4 (Almost) Easy Daily Tips for Big Strength Gains in Little Time
I’ve got just a short article for you today, but it’s a good one — one that you’ll find mega helpful if your goal is to creep up on greater strength day in and day out (and I know it is).
“Strength is an attitude” — Mark Reifkind
The first thing you must know about cultivating greater strength is that it’s not ALL about picking up heavy stuff and then putting it back down.
Strength is also about small daily habits that clear your bold path forward and remove the speed bumps and roadblocks that will otherwise set you back right when you’re starting to pick up some momentum. I’ve been there before and let me assure you — it is not cool. Maybe you can relate.
So to kick your very own routine off right, here are 4 of my favorite ‘strength strategies’ to help you lay the foundations for giving yourself an unfair advantage to stack on some serious strength (well, they’ll seem unfair to your lazy and impatient friends anyway).
#1: Original Strength resets
Adding these has by far been the biggest game changer for myself and my students. The Original Strength resets help reinvigorate your body’s natural reflexive stability (the foundation for all of your strength and athleticism) which unlocks your body’s potential and helps to start to reverse the ravages of sedentary living, old injuries, and immobility. There’s a lot to be said about the system, but the beauty of it is in its simplicity — you can get started right now! Here are a few videos to help get you started. Please enjoy the handsome-looking presenter:
Rolling…
Rocking…
Crawling…
#2: Joint mobility work
Without a doubt, probably 4/5 of the tweaks, injuries, and pain I hear about from online inquisitors and personal students of mine stems from a lack of mobility in one or more joints. For some reason, joint training is treated like it’s optional at best and a waste of time at worst. This, of course, is absurd, and is akin to saying “changing your oil and filling the fluids in your car is for sissies”. If that sounds dumb to you, apply that same reaction to people’s avoidance of joint training.
A joint mobility routine can take as little as 10–15 minutes and will wake you up faster than a shot of espresso. Combine this with the OS resets and you’ll be ready and rarin’ to go ASAP. Here’s a sample routine you can try out (some of the moves are advanced, so try whatever you can manage):
Joint mobility routine…
#3: Stretching
I made the mistake of avoiding stretching for a number of years following a curious trend in the fitness industry (or in my niche of it, anyway), that claimed that you don’t need to stretch, it’s a waste of time, it’s no good, etc. And guess what? I paid dearly for it. Well, lesson learned: stretching is important. Even if you don’t care about doing the splits or being mistaken for a ballerina or whatever, the fact is that your muscles start to lose their elasticity as you age, and the best way to retain that suppleness is to stretch. It doesn’t have to become an all day event, either. Here are a few short routines that will open up practically every nook and cranny of your body and leave you feeling better, stronger, and 10 times less fragile:
The Trifecta…
‘Unjack your back’…
#4: Tension/relaxation practice
This is as easy as it sounds. Throughout the day, just practice getting as tense as possible and as relaxed as possible. Because tension = strength, the greater your skill at creating high tension out of nothing and from outta nowhere, the easier it will be for you to apply that skill to EVERY strength move out there. Likewise, the greater your ability to relax, the better you can recover, which means you can train more — and harder — with no ill effect.
Give these a shot and in a few short days you’ll start feeling like a brand new boy/girl. And naturally, drop me a line to let me know how you like it or if you have any other questions.
On that note, if you like training that:
- Gives you more strength than it takes from you
- Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously
- Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine
Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge.
As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and it’s designed to be done WITH your current workouts — NOT instead of them.
Even cooler:
Many find that it actually amplifies their strength in their favorite kettlebell and bodyweight moves, like presses, squats, pullups, and more.
And best of all, it’s free.
How free?
I’m talkin’ freer than the 4th of July, my friend.
Get thee thine own copy here => http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com
Have fun and happy training!
Aleks Salkin
