A little while ago, I found myself researching new strength training methods yet again. I’ve only been strength training about three years in earnest but I had started to plateau on my favourite lifts and I needed a new variety of training to take my strength to the next level.
As I started my research, I thought of my friend Rob Newman, a man who has experienced many more of the wondrous varieties of strength training than I have. At the same moment, I had the horrible realisation that I had promised him a guest post about six months ago and never delivered it.
Sorry, Rob. Better late than never.
The wondrous varieties of strength training
Bodyweight
For me, all training begins and ends with what you can do with your own bodyweight. Bodyweight training was my first and greatest passion and remains so to this day. I love bodyweight training because:
• It’s so easy for anyone at any level to start
• The basic exercises can be done by almost anybody and yet they can be made harder and harder until they are really very advanced movements
• It’s is a great equaliser between larger, more muscular trainees and skinny beginners
• You can do them almost anywhere with just a pull up bar and a door frame
• The hardest exercises are visually impressive and you can demonstrate them anywhere (one-arm chins, one-arm press ups, handstand press ups)
Despite being a bodyweight strength fanatic, I don’t think it’s necessary to get starkly purist about bodyweight training. I think that other methods are also valuable. I also think that using weights as part of bodyweight training can make progression easier. For example, there are ways to get your first pull up (or one-arm pull up) without using counterweights (such as using negatives). However, in my experience they take longer, are more difficult to track the progress of and are less kind on my joints.
Whichever way you approach bodyweight training, though, it’s rewarding and motivating to progress through the various stages they’re great fun to show off with.
Barbell training
Barbell training has its own array of different sub-groups, all coming from different perspectives and looking for slightly different results. Powerlifters use barbell training to get stronger at the three powerlifts, the squat, the bench press and the deadlift. Bodybuilders use barbell training to get bigger muscles. American football players and other athletes use barbell training to develop strength, size and explosive power for the playing field.
The gold standard of basic barbell training is the Starting Strength programme, which uses a 3-day a week training programme incorporating the squat, bench press, overhead press, power clean and deadlift to pack on functional muscle quickly. It’s a traditional programme that has been used by athletic programmes very successfully. However, without a good coach, it’s not necessarily the best programme for modern trainees who spend a lot of their time in poor posture, stuck in front of a computer. That being said, I love barbell training because:
• There are so many different exercises to choose from
• With a squat rack and a barbell you can almost as much as you can in a gym full of machines It has such a great capacity for inducing muscle growth
• It’s so much more technical than it looks to get it right
• It’s easy to compare results with other people
• It’s a straightforward process to balance a routine so that your posture improves over time rather than gets worse
Sandbags
Sandbag training has grown more popular in recent years with the expansion of functional training. Basically, sandbag training involves taking a large sack and filling it with sand before carrying various different exercises. Sandbag training is great because:
• You will need to use less weight to account for the odd shape. This allows the body to have a rest and recover from heavier weight training
• The sandbag is an odd shape and needs good grip to hold onto it
• The sandbag moves in your hands so you need good reactive core stability
• You can do a huge variety of movements similar to barbell lifts, including cleans and presses as well as deadlifts and rows
• You can do new movements specific to sandbags, including lifting and carrying
Strongman
Strongman training covers a wide range of different training techniques but ultimately it draws its movements from strongman competitions. The most famous of these is the World’s Strongest Man competition. I enjoy strongman training because:
• While the equipment used in these big competitions looks very large and complicated, it’s still possible to do strongman training at home or on a budget
• You can use easily available items for strongman training: sandbags instead of Atlas stones or the Husafel stone and car pulls instead of truck pulls
• With a determined mindset, you can produce homemade versions of specific implements, including the log, the yoke and farmers’ walk bars
• You can easily do it outside (indeed, you have to do some events outside!), which makes for a great afternoon in the garden or on the street
• It lends itself to group training, which is fun and motivating.
The wondrous varieties of strength training
I’ve enjoyed bodyweight training, barbells, sandbags and strongman over the last three years and it’s been a fun time. But I’m already looking forward to some new varieties over the next three years. It could be kettlebells, Olympic lifting or gymnastics ring work. Who knows? There are so many great varieties to choose from.
About the author
Chris Beardsley is a strength and fitness enthusiast from Nottingham, in the UK. He’s been clanking around in his garage gym for the last three years and has never been happier. He writes about his training, his homemade gym equipment and current trends in the fitness industry at his blog
The Garage Gym Online.
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