I’ve been powerlifting for just shy of two years now and in that time I would say I’ve made pretty good progress. Despite this though, I could have made much better progress If I had three things in particular down to a tee. These things are nutrition, technique and recovery. If you want to reach an elite level of strength then you are going to need to master these three areas, and this article will explain how you can do this.
Nutrition
Proper nutrition is crucial to make any kind of progress in the gym, whether that is to lose weight, put on muscle, or do a bit of both. In terms of getting stronger, the first thing you have to think about is getting enough protein in your diet. A good rule of thumb is to have 2.5x your weight in kg in grams of protein. So I weigh 93 kilograms which would equate to (93x2.5=232.5). This is more than enough protein, and most days I would say I hit about the 210g mark which is roughly my body weight in lbs which is also a good rule of thumb to follow. Protein is the main factor in causing muscle growth in the body so not getting enough will make your workouts pretty pointless.
The second and almost equally important factor to focus on is calories and making sure that you’re eating enough. Eating in a calorie surplus whilst maintaining high levels of protein is the most optimal conditions for strength and muscle growth; mass moves mass. However, if you were eating high levels of protein but not enough calories in relation to your calorie maintenance, (the amount of calories you need a day relative to your bodyweight) then you will rapidly lose strength and muscle. If you want to gain strength and muscle whilst losing weight, then you have to do this gradually, or else your body won’t have enough calories day-to-day to function to its best capacity. Same goes with if you eat far above your calorie maintenance but eat well below enough protein relative to your body weight. In this instance, you will just put on bodyfat and see little progress in terms of muscle growth. Remember to also eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and veg to get all the vitamins you need, keeping the body healthy and functioning well in the long-term. What’s the point in being strong if you aren’t healthy?
Technique
If you are performing an exercise with improper form, then you would not see as much strength and muscle gains then you would see with perfect form. You want to be targeting the muscle correctly, and not bringing other muscles into play which don’t need to be targeted. Personally, I would say form is most important and difficult to perfect with the three main compound movements, squat, bench, and deadlift (SBD). There are many things you have to remember when performing these movements, and if you forget just one of the steps you will not be seeing the progress that you could be. I will go into more detail about form in a future blog when it comes to the SBD movements.
It is not just these movements that your form has to be correct on though, it is also all the accessory movements that you do. If your form is not correct on these movements, then you will be cheating yourself from the benefits of the exercise, impacting the progress you see on the SBD movements. It is best to do your own research on how to perform the movements by looking on things like Youtube and Tiktok, but if you are still unsure whether you are performing them correctly, then I would recommend finding a powerlifting coach who has had the same issues and questions in the past.
Recovery
When I mean recovery, I don’t just mean sleep and techniques to aid muscle soreness like the hot and cold method or any kind of therapy, I mean rest times. Obviously sleep is crucial, as a lack of sleep leads to a loss of testosterone, a key male hormone which contributes to muscle growth. The recommendation is to get eight hours a day, but I would say six or seven hours of uninterrupted sleep is also fine. As long as you feel rested and don’t need a nap at any point in the day then you have slept enough.
I want to focus in particular on rest times though, as I think most people understand the importance of sleep already. Figuring out the amount of rest you need on the exercises you perform is a part of training that most people won’t even realize the importance of. Generally, resting for a period of 3-5 minutes is more optimal for strength gains. I would recommend resting for 3 minutes for all the compound movements you perform, for example, Bulgarian split squats, dumbbell bench press/shoulder press, Romanian deadlifts etc. These are intense exercises, which are putting a lot of strain on your body, and therefore require longer to recover from. From personal experience, a 4 minute rest between sets seems to be the most optimal on SBD movements as these are the most taxing exercises. For more isolation accessory movements, things like lateral raises, tricep extensions, leg extensions etc I have found 2 minute rest periods to be the most optimal between sets. The exception to my training is my 1 minute rest period between sets on any pull (back and bicep) accessory movements. Not sure why this is the most effective for me, it is something you will have to test for yourself, but I found that resting longer than this caused my deadlift to become weaker.
Conclusion
If you are lacking in one area, then you are holding yourself back, as all these factors go together. You have to make sure that you are covering all these areas properly and this is how you will get strong and put on muscle most effectively. You have to be constantly questioning whether you are performing each exercise with proper form, whether you are resting for the most optimal time, whether you are getting enough sleep, nutrients, protein, calories etc. By always looking at things with the mind set of this could be better, you will become better and the strength gains will follow.