How Do I Build Maximum Strength?
Takeaway Points:
Training for strength is remarkably similar to training for any athletic goal, and a lot simpler than people make it out to be.
Still, it’s very possible to mess things up by getting in your own head and having the wrong mentality and approach.
Here, we go over what it takes to become as strong as humanly possible.
Building off of last week’s post about how to build as much muscle mass as possible, I’m writing another post about how to build as much strength as possible, since this is another common goal.
You may be able to sense a trend here - this will be pretty similar to the last one.
Here is the method that it takes to build as much strength as possible:
Lift weights.
Ok, this one is a bit more complicated than lifting for muscle mass, because lifting for strength requires that you’re lifting heavy enough (80%+ of your 1 rep max) for challenging sets of something like 2-6 reps/set , and that you’re training with a high degree of specificity for the movements you want to improve. Then, you’ll want to do this 1-2x/week for all the movements you want to improve. Over time, your focus should be on adding weight over adding training volume.
Any remaining training time can be focused on training at lower intensities and higher reps, for building some extra muscle mass and optimizing your body composition.
Many programs exist that will tell you how to do this. You could follow mine, or pretty much any other mass-market program out there. Most of them work well enough. There’s no magic.
Ensure that you’re getting adequate rest and recovery between sessions. Manage your stress levels.
Eat enough protein - up to about 0.82g/lb of bodyweight per day, or something from around 100-200g/day for most people.
Do some (but not a ton) of cardio - 1-2 hard sessions per week, or maintain a decent step count.
Find community, coaching, or social support to keep you going and help resolve issues when you hit a roadblock.
Don’t get upset by small disruptions or short term setbacks and trust in the process.
Repeat this process consistently for 2+ years, ideally 5-10.
Surprise surprise - aside from that top bullet point (your training intensities) virtually everything else is exactly the same. And while training for strength is a little bit more complicated than training for muscle mass, it’s still incredibly simple if you don’t let yourself get too waylaid by “grass is always greener” thinking, and distracted by all the wild misinformation you see out there on the internet.
Real strength is built over the process of years of dedicated training - the easiest way to mess with this, is simply to get lost in your head and worry too much.
When it comes to performance, it’s very important to understand that there are strong upper limits to how much muscle, strength, speed, etc. you can gain. And most people can roughly hit these limits within a good 2-5 years of consistent training. As a result, what most people think of as “plateauing” or “not seeing any progress” is actually just the natural process of results slowing down significantly as you get closer and closer to your genetic limits.
Accordingly, you need to use this to judge your own limits, and adjust your expectations accordingly. If you can reach something like 90% of your strength limits within 2-5 years of consistent strength training, then this gives you guidance about where to go next - whether to keep pushing it further, whether you want to shift to other training goals, or whether it’s just not something that you’ll ever be terribly skilled at.
About Adam Fisher
Adam is an experienced fitness coach and blogger who's been blogging and coaching since 2012, and lifting since 2006. He's written for numerous major health publications, including Personal Trainer Development Center, T-Nation, Bodybuilding.com, Fitocracy, and Juggernaut Training Systems.
During that time he has coached thousands of individuals of all levels of fitness, including competitive powerlifters and older exercisers regaining the strength to walk up a flight of stairs. His own training revolves around bodybuilding and powerlifting, in which he’s competed.
Adam writes about fitness, health, science, philosophy, personal finance, self-improvement, productivity, the good life, and everything else that interests him. When he's not writing or lifting, he's usually hanging out with his cats or feeding his video game addiction.
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