What happens when you reach Your Strength Limit? It’s not something I see talked about often, but I have seen a few discussions about it. It’s an honest question. After all, you can’t just add weight to the bar forever. The day will come when you can’t get any stronger. So, what happens when you get there? Let’s find out!
The Relationship Between Strength And Size
Before we dive into talking about your strength limit, let’s briefly look at the relationship between size and strength. It is true that a lifter can build size without getting significantly stronger. However, why wouldn’t anyone want to get stronger as well as bigger? It’s generally accepted that compound exercises, lower reps, and consistent weight increases over time will not only build strength but will also stimulate muscle growth. I advocate every lifter build a foundation of strength and size before worrying about jumping on the bandwagon of other training styles.
Is It Possible To Reach Your Strength Limit?
Realistically, it is not only possible to reach your strength limit but probable. Some lifters stop chasing strength gains when they reach a predetermined size, choosing instead to focus on muscle refinement. Other lifters find they have reached a point where they can only add ounces of weight, and switch to other means of progression (more on that soon). Still others decide they are strong enough and cut to more moderate weight for the sake of their joints. Below, we will look at some of the things you should consider before deciding if you have reached your strength limit.
How Long Have You Been Training?
Generally speaking, it will be years, if not decades, before you can honestly claim to have reached your strength limit. It’s never going to be in a year or two. The gains in weight may come more slowly the longer you train, but you can push for new limits for a long, long time. For many lifters, achieved goals in size tend to come first.
What Is Your Current Training Program?
The key to consistent gains in strength lies in using the principle of progressive overload. Simply put, this means you’re regularly adding weight to the bar. It also assumes, of course, that you are focusing on the key compound exercises. These include the bench press, squat, overhead press, and deadlift, to name a few.
Have You Been Utilizing Progressive Overload On Key Compound Exercises? If So, For How Long?
That said, if you’re constantly changing programs (program hopping), or implementing the idea of constantly switching things up to “confuse the muscles”, you aren’t going to be successful in adding weight consistently. The answer is to stick with a routine of compound exercises that you can grow strong on over time.
Stick with one program, and never mind “confusing” the muscles. You can’t confuse them because they can’t think, they can only contract. If you want variety, add in a couple of switchable isolation exercises you can pump out on at the end of your routine.
Are You Tracking Your Workouts?
Another key to correctly using progressive overload is to track your workouts. How do you know where you are and where you need to go if you don’t know where you’ve been? At a minimum, write down (or use an app) your workouts, sets, reps, and weight used. Feel free to add in the time, how you’re feeling, and any nutritional or supplement info you feel is important.
How’s Your Nutrition?
It should go without saying that nutrition plays a major role in your success in the gym. You can’t deprive yourself of carbohydrates and then expect to have enough ATP energy to power through a good workout. Likewise, you can’t deprive yourself of sufficient protein and expect to recover and grow. Your nutritional approach should center around ingesting one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight and consuming roughly half the day’s carbs in the hours that surround your workout.
How’s Your Stress Levels?
Excessive stress can wreak havoc with your gains. If stress gets out of hand, it will lead to elevated levels of the destructive catabolic hormone cortisol. That is the last thing any hardcore lifter wants! Elevated cortisol leads to poor sleep, fat gain, muscle breakdown (yikes!), and mood problems, just to name a few. Therefore, do everything you can to keep stress under control, including using a good multi that’s high in B vitamins, such as AllMax Nutrition VITASTACK. I also suggest using a good cortisol blocker, such as MPA Supps Cortisolve.
Do You Sleep Well?
Tied directly into the last point is your sleep quality. If you suffer from sleep disturbances or occasional insomnia, you need to take steps to optimize your sleep. That includes maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, setting up your bedroom for sleep, and perhaps using a natural sleep aid, such as 5% Nutrition Knocked The F*ck Out.
Is Your Job Physically Demanding?
This also ties into the section on stress. Working a physically demanding job puts your entire body under strain, and demands consistently good sleep quality. Inorer to help you deal with the physical demands of this and training, your nutrition has to be spot on, and will require an optimal approach to calorie totals and macronutrient ratios.
Additional Supplement Suggestions
This is where supplements other than the ones I’ve already mentioned come into play. If you’re working long, hard hours, you’ll want the advantages of a good protein powder. I suggest Hi-Tech Precision Protein. If you need a powder with a balanced macro profile, try Redcon1 MRE. It’s a MRP with 47 grams of protein and 75 grams of carbs (only 5 grams of sugar).
You’ll also want creatine, such as AllMax Nutrition Creatine Monohydrate, and a pre-workout (a good choice is GAT Nitraflex Ultra). All of this will optimize recovery, ensure you’re getting enough calories, and give you the energy you need to power through a workout.
OK, You’ve Reached Your Natural Strength Limit – What Next?
First of all, I know that many lifters will simply keep trying to add more weight to the bar – I have heard of lifters adding (as noted) literal ounces. But here’s the thing. Eventually, your joints will catch up to the fact that you’re using massive weights every time you hit the gym. The truth is there are other ways to use the principle of progressive overload. That’s what we’ll look at next.
Different Ways To Utilize Progressive Overload
Besides adding weight, you can increase intensity, or the logical and progressive use of extended-set techniques, taking your sets to and past failure. You can also reduce rest between sets, thereby doing the same amount of work in less time. Also, to a point, you can add reps and/or volume. The key to this working is to choose the method you want to use, be consistent, and track your workouts.
Other Training Methodologies
Once strength increases are no longer realistically possible, some lifters choose other training methods with an eye on longevity. A great example here is that of Rich Piana (RIP). He built his foundation by utilizing compound exercises, low to moderate reps and heavy weight. Once he retired from competition, he switched to moderate weights, higher reps, and lots of volume – in other words, he chased the pump. He did this mainly for joint health and to ease pain in a few problem areas (knees, for example). He also stopped training to failure.
Summary
For most of us, putting those pounds on the bar is how we will approach our training for a long time to come. But, don’t be stubborn about it. When you finally reach your natural strength limit, it’s time to switch it up. Use the tips I presented here and embrace your new training future!