Strength Training Principles and Guidelines:
Part Two
By Chad Tackett
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 two of a five part series discussing the very important
principles and guidelines of a safe and effective strength training program.
This article discusses the importance of forcing blood to your muscles and
proper lifting speed. The previous article, part one of this five part
series, explained the proper methods of warming-up, stretching, and
cooling-down for a safe and effective strength training program. The
following exercise guidelines are extremely important for your safety and
the effectiveness of your strength training program.
Importance of Blood Supply to your Muscles
It is important to understand the value and purpose of targeting or forcing
blood to the muscles you are training. Many of the principles we teach have
the sole purpose of forcing blood into your muscles. When you use proper
lifting technique, you will notice blood racing to the specific muscle you
are training. And this is exactly what you want to happen.
When blood is forced into your muscles during your weightlifting program it
potentiates the "microtrauma" or tiny little tears in your muscles that we
mentioned earlier. When this happens, your muscle tissues repair and rebuild
themselves bigger and stronger than they were--if you allow ample resting
time. This is why you never train the same muscle group two days in a row;
if you do, you cut off the rebuilding process.
You will know that you are using proper form when you feel a warmth, some
fatigue, and a "burning" feeling at the end of each set for each muscle
group. If you do not get this feeling, you probably need to review the
proper form for your exercise. This may be an indication that you are making
other common mistakes in your routine that do not allow blood to be fully
targeted to the your muscles.
One of the most common mistakes people make is not training their muscle
groups in an organized, systematic fashion. Always do every set and every
exercise for specific muscle groups together. For example, if your chest
routine consists of three sets of bench press, do all three sets, separated
by resting periods, and then go on to the next muscle group. Or, if your
chest routine consists of two or three different chest exercises, do all of
those chest exercises together. Do the Bench Press, then Incline Bench
Press, then Flys, for example--until your chest routine is complete. Then
you can move on to the next muscle group.
Many people make the mistake of doing a set of Bench Press for their chest,
then a set of Biceps Curls, then another set of Bench Press, and then on to
another muscle group, and so on. This does not fully target blood into any
one muscle group. You are just teasing your chest muscles and then moving on
to tease another muscle group without ever targeting enough blood into any
muscle group to cause much stimulation for improvement.
Another common mistake is eating right before your training program or
eating too soon after your program. This can cause your heart and digestive
system to work too hard and compromise the oxygen and nutrient delivery to
the working muscles. Eating just before or too soon after your workout will
not allow you to get enough blood into the muscles you are training.
Think about this: Digestion takes a lot of blood to work effectively. The
more blood your body sends to digest your food the less blood is available
to go to your muscles, to rebuild and increase strength. You should wait at
least 60 minutes after eating before you start your exercise program.
Similarly, do not eat too soon after ending your workout because you want
the blood that you just targeted into each specific muscle to remain there
as long as possible. If you eat food too soon after your workout, the blood
will be forced out of your muscles and into your digestive system. So wait
at least 60 minutes after your program before you eat a meal.
Of course you should not go to your workouts hungry; you definitely want
nutrients in your system for performance enhancement and energy, but try to
eat an hour or more before workouts, and make sure your meal includes foods
that are rich in complex carbohydrates and protein and low in fat, sugar,
and cholesterol.
Lifting Speed
One of the most important elements in weightlifting--one that has a big
effect on how much blood is targeted to your muscles--is lifting speed.
Speed plays a major role in the incidence of injury as well as strength and
muscle development. Fast lifting creates momentum and doesn't promote blood
flow to the muscle. Slow movement creates less momentum and less internal
muscle friction. Not only does slow lifting require a more even application
of muscle power throughout the movement range, it actually promotes rapid
blood flow into the specific muscle you are training.
In every strength training exercise for every muscle there are two different
parts to each repetition of the exercise set performed. One, the concentric
contraction--called the "positive" phase of the repetition--is the part where
the muscle is actually doing the work, such as the lifting motion of the
bicep curl--from the beginning where your arms are hanging straight down to
the point where the weight is lifted up. The second part
is the eccentric contraction--called the "negative" phase of the
repetition--is the part with resistance, because you are returning the
weight from the end of the positive phase back to the beginning. In the
bicep curl, this is where you let the weight come back slowly to the
beginning position, with your arms extended straight down again.
It is more important to let the weight come back slowly on the "negative"
phase than on the "positive" phase. Coming back slowly with resistance on
every exercise is very, very important because this is the phase that
promotes blood flow to your muscles and thus causes microtrauma, building
your muscles even stronger during your day of rest. We recommend one to two
seconds for each lifting movement (the positive phase), and three to four
seconds for each lowering movement (the negative phase). Whatever your
actual lifting speed, remember to always come back slower with resistance
(the negative phase) for each and every weightlifting exercise. If you find
that the weight is so heavy that you cannot come back slowly in full control
of the movement, you should lighten the weight until you can. Many people
pay far too much attention to the quantity or weight of the lift and not the
quality of the movement performed. Your muscles cannot know how much weight
is on the bar or machine, but they will respond very well when you are using
good, controlled form and come back slowly with resistance.
Please
continue on to Part three, where I'll discuss the importance of
proper lifting technique, exercising through the full range of motion,
proper exercise sequence, and the correct number of sets for what you're
trying to achieve. Until then, remember to use slow lifting speeds and try
to get as much blood into the specific muscle you are training as possible.
Good luck, and enjoy all the wonderful benefits of strength training.
Continue to Strength Training
Program Part 3 >>>
Strength Training Workouts
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