13/01/24
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Let’s see how to increase physical strength, how to train and which supplements to focus on
Are you training and would like to focus on increasing strength? Have you started going to the gym to get back into shape and, now that your physique is well defined, would you like to raise the bar? Or do you already practice weight lifting and would like to increase the load? In this article we will tell you about strength training, the different types of strength and what type of nutrition and supplementation to take if you want to achieve great, long-lasting results.
According to an Istat study, Italy is a country of athletes: it is estimated that around eighteen million people are members of and regularly frequent gyms and sports centres. If many do it to get back into shape and stay healthy, many others experience sport as a challenge to test themselves and overcome their mental and physical limits. And strength training is a real challenge that pushes the athlete to increasingly greater efforts with increasingly intense training programs.
Types of force
Strength is the ability to overcome or oppose resistance thanks to the development of tension by the muscles. It is possible to distinguish different types of strength, but in sports there are mainly three:
- The maximum force, i.e. the greatest force that the neuromuscular system is able to generate with a voluntary contraction. Each muscle or muscle group has its own specific maximum form.
- The endurance strength: it is the strength that the body uses to resist fatigue during training; that is, the ability of a muscle to make an effort for a very high number of repetitions or in any case for a very long time.
- Rapid strength or fast strength: i.e. the ability of the neuromuscular system to overcome resistance with great contraction speed.
Strength training
Strength training requires the identification of one’s ideal maximum load to use during training, i.e. the maximum weight that a person can lift only once and for a specific exercise. This is determined through a test which involves carrying out several tests with increasing loads until the maximum load is identified. Now let’s see how to train the three different types of strength:
- Maximum strength: few repetitions at high intensity. For the development of maximum strength it is advisable to use a weight that varies between 85% and 100% of the maximum weight and follow the 5×5 scheme for repetitions: 5 sets of 5 repetitions each, with rest time ranging from 2 to 5 minutes.
- Resistant strength: many repetitions at low load. Endurance strength training is achieved by using a load corresponding to a low percentage of your maximum from 30% to 65%, performing a high number of repetitions at a slow and controlled pace.
- Rapid strength: this type of strength is trained through the use of light loads, between 30% and 45% of the maximum load, performing movements at maximum execution speed until the moment of which decreases.
Nutrition and integration
In addition to consistency, great commitment and effort, the basis of strength training is also correct nutrition and adequate integration of specific nutrients useful for facilitating the work of our body. This is why it is very important for those who want to develop strength to pay as much attention to training as to food and the right supplements.
The recommended daily macronutrient breakdown into at least 6 meals a day is:
- 50-65% carbohydrates, the main source of energy, which must be sufficiently distributed in all meals
- 20-30% protein, essential for muscles, it is recommended to take around 2g of protein per kg of body mass; preferably white meats and fish
- 15-25% fat, especially unsaturated fatty acids which promote the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.
Alongside a precise diet, the most suitable supplement during strength training is creatine, an amino acid naturally present in the body that is essential for the muscles to produce ATP.
CREAFos by Sprintade® is the sports supplement
