Top 5 Tips For Maximizing Your Weightlifting Results
by Gabe Sadowsky
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5 min read
I've been lifting consistently for most of the last 12 years of my life, and been through many ups and downs. I've made progress, plateaued, lost progress, stopped for months at a time due to injuries, you name it. Here are the top 5 tips I have learned over that span that can help you get the most out of your time and effort in the gym.
Key Takeaway
Train with intensity. Push close to failure without wrecking your form.
Use progressive overload. Gradually add weight, reps, or volume.
Follow a schedule. Pick a solid split and stop reinventing the wheel.
Eat enough calories and protein, and add creatine.
Get 7-9 hours of quality sleep.
1) Train With Intensity
Intensity is not absolute, it is relative to your current strength and conditioning. It is crucial that you train with intensity so that your muscles are exposed to a stimulus that puts them in a situation where they have to grow and get stronger to adapt.
If you are just beginning, make sure you get the basic movement patterns down and then start progressing. You do not need to be training to failure every set, but you should push yourself to a point where you get close to or achieve failure without completely compromising your form so that you can really push yourself.
Remember, you get the most progress when you get to a point in your set where you feel tired and want to give up. Learn to push past that fatigue and you will see results.
2) Utilize Progressive Overload
What is progressive overload? It is gradually increasing the difficulty of your exercises, and it is achieved by placing your muscles under a new stressor that they are not used to.
Here are some ways to achieve progressive overload:
Increase weight
Increase reps
Decrease rest time between sets
Increase volume (number of sets)
Increase range of motion (e.g. deficit deadlifts, deeper squats)
Slow down the eccentric (lowering/stretching) portion of your lift
Speed up the concentric (raising/contracting) portion of your lift
It is very helpful to log your lifts and keep notes to ensure you are making progress. You might not be increasing your weight or reps every session, and in fact some days you may be tired and weaker than usual, but that's ok. Just give it your best effort and you will progress.
Here is how I like to utilize progressive overload. My goal is maximizing muscle mass and strength, so for major compound lifts like the squat and bench press, I like to do sets of 3-4 and rep ranges of 6-8 for my working sets (after my warmup sets). Once I reach the upper limit of the rep range with solid form, I add weight.
Currently my goal is to get to a 315 bench, and I am currently benching around 245 for 7 reps. Once I progress to 8 reps, I can stick to 245 until I can do 3-4 full sets of 8 reps with 245, or I can do 250 and see if I can get 6+ next session. If I can, I stick with that weight until I hit the upper range, rinse and repeat.
3) Follow A Schedule And Don't Reinvent The Wheel
A lot of people and trainers are obsessed with constantly mixing up their workout routines and doing innovative and specialized exercises. Some of these can be great for specific sports and athletics, but if you are trying to get stronger, build more lean muscle and look better, they will not benefit you as much as sticking to a solid workout split that focuses on compound movements, allows you to utilize progressive overload, and lets you get adequate rest and recovery without overworking muscle groups.
My favorite is the Push, Pull, Legs split, which I do 6-7 days a week. I recommend starting at 2-3 days a week, then gradually moving up to 4-6 days a week after you become acclimated.
Every workout starts with a major compound exercise with the goal being gradual progression, followed by accessory lifts that complement the compound exercise, and then more isolation exercises, in that order. Here's a quick rundown of my split.
Push
Bench Press (barbell or dumbbell): 4 sets, 6-8 reps
Incline Bench Press or Weighted Dips: 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Chest Fly: 4 sets, 12-15 reps
Skull Crushers: 3 sets, 10-12 reps
Triceps Pushdown (rope or v bar): 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Pull
Lat Pulldown or Weighted Pull Ups: 4 sets, 6-8 reps
Chest Supported Row: 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Reverse Fly: 4 sets, 12-15 reps
Face Pulls: 3 sets, 12-15 reps
Preacher Curl: 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Seated Dumbbell Bicep Curl: 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Legs
Squat, Hack Squat or Leg Press: 4 sets, 6-8 reps
Bulgarian Split Squats: 3 sets, 6-8 reps per side
Glute Bridges (weighted): 4 sets, 12-15 reps
Hamstring Curls: 3 sets, 10-12 reps
Calf Raises: 4 sets, 8-12 reps
4) Get Enough Calories And Enough Protein
I am not a big proponent of pure bulking. I think it just adds unnecessary fat on top of the muscle you would gain anyway from a slight caloric surplus. The best way to put on lean muscle and not get fat is to track calories with an app and food scale, track your progress, aim for about a 200 calorie surplus, and make sure you get enough protein.
For protein, 0.7g per pound of body weight is enough, however I like to get 1g/lb of bodyweight as I personally like protein a lot. If you want to dial in your own number, run it through our protein calculator.
As for supplementation, supplements are not needed, but they help. They are meant to supplement your diet, as in you get a majority of your nutrition from your diet and then use supplements to help you hit your goals. That being said, almost everyone stands to benefit from creatine supplementation, since it is almost impossible to get your muscles to an optimal creatine saturation level without supplementing it. This is even more true for vegans and vegetarians, since a majority of dietary creatine comes from meats.
Now of course I am biased since I have a protein and creatine company, but the only supplements you need happen to be what is sold at Nutrition On The Go (crazy right?). That's why I formed this company. It's a lot easier and ethical to sell supplements that are unequivocally proven to work than selling the noise that fills the rest of the market.
5) Get Good Quality Sleep
Sleep is possibly the most important component of building muscle. It's when your muscles are repaired, growth hormones and testosterone spike, and you get to recover for the next time you lift. Get your sleep and you will see progress. Aim for 7-9 hours a night. Some people can operate on less, but shoot for 7+.
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