How can I strength train to get the body of my dreams?
When it comes to training with weights there are so many things to consider according to different trainers and coaches and they seem to be different according to whether you want to train for strength, train for power or train for aesthetics. Sets, reps, volume, isolation vs compound exercises, hypertrophy, muscle fibre types, rest breaks, time under tension (tempo), rest days, ROM, mobility, flexibility, etc etc. all of these are used in a myriad of ways to essentially achieve the same goal – build muscle.
After puberty when your body can no longer replicate (make) muscle cells (known as hyperplasia), we are really on a downward spiral of losing muscle fibre, so chiefly the MACRO goal is two-fold – slow the loss of muscle cells and secondly grow the muscle cells we have (known as hypertrophy).
Next we can then teach the body (specifically the CNS Central Nervous System) to recruit as many of these cells as possible to perform tasks – this is known as strength training. I don’t believe that these two things (hypertrophy and strength) have to be mutually exclusive. And furthermore I think it is actually everyone’s goal (no matter what their body shape ambitions are) that they should look to do both of these things to develop the 80/20 body.
In a nutshell this means you can lift heavy things or run fast or do a thing for a long time, without looking bulky and without sacrificing fitness – look fit, be fit, and stay young for as long as you want.
The training programme – what I call the ‘back bone’ – doesn’t necessarily need to be changed according to phases or cycles as in traditional plans where sets and reps are changed to alter the outcome (though for very trained individuals or for specific goals this may not be true).
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