Improving strength throughout your whole body comes in handy when you play contact sports such as football and rugby. On the home front, this also gives you the ability to do laborious tasks with less struggle. A good workout routine to achieve this goal has specific characteristics that separate it from regular, everyday lifting. If you are new to training, make sure to get clearance from your doctor before beginning.
Stretching Dynamically
A full-body strength-training workout causes multiple joint movements and an equally high number of muscles to be worked. If you step into the weight room and start exercising without stretching, you run the risk of hurting yourself. This often is the case when you train with tight and cold muscles. To prevent injury, spend a few minutes doing dynamic stretches before your workouts. These move your body parts through a steady range of motion, which gets you acclimated for exercise. Perform stretches such as bear crawls, arm circles, shoulder shrugs, arm crossovers, leg swings, lateral lunges and spinal rotations.
Most Beneficial Exercises
Gyms give you the option of doing isolation or compound exercises. Compound exercises work more than one muscle at a time, and isolation exercises single out one muscle group. Structure your workout around compound exercises because they lead to faster gains in both strength and size. Perform exercises such as bench presses, shoulder presses, bent-over rows, dips and deadlifts to target all the major muscles in your body.
Free Weight Advantage
Machines and free weights both build strength, but free weights cause more overall muscle-fiber recruitment. Use free weights such as barbells and dumbbells with all of your exercises to speed your progress along.
Proper Form for Maximal Strength
If you neglect your lifting mechanics with your exercises, your strength gains can be compromised and you might get injured. Always use a full range of motion, never rely on momentum to move the weights and keep your body in good alignment. For deadlifts, place a weighted barbell on the floor and stand behind it with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Slowly bend at the hips and knees to lower your body and grasp the bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip. Keeping your abs tight, back straight and gaze fixed forward, lift the bar off the floor and come to a standing position. Rest the bar against your thighs for a full second, slowly lower it back down and repeat.
Heavy Load
Maximal strength is gained only when you lift maximal loads. Aim for a resistance with all of your exercises that allows you to lift only eight to 12 times with proper form. If you need assistance, work out with a spotter. Do four or five sets and take two days off between workouts. Training the same muscle groups every day does not lead to faster progress. It increases your injury risk and does not give your muscles time to recover.
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