Getting Stronger (What Exactly Does That Mean?)

So, you are out of shape and you want to get stronger. Good for you! But, what exactly do you mean by “getting stronger?”

I have my own theory about this, and here is an illustration that I like to use in order to make my point:

One day you walk out your back door and right in the middle of your backyard is a very large rock.  You have no idea how it got there, and you want get rid of it.  Your helpful neighbors (if you are fortunate enough to have any) are all away, and you don’t want to pay someone to remove it for you.

So, you walk up to the rock, bend down, put your arms around it, and you try lifting it off the ground.  Immediately, you realize that it is too heavy, and making any further attempts would likely require medical attention.

But, you are stubborn. You decide that if you were a little stronger than you are, you would be able to pick up that rock and move it out of the way. You devise a plan. You put yourself on a two week exercise program to build your muscles. You probably start with your upper arms, meaning your biceps and triceps. You may also be smart enough to include muscles in your back and legs.

At the end of those two weeks, you are definitely feeling stronger, and you just might be ready to move that annoying rock.

Or, let us suppose you had adopted a very different strategy.

After your failed attempt to lift the rock, you sit down with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and start thinking through the process of doing the most efficient lift possible.

First you realize that it would be a big mistake to rely mostly on arm strength. You decide that you will have to utilize every muscle group possible, and since all of your muscles are connected, it would make sense to figure out how to get as many of those muscles working together as possible.

Fortunately, you stumble across my previous blog post, instructing you on the why and how to activate the muscles of your core and your glutes. It stands to reason that the power you will need to lift that large rock off the ground begins not with your arms, but with the muscles running through your body that stabilize and strengthen those arm muscles.

Secondly, you realize that you should not just bend over from the waist to lift the rock or you will most likely hurt your lower back. So, you will have to bend forward from the hips, push your butt back, bend your knees, and keep your upper back straight – not vertical – just straight from your head to your tailbone.

You might practice the big lift by starting with a smaller and lighter rock.  As you pick it up, you feel the muscles of your upper legs tense, helping your upper body support the weight of the rock and then helping you come up to a standing position.

As soon as you reach that standing position, you “lock-out.” Your back and legs are straight. Your shoulders are locked straight down in their sockets – not rounded forward, and the muscles of your core and glutes are firing hard to protect your back.

As you walk with the rock tucked in close to your belly, you are not slouched forward or bent backward at the waist. You are maintaining a strong posture. You then stop, push your butt straight back, bend your knees and slowly lower the rock on a soft grassy spot in your neighbors’ backyard, where they will have to deal with it when they return from vacation.

And then you practice that exercise again and again, training your muscles – mainly your core and glutes -- to fire exactly when you need them to complete the task strongly and efficiently.

So, here you have two different definitions of getting stronger – building muscle vs. perfecting mechanics. Is one more valid than the other? Observe exercisers in most gyms and health clubs and I think you will come to the conclusion that one is considered gospel while the other might not be considered at all.

You should consider both. And you should train brilliantly!