, bigger biceps, or less body fat, there’s some sort of external goal that you may be working toward.

Plain and simple, strength training is going to help you get there. Let me tell you why.

Strength training isn’t just creating opportunities to move a ton of weight. There’s actually a lot more to it. When performing a proper strength training routine, you’re practicing. You’re improving your body’s mechanics through a movement. You’re teaching your CNS to communicate with your body. With proper technique and good mobility involved in your movements, your body will learn how to use its range of motion, joint angles, as well as muscle fibers to most efficiently and effectively move the applied weight. As it turns out, all of the skills developed in strength training translates over to your other modes of training and delivers great results.

After you’re done with the strength training phase in your program, all of the gains (CNS adaptation, mechanics, technique, etc.) you’ve made will help you move more weight in higher rep ranges (8+ reps) leading to more muscle being built. Remember that muscle building has the best results when high frequency and volume can be applied.

When there is a gradual increase in volume (weights x sets x reps) over the course of your training program, and a high frequency of the anabolic signals being sent to your body, you’re in a great state to build muscle. Therefore, it’s extremely important to include a phase in your programming for strength training, as it will enable you to move more weight when you’re working on hypertrophy (muscle building).

Let’s also keep in mind that increasing volume and building muscle isn’t just about the appearance of our physique. Can it help you look more cut, defined, and toned? Sure, of course. But it’s also going to aid in your metabolism. More lean tissue means more calories automatically burned throughout the day, giving you more freedom in your diet, and an easier opportunity to lose body fat.

Takeaways

Frankly, it doesn’t matter what your goal is. If your goal is building muscle, you’re going to need to prime your body to build muscle. If your goal is fat loss, at some point throughout the process, you’re going to need to prime your body to build muscle. Heck, even if maintaining your physique is your goal, performing resistance training is essential.

Do muscle building and fat loss goals require slightly different protocols in order to arrive at the desired destination? Sometimes, but one thing that never changes is the strength that is needed to move weight. Muscle is needed to keep your metabolism burning more calories, and increased volume and frequency is needed to build muscle. And if increase volume and frequency are needed to build muscle, it’s important that you have the strength to progress and increase your training volume over time.

If you’re always moving weight between eight and 20 reps and never challenge your strength with reps below that, you’re not giving your body the opportunity to build and use strength to help you increase your lean muscle tissue.

It’s a chain of events.

One thing helps the next which helps the next, and so on.

If you haven’t performed some strength training in a while, include it in your personal training program in order to help your CNS engage. That way you can keep progressing and pushing the plateaus that are coming your way.

Thanks For Reading!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to hear what I have to say. I really appreciate it! No matter where you’re at along your health and fitness journey, remember that you’ve got a guy to help you through with our personal training programs. I’m here to help you take that next step, regardless of what that might look like. From a simple note of encouragement to completely tailored coaching, I’m here for ya. God bless.

About the Author

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.

Fasting: Which Approach Could Work For You?

Before I say anything about fasting and what method may be good for you, I need to say this: DO NOT incorporate fasting into your regimen if you don’t have a good relationship with food, and DEFINITELY DO NOT incorporate fasting into your regimen if you think it’s a definite answer to fat loss.

Ok, glad that’s over.

As you may have guessed from the title of this article, there are many different methods you can try when it comes to fasting, but I’d like to go over fasting in general before we get into the details of each method I’m including in this article. Keep in mind that not every fasting approach is best for every person. As an online fitness trainer, I can help you discover the best approach to fasting that you should try or if you should even try one. For more information about fasting, contact me today.

WHY FAST?

I already know what you’re thinking.

“Fasting? Are you kidding me? If I go three hours without food I’ll die. Or I’ll lose all of my progress, which will make me die. I CAN’T FAST!”

This is when I slap you in the face through the article and tell you to pull yourself together.

You can fast, and you may actually end up being a huge fan of it.

Fasting has been a part of many different cultures and religions for thousands and thousands of years. Do you really think that’s some sort of coincidence? I don’t. There are many different benefits to fasting that ancient societies/cultures have appreciated for a very long time. With the advancement of science and technology, we’re able to look at fasting on a deeper level and fully understand the benefits of this ancient practice.

Below are some of the great benefits of fasting:

1. Increased mental clarity

2. Improved absorption of nutrients

3. Improved body composition (less fat, more muscle)

4. Improved gut health

5. Improved insulin sensitivity

“Sure, fasting may work for those people, and it may have some benefits, but I just don’t see how I can go that long without food!”

I completely understand how you feel.

When we think of fasting, we immediately attach a negative emotion to it, because we’ve likely only heard of fasting on drastic levels. We hear stories of spiritual and/or influential people fasting for days at a time, sometimes a whole month!

Do we need to do the same to reap the benefits?

Heck no. Praise God.

Most of the benefits I mentioned above come into play within 12 hours of fasting, and they really begin to have a positive effect on the body around 14-16 hours into a fast.

Still thinking that going 12+ hours without food sounds completely miserable? Don’t worry. It’s not that bad, and there are a few different strategies you can use to incorporate fasting into your life.

DIFFERENT FASTING METHODS

Although there are many different ways to fast, I’d like to discuss three different strategies that I use and find extremely beneficial to my health.

THE 16:8 METHOD

This method is one of the most common intermittent fasting methods used. It’s pretty basic and easy to follow. The 16 represents the number of hours spent fasting, while the 8 represents the eating window in which you eat your calories for the day.

There are also a couple of different ways you can use the same strategy with different hours. I enjoy changing it to 14:10, that way I’m getting the benefits of fasting while having a longer eating window. I enjoy having a longer eating window, as my caloric intake is higher than normal while working toward some new goals. When I’m at maintenance calories or in a deficit, eating all of my calories in eight hours isn’t quite as difficult.

Applying this method to your life isn’t too difficult, especially if you use your sleep to go towards the 16 hours of fasting. An easy way to apply this is by eating your last meal around 5 or 6pm, and then reintroducing food around 9 or 10am the next day. For me, I usually stop eating around 8pm, and then I’ll eat again around 12 or 1pm the following day.

Do you have to do this every single day to reap the benefits? No, of course not. Listen to your body. If you feel like your system needs a break from the endless food intake, then give it a break. I enjoy using intermittent fasting on my rest days when I’m not eating as much food as I do on my training days.

THE 5:2 METHOD

This method is perfect for those of you who feel like fasting is too much to handle at the moment. The five represents five days of normal eating while the two represents two days of eating a significantly lower amount of calories.

A simple way of using this is by eating as you normally would for five days out of the week, and then eating very little food for two days that are apart from each other. On the two days that you eat a lower amount of calories, intake may be under 500 calories and those calories may include nutrient dense whole foods like fruits and veggies.

This isn’t technically fasting, but one of the things you may experience is improved gut health, digestion, and nutrient absorption. Although you’re not completely going without food for an extended period of time, you’re giving your digestive system a break from all the work it’s been doing, which might allow it to better absorb the nutrients it takes in on a regular basis when you reintroduce it to your normal daily caloric intake.

Once again, you don’t have to follow this every single week of your life for it to work. It may be a good method to use to introduce yourself to fasting without completely “ripping the bandaid.” I’ve used this a few times before, but I don’t find it to be the best for me as I’d rather go completely without food and get used to it rather than tease my body with a few hundred calories here and there.

THE 24-HOUR METHOD

Aside from the 16:8 method, the 24 hour method is one I’ll use every once in a while. It’s pretty self-explanatory. You’d simply go 24 hours without food.

There is only one way you can go about this, as there are only 24 hours in a day, and that’s the amount of time you’re fasting for.

Applying this to your day can be difficult, since it is a long time to go without eating. I DO NOT recommend this if you’ve never fasted before. If you’ve experienced fasting and you’ve incorporated it into your life, the 24 method may work well for you. I can’t tell you how everyone makes it work well for them as I don’t know everyone’s story, but what I can do is tell you what I do to make fasting for 24 hours doable.

During long fasts that are 24+ hours, I like to utilize coffee and water. Why coffee? Well, it’s delicious. Duh. But seriously, the caffeine in coffee can help suppress appetite, so I find myself less hungry while sipping on coffee throughout the day. Having some liquid in my stomach also helps my body believe it’s full. That’s the reason I drink a lot of water, too. The more water I have in me, the fuller I feel. I also enjoy using carbonated water, as the carbonation really helps me feel satiated.

The negative effects of fasting may be more noticeable during a 24+ hour fast. I notice that I get really hungry and tired around the 16 hour mark. After I get past that hump, the mental clarity and focus comes back.

One of the main reasons I enjoy the 24 hour fast is because I notice significant differences in my body afterward. When I refeed (reintroduce my body to food), I feel like a completely new person. It’s funny that happens because fasting actually helps your body get rid of old and/or dead cells. I also notice a huge difference in my performance while training after I refeed. I notice that my body fully accepts and completely utilizes all of the nutrients I give it after a fast.

You see, our bodies are like a sponge.

If the body is constantly being bombarded with calories and nutrients, it may become less capable of fully utilizing those nutrients. When a sponge has water constantly being poured over it, it’ll eventually stop soaking up as much water. When the sponge is drained, it’s now set up to soak up tons and tons of water. When the body is “drained” and given a break, it’s now in a position to fully soak up and utilize the fuel it’s being given. The old cells die off, and new cells are working hard.

The 24 hour method is something that can be used every once in a rare while. I like to use it three to five times a year. I don’t keep track, but I’ll throw a fast in here and there if I feel my body needs it.

IS FASTING FOR YOU?

I believe that everyone should use fasting so they can feel and understand the benefits at some point in their life. There are so many positives that come from fasting and I truly believe that an individual’s health and digestion can improve with it.

However, that doesn’t mean that I recommend that you fast just for giggles. Although it’s very beneficial, it’s a serious practice, too. It’s not something to be taken lightly. If you aren’t in sound health and/or don’t have a good relationship with food and your body, I don’t recommend that you fast. If you do think it’s something you’d like to try out, be sure to talk to your doctor first and make sure they feel you’re ready for it.

THANKS FOR READING!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to hear what I have to say, I truly appreciate it. No matter where you’re at along your health and fitness journey, remember you can reach out to an online fitness trainer to help you live healthier and be more fit. I’m here to help you take that next step, whatever that might look like. From a simple note of encouragement to completely custom-tailored coaching. I’m here to serve you. God bless.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a Colorado-based fitness professional and cookie fanatic. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been helping people all around the world transform their body, mind, and spirit through fitness in a fun and encouraging environment. If you’re interested in having Adam coach you to your goals, fill out an application here.

Change it Up, Don't Give it Up

Similar to most kids, I played a few different sports. I enjoyed shooting a basketball, playing street hockey with the neighborhood kids, and tossing a football around. I wasn't great at many of them, but I didn't really seem to care at that point in my life. Maybe I was too careless to even notice that I didn't excel. 

Although I grew up playing a lot of different sports for fun, baseball was one of the few sports that I played in an organized setting. Along with rec basketball games every weekend, I had rec baseball games lined up in the summer, too. I don't remember too much from those summers, but I do remember that I liked rec baseball the most out of all the sports I played. 

At age 10, my dad nudged me to tryout for a competitive baseball team. I tried out for a few teams, and was lucky enough to make one of them. All throughout that first year of competitive baseball, interestingly enough, I hated it.

I wasn't nearly as good as any of the other kids. If I was lucky enough to play, I hit nine-hole (that usually means you're not the best in the lineup). And when I did get the chance to step up to the plate, I couldn't hit the ball to save my life. My arm was average, too. I didn't get much playing time defensively. I was slow, and being left handed limited me to a few positions, each of which had a better player in them. I enjoyed pitching, though. At the time I didn't know what I liked about it (considering all the pressure and attention was on me and I wasn't great), but I do now (and we'll get to that later). 

After that first year of misery in competitive baseball, I was so ready to quit. But, the word "quit" doesn't really have much of a place in my family. My dad didn't let me quit. Well, I shouldn't say that. What I should say is that he urged me to play another year, but spend time practicing in between team practices and games. He knew I liked pitching, so he pushed me to give it one more year while practicing my pitching with him in the backyard.

I agreed.

So there we were, in the backyard playing catch and working on my pitching every chance we could. We would practice together every day after school until we couldn't see the ball leave the other person's hand. We practiced in the rain, and the snow. We practiced, practiced, and practiced in order to get ready for the second season. 

The second season came around, and everything was flipped on its head. I was the best pitcher on our team. I had command of my pitches. My confidence was through the roof. My teammates hardly even recognized my game on the field.

This was a massive turning point for me in my life.

For the first time ever, I saw what consistent practice on my craft did for me. Before my very eyes, I saw my hard work pay off. With every outing I had, I felt the reward of endless hours practicing with my dad in the backyard. These moments in that second season developed a deep love for time on the mound. 

And now, it makes so much sense as to why I love pitching. Pitching taught me work-ethic. It showed me a direct correlation between repetition, and execution. It showed me that hard work actually does pay off. Pitching on the mound also taught me how to have a short memory. It ruthlessly showed me that I can work, and work, and work, but there still might be situations where things don't go my way. 

My life now operates one pitch at a time. Similar to pitching, I give my all to whatever it is that I am doing. And once the "ball" leaves my hand, everything else is out of my control. 

The same thing applies to those of you who are trying to achieve a goal this year. 

Live One Pitch at a Time

Whether your goal is to lose 50 pounds of body fat, bench 300 pounds, or simply become a healthier version of yourself, a key to your success is living one pitch at a time. 

Since you're not playing baseball, your pitches are your tasks, and your days.

Each day I wake, I have a "To-Do" list set up that I put together the night before. On that "To-Do" list, there are three different sections. One section is titled "Execute" and the others are titled "Business" and "Personal".  

The "Execute" section of my list is extremely important. These are things that absolutely need to get done that day. No ifs, ands, or buts. The items under that section of my list are items that are absolutely pushing me in a forward direction in life, and business.

The "Business" section of my list is important, too. All of those items include things that need to get done in order to push business forward. Although they are important, they are secondary to the items in the "Execute" section for that day. So, my job is to always complete my "Execute" list, that way I can get to the items in "Business". 

Same thing goes for the "Personal" section. These items are usually the least important, and don't get done until everything else is done. 

I have a calendar hung up in my room. At the end of each day, I mark a big red "X" on that day if I completed everything in the "Execute" section. If I see that "X" on the calendar, I know that I threw my pitch and I did the absolute best I could. It's only a matter of time before a bunch of red marks on my calendar start to pay off.

I suggest that you do the same for your goals and resolutions. It's extremely important to know what lies at the end of the road, but if you can't see the road in front of you, then you're never going to get there. It's vital that you slice and dice your end goal into smaller jobs or tasks that you can execute each and every day. 

Let's say your goal is to drop 30 pounds of body fat by the end of 2018. Don't just tell yourself that and call it good. Because here's what's going to happen. You're going to go to the gym and eat clean for a few weeks, and then you'll have one slip and you'll let it all go. 

Break your goal down. You want to drop 30 pounds of body fat by the end of 2018? Awesome, that's fantastic and I'm all for it. But let's break things down even more. In order to reach that goal, there will be things you'll have to accomplish and be consistent at in order to get there. Those things are going to the gym, eating according to your goal, and perhaps supplementing if absolutely necessary. Keep some sort of log of what needs to get done each day, week, and month in order to get you to that goal. When you complete those things each day, give yourself your own type of red "X". Whether you make marks in a calendar, or keep some sort of journal, be aware of the small wins that you are having. Those small wins are the bricks that are going to lay the path to your goal. 

Not only will those wins keep you on the path to your goal, but they'll keep you in a positive state, too. If you're not keeping track and registering victories in your mind, one small hiccup can send you stumbling. But if you see two weeks worth of "X"s and victories, and one blank day, you'll be much more inclined to put your head down and work to get the next "X" up there.

Along with noting your small wins, go into this year with a different mindset than you've had before. 

Sh*t Will Hit the Fan

You may as well accept it now, because it's guaranteed to happen. Accepting this will be a complete game changer for you this year.

As I mentioned before, I loved pitching because I could live one pitch at a time. Once that ball left my hand, I could be calm knowing that I did all I could in that moment. Did that mean that the ball always hit the glove where I wanted to? Of course not. Does that mean I struck everyone out since I worked to do my best with every pitch? Of course not. 

It meant that once the ball left my hand, I couldn't think about it anymore. Whether that pitch got us a win on a strikeout, or a loss on a walk off home run, I had to let it go, keep my head down, and get ready for the next pitch.

There were days that this happened in practice too. I practiced, practiced, and practiced. Pitches went too far left, right, up, and down. Pitches hit the ground. I messed up some days. But that was ok. Why? I lived one pitch, one job, one day at a time. 

Change it Up, Don't Give it Up

When I write that "X" on my calendar, that's my way of telling myself that I accomplished what I set out to accomplish. It tells me that I did my job for that day. I did what I asked of myself. When that happens, and the items that I'm executing properly line up with my vision, reward usually comes soon enough.

But sometimes it doesn't work out that way! It may not mean that results show right away. In fact, there have been times where weeks of red marks are on my calendar, and I didn't see any reward or results. But that was always fine with me. Why?

It's fine because it tells me one thing. It tells me that it's time to change it up, not time to give it up.

Since I live one day, one task, one pitch at a time, I never question that my effort is useless. I only find myself questioning the items in the "Execute" section of my list. Having said that, my failures are not a reflection of my work ethic or consistency, and they're not a reflection of who I am as a person, either.

Neither are yours. If you have small goals to execute each day, you won't be in question of your efforts. You won't be in question of whether you can or can't. You won't be in question of your value as a human being, either. The only thing you'll be in question of is the items you are executing. And those are easy to change. 

The difference between success and failure in your big goal is no longer a matter of whether or not you think you can do something, it's a matter of whether or not you're willing to find out what works. 

So as you go into this new year, find your goal and put a system in place for yourself. Give yourself a way to track the small victories. Give yourself a way to see the value of your efforts, and give yourself the opportunity to explore new concepts. 

Thanks For Reading!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to hear what I have to say. I truly appreciate it. No matter where you're at along your health and fitness journey, remember that you've got a guy. I'm here to help you take that next step, regardless of what that might look like. From a simple note of encouragement to completely tailored coaching, I'm here for ya. God bless.

About the Author

Adam is a fitness professional, Chipotle fanatic, and cookie enthusiast based in Fort Collins, CO. After hanging up the baseball cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. 

As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he's constantly moved to helped people improve in all walks of life. If you're interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.