Tips for S&C:
1 Prep
Warm up and cool down for 5 – 10 min before and after S&C training. Warm up using specific functional warmups for the workout and muscle groups you are aiming to train in the session. The warmup will loosen your joints and increase blood flow to you muscles for quality training. Stretching is not a warmup but a good cool down.
2 Form
Most Important aspect to focus on is form, not weight. Set up correctly and move smoothly throughout the correct range of motion of the exercise. Poor form will target unintended muscles, causing injuries and slow gains.
3 Tempo
Working at the right tempo ensures you stay in control of the movement rather than compromise strength gains through incorrect movement. An example of tempo will be 3010. When doing bench press you will lower the weight (downwards) for (3) seconds, when reaching the chest, no pause (0) explosive movement up doe (1) second and straight into the next repetition (0). 3010
4 Breathing
Pay attention to breathing. Exhale when you do the work. For example, the pushing motion of the bench press.
5 Resistance
Challenging your muscles is key, do this by slowly increasing the resistance, make sure the weight is a challenge but still targets the right muscle group you are focusing on in the exercise and maintain good form. When adding weight, you should still be able to do all the repetitions, if you can’t complete your set then lower the weight to where you can complete full sets.
6 Dedication
Stick with your routine, time under the bar will get you results.
7 Frequency
Train your major muscle groups two to three times a week for maximal results. This will also increase protein synthesis in your muscles.
8 Recovery
Give your muscles time off to recover. Strength training cases tears in the muscle tissue, these tears are important as when they heal, they grow back stronger. Give yourself 48 hours recovery between training the same muscle groups.
9 Nutrition
Follow similar nutrition guidelines as for the bulking program. High protein and whole food sources, lots of water.