Let's get straight to the point:
Strength training is a simple, uncomplicated process: train regularly, eat enough to recover well, and add incremental weight to the the bar from workout to workout until it stops working.
Whenever we take up a new practice, I have to say I do not believe in the the concept of "balance". A "balanced" approach is only useful once we have established a certain level of skill and proficiency that can THEN be maintained (or be kept in "balance").
The most crucial time in our strength training journey is the one of being a novice - meaning the first 6-9 or 12 months of our training.
This is the time with the BIGGEST WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY to make rapid, tangible progress on our lifts.
This is the time where by the pure fact of being new to strength training, our body has a vast array of possibilities to adapt to higher stresses posed by an increase in load over time.
We learn a new lift. Our technique gets better. Alone by this fact we get stronger - regardless of what we eat or how well (or badly) we implement other important factors into our routine.
Our nervous system is not primed yet as a novice lifter. There is plenty of scope to make new neural connections in our brain and muscles to lift heavier weights in literally EVERY.SINGLE.WORKOUT.
In short: as a novice, we are the FURTHEST away from our genetic maximum than in any other time of our lifting journey.
The mistake most novice lifters make is that they get distracted by too much "noise" in the fitness industry: "variety", "training method xyz", "time-under-tension", "drop-sets", "pre-fatigue", "post-fatigue", "wave-like programming" - and last but not least - training templates which promise a lot but offer very little.
What novices are almost always missing are the very real BASICS of how to get stronger:
- Reducing exercises to the main compound lifts which allow them to lift the heaviest weight possible
- Keeping reps, sets, and training frequency constant in order to have to control as few variables as possible
- Adding the next smallest weight increment to the bar from workout to workout to accumulate significant strength over time
To many (or most), complexity and variety seem to appeal. After all, workouts have to be varied to be effective, right?
No.
Complexity and variety are principles which are the complete antidote to strength training for novices.
Getting stronger requires precision, efficiency, and simplicity in order to make it as substantial, simplistic, as well as linear as possible.
We are here to teach you this.
At Strong For Life, we help you get the strongest in the shortest period of time.
Through our simple, logical, and effective approach, we help our clients double or even tripple their weight on the bar within their first 3-4 months of training.
"HOW?" - do you ask.
Because we can.
And so can YOU.
Because you are - after all - a novice.