I think it is pretty safe to say that most people want to be thought of as “strong.” But strength can mean a lot of different things to different people. It’s all about your goals and preferences.
Physical Strength
When we look at strong people, they can really look very different. Take a very fit teamRIPPEDer who is say 170# and can do close to 30 full pull ups. Would you say they are strong? You bet! Now take someone else who is say 230#, that measure of strength might not be there forte but say they can deadlift 405# for multiple reps. Would you say they are strong? YEAH! That is moving a lot of weight.
I think of physical strength in two main camps, muscular endurance and muscular strength. Both play off of one another but I don’t see them as the same. When I think of muscular strength, I think about the maximal weight a person can lift for a limited number of reps (3-10 let’s say). When I think of muscular endurance, you are still moving a weight (often your body weight – or very limit compared to your max) but you are moving it for MANY repetitions. Both are types of strength, but being strong at one doesn’t mean you will be strong at another.
It is almost the comparison of P90X to Body Beast. I get emails like, “Hey Wayne, I just got done with Body Beast and want to do some more P90X, will I lose my strength?” That is a never a direct one to answer. Yes and No. You will most likely lose some of your pure muscular strength as you aren’t training specifically for those lifts anymore. Doing MAX rep push ups is not building the same strength as doing MAX weight for 8 reps only. A lot of the isolation moves (bicep moves, triceps, shoulders, etc) are the same and you will work is similar rep ranges, but when I think of P90X I know I build up huge muscular endurance! When I think of Beast, I know I have built up far more brute or pure strength but would not have near the MAX reps for pull ups or push ups as I have had when I was focusing on P90X style workouts.
Is one type of physical strength better?
At the same time, if you don’t have any pure muscular strength, that can pose problem. You might be able to move your body weight around but if you can’t move heavy external objects well, you will lack a lot of core stability and strength to move things in real life. Take deadlifts as an example. Great strength for getting a heavy weight off of the ground. In real life, this plays out whenever we have heavy items to pick off the ground. Even though you might lift far more, an odd shaped 100# box can cause people real trouble if they don’t have enough pure strength. You want that brute strength in your back pocket for times like that!
How should you train?
There is NO right or wrong here. You need to train at what interests you most, BUT don’t neglect the other forms of strength. If you love P90X/Asylum style workouts, go for it! That is great. You will still build muscular strength as you focus on muscular endurance. Load up your weight vest or back pack and really push on some sets of push ups and pull ups to build more brute strength over just endurance.
If you LOVE Beast, awesome go hard! But keep pushing the weights. If you can add weighted pull ups to your back days, you can improve your muscular endurance to a point without doing a million reps. As your weight goes up and you are able to do 10 reps for those sets with 30# extra, you have just made those 10 reps at your body weight that much easier – and added reps to your max BW reps. The more weight you can move compared to your body weight will help those body weight exercises become easier. And don’t be after to really push it on those LONG progress sets, they will definitely build some great muscular endurance.
All in all, as we get stronger we are making ourselves more resilient! We are improving our health and protecting our bodies. So make physical strength a goal. Work on your brute strength and then get in some work on endurance. Be well rounded but 100% STRONG!
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
