When it comes to strength training everyone should have some element of it in their program regardless of what their goals are. People tend to drop strength training when seeking fat loss or attempting to lean up.

This is a big mistake in the longer scheme of things. If you want to stay strong and keep muscle then you MUST keep an element of strength training in your training plan and not go from one extreme to the other.

100% fat loss based training will lead to muscle loss, especially when cutting calories. Yes you might lose that fat a little bit quicker, but that doesn’t mean you will look better and look leaner.

70-75% fat loss training with 25%- 30% strength training is my preferred ration when someone’s goal is primarily fat loss.

This will enable them to at least keep any muscle they have built or have and possibly build new muscle whilst still shredding body fat quickly. For those who say you can’t build muscle and drop body fat at the same time then you’re wrong. I have done it time and time again with myself and clients.

Clever nutrition along with a smart training plan is required for this to happen. It might take longer to achieve certain goals, but you will look better at the end of the day, still be strong and possible even stronger.
Training for strength recommendations.

For a beginner I would suggest 3 Full-body workouts a week. Training your legs, back and chest 3 times a week with big arse compound exercises and heavy unilateral exercises is the way forward.

It’s also the quickest way to gaining strength and size.

By training full body you’re giving these major muscle groups more chances to grow and releasing more hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone.
Training arms and abs doesn’t have the same effect as training full body or training with big compound exercises. This also applies with high rep sets with exercises such as cable x overs and Kurlz. Simply smashing a muscle with volume won’t make you strong and won’t make you bigger.

Traditional split body-part routines that train a certain muscle group once a week just don’t work for normal guys and girls who art on steroids and don’t have the genetics of a Gladiator.

The main exercises you should base your program around are squats, deadlifts, lunges, bench presses, overhead presses, dips, chin ups, pull ups, high pulls, rows, Olympic lifts and anything that involves moving a heavy arse weight fast.

From a rep range point of view try and stay between the 3-8 rep range. This rep range will target the muscle fibres that are more prone for growth and strength. Any higher than this is not optimal for strength and gaining size. If you have a lagging body part them a little bit more volume can be added, but this should still be done after you have performed you heavy work or on a separate day as an added workout.

Pressing work should be matched with equal or more pulling/row work. Far too many people press more than they pull and end up walking around hunched and carrying shoulder injuries.

Last, but not least you must not train to failure. I have been guilty of this myself in the past and learnt the hard way. Always leave a little in the tank for your next session. By going to failure you will hinder your recovery periods and fry your central nervous system.

Save the grind and dirty reps for test day and concentrate on performing your strength exercises correctly and with good technique.

Jay Farrant Personal Trainer Dublin