“Strength is never a weakness”
One of my favorite quotes. I first heard it on a strongman course over 10 years ago and it’s stuck with me since.
In Part One of this blog series – Maximize Your Results – I talked about consistency.
Being consistent with any form of training will give you awesome results, but if you want to maximize them then you need to lift heavy weights!
There is a misconception that lifting heavy will make you “bulky” which is really not the case. We need to respect the journey that has been taken by these people who you would class as “bulky” (mainly bodybuilders or physique competitors) and give them the credit they deserve. They have had to work seriously hard to achieve their physiques. I’m talking 2-3 hours of brutal training each day, measuring every ounce of food they eat and often force feeding themselves to get the calories they need.
A few trips to the gym is not going to get you “bulky” – no matter what you do.
I often hear that lifting heavy is also dangerous. Again, this is another myth that needs to be debunked. Lifting weights incorrectly is the dangerous part. Heavy is relative to every individual and as long as you execute good technique then the weight should be as heavy as you can move for the rep/set prescription.
It’s far more dangerous for a person to try to rearrange the furniture in their house if they don’t regularly perform strength training. I hear of a lot more injuries happening in this manner than in the gym.
Lifting heavy has so many benefits. This article from barbend dives deeper into some of the overlooked benefits but I’m going to go into some of the more obvious ones:
- Stronger muscles – to get strong we have to lift heavy, simple. Don’t confuse a big muscle with a strong muscle though. We can get strong without getting bigger.
- Mind body connection – heavy lifting develops the connection between the brain and the muscles. To perform a regular bodyweight squat we may only need 25% of the muscle fibers in our legs but if we add 200lb to a bar on our back, we now need to recruit 70-80% of those muscle fibers. Initially we can get stronger just by developing this connection.
- Stronger joints – our connective tissue (tendons and ligaments) will also benefit from heavy lifting which will give us stronger joints that are free from pain. This will also make our body less susceptible to injury.
- Bone density – By stressing your bones, strength training can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
- Better body composition – You can’t “tone” your body. You can lose fat and build muscle to give you a better body composition. Lifting heavy will help you do both of these.
- Confidence – there’s not much that beats knowing you are strong enough to deal with obscure problems you may face. Could you put two kids on your shoulder and run down the stairs if there was a fire in your house? If not, you need to start lifting! (even if you don’t have kids)
There are endless benefits to lifting heavy. If you’re new to weight training then this can be intimidating. To ensure you get started safely I suggest you do the following:
- Learn how to lift properly with a coach
- Start light and build slowly over many weeks
- Find a program to follow that is progressive
- Work at an 8-9 out of 10 effort to always leave something in the tank for next time.
Get lifting heavy and reap the benefits!