Wanting To Start Strength Training: Some Questions!

My stats are below:

Age - 21
Weight - 16 Stone (224lbs)
Bodyfat - 15%
Height - 5,10"
Insulin Dependent Diabetic
Experience - Been training since I was 15 doing a 5x per week split (1 bodypart per day).  I've also done Bill Starr 5x5 type strength training now & again.

My Questions:

I've been bodybuilding since I was at least 15 years old and during this time I managed to get up to 18 stone (252lbs).  I wasn't happy with my bodyfat at this weight though so I decided to cut & a year or so later I'm now 16 stone.  Anyway, I was watching a program on TV the other day (and call me "easily influenced") and it was about people who were extremely strong & one guy said "it's great to look stronger than you are or at least be AS strong as you look".  I personally believe this & so now I'm looking to improve my strength to go along with/match my size.  I'd really like to start building explosive power & strength.  I'm looking to start boxing soon aswell so I'd like to have explosive power & strength in order to help me out.  Anyway, I have some questions:

 1) I'd like to keep whatever muscle I already have  therefore if I started strength training, would I be able to?

 2) Where exactly would I start when it comes to strength training?  I realise some people will suggest different things, but is there a specific program which is generally regarded as a good starting point?  Bear in mind I've been training for a good 6 years, so in my opinion I know the ins & outs of bodybuilding related weight lifting, therefore I'm not particularly sure if I should be starting off with the very novice type strength training.  Although, having never done any strength training before (except 5x5) I may be wrong.

3) I have a Power Rack, LOADS of heavy weights (olympic barbell/dumbbells), bench etc.  Is this sufficient enough for strength training?

4) Can muscle be gained on a strength routine or will I need to incorporate bodybuilding into it somehow?

5) In relation to the above question, one person that really stands out to me is Mariusz Pudzianowski.  He is 'arguably' the strongest man alive, yet looks like a bodybuilder.  How is this achieved?

6) Would isolation exercises be used at all in a strength type routine or would the routine be based solely on compound exercises?

7) And finally, I heard that strength training with lower reps can give you harder/fuller looking muscles.  Is this true and if so, why?


Thank you very much in advance and I'll wait for people to respond.  It'd be great if I could start a proper strength routine as soon as possible although as I've said, I don't particularly know where to start.

my first piece of advise, decide what you want to train for, strength or boxing. you'll never do both.
my second piece of advise is read, read until your eyes burn because it sounds like you havent got a clue yet.

english.bred.muscle@googlemail.com

As mentioned in the first post, I DON'T have a clue yet, you're right, which is why I've made this thread.  Surely some strength type training is incorporated into boxing isn't it?  What do their trainers tell them to do in order to get stronger & build explosive strength etc?

But anyway... If I had to pick just ONE, I'd most likely go with strength training as opposed to boxing.  As I said, I'm only looking into boxing at the moment, it's not set in stone.

Thanks.

 1) I'd like to keep whatever muscle I already have  therefore if I started strength training, would I be able to? 

You will. You can gain muscle whilst training for strength so keeping what you have is no probs

 2) Where exactly would I start when it comes to strength training?  I realise some people will suggest different things, but is there a specific program which is generally regarded as a good starting point?  

Your a probably pretty strong already, on the grand scheme of things, and have a very solid amount of muscle mass to being with..... good! Start by simply picking a few lifts as your main lifts. You will aim to gain strength in these. This will pretty much need to include squats, deadlifts then some upper body lifts such as bench and overhead press, power cleans would be another good lift to focus on. Get strong on them and you'll have developed great full body strength.

There are a lot of 'programs' out there that will do the job; 531, starting strength, sheiko stuff etc etc. Bottom line is you will be using multpile, low rep sets for your main lifts, whilst cycling load and volume over a training cycle. With BB it's common to thrash a movement. When training for strength you need to back off often, get a volume of work done at lower % and not grind out max effort sets week in week out. There will also be a big emphasis on developing good technique (which you may have already). Added to these main lifts there will be assistance lifts. These will generally be done for higher rep ranges to train a particular muscle/muscle group or movement pattern that will a) assist performance on the main lifts, b) gain muscle mass where needed and c) help prevent injury.

I'll let others advice a particular plan etc.

3) I have a Power Rack, LOADS of heavy weights (olympic barbell/dumbbells), bench etc.  Is this sufficient enough for strength training?

Job done pal. More than suffcient! Check out TONY (the mod) training log. He trains for strongman in his back garden. He now has loads of strongman kit but started with a bar, some weights and a rack.

4) Can muscle be gained on a strength routine or will I need to incorporate bodybuilding into it somehow?

Yes you can gain muscle. Some programs such as the russian style, high volume training have enough work over the week to gain muscle, as do other 'programs'. But regardless it's no probs to add in high rep BB type work after you main strength focused lifts. Remember most strength athletes will have needed to gain weight at some point. After all the muscle increases in size so you can be stronger!

5) In relation to the above question, one person that really stands out to me is Mariusz Pudzianowski.  He is 'arguably' the strongest man alive, yet looks like a bodybuilder.  How is this achieved?

Hard work, good natural ability and drugs :) He is involved in a sport where conditioning is needed to do well. Unlike a static sport such as powerlifting. Mind you he is not the strongest man in the world and never has been. He is however one of the greatest strongmen of all time!

6) Would isolation exercises be used at all in a strength type routine or would the routine be based solely on compound exercises?

It would be based on compound lifts as mentioned, but isolation exercises have their place. Either to help gain muscle in an area, or to avoid injury. Not uncommon for powerlifters to do lots of tricep extension as extra work etc etc

7) And finally, I heard that strength training with lower reps can give you harder/fuller looking muscles.  Is this true and if so, why?

Personally don't think this is true.

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Brilliant, thank you very much!!

Mind you he is not the strongest man in the world and never has been. He is however one of the greatest strongmen of all time!

Agree

stuart hamilton
Hamiltons Fitness
Colchester, UK
www.HamiltonsFitness.co.uk
www.HamiltonsHealth.com

have a look on rossboxing.com
 
it is possible to train boxing and get strong through strength training..
 
i'd do 2 full body strength sessions a week and then conditioning sessions on the other workouts..
 
the conditioning sessions would help you with strength endurance..

I agree with the above poster that says choose boxing or strength training. I boxed for years and decided to add some low rep strength training into my week. My strength quickly increased but i went from being able to do ten 3 minute rounds on the bag to barely being able to do 4 rounds. I was exhausted and my muscles were fatigued


The ross boxing site that another poster has mentioned is very good. He focuses more on combat strength rather than 1 max lifting strengh (not sure how else to name this lol)

Boxing will involves alot of muscle strength and muscle endurance,

1. ability to explode and unleash powerful hits
2. Abilty for muscles to recover and last long bouts


I suggest training with sports specific exercises, also plyometric training will be benefical, skipping to increase co - ordination and cv, punching dumbells, core work always learning to engage properly, abs.  Agility work also, but if your serious about boxing training speak the main boxers at the club or a PT who specialises in Sports specific