If your goal is to gain strength without getting bulky, you now have a blueprint. Keep your volume low with your lifting, track your calories and maintain the correct number to keep your bodyweight the same and perform a few days of cardio each week. Keep it simple and stay consistent.
Yes, it is entirely possible. Strength is as much as a CNS adaptation as it is a muscular adaptation. Keep working the big compound stuff. A properly periodized program without the junk volume will incrementally improve your strength without traditional bulk.
The rule that both NSCA and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommend is the “2-for-2 rule.” After a few workout sessions, you can increase the weight for a certain exercise once you can perform two more repetitions beyond your repetition goal for the last set for two weeks in a row.
Don't overtrain; allow time for your muscles to recover and grow. After a period of muscle growth and calorie surplus, start reducing calories slightly to lose body fat. Continue lifting weights and training in ways that challenge you while eating enough protein to spare your muscle during the calorie cutback.
5×5 means you do five sets of five reps with the same weight. These are “straight sets” or “sets across”. On the Squat, Bench Press, Overhead Press and Barbell Row you do 5×5. Say you Squat 5×5 225lb (total weight including the bar, because you lift it).
Start Slow
One of the most important golden rules of strength training is to start slow. If you're new to strength training, don't jump in too quickly. It's important to start with a program that is appropriate for your fitness level and allow for proper rest and recovery. This will help you avoid injury and burnout.
Start with your lighter sets, and you could set yourself up to pre-fatigue your muscles before your lifts, therefore hindering your performance. Starting with heavier lifts, therefore – when your muscles are fresh – is key to hitting higher strength numbers and potentially gaining more muscle.
One way to avoid getting too muscular is to focus on compound exercises that work for multiple muscle groups at the same time. These exercises include moves like squats, lunges, and pushups. Another way to avoid getting bulky is to use lighter weights and do more repetitions.
TO RECAP, these are the rep ranges you should be considering: Reps in the 1-5 range build super dense muscle and strength. Reps in the 6-12 range build equal amounts of muscular power, strength, and size. Reps in the 12+ range primarily build muscular endurance and size and also cardiovascular health.
Strength training helps you lose weight and keep it off by building muscle tissue. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate tends to be. More muscle also helps your body burn more fat than muscle, which is important if you want to lose weight and keep your strength.
To gain strength without getting bulky, you want to keep your volume on the lower side. The exact number will vary from person to person but generally you want to stick to a set/rep range like three or four sets of four to six reps.
While Lee's barbell-training workouts evolved over time, he eventually settled on a program in which he did a 20-minute session 3X a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays) that often looked like this: Clean and press: 2 sets of 8 reps. Squat: 2 sets of 12 reps. Barbell pullover: 2 sets of 8 reps.
The golden rule of lifting, specifically manual lifting, is to always bend your knees when picking something up from the ground. Never go down on one knee unless necessary, or twist your body in the process.
Understanding the 3 3 3 Approach
Among these, the 3 3 3 workout has carved a niche for itself with its straightforward, yet surprisingly effective strategy. The concept revolves around performing sets of three exercises, repeated three times, for a total of nine micro-sets.
The one-repetition maximum test, also called a one-rep max or 1RM, is used to find out the heaviest weight you can lift just once (but not twice).
The Texas Method is a three-days-per-week training regimen that emphasizes volume on Mondays, active recovery on Wednesdays, and intensity on Fridays.
Keep in mind that because you are a strength training athlete, you will need more calories than a typical sedentary person of your size. Some studies have estimated that elite strength athletes require approximately 43 calories per kilogram of body weight per day to maintain weight.
If you want to increase your endurance, do cardio before weights. If you want to build muscle strength, do weights before cardio. If you want to improve your overall fitness, you can do either cardio or weights first.