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Strength and definition are two of the most important factors in building a healthy body.
Unfortunately, it's often difficult to achieve both simultaneously: You can't build muscle without also putting on some extra fat, but there's no need to worry.
How to improve muscular strength and definition?
Here's a look at seven ways you can get stronger and leaner at the same time:
1) Weight Resistance
To improve your muscular strength and definition, focus on exercises that use weight resistance.
This type of resistance is typically created by using free weights, such as barbells or dumbbells but can also be created with resistance bands or even your own bodyweight. Weight resistance increases the intensity of an exercise. It provides more results in less time, making it ideal for those who want to maximise their workout results without spending hours at the gym.
There are many different ways to incorporate weight resistance into your workout routine. For example:
- Adding a weight vest when doing squats
- Doing exercises with dumbbells rather than cable machines.
2) Bodyweight Exercises
Bodyweight exercises are a great way to build muscular strength and definition. They make use of your own weight rather than relying on external weights like barbells, dumbbells, cables, plates, etc.
Bodyweight exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, squats, crunches, etc. form the foundational layer of fitness. They are often more than enough when trying to maintain a decent level of fitness and stay lean.
It's always advised to start with and master these exercises before moving on to heavier weights. Building strength through bodyweight exercises helps improve overall fitness levels by increasing muscular endurance while also working all major muscles in the upper body and ones in the lower half.
3) Supersets
When you do supersets, you're alternating between two exercises that work the same muscle group. For instance, if you're doing a chest workout, supersets will allow you to get the most out of your time in the gym.
Instead of doing one set of bench presses followed by one set of flies, throw them together into one exercise. When it's time for another chest exercise like incline dumbbell presses or cable cross-overs (also known as flyes), switch back to traditional single sets.
Supersetting not only allows you to save time but also forces you to push yourself to your limits. That's because you're utilising every ounce of your body's energy, as you aren't being given time to recover.
4) Quick Compound Movements
Compound movements are the building blocks of a good, well-balanced fitness routine. They include deadlifts, squats, bench presses and a few more exercises. Compound exercises are great for building muscle and getting leaner at the same time. That's because they engage multiple body parts at once, meaning your entire body is working at a high intensity to burn a greater amount of calories.
In simple words, you lose more weight when you perform compound exercises, but how can you level up? Compound exercises already put a decent strain on your muscles. So simply reduce the amount of rest you take between sets.
One-minute breaks? Cut them down to 30 seconds. That will not only force you to be on your feet but also burn a greater amount of calories, as your heart rate will be constantly jumping (within a healthy range, of course).
5) Focus On The Eccentric
The next time you're doing a bicep curl, instead of counting the six seconds for each rep and relaxing between sets, try 'negatives'.
A negative is the opposite of a positive: it's when the muscle is stretched while it contracts. For example, if you were to do a standing biceps curl with dumbbells (concentric), lowering your arms after each rep would be considered a negative contraction.
It's much more effective in building muscle than concentric contractions alone. That's because you're activating more fibres in your biceps during that phase—fibres that are otherwise inactive when you do conventional curls.
6) Avoid Long, Low-Intensity Workouts
Long and low-intensity workouts are those that last for more than 60 minutes, with a heart rate below 120 beats per minute. While these types of workouts may be good for endurance training and cardio, they aren't ideal for building strength, muscle mass and staying lean.
A few examples of long and low-intensity workouts include: jogging on the treadmill, yoga or Pilates classes (especially hot yoga), riding bikes at a leisurely pace while riding alongside other cyclists, swimming in open water outside or in an indoor pool with slow strokes like breaststroke or backstroke (not freestyle).
Other examples include hiking uphill at a leisurely pace (not sprinting up steep hills) and walking around your neighbourhood instead of taking the bus or subway for part of your commute to work each day. None of these exercises are optimal for improving your strength and definition.
7) Train Adequately, But Don't Exhaust Yourself
One of the best ways to improve your muscular strength and definition is to train each muscle group at least twice a week. When you do that, it's important you take at least one day off between workouts for every two times you train. That will allow your muscles time to recover so they can increase in strength and size with each workout.
It's also important that you don't train to exhaustion every time, as that can lead to overtraining, leading to soreness, weakness, and even injury if done too often or too intensely. That may also severely impact your strength levels.
You should always be able to do another set after finishing your last one without feeling exhausted or tired. Your muscles will get stronger by doing additional sets with weights that are slightly heavier than the ones used in previous sets till they fatigue during those last few reps of each set.
That may vary depending on how many sets are performed.
Takeaway
We explored seven different ways by which you can improve your muscular strength and definition. If you want to get started with any of these strategies, it’s best to start small and make sure the exercises are safe for you before progressing to more advanced levels.
By combining regular exercise with a healthy diet, you can work towards increasing strength, getting leaner and more muscular without worrying about overdoing it or hurting yourself in the process.
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