Kolumne 8 | Ohne Saft und Kraft - Demo-Frey-Nutrition

Column 8 | Without juice and power

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR STRENGTH LEVELS JUST DON'T WANT TO INCREASE?

Column 8 - Without juice and power
?
Hello Andreas, I'm 1.85 meters tall and weigh about 85 kilos. Unfortunately I don't know my exact body fat percentage, but I'm not fat. I just have a little "love handles". I've been bodybuilding for about a year now. Actually a little longer, but before that I only trained very irregularly. I've already gained some mass and lost a little body fat.

The problem is that I'm barely gaining any strength. I started bench pressing with 40 kilos, and now I'm down to 47.5 kilos! I've already changed training plans, worked with different numbers of repetitions, changed the intensity. But somehow none of that helps. I've also had my testosterone levels checked: my doctor said that I'd be in a good range at 13.9 (I don't know the unit). I'm pretty desperate: with a body weight of 85 kilos, I've got to be able to do more! My friend (60 kilos, relatively small), who has been training for a little longer, works with a weight of 60 kilos. I want that too!

ANSWER

!
Andreas Frey answers
Strength is only a secondary value in bodybuilding, and of course not necessarily the decisive factor for building muscle mass. Much more important than pure power development is the intensity of training. There are numerous professional bodybuilders who train with very little weight in relation to their body weight and yet still have impressive muscles. I myself have hardly gained any strength in the last five years, but have been able to build more than eight kilos of muscle because my training is always very concentrated and intense.
Basic exercises such as bench presses or squats are best for building strength.
Training should always be concentrated and intensive
Nevertheless, strength is required to some extent to build muscle. If your main goal is to increase your strength, it is essential to optimize training and nutrition:

I recommend doing work sets of three to six reps for a period of six to eight weeks. You should stick to compound exercises because they are the best for training with heavy weights. The low rep range will allow you to improve your strength component.

Few repetitions promote strength development
In terms of nutrition, if you weigh 85 kilos, you should consume between 3500 and 4000 kilocalories per day. Divided into the individual nutrients, this means:
  • 250 to 300 grams of protein
  • 400 to 500 grams of carbohydrates
  • 70 to 90 grams of fat
    •  If you still feel hungry, you can and should eat additional carbohydrates. This will provide you with enough energy to handle more weight during your workouts.

    Creatine is the No. 1 product for increasing strength
    In order to increase your strength in a targeted manner and to replenish the necessary ATP stores, I recommend the use of CREATINE MONOHYDRATE or even better PURE CREATINE . The latter is a little purer and is absorbed very well. The creatine causes ATP to be replenished and stored in your muscle cells. This compound represents the energy reserve of your muscles, so to speak: if your reserves are empty, it is hardly possible to lift much weight. However, if they are full of ATP, you will develop significantly more power and be able to complete more repetitions than before.

    D-ribose can enhance the effect of creatine
    An optimal combination with creatine is D-RIBOSE because it replenishes the depleted ATP stores - especially during the rest phase after training. Studies have shown that D-ribose can increase the ATP level by three to four times, which can mean an increase in strength of ten to 15 percent. This means you recover much faster after a hard training session and can put strain on your muscles again much sooner. Five to ten grams of creatine/CreaPure and five to ten grams of D-ribose directly after training in a post-workout shake are ideal.
    Back to blog