Most likely, you go to the gym to achieve a certain goal. Certain goals have clear guidelines for what you need to do in order to hit them (such as training for a marathon). There are other goals that don’t have as defined guidelines. For example, if you want to get stronger quickly, what exactly should you focus on?
How to Get Strong Fast
If you want to bulk up quickly, you need a plan. If you go to the gym without a direction, you may end up wasting time doing exercises that are not hyper-focused at getting you buff. Here are 8 ways for how to get strong fast.
Use Free Weights
Free weights give you a larger range of motion and movement with each exercise, which is one way for increasing how to get buff fast. Using free weights also train and activate more muscles.
One of the great things about free weights is that you can add them to several workouts to increase the intensity and help you get stronger faster. Here are some exercises you can add a set of weights to as you perform them:
- Squats
- Lunges
- Planks
Do Compound Movements
Compound movements target multiple muscle groups at once. This is ideal when looking for ways on how to get stronger fast. If you’re limited for time at the gym, focus on workouts that incorporate compound exercises to make the most of your session.
This will allow you to work more muscle groups and build more strength than focusing on isolation movements. A few additional perks of compound movements include:
- Burning a higher amount of calories
- Gaining more muscle mass
- Increasing heart rate
Space Out Targeted Workouts
If you plan on doing strength training workouts that target the same muscle groups, be sure to give those muscles time to rest in-between workouts. Muscles need at least 48 hours to recover after an intense training session.
For example, if you do a leg-focused workout on Monday, be sure that Tuesday’s workout targets another muscle group, such as your biceps. This gives your legs enough time to rest and recover before you fatigue them again.
Perfect the Technique
If you’re working out consistently every day and not seeing results, take a look at your technique and form. In order to get strong fast, having the right form is key. Along with this, perfecting the technique ensures that you’re doing the movements correctly and reducing your risk of injury.
Increase Resistance
A quick way to stop your muscles from getting stronger is by continuously using the same amount of weight and resistance week after week. In order for your body to get stronger, you must progressively increase the weight. Aim to add 2.5 - 5 pounds to your bar each week to continue the muscle growth.
Remember to keep track of your progress so you can easily see your improvements!
Train Your Weaker Muscles
It can be easy to gravitate to exercises that train the muscles that are already strong. You’re likely more comfortable with these moves, and they’re probably a bit easier since you have muscle mass already built.
Make an effort to pinpoint the parts of your body that are weaker and need attention when at the gym. For your workout, start with exercises that target those muscles. At the beginning of your sweat session, you have the most energy and your muscles are not fatigued, so this is an ideal time to work weaker areas.
Consume Enough Calories
Identify your optimal caloric intake to build muscle. If you’re working out and trying to build muscle, you’ll require more calories than if you spent the day just sitting on the couch.
In order to follow good nutritional standards and build muscle, you’ll need to be at what’s called a caloric surplus. This means that you eat enough calories to maintain a healthy body for day-to-day living. In addition, you also have some extra calories that can be spent to build muscle proteins and fibers.
Everyone will have a different caloric range that is ideal for their body. In general, men and women can follow these guidelines to get a rough idea of how many calories they should be consuming in order to efficiently and quickly build muscle.
Eat the Right Foods
Of course, you have to get those calories from the right foods. You can’t just eat plenty of bags of potato chips and call it a day!
There are special foods or food groups that are perfect for building muscle. In general, you’ll want to focus on high protein foods that can give your body the building blocks it needs to build lean muscle. This is the type you’ll want to focus on for quick strength training and quickly getting a ripped body.
You’ll also want to eat plenty of carbohydrates and certain fats. These are both good for body health and provide you with the energy you need to maintain an intense workout routine.
Exercises to Focus on for Strength
Along with the tips above, there are certain exercises you can focus on to help you in your journey of becoming stronger in a short period of time.
Squat
Targeting your lower body, squats are a staple move for gaining strong glutes, quads, and core. By simply adjusting the width of your stance, you can shape different muscles. You can also do the move with or without weights in your hands, and there are several variations of it you can do, including:
- Jump squat
- Side step squat
- Single leg squat
- Sumo squat
Bench press
To build upper body strength quickly, bench presses should be a go-to exercise. The bench press activates muscles including the chest, triceps, and shoulders. Here are some variations to the standard bench press to try:
- Close grip bench press
- Incline bench press
- Reverse grip bench press
- Decline bench press
Push-up
Push-ups are one of the first exercises you learn, and for good reason. This move activates almost every muscle in your body, especially your biceps, core, pecs, and shoulders.
Push-ups can easily be incorporated into your daily workout routine. As you get stronger, you can increase the number you do, or try variations such as diamond push-ups or one-armed push ups.
Pull-up
For gaining strength in your biceps and back, pull-ups are an effective upper body exercise. This compound movement also targets your shoulders, chest, and core, so it should not be overlooked as an exercise to add into your routine.
This exercise requires very little equipment and space - all you need is something strong enough to hold your weight as you pull yourself up.
Deadlift
As the name might imply, deadlifts are no joke. They’ll have you sweating almost immediately, and your back, glutes, and hamstrings will be feeling the effects for days after.
Before adding too much weight to this exercise, be sure to nail the technique and ensure you’re lifting from your legs. Done incorrectly, this exercise can really mess up your lower back and require you to refrain from workouts until fully healed.
Conclusion
Doing the right exercises correctly, in combination with eating right, will help you achieve your goal of getting strong in a short period of time.