How to build the most amount of strength

On an end-of-summer Friday evening, Tommy was walking to the local park near his apartment in Brussels. Tommy had a hectic week, and when he clocked out on Friday afternoon, he was very relieved to finally get a break. After having long days working into the evening, he felt it was time to get outside and away from his desk to refresh his mind.

Tommy was walking into the park, thinking about the most efficient way to increase his strength. He wondered whether it would be better to use bodyweight training or weightlifting.

When Tommy arrived at the training area, he saw a personal trainer working with a client. Tommy said, “Excuse me, I can see you are a personal trainer. Can I quickly ask you a question?” The personal trainer responded, “Of course, what is your question?” Tommy asked, “What would you say is the best way to build strength, and which training style should I use?”

“That is a great question because if you are doing calisthenics, you can easily transition to weightlifting and day-to-day activities, but with weightlifting, you build strength that is not as easily transferable. However, you do get the added benefit of building a bit of muscle in the process. I would recommend a compound exercise paired with two exercises that can support the target,” answered the personal trainer.

“What do you do if it’s raining when you’re doing calisthenics?” asked Tommy. The personal trainer looked at Tommy with a smirk on his face and replied, “Well, you train anyway. Get out here and train regardless.”

“Okay, thank you for the answers,” said Tommy. He thought to himself, “Would I really be willing to go out and train in the rain? But on the other hand, it’s just water, so maybe it would help me finish quickly.”

Tommy began to do pull-ups, completing 10 repetitions and 4 sets, which he combined with a superset of 3 sets of close-grip chin-ups and face pulls, each for 10 repetitions, just as the personal trainer had advised.

As Tommy finished his workout, he started heading home, already thinking about working out the next morning, focusing on his chest.

The next morning, Tommy woke up and saw it was cloudy, but he went to the park anyway, hoping it wouldn’t start raining.

Upon arriving at the training spot, Tommy saw the personal trainer there again. The trainer noticed Tommy approaching the playground and said, “Good morning, I see you’re back.” “Good morning. Yes, I’m back. I took your advice,” responded Tommy.

Tommy began his warm-up while continuing to chat with the personal trainer, who asked him what he would be working on and discussed various exercises. Tommy started with 4 sets of 10 repetitions of dips as the personal trainer recommended, followed by pike push-ups and band pull-aparts, which Tommy did for 3 sets of 10 repetitions as a superset.

As Tommy headed home that Saturday, he had gained a better understanding of the programming for his new strength training workout.

The weekend was over, and Tommy had to go back to work. He decided to work out in the morning before heading to the office. But as he was getting ready, Tommy noticed that it was raining, and he was now faced with the personal trainer’s challenge: even though it rains, you train anyway.

Tommy looked out the window for a minute, took a deep breath, and finally stepped out the door.

Tommy power-walked to the park to train his legs, trying to warm up as he walked. When he arrived, he started training immediately, keeping a high intensity with minimal rest between sets, allowing just enough recovery to complete 10 reps each time.

Tommy felt miserable and questioned why he was doing it. He could have just gone to the gym or stayed at home to train.

Finally, his training was finished, and he walked home to take a warm shower. The feeling he had when he got home was amazing. He felt a sense of accomplishment because the workout had been so tough. His body was cold, and he was soaking wet, but he hadn’t felt so good in a long time. Taking that warm shower felt like the biggest reward in the world.