Strength Training
30 articles
How to Use the Force-Velocity Curve to Target Your Strength Goals
The force-velocity curve illustrates the inverse relationship between muscular force production and movement speed. By understanding this principle, lifters can strategically select exercises, loads, and speeds to target specific strength, power, or speed goals for optimized training outcomes.
A Strength Trainer's Guide to Intra-Workout Carbs
Intra-workout carbohydrates are beneficial for dedicated strength athletes during prolonged, high-volume training sessions exceeding 60-90 minutes. For shorter workouts, pre-workout nutrition is typically sufficient.
The Bench Press Trade-Off: A Biomechanical Guide to Strength and Shoulder Safety
Unlock a stronger, safer bench press by understanding the biomechanical trade-offs of grip width and technique. This guide offers a framework to optimize your lift for both strength gains and long-term shoulder health.
Beyond Adding Weight: How to Choose the Right Progressive Overload for Your Goals
Progressive overload is crucial for experienced lifters, but adding weight isn't the only method. Choosing the right progression strategy—whether increasing load, reps, sets, or improving form—depends on whether your primary goal is maximal strength or muscle hypertrophy.
How Muscle Memory Works: A Phased Plan for Your Training Comeback
Muscle memory comprises two distinct systems: rapid neural recall of movement patterns and lasting cellular adaptations like retained myonuclei. Understanding these mechanisms allows for a phased training comeback, prioritizing technique before rebuilding strength.
Collagen for Connective Tissues: A Different Goal Than Muscle Growth
Collagen supplementation is designed to support the health and resilience of connective tissues like tendons and ligaments, offering specific amino acids for repair, rather than promoting muscle growth.
How to Calculate One Rep Max: A Complete Guide
Despite the common perception that 1RM testing is only for elite powerlifters, studies confirm its broad applicability and safety.
The Fort Wearable: Advanced Tracker for Strength Athletes
The Fort wearable uses advanced IMU sensors to not only count reps but also differentiate between concentric, eccentric, and isometric holds, providing a level of detail previously unavailable in cons
Compact Strength Training Equipment for Small Spaces
Despite their small footprints, some compact home gym systems offer up to 310 pounds of resistance and over 70 distinct exercises, challenging the notion that home workouts require a dedicated gym roo
What Are Physiological Adaptations to Resistance Training for Athletes?
In most training studies, resistance training can increase the cross-sectional area of muscle fibers by a remarkable 20% to 45%, according to University of New Mexico.
Periodization for Strength and Hypertrophy Gains
In a 25-week macrocycle study on national-level throwers, snatch and squat one-repetition maximums (1RM) increased by about 10 percent, while throwing distance improved by nearly 11 percent.
How to Choose Resistance Bands for Workouts: A Buyer's Guide
Despite labels promising specific poundage, the actual resistance from a band changes constantly as it stretches, making consistency difficult to achieve.
Training to Failure: Why It's Not Best for Hypertrophy
Despite decades of gym lore, training to absolute muscular failure yields no greater muscle growth or strength gains than stopping a few reps shy.
How Often Should You Train Muscle Groups for Growth?
While many lifters meticulously plan to hit each muscle group three or four times a week, a 2016 meta-analysis published in PubMed found that training a muscle twice weekly outperformed once-weekly tr
Progressive Overload: Reps as Effective as Weight for Growth
A 2025 study from A. Barsuhn found no significant difference in 1RM strength gains or muscle cross-sectional area increases between lifters who progressively increased weight and those who progressive
Linear vs. Undulating Periodization: Which Training Model Is Better?
In a 12-week study, athletes using undulating periodization improved their bench press by 28.
Adjustable Kettlebells: Reigning Supreme for Full Body Workouts?
A single Titan Fitness Adjustable Kettlebell replaces seven individual fixed weights, consolidating a full range of strength training into one compact unit, reports Garage Gym Lab .
Master the Hanging Leg Raise for Six-Pack Abs
The hanging leg raise, when executed with precision, can generate over 130% maximum voluntary contraction in your rectus abdominis, according to Verywellfit .
Bench Press Tops Chest Exercise Study
An independent American Council on Exercise (ACE) study found the classic barbell bench press elicited the highest muscle activation in the pectoralis major.
How Progressive Overload Works for Long-Term Training Gains
Despite countless training programs promising unique paths to strength, studies show that simply increasing volume or load, regardless of the specific method, yields similar strength and muscle gains
Garmin Smartwatches for Strength Training: A Critical Review
Despite smartwatches offering advanced features like custom workout loading and VO2 max tracking, Garmin's strength training mode for sets and reps is widely described as a 'hot mess' due to its consi
Beginners Choose Leg Press Over Squats for Safer Initial Leg Growth
Despite being hailed as the 'king' of leg exercises, the barbell squat may not be the safest or most efficient choice for many beginners aiming to build leg strength in 2026.
David Charvet finds Father's Day rewarding through BUILD
Actor David Charvet's greatest Father's Day reward now stems from a fitness concept he co-created.
How Does Progressive Overload Build Muscle and Strength?
In a study involving 55 untrained young women, simply increasing repetitions was just as effective for building muscle and strength as lifting heavier weights, challenging a long-held gym floor...
How to Do Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts: A Step-by-Step Guide
Forget the intimidating barbell: the dumbbell Romanian deadlift offers a path to strength that's easier to learn and gentler on the lower back than its traditional counterpart.
5 Types of Resistance Bands for Strength Training
After just seven weeks of training, individuals using elastic bands have been shown to improve maximal strength and power, rivaling gains achieved with traditional weights, according to scienceforspor
Levi Strong's Journey: Mental Fortitude for Strongman Success
Before winning two international strongman titles in 2025, Levi Strong lost 25 pounds helping with storm recovery efforts in Florida, just weeks before a major competition.
Master the Lower Chest Cable Fly for Maximum Gains
A recent study involving hundreds of gym-goers revealed that 73% are performing the lower chest cable fly with a subtle but critical error, rendering the exercise far less effective than intended, acc
Study confirms resistance training's vital role in muscle hypertrophy and strength gains.
A comprehensive review of 111 studies found that resistance training consistently adds an average of 1.
Top 6 Home Gym Equipment for Strength and Hypertrophy
A single piece of premium home gym equipment, like the REP Fitness Ares 2.