Strength Building Body Training

When you want to be powerful in all aspects of your life, you think about certain things – finances, relationships, health and literal physical strength. Most people today – even fitness enthusiasts – do a bit of fat burning and muscle toning, but nothing more.

However, you can set a new bar for yourself to reach previously unattainable goals – and this doesn’t mean you have to become a big, bulky bodybuilder who goes to professional competition.

There are many methods of strength building – and I encourage you to try a myriad of things. But I’m going to start with a rundown of some of the popular concepts that will help you become a physical powerhouse – stronger than you ever imagined you could be. 

Powerlifting

Powerlifting is exercise that conditions the mind and body. One way to push yourself to gain the mental and physical transformation you desire is through powerlifting.

While powerlifting is lifting weights, these weights are enormous in amounts, probably more than you’ve ever attempted in your life. There are three parts to powerlifting - these are the deadlift, the squat and the bench press.

Powerlifting centers on how much weight a person is able to lift - that’s the entire focus of this exercise. Gaining elite fitness with powerlifting takes a certain mindset that your body can do more than you think it can.

If you’re doing powerlifting at home, you want to lift the maximum weight that you can per rep. For the squat, you’ll want to repeat it three times for five sets. To get into the squat position, arrange yourself with your feet extending just beyond your shoulder span.

Let your feet be angled toward the walls or space on either side of your body. With the weights lifted on your back at your shoulders, go as low as you can - keeping your back in position and without slumping.

For the bench press part of powerlifting, you want to recline on the bench. Some people chalk their hands first. Once you’re on the bench, make sure that your feet are not extended as they normally would be.

You need the strength of your legs for leverage. Your feet should be behind the front support bar of the bench. Grip the bar. Take a breath and lift the weight bar from the track.

You’ll be using your back muscles to lift the bar free. Keeping your elbows straight and close, lower the bar, lightly touching the chest each time you lower it. When you rack the bar after you’re done, make sure that you don’t let go too soon.

You want to guide it back into place, not drop it. Aim to complete four sets of eight repetitions. When you’re doing bench presses, even if you’re doing them at home, you should always have a spotter to help you return the bar to the rack in case you need it.

This is important no matter what condition you’re in, but especially when you’re just now starting out. For the deadlift, you’ll be using many of your body’s muscle groups.

Before you begin, chalk your hands. Make sure that you’re wearing a weight belt for stability. When you grab the bar, you can use an over and under grip. One hand, your dominant one, should be the overhand grip.

Your other hand should hold the bar from the underside. Your shoulders should be over the bar as you bend to grab it. The repetitions for each of these exercises are designed to push you as hard as you can be pushed.

You need to make sure that you’re being challenged and if you’re not, you need to keep upping the number of sets and reps you do. You’ll notice that your ability to lift heavier weights quickly transforms as your body gains more strength and muscle – as well as energy.

Olympic Weightlifting

When your goal is to build strength, Olympic weightlifting can help you get there. In this part of building the best body that you can build; you’ll be called on to reach for new heights - so it’s definitely going to take some willpower.

This type of lifting is not for the faint of heart. Olympic weight lifting is where a person works with some very heavy weights so that part of it is similar to deadlifting.

But unlike deadlifting, there’s a certain motion or technique to follow. This exercise has two parts to it. The first part is called the Snatch. When those aiming for that warrior mindset and body perform this move, they reach for the bar and raise it above the head without pause.

It looks effortless when seen in motion. But the person behind it has poured many hours into the exercise to accomplish it. The second part of this is called the Clean and Jerk.

In this part, the bar is lifted to the shoulders and the performer hesitates and then the bar is raised up to the shoulders. That’s the first portion. From a squat, grab the bar with your hands shoulder width apart.

Using the major muscles in your legs and back, you’ll pull the bar upward. As the bar goes up, you’ll return to a squat. The bar should be at chest height when you do the return squat.

Push out your elbows and use your shoulder muscles to retain the position of the bar. Rise to your feet. You’ll then go into a lunge and that completes the second part of the Clean and Jerk.

What makes Olympic weightlifting different is the performance or how the weights are lifted in such a fluid movement. It has to look smooth and easy even though it’s not.

To be successful at this, users must have a deep concentration, determination and the willingness to hit it day in and day out. When you’re just beginning, to protect yourself from injury to the muscles or the back, use very light weights just until you master the movements.

If you move wrong with the heavy weights, you can hurt your muscles or throw out your back.  Any of these exercises are going to be tough. Even if you’re in shape and think that you have pretty good muscle control, these exercises are going to challenge everything that you think you know about yourself and about your body.

They’re not designed to keep you in a comfortable place. They’re made to teach you that your body can perform harder and longer than you think it can. You’ll learn that you can keep on going long after everyone else has dropped onto the sidelines.

But to do that, to be successful at it, you have to employ the mindset that nothing good ever comes without a battle. You must determine that you’ll fight for the strength that your body can give you.

You have to retain focus and not throw in the towel at the first sign that things are harder than you thought they would be. When you begin, your mind and body are going to push you to quit because there’s comfort in quitting - in staying with what’s familiar.

Don’t give in and stay where you are. Push back. When you do, you’ll be amazed at what you’re capable of handling.

Strongman Exercises

Elite fitness isn’t something that you can play around with here and there. You either want it or you don’t. If you want to give up, ring the bell and move on. You’ll never know what you could have done if you do.

But if you’re determined to keep on sticking it out, you’ll be adding Strongman exercises to your workout. Strongman exercises can take your dedication to fitness to a whole new level.

It brings a transformation to both the mind and body. These exercises work out your upper as well as your lower body. With these exercises, you’ll become familiar with terms like farmer’s carry, atlas stones, yoke, tire flips, axle press and more.

Each of these exercises help you develop stronger physical abilities than you thought possible. These are some of the most strenuous ones you’ll do as far as having to grit your teeth and push through the subconscious limitations you give yourself.

To do strongman exercises, you really don’t have to have equipment with all of the bells and whistles. To participate in strongman exercises, you need heavy things to lift.

You can use axles at home or at your local gym. You can also use sandbags. You can switch out days working out upper and lower body or do a mixture of both.

Some of the strongman exercises will affect body upper and lower body. For example, if you have a large tire (you can find these free when they’re not in use anymore), you can practice flipping it – using your leg and upper body muscles.

Other good strongman exercises are carrying heavy loads, pulling heavy items, and loading heavy things onto a platform that requires you to life it up. You can create a strongman setup in your backyard easily – and at a very low cost to you.

Just make sure that you level up. You want to push yourself, but not attempt to lift something so heavy that you tear a muscle or risk other injury to your body because it’s not trained well enough yet.

Kettlebells

Kettlebells are part of an elite workout, but not those little small ones that you can toss around with one hand. You need ones that are heavy enough for you to feel the pull on your muscles when you use them.

There are a multitude of upper body building exercises that you can do using these simple weights. One of them is called a slasher. For this exercise, you grip the kettlebell with both hands as you hold it on the side of your body.

Then swing the bell across your body up high toward the ceiling on the other side of your body. Do four reps for each set and then switch body sides. Another exercise with this is lifting the bell, still with both hands around in a tight circle, going first one way, then another.

The kettlebell bend is done with one hand in front swinging the kettlebell between the legs. The bell is passed from the hand in the front of the body to the hand in the rear of the body as you reach between the legs.

You can also stand and pass the bell from hand to hand from the front to the rear of the body. When working out with the bell, for safety reasons, you should always wear workout gloves to give yourself a firm grip.

You can invest in kettlebells at a lower weight in the beginning, but use enough so that you feel the struggle to lift and swing. You’re not just toning – you’re becoming powerful and strong.

Climbing

Climbing is also an elite exercise. Doing it will build endurance as it gives you an all over body workout. You can use a rope or a rock wall to do these exercises. One of the ways this exercise builds strength is in the upper body.

For rope climbing, hold the rope with both hands on the rope. One hand will be elevated on the rope just above the other one. Reach up on the rope and pull your body with you as you reach.

You repeat, hand over hand until you get to the top of the rope. Rock climbing is a tough exercise mentally and physically because it works out your entire body. It’s not for those who give up easily because this exercise will test you in so many ways.

You must push beyond any self-imposed limitations. This kind of exercise builds strength in your upper torso - especially in the arms and chest. Your forearms and biceps also gain strength.

The core muscles become hardened - particularly the abs as you climb. Your back, shoulders and lower body also gain strength from rock climbing.  You do want to make sure that you use all safety gear when engaging in this exercise - including harnesses and helmets.