Strength Training Principles and Guidelines : Part 4
By Chad Tackett
Part : 1
2
3
5
Almost any form of exercise will stimulate some degree
of strength and muscle development. Unfortunately, misconceptions, myths,
and misunderstandings plague the fitness industry, especially in regard
to strength training. There is a huge attrition rate among those starting
a strength training program primarily because most people are not taught
the principles essential for a safe and effective program.
This article is part four of a five part series discussing
the very important principles and guidelines of a safe and effective
strength training program. This article discusses the amount of weight
you should use and the number of repititions you should do for the results
you desire. I'll also explain how to gradually increase the weight you
use to stimulate further gains. The previous article, part three of
this five part series, discussed the importance of proper lifting technique,
exercising through the full range of motion, the proper exercise sequence,
and the correct number of sets to do for what you're trying to achieve.
The following exercise guidelines are extremely important for your safety
and the effectiveness of your strength training program.
Relationship Between Resistance and Repetitions
It's important to understand the inverse relationship between
exercise resistance and exercise repetitions. When exercising to the
point of muscle fatigue, most people can complete about six repetitions
with 85 percent of maximum resistance. "Maximum resistance"
is the most weight you can lift one time, in good form. Most people
can complete eight repetitions with 80 percent of maximum resistance,
10 repetitions with 75 percent of maximum resistance, and 12 repetitions
with 70 percent of maximum resistance.
For most people (those seeking muscle strength and tone),
8-12 repetitions with 70-80 percent of maximum resistance is a sound
training recommendation for strength and muscle development. Most people
do not bother with finding their one repetition maximum for each lift
to obtain the appropriate weight for each set of 8-12 repetitions. This
would get pretty tedious especially when you are learning a new exercise
Really, the best and easiest way to figure out how much
weight you should use on each lift is to begin by taking your best conservative
guess. After you have warmed up by using a light weight for 12 or 20
reps, choose a weight for your next set that will challenge you for
your goal number of repetitions. If you are not sure what that weight
should be, choose a weight that is likely to be too light, rather than
making the mistake of going too heavy and not reaching your desired
number of repetitions. For example, say you are trying to decide the
proper weight for a set of 12 repetitions on the Shoulder Press. Choose
a light, conservative weight slightly heavier than your warm-up and
do the set 12 times (repetitions or reps). When you come to your twelfth
repetition, if you feel as though you can perform another repetition
or two, while still using good form, you might as well do that (to further
promote blood flow to the shoulder muscle). Since you know that the
weight you chose was a little too light (your 12th repetition was not
a challenge), next time choose a slightly heavier weight that will challenge
you for all twelve repetitions, or whatever your goal number of repetitions
happens to be.
Important Note: Your strength may gradually decline as
you progress through your routine. For example, on your first set (after
warm-up) of the Bench Press you did 12 reps with 150 pounds--this would
force a good amount of blood and fatigue your chest muscles. If for
your second set you're trying to figure out the appropriate weight for
10 reps, you may or may not want to slightly increase the weight. That
is, 150 pounds might be a challenging weight for 10 reps because your
muscles are a little fatigued from the first set. So, try to be intuitive
and pick an appropriate weight based not only on the weight you used
on the previous set, but also how fatigued your muscles feel.
It is important that the weight you choose for each set
challenges you for all of your desired repetitions, whether the number
is 6, 8, 10, or 12 repetitions. Similarly, if you choose a weight that
does not allow you to perform all the desired repetitions in good form,
do as many as you can and choose a lighter weight for the next set.
It is a good idea to keep a record of the weights you use on each lift
so that when you perform the same exercise at another workout you know
what weight to use on each exercise set.
In general, if your goal is to get notably bigger and significantly
stronger, you will want to do fewer reps with more weight, so 6-10 reps
is a good target for you on most exercises. Sometimes, on exercises
like the bench press and squats, even as low as 2 reps will be enough.
If you are more concerned with creating muscle tone, your rep number
should be in the range of 10-15. Most people's goal is a combination
of muscle strength, size and tone; the target number for these folks
should stay between 8-12 repetitions. Remember, however, that whether
you are going for 6 reps or 15, always pick a weight that will challenge
you for the full set.
Progressive Resistance
As your muscles adapt to a given exercise resistance (weight),
that resistance must be gradually increased to stimulate further gains.
The key to strength and muscle development is progressive resistance,
which is also called "exercise progression," or "the
overload principle." This is the gradual and continual addition
of weight to the exercise over time, as the previous weights become
too easy to lift, so that your muscles are continually forced to work
harder and thus increase muscle strength, size and tone. For example,
in the Front Shoulder Press you might start out pressing (lifting) 20
pounds. After two or three weeks you may find that pressing 20 pounds
has become too easy, and that you can do more than your chosen number
of repetitions with little or no difficulty. The progression principle
demands that as soon as the weight you are using is no longer a challenge,
you must raise it. You progressively increase the weight you use for
a lift so that you continue to make gains in muscle tone, size, and
strength. It is important that you increase the weight only if the previous
weight is too light; increasing the weight to push yourself harder can
result in poor form and definitely increases the risk of injury.
Please understand that an increase in repetitions is an
increase in strength. Many people think strength gains are only obtained
when they increase the weight. But if you have increased the number
of repetitions you can do with good form, you have increased your strength
and more than likely, your muscle size and tone as well.
Please check back for Part
five,
where I'll discuss exactly how to avoid the common mistake of overtraining.
Until then, be sure to use the right amount of weight and number of
repititions for each set you do so you can achieve the results you desire.
Good luck, and enjoy all the wonderful benefits of strength training.
This article was provided by GHF.
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