Strength Training Principles and Guidelines:
Part Four
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 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 repetitions 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 continue on to 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 repetitions for each set you do so you can achieve
the results you desire. Good luck, and enjoy all the wonderful benefits of
strength training.
Continue to Strength Training Workouts Part 5 >>>
Strength Training
Workouts Part 3
Strength Training
Workouts Part
2
Strength Training Workouts
|