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Using weight training to increase your muscle strength for another sport or for daily activities is the solution of choice. For a bodybuilding practitioner , wanting to increase their strength can also help unlock a period of stagnation. The problem ? Pushing weights without a method does little to help.

In theory, there are a number of ways to do this, but the idea is to focus on the best that is done. That’s why I’m going to give you 4 ways to increase muscle strength quickly and effectively. Inspired by powerlifting practitioners, strength specialists.

Here is the summary:

Increasing muscle strength is not just a big deal

Who hasn’t heard that weight training is bloat?

Between a non-athletic person and a bodybuilder with a lot of muscle mass, it is obvious who will be stronger. However, we’ve all seen a video where a bodybuilder gets beaten up by a professional arm wrestler, even though he looks less muscular. People therefore deduce that weight training does not necessarily make you stronger.

The arm wrestling example is perfect, because indeed, the size of a muscle is not the first factor of strength . Much of it comes from the nervous system, the one that sends information to muscles to contract.

Indeed, the training of this professional will be oriented so as to become strong on this movement in particular. Not only by working the muscles requested during the effort, but also his technique, by repeating the same gestures over and over again.

This is how he strengthens, creates and learns to use the same nervous circuit . His nervous system will then be able to quickly and efficiently mobilize the muscle fibers .

Ultimately, the goal is the same, to work on your nervous system to increase your muscle strength . Therefore, the best way is weight training, but the way to practice it must be adapted.

Prepare before and during training to be strong

At first glance, if you are looking to increase your strength, then you need it for something in particular. Whether for a athlete or not, it is important to know that to get closer to your maximum potential, you have to prepare.

Indeed, many people throw themselves under the bars or start to practice their sport without warming up properly. It’s a bit like a car, which needs to be heated before you can enjoy it. Therefore, unprepared training can not only lead to injury, but also decrease its effectiveness.

Therefore, it is essential to follow a few steps. To know first of all its real performance, although part of it is also impacted by healthy living.

Warm up well to force yourself

Warming up isn’t all about injury prevention. It also helps to prepare the nervous system for a intense effort .

Take the test, load a squat bar at your usual workload without any warm-up. In this case, you will feel like the bar weighs a ton on top of your legs shaking. In fact, one way to know that the warm-up was insufficient is to see an increase in repetitions over the series on the same exercise. The nervous system was actually unprepared.

First, to warm up well, you can follow its steps:

1. Global warming: to raise the body temperature thanks to a rower or walking for example.
2. Warm up the muscles and joints: light, with exercises for the muscles that are going to be used. For example, to prepare on a bench press , it is necessary not only to warm up the pecs , but also the triceps , the biceps , deltoids and rotator cuff .
3. Build up gradually: On the final exercise, do 2 to 3 sets before starting, gradually adding weight without getting tired.

The potentiation to gain muscle strength instantly

A little bonus for gaining strength immediately in a short period of time is to use potentiation . Indeed, it is possible to give yourself the illusion of wearing a bar lighter than usual by “fooling” your nervous system.

In theory, using an electro-stimulator is ideal for potenting your muscles (although I never had the opportunity to test). In practice, since it is rare to have access to this device, it is possible to do otherwise.

For this, several scenarios:

• You want to temporarily gain strength on a classic series. For example a set of 10 reps: Before starting your sets, you can do 2 to 3 repetitions with a weight heavier than your workload.
• You want to increase your strength for 1RM (one repetition maximum). In this case, just put heavier than your 1RM, say 120%, then maintain the weight 5 to 10 seconds, without movement. For example your 1RM bench press is 100kg, the idea is to put on 120kg to hold the bar at arm’s length without doing repetitions.

It is also possible to use potentiator exercises , such as heavy shrugs for the upper body and the press (or squat) for lower body.

The rest time too short

Sometimes the lack of strength can also come from rest periods .

Indeed, a bodybuilding practitioner can quickly stagnate on a polyarticular exercise in particular, if he does not give his nervous system time to recover sufficiently between two sets. Unlike the breath and the burning sensation, it’s hard to know when our nervous system is ready to resume effort.

A simple way to know if you need to lengthen your rest or not to regain your strength is to see a decrease in the number of repetitions over the sets. For information, rest times can easily go up to 5 or even 7 minutes if the goal is to increase your strength.

The execution of the exercise and the number of repetitions

To become strong, it is important to follow a few rules, especially about performing the exercise and repetitions. The main goal is not to be stamina or to gain muscle mass, but always to work on your nervous system. Therefore, it is important:

• Perform a low number of repetitions with a load close to your max: 4 to 6 preferably up to 10 for the legs.
• To work in explosive .

This is not about taking the negative, but rather taking advantage of the energy build-up on the descent to be stronger on the push (or pull). On the other hand, the use of a low repetition range, performed explosively, mobilizes the muscle fibers most appropriate for strength, especially the II-b fibers .

A way of doing that is often found is 5 × 5, that is to say, do 5 sets of 5 repetitions while increasing the load at progressively, until it gets as close as possible to its max. In my opinion, this is a little too mathematical. The strength being mainly nervous, there are days when you will necessarily be less strong, more tired. Thus, the number of sets (or repetitions) will have to be adapted. The nervous system being put to the test, there is no need to go beyond its capacities on D-Day.

Of course, no need to remind you to do the polyarticular exercises where you have the most energy, ie at the start of the session.

4 ways to increase muscle strength for sure

So far, we have seen how to bring together all the conditions to get closer to its maximum potential. Now let’s talk about progression, that is, how to increase muscle strength .

Sometimes it is enough to analyze your movement to know its strengths and weaknesses.

Take the bench press, for example. Let’s say you’re about to do your maximum rep, you:

1. Grab the bar.
2. Lower the bar to chest level (so far that’s okay).
3. Shoots, and there … it blocks. But it blocks at a particular moment, usually in the middle of the movement.

The conclusion we draw, you lack strength in a part of the movement and that is precisely the key. You have to vary the load so that the more you contract, the more difficult it is, to learn how to be stronger where it is needed.

A little difficult with free weights… That would mean you should have someone add more weight to the bar as you push. These are its drawbacks:

• The resistance is always the same: on a bench press, the weight will be the same when stretching and contracting.
• Free weights are subject to gravity: On a dumbbell curl, for example, the up and down movement will be easy, the hardest part being when the arms are parallel to the floor.

Fortunately, there are a number of tools and methods available for this. I preferred to keep 4, easy to apply.

Elastics, the holy grail for gaining muscle strength

To start let’s talk about rubber bands, this accessory that everyone should have. Inexpensive, does not take up space and is so efficient. I managed to catch up on weak spots and increase my strength in a few moves with this simple tool. The idea is to supplement the free weights with elastic bands.

Consequently, the advantages are multiple and we solve a lot of problems:

• The resistance is variable : the more you contract, the more difficult it is (heavier), where it is generally the most interesting.
• The accumulated energy on a fast negative is more important: the explosive work is much better.
• We use more involuntary force thanks to the speed gain on the negative: the intensity of the exercise is increased.

However, rubber bands cannot adapt to all exercises. Sometimes it is difficult to find an interesting attachment point or the rubber bands make the exercise too unstable (especially on the bar bench press).

Thus, the use of rubber bands is more appropriate for machines rather than on free loads.

Chains, an alternative to rubber bands

However, there is an alternative to overcome the instability problem. These are the chains.

Indeed, this is not to decorate or make the exercise impressive. The principle is actually the same as the rubber bands. That is to say that the more you contract, the more weight there will be (the links of the chain resting on the ground relieves the bar).

Unfortunately, it is not often to find chains in the weight room and the sensations are much less interesting than the rubber bands. What’s more, the chains can only be installed on bars and over again. For example, use on a deadlift may not be necessary, given the little resistance it offers at the top of the movement (most links will stay on the ground).

Partial amplitudes

Ok, let’s say you can’t add rubber bands or chains to your workout. There remains one solution, to make partial amplitudes .

As the name suggests, the goal is to work a fraction of the movement, so you can benefit from an overload without straining on the other part of the exercise. Therefore, it is interesting to analyze which part of the movement you are blocking. Then work where your nervous system is weak.

Let’s take the example of the bench press with a blockage in the middle of the movement. There are two solutions available to you:

• Add wedges on the chest.
• Settle into a squat rack by first adjusting the safety wedges.

Although in theory the method seems efficient, in my experience progress is still quite limited with this method. It allowed me to avoid “weak moments” on a move, without actually increasing my workloads.

My experience is still nothing but broscience … The best is to be skeptical and try. Note that it remains an inappropriate method for beginners. This can create muscle imbalances .

Stop And Go, Increase Muscle Strength and Speed ​​

If we are talking about hypertrophy, it is clear that this method is not at all suitable. However, for sports where you need to gain strength and speed , without weighing yourself down with a substantial muscle mass , it remains an effective method. Especially in combat sports, such as boxing.

Indeed, the objective of Stop And Go is to perform only the positive phase of the movement, as quickly as possible with a heavy load , without a negative phase. So there is a time out in between.

Take the bench press example, you:

1. Grab the bar.
2. Bring the bar up to chest level.
3. Marks a 2/3 second dwell time.
4. Shoots as quickly as possible.

Therefore, this method allows:

• Not to benefit from the energy accumulation of the negative phase.
• To have better psychomotor learning .

It is therefore an appropriate method for efforts requiring immediate force and speed. For example, when a boxer performs an uppercut, he does not gain momentum to build up energy. The movement must be direct.

For a bodybuilding practitioner, the Stop And Go also allows you to load up and be faster on the exercises afterwards. The effort is totally different. It is clear that at the beginning your movement will be slow and the fatigue will be felt quickly.

You are free to test and even combine the tools and methods. For example, do Stop And Go on partial amplitudes…

Successful training is not just a question of willpower, you have to prepare beforehand! Slack, laziness and fatigue … Even the most assiduous have already been confronted with this problem.

It is clear that recovery and a healthy lifestyle play an essential role in the quality of a weight training session. Sometimes the problem comes from elsewhere. This is where the Pre Workout booster appears, a dietary supplement aimed at increasing our athletic performance during training.

Let’s see together what a booster is, why is it more interesting to do your home Pre Workout and when to take it. We will end with the most interesting, the ingredients and the recipes to make your own booster.

Summary:

What is a pre-workout booster in bodybuilding?

The rule of thumb when taking dietary supplements is knowing what you are consuming, especially for a booster.

It is a drink to take before training . It aims to increase your concentration , your energy to improve your performance . We can also note the presence of ingredients to achieve better muscle congestion during training.

Therefore, the Pre Workout can be summed up in 3 words:

• Stimulant
• Energy
• Pump (congestion)

In view of the diversity of ingredients, it is essential to know how to read the labels in order to select or do a Pre Workout adapted to you.

Do your homemade Pre Workout or buy it in a food supplement store?

Boosters abound in the food supplement market. You can quickly be tempted by a pretty packaging, filled with promising messages: strength gain, fat burn, improved focus … But what is it really?

The more ingredients there are in a dietary supplement , the greater the risk of buying a product that is far too expensive for its content. Some ingredients are less expensive than others, so the dosages are mostly out of balance. Not to mention the presence of unnecessary ingredients in a Pre Workout, such as creatine.

Generally, bodybuilders look for the “boost” in a booster. Synthetic caffeine being inexpensive and very effective is enough to fulfill this need. However, when it comes to a more expensive ingredient, like citrulline, you find that the dosages are far from optimal.

So manufacturers have no interest in making a well-dosed but more expensive product. A pretty name and high caffeine dosages are enough to sell.

To be honest, the best booster on the market is yours. Do a Pre Workout at home with two advantages:

• A much lower price
• Controlling dosages

All the more so as the dosages will be specific to each person (body weight, optimal threshold, etc.).

When to take your pre-workout at home to optimize your workouts?

Mistake number 1: taking the SAME booster every day (hence the importance of dosages).

Indeed, wanting to take a booster rich in caffeine for low intensity workouts is not necessarily useful. By dint of overdoing it, you will be forced to increase the doses to feel the same effects as before.

To know when to take your home Pre Workout, it is necessary to determine:

• His form of the day
• The planned weight training session

From there, you will be able to determine when to take your booster and at what dosage.

If I take my example, I favor the ingredients:

• Stimulant: for my intensive sessions or when the form is not there
• To congest: in order to work on my weak points

Choosing a NO booster for muscle congestion

The lack of muscle congestion during training is frustrating for some practitioners. Although congestion does not indicate a good workout, it should still be remembered that it is one of the factors of muscle growth .

So, it can be interesting to look for muscle congestion when working on your weak points. This is when pre-workouts including NO booster ingredients (nitrogen monoxide or nitric oxide) can add a little extra to your sessions. Beyond a better “pump”, NO booster makes it possible to:

• Maintain a good hypertrophic response
• Accelerate muscle recovery
• Facilitate blood circulation
• Improve oxygenation of muscle tissue

There are many dietary supplements or foods to increase your NO levels, here is a list to compose your homemade Pre Workout.

Arginine, the amino acid of choice for a good pump

Arginine is an amino acid that plays a fundamental role in the secretion of NO. It is even more important to supplement arginine if physical activity is important.

In addition to better muscle congestion, this amino acid helps fight fatigue during exercise (elimination of rapid metabolic waste such as ammonia).

Unfortunately, arginine is difficult for the body to absorb because it is largely broken down in the liver. We are therefore not equal when it comes to its effectiveness. You have to test to determine if the purchase is superfluous or not.

If you want to buy some, arginine comes in different forms. The preferred shapes are:

• L-Arginine
• Arginine AKG (more easily absorbed, but more expensive)

Regarding its dosage, it is best to consume between 8 to 10 grams, about 1 hour before training.

Citrulline, a more effective alternative

The best alternative to increase your arginine levels is citrulline . Although more expensive, it will be much better assimilated by the body.

You can find citrulline in some foods like watermelon, but food supplements are more effective. Indeed, it would be necessary to consume astronomical quantities to obtain the expected effects.

On the market, you can find citrulline in two forms:

• L-Citrulline
• Citrulline malate (malic acid + L-Citrulline)

If you want to do a home Pre Workout, your best bet is to go for citrulline malate , which is more effective for recovery between two sets. The optimal dose is around 7 grams, to be taken about 1 hour before your workout.

If you don’t want to take a dietary supplement, you can still increase your NO levels through food. For this, the food of choice remains beet, thanks to its high nitrate content.

The ingredients of a Pre Workout to increase performance

In order to progress in bodybuilding, it is essential to surpass yourself, to want to do better than last month. In other words, you have to be more and more efficient.

Fatigue, lack of energy, motivation and difficulty holding an intensive session are limiting factors for performance. Fortunately, means do exist to partially overcome these problems.

Here are some effective ingredients to include in your homemade Pre Workout, to refuel, to be more enduring and to improve your focus in training.

Caffeine, a powerful stimulant

Coffee, tea, Cola… Caffeine is easily accessible and widely consumed, even by sedentary people.

Once thought to be a doping agent, caffeine is one of the most powerful molecules to perform better, whether at the gym or at work. There is no doubt about its effectiveness.

It would take too long to go into all the benefits of caffeine … Therefore, we are only going to talk about its benefits during a weight training session. Caffeine helps:

• to increase the force of contraction
• to improve concentration during exercise (stimulation of the nervous system)
• to delay fatigue
• to fight against hypoglycaemia by maintaining blood sugar levels
• burn more fat for energy

In view of all its benefits, the desire to enrich your homemade Pre Workout with caffeine at each session is tempting, but not recommended for two reasons:

1. the habit and the need to constantly increase the doses for similar effects
2. the risk of caffeine intoxication (palpitations, anxiety …) due to increased doses

Indeed, its overconsumption is dangerous if it is abusedly consumed in excessive doses. In order not to fall into the trap of always more, you have to be careful to limit your consumption, even outside of sport. This allows you to keep your optimal threshold to enjoy its beneficial effects, even with low doses.

Choosing a good source of caffeine

This is an almost essential ingredient for an effective Home Pre Workout . You still have to know how to choose the right source of caffeine.

The advantage of caffeine (capsule or powder) is that it doesn’t cost too much. So do not hesitate to pay the price to have a quality product.

Synthetic caffeine, without chlorogenic acid (antioxidant) should be avoided. It is preferable to opt for natural caffeine in order to conserve the polyphenols, if possible from green coffee or guarana .

To determine your tolerance threshold, you have to go little by little, in increments of 50mg. Usually, the required dose is around 4 mg / kg of body weight, to be taken 1 hour before training.

Prolong your endurance thanks to Beta-alanine

With growing success, this amino acid is found in most pre workout booster. beta-alanine helps to synthesize more carnosine (with the help of L-hystidine).

This concentration of carnosine is useful to be more enduring during short efforts and intense, neutralizing the burning sensation at the end of the series, a factor limiting its performance.

For information, the tingling sensations after taking beta alanine, usually in the face, are quite normal and not dangerous. It is stimulating for some and unpleasant for others.

The recommended dose is around 4 grams per day. Note that its effects on performance are not immediate. It takes about 2 to 3 weeks, taken regularly, to notice any real change.

Add a source of carbohydrate to fill up with energy

It would be a shame to do a homemade Pre Workout without carbohydrate , the number 1 fuel for our muscles.

It is all the more important to add a source of carbohydrate to your booster if it was several hours since the last meal. For this, the banana is more than sufficient. You can consume 2 to 3 bananas, preferably very ripe, 1 hour before training, in addition to an intra-training carbohydrate drink or a homemade gainer after training.

Ensure muscle mass gains and improve recovery thanks to the booster

It would be a shame to do productive sessions for less muscle mass gains.

Of course, you can do without it and progress anyway. But the effort required to optimize your sessions is low, why deprive yourself? The cumulative effect applies to bodybuilding: it’s the little things that will make a noticeable difference over time.

On the other hand, it is all the more important not to neglect this part if your diet is random or if you are in full force (calorie restriction), because the cause of stagnation is not only linked to training.

Avoid catabolism: Amino acids or whey?

Catabolism, the obsession of bodybuilding practitioners.

To limit breakage, it is necessary to replenish the stocks of amino acids before the session, especially if the last meal is several hours ago. A simple whey is not suitable (speed of absorption).

You can opt for BCAAs (also a source of energy), but the best is still peptopro (I invite you to read the article on BCAAs to find out why).

In the case of peptopro, it is advisable to consume approximately 15 to 25 grams before, spread over the entire session or post-training.

Taurine to recover faster between two sessions

While having no direct effect on training, adding taurine to your homemade pre-workout can be beneficial for recovery.

No! taurine is neither dangerous nor stimulating and does not come from the c ***** of bulls. It is simply an amino acid, NOT ESSENTIAL.

His interest in bodybuilding? Limit cramps and improve muscle recovery. I have never personally tested this type of dietary supplement, so I have no feedback on it.

We can sometimes read that it would be more judicious to consume taurine before going to bed, in part because of its drowsy effect… Once again, the best is to test, even if the investment remains low interesting in my opinion.

The recommended dose for this food supplement is around 4 grams.

Recipe to make your homemade Pre Workout

As you can see, there is a multitude of ingredients to make your own booster. The idea is not to buy everything to make THE best booster of all time, but to select the ones that you find useful, effective and suitable for your session.

Here is an idea recipe for a homemade pre workout , The quantities vary according to the practitioners:

• 200mg of caffeine
• 8gr of citrulline malate
• 3gr of Beta-alanine
• 1gr of taurine
• 15gr of Peptopro
• 2 bananas

Feel free to add other ingredients to add flavor (red fruits, syrup, etc.), ice cubes and a straw, for an explosive cocktail!

I keep it simple when I do my own homemade pre-workouts, the most effective ingredients for me are citrulline malate, caffeine and bananas. And that’s it … You are free to test and judge whether the investment is worth it.

Of course, the list is not complete. I preferred to focus on the most interesting and beneficial for a bodybuilding practitioner, quickly discussing the performance effects of each ingredient. Fortunately, there are other ways to improve the quality of your weight training sessions. Interested in an article on this topic?