Training – Beary Strong

How To Build Muscle

Everything you need to know to start growing.

Building muscle is a weird thing. First it is really easy “just eat and lift heavy stuff”. Later it get complicated “autoregulation, individualisation, periodisation”. Then suddenly it everythings clears up again “find what works for you, then stick to it and be patient”. To help you to get to the last stage, I’ve compiled a few articles. We start with the basics and add advanced considerations later. Enjoy!

How To Safely Get Back To The Gym

Train safe and enjoy the process.

After a long time off the gym, returning to training has its own little risks. You are deconditioned and often overly motivated to make up for lost time, which isn’t the safest combination for returning to your old training plan again. To keep yourself injury free and maximising fun, let’s take a look at what you should and should rather not do.

Advanced Training Techniques: Intensity Techniques

Common techniques, benefits and drawbacks.

Everybody knows and loves straight sets and traditional ways to organise training, but there are ways to make training more challenging, time efficient or both. Most of these techniqes are known as intensity-techniques, which is really a misnomer as training intensiveness (effort) is increased and not intensity (resistance). What are those techniques, do they really offer any benefit and who should implement them? Let’s take a look!

Training Intensiveness

How hard should you train?

How hard you should train is an important variable in training and I think many people lose a lot of time durdling around at the gym without making any progress because they fail to implement enough intensiveness. But does everybody have to go “balls to the wall”, or are there finer nuances to it? And what are the drawbacks of high intensiveness? Well, let’s take a look!

How To Autoregulate Your Training

Making almost every training program better.

Autoregulating training programs are the new way to go when it comes to program design. They have a lot to offer, leaving the old cookie-cutter templates from muscle magazines outdated by comparison. Still, autoregulative training isn’t for everyone. Let’s dive into the pros and cons of this great tool in this article!

Training And Workout Frequency

How often should you go to the gym? A basic question, misunderstood most of the time. Most people assume “more is better” and put much pressure onto themselves, trying to hit the gym as often as possible, only to get frustrated by the high time consumption of doing so. So let’s take a look at the most important factors that influence training frequency, allowing you to make an educated decision for yourself.

Training Volume

Finding the sweet spot for your training volume.

Recently training volume caused a lot of discussion in the evidence based fitness scene. People started fighting each other over the seemingly simple question: How much should I train? High volume zealots and low volume purists collided, leaving no definite answer behind. So let’s take a look at the data and figure out ourselves how much to do at the gym!

Taking A Closer Look At Prilepin’s Chart

What we can (and cannot) learn from a Russian coach.

Prilepin may sound like a Russian potato stew, but actually was a coach and researcher who observed hundreds of athletes and compiled their training data into a handy chart that helps finding an appropriate set and rep scheme. Later this chart went viral due to Luie Simmon’s Westside Barbell system that used it extensively. Let’s take a look at it and explore if it is still a viable tool.

Injury Management

How to deal with injuries.

Well, sooner or later, it happens to most of us: an injury occurs. But let’s stay calm and manage that little misfortune like a rational human being. Even though some injuries happen during training, training per se is rarely the cause. Most likely there already was a problem brewing up and training just brought it to the light. So let’s take a look of what actually helps you recover and heal faster!

Strength Training For Women – Part II

Practical applications.

Welcome back to my Strength Training For Women series. This time we will take a closer look on how to apply the gender differences I discussed in Part I of this series. I am happy you came back to learn how to build muscles. It’s a great decision to get stronger, build up, improve and stop the mindset of “becoming less”: eating less, exercising in a less “manly” way, exhausting yourself less. Now it’s time to grow!