If you want to become strong enough to lift very heavy amounts of weight, then you’ll need to understand some fundamental training methods, as well as dietary methods. Yes – you are what you eat, to an extent.
Anyway, let’s talk about the training first…
First of all, strength is relative to the person. What is heavy to one person may not be so heavy to another. When training for strength, the idea is to list weights which you find very challenging. Now, you may think: ‘how am I supposed to lift weights which are very challenging for 10 reps and 5 sets etc.’ Well, the answer to that is, you don’t. You should be lifting for lower reps and sets. I advocate of 5 reps and 3 sets.
Strength is the outcome of many muscle groups working together. Nobody was ever described as strong because they have a singular muscle which is superhuman. No. Think of all the lifts which require great strength: squats, dead lifts, bench press – they all use several muscle groups. That is how you should train.
The lifts you should perform for strength are known as compound exercises, and a good program will be built around them, and may – although it’s certainly not absolutely necessary – contain a few assistance or isolation exercises. The compound movements are, squats, dead lift, bench press, bent over rows, shoulder presses/military presses, and possibly upright rows.
A good program will be arranged in such a way that, the muscle groups are worked and then rested, so the next training session which comes around won’t work them again – or at least, will do so minimally. I also recommend training no more than 3 times a week.
With regards to diet, you need to eat. How much? Enough to grow, whilst minimizing fat gains. Calories are the key, and you need to find out how many calories you need to eat in order to put muscle on. Try to gain no more than 1lb a week of muscle, as any more than this will tend to be fat, and just because you are training for strength, there is no reason you can’t still look and be in great shape like a bodybuilder.
As a general rule, try going for around 12-15 calories per pound of bodyweight each and every day. Ensure you eat every 3 hours, and include plenty of protein in your diet.