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Strength - How Much is Enough?

Strength - How Much is Enough?

There are a number of things we can do to improve our health and fitness. Strength training is one of the more popular options.And it's not an uncommon goal to hear people new to exercise describe their goal as wanting to get stronger.'I'd like to have stronger arms' says the woman as she massages the back of her triceps.'I'd like to be able to do a pull-up' says the female athlete trying out for a new team.'I'd like to deadlift xxx pounds' says the business executive that wants to be able to test himself in a gym setting.And these are all reasonable goals. But after we've trained for an appreciable amount of time e.g. 6-12 months, we notice the gains start slowing or stop altogether.For example, the person that has never deadlifted could pull 135 lbs in their first month. And it's not unreasonable to hit 225 lbs by their third month. This progress won't continue linearly for the rest of the year. In other words if three months is a quarter of the year we can't expect this person to increase their deadlift to four-times their three month total by the end of the year. This would result in a 900 lbs deadlift. That's not happening.So we get it that our strength has limits and that the gains come more quickly at the beginning.But at point should would be satisfied with our strength? When is enough strength, enough?Well, if you're a competitive lifter you're never satisfied with enough. You're always seeking an extra kilo on the bar or maybe a second rep at your max load.This is because the higher we get in a competitive field the harder it is to continually improve. Track and field shows us numerous examples of this. In the 100 m race it's not uncommon for...

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