Best ways to improve your physical strength

To build significant physical strength, you must adhere to the core principles of resistance training. This involves working your major muscle groups—legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms—at least two days per week.

The single most critical factor is Progressive Overload. This means consistently increasing the demand on your muscles to force adaptation and growth. You can achieve this by gradually doing one of the following:

• Increase the Weight you lift (the most common method).
• Increase Repetitions or Sets with the same weight.
• Decrease Rest Time between sets, or increase Time Under Tension (slow down the movement).

Focus primarily on compound exercises (squats, deadlifts, bench press) as these engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, leading to greater strength gains. Use a challenging weight where the last few repetitions are difficult to complete with good form.

Crucially, strength is not built in the gym, but during recovery. Prioritise 7–9 hours of quality sleep and ensure adequate protein intake to repair and rebuild muscle fibres. Consistent effort, smart progression, and proper rest are the proven foundation for sustainable strength improvement.

For more needed support, 1 to 1 Personal Training at VDV Fitness in Liverpool Street is a highly specialised in joint stability/pain relief, and can help you to explore the best training approach for you.