My 12-Week Strength Transformation
January 16, 2015 // Fitness
For the final 3 months of 2014, I embarked on a pure strength training program. Take a look at the incredible changes that happened to my body and my performance.
12 Weeks of STRONG
I’ve always preached the importance of building strength, regardless of exercise goal(s). A strong frame along with accompanied muscles, tendons, and ligaments provides a solid structure for generating force and protecting joints from injury.
A little background on strength training….
Whether you exercise to lose fat or add size, strength training will utilize the most amount of muscle activity through compound movements. More muscles used in a movement yields more energy expelled. Furthermore, strength training creates neuromuscular efficiency, which translates to faster and better body control during exercise movements. Strength training is demanding and requires adequate rest to properly adapt. Once you establish a history of strength training, your body becomes accustomed to the rigorous demand and builds itself to recover faster, leading to increased strength.
I always dabbled in building strength, utilizing the main compound movements with barbell training. For reference, the staple lifts of strength training are:
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Bench Press
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Squat
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Deadlift
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Military Press
I made myself a promise that I would structure my workouts to make strength training my primary focus at the end of 2014. I documented the physical changes with before and after photos (see below). I also recorded videos of my PR (personal record) attempts with the bench press and the deadlift.
The Results
Before Photos October 2014 @ 168 lbs.
After Photos December 2014 @ 184 lbs.
Performance Records
Prior to beginning this strength focus, these were my strongest lifts:
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Bench Press: 235 lbs.
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Squat: 315 lbs.
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Deadlift: 385 lbs.
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Military Press: 145 lbs.
These were my best lifts over my 8 years of active weight training.
After 12 weeks of following a strength regime, here’s the personal records I set for myself:
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Bench Press: 250 lbs.
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Squat: 295 lbs.
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Deadlift: 405 lbs.
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Military Press: 160 lbs.
Besides the squat, I reached new personal bests on 3 of the main lifts.
Bench Press PR
What I Learned
My strength training program had some profound impact on my views of heavy lifting. For one, my body learned to recover quickly, especially when I ramped up the demand to working out twice a day! I also began to feel an improved posture, since these lifts require a solid, strong core to generate force. By the end of the program, I really began to brace my stomach and back muscles simply by breathing correctly. It’s amazing how well your body adapts to handle all the heavy stresses of strength training.
I also saw growth in my back, chest, shoulders, and leg muscles. As you see in my AFTER photos, my torso became much thicker.
One [temporary] drawback about strength training is the significant increase in metabolic activity and hunger levels. I’ve always been able to eat large quantities of food, but this program turned me into an eating machine. Without much effort, I began to consume 4,500 calories per day. As you can imagine, my body fat percentage rose above 10%, which is high for me.
Overall, this strength training program opened my eyes to the benefits of training with heavy weight. My endurance went up just as much as my strength. I fatigue much less and find I recover quicker after each workout.
BONUS
If you want to learn about the exact program I used, take a read below:
http://www.t-nation.com/workouts/bodybuildings-next-frontier
