Strength training is a fundamental component of any successful athletic or physical activity, yet it has become drastically overlooked in our society today. All too often, strength and power are seen as irrelevant; but anything could be farther from the truth.
When discussing goals with the average gym-goer, you'll generally find common themes.
Men often aim to shed excess belly fat and develop robust, well-defined muscles.
Meanwhile, women often strive for a lean physique by reducing fat and sculpting their bodies.
These goals are perfectly valid, as gaining strength often comes as a natural consequence. It's uncommon to hear someone openly declare that their primary objective is simply to get stronger (unless, of course, they happen to be a powerlifter).
The benefits of strength training reach far beyond their limitations within the gym walls – having profound impacts on our daily lives that many people simply do not recognize. In this article, we will dive into exactly why this form of exercise matters more than ever before and how to maximize its effects through proper planning your training parameters.
The older, the weaker?
As we age, our muscle mass gradually decreases. On average, people lose around 4 to 6 pounds of muscle per decade if they don't engage in strength training. While it's possible to find athletes with lower muscle mass but impressive strength, it's important to remember that strength and muscle mass are interconnected.
When you subject your muscles to prolonged and adequate stress, they respond by becoming larger and stronger. Conversely, when you lead a sedentary lifestyle, both muscle mass and strength decline. The graph below illustrates how subtle restrictions in quality of life can progressively become more significant.
Naturally, even with strength training, we cannot completely prevent age-related declines in quality of life. However, it remains one of the most effective tools we have at our disposal to combat these changes.
Hence, strength becomes the decisive factor differentiating a higher and lower quality of life in old age, as well as enabling or hindering functionality.
Now, imagine this scenario: Steven, a 43-year-old man, finds himself in poor physical condition after neglecting his health for several years. Determined to make a change, he embarks on a fitness journey by joining a local gym and initiating an exercise routine.
Steven's Parameters:
Can he commit to 2 weekly sessions? Absolutely!
Has he received a clean bill of health from his doctor? Absolutely!
Is he motivated? Absolutely!
Alright, what does Steven need to know and understand to ensure an enjoyable and successful gym experience?
Before embarking on a gym program, it's crucial to define your goals. Take a moment to jot them down, ensuring they stay at the forefront of your mind during moments of low motivation.
Let's consider a common aspiration: building muscle and shedding fat. While this is a great goal, it lacks specificity and emotion. Let's refine it. How about, "I aim to enhance my physical preparedness through muscle growth"? By doing so, we acknowledge that gaining muscle serves a purpose beyond mere aesthetics.
To infuse emotion into our goal, let's delve deeper. "Hiking in the mountains is deeply meaningful to me; it ignites my soul. Scaling peaks with ease and without gasping for breath fills me with immense pride and joy."
With a clear and precise objective in sight (which could be further refined using SMART criteria), we can now delve into the fundamentals of strength training programming.
In the realm of strength training, there exists a multitude of variables that can be manipulated. The most commonly addressed variables are as follows:
Frequency: This refers to the number of training sessions within a given timeframe.
Volume: Total weight lifted. Sets x reps x weight
Intensity: Referring to the level of effort exerted during an exercise, it can be measured as a percentage of one's maximum effort.
Pauses: These are the breaks taken in-between sets and sessions.
Duration: It represents the total amount of time invested in training.
Now, let's delve into the five cardinal rules that ensure effective strength training. These rules serve as guiding principles for optimal results.
Rule Nr. 1: You need more and more effective load stimuli during training.
Steven is currently in the early stages of his training. As he has struggled to stick to an exercise routine for more than a few months in the past, he decided to start fresh.
If you are new to strength training, you can expect to make progress, regardless of the specific exercises, sets, or repetitions. As depicted in the graph below, exercise places stress on your body (T1), prompting it to prioritize recovery (T2) for muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This recovery phase creates a window of opportunity for growth, which will be further discussed later. Following the recovery phase, there is an "overshooting recovery" period (T3) in which your body adapts to handle the imposed stress. This enhanced performance sets the stage for future training.
Therefore, it is crucial to maintain a regular exercise routine. Beginners can achieve excellent results with just two weekly sessions, while more advanced lifters may aim for 3-4 sessions.
There is a spectrum between a stimulus that is too low to promote muscle growth and one that leads to injury. We can categorize these stimuli into four groups, as described below. Ideally, our goal should be to achieve a robust stimulus beyond the threshold, as it encourages beneficial adaptations in the body.
Rule of Stimulus Levels:
Subliminal stimuli (below the effective threshold) - ineffective
Suprathreshold weak stimuli - maintained
Overthreshold strong stimuli - promotive
Stimuli that are excessively strong - lead to overstrain and overload.
Let's revisit Steven's goal: muscle building, also known as hypertrophy. Determining the appropriate weight to achieve this objective requires consideration. Refer to the table below for guidance. For simplicity, imagine lifting 100 kg as the maximum weight, representing 100% effort. Hypertrophy entails finding a challenging load that stimulates muscle growth and enhances strength, while maintaining sufficient tension for an adequate duration.
Powerlifters, who focus on low repetitions with very heavy weights, utilize much higher loads. However, their time under tension (1-5) is insufficient for maximizing muscle stimulation. On the other hand, strength endurance is achieved with lighter weights and extended time under tension, but it may not induce significant muscle growth.
Incorporating various repetition ranges is recommended, either by alternating every few weeks or even within each exercise session. This approach ensures comprehensive muscle development and optimal training adaptation.
Now, the question arises: How does the weight we've just calculated translate into the ideal number of reps? The answer lies in experimenting, as only through trial and error can you discover the weight that aligns with your goal hypertrophy and the corresponding number of reps.
When it comes to strength training, load control plays a crucial role. One way to measure it is by determining your one-repetition maximum, or 1RM, which indicates the maximum weight you can lift. This allows you to specify the load based on the desired number of repetitions.
If your aim is to build more muscle, it's best to perform exercises like the bench press, shoulder press, squat, lat pulldown (or pulldown) within the range of 8-15 reps. Beginners are typically advised to choose a weight that they can lift or press at least 25 times or more. Remember, finding the right balance between weight and repetitions is key to achieving your fitness goals.
Rule Nr. 2: Load phases and breaks must be coordinated in training
The graph above depicts the concept of progressive overload, highlighting the importance of timely engagement in exercise after adequate recovery. However, prolonging the delay in exercise, as portrayed in the graph below, can impede growth and result in a decline in strength and muscle mass gains.
Achieving an optimal balance between training and breaks is crucial. For beginners like Steven, it is advisable to allocate a full three days for recovery. The rationale behind this recommendation is that their bodies are more sensitive to the "stress" imposed by exercise compared to experienced lifters. For maximum strength training, longer rest periods are even more essential due to the exhaustive nature of this type of training. It involves recruiting additional muscle fibers and placing greater strain on joints, ligaments, tendons, and even the spinal discs.
As an individual progresses in their lifting journey and becomes more advanced, their body's recovery ability improves. At this stage, relying on just two weekly sessions may no longer be sufficient to continue making significant progress.
Rule 3: You should increase and change your training load over time.
To maintain continual progress in speed and performance, it's important to go beyond regular training and focus on progressively increasing the weight. Taking inspiration from Steven's muscle-building plan, after a few weeks of training, he notices a remarkable improvement - now able to lift a weight 20 times instead of the previous 12. To stimulate muscle hypertrophy rather than solely muscular endurance, it's crucial for him to opt for a heavier weight. Without this adjustment, a performance plateau is inevitable, as previously discussed.
As you progress in your weightlifting journey, it's worth noting that increases in load become less frequent as you approach your genetic potential. However, when you find yourself adding an additional 10-20% more reps, it's a clear indicator to add weight. It's advisable to increase the weight in smaller increments rather than a sudden 10 kg jump, ensuring steady and sustainable progress while warding off plateaus in the long run.
Remember, there are other factors to consider as well, such as increasing the time under tension by executing slower reps, utilizing pre-exhaustion techniques, or incorporating supersets (performing two exercises continuously without rest for the same or opposing muscles). These adjustments provide further avenues for optimizing your training outcomes.
Below is an example graph illustrating a week's worth of training for a specific exercise. Steven focuses on the classic bench press, which targets his chest, front shoulders, and triceps. He chooses a weight that allows him to perform 15 repetitions, which falls within the hypertrophy range. When working with heavier weights and fewer repetitions, it is recommended to take longer pauses between sets. An alternative approach is to alternate between exercises that target opposing muscle groups, such as working on the back muscles immediately after completing the bench press.
After three months, Steven is overjoyed with the results he has achieved through his training. He has noticeably gained strength, and his physique is displaying clear signs of improvement. It is at this point that he begins to experiment with different variables to further enhance his progress.
Firstly, he decides to modify the frequency of his training, transitioning from twice a week to thrice a week. This increased dedication allows him to immerse himself in his workouts and make consistent strides towards his goals.
To further challenge himself, Steven opts to augment the volume of his training regimen. He introduces an additional set to each exercise, elevating the total number of sets from three to four. This deliberate increase ensures that he pushes his limits and stimulates further growth.
Not content with merely adjusting the frequency and volume, Steven also takes a step to intensify his workouts. He gradually increment his weights, making small yet significant increments along the way. This approach enables him to continuously challenge his muscles and achieve continuous gains.
It is of utmost importance to recognize the significance of varying one's training routine by manipulating these variables. However, determining which specific exercises should be incorporated is a broader subject that lies beyond the scope of this article.
Rule 4: Training must be carried out regularly
Research has shown that the greatest improvements in strength, muscle mass, and performance are achieved through training 2-4 times a week. While it is possible to achieve even higher gains with a fifth or sixth session, the leap from 2 to 4 sessions is unparalleled. It is worth noting that this article is intended for the average reader, who may be new to strength training and not an elite lifter.
During the first six months, or possibly longer, significant results can be seen from just two weekly sessions.
Rule 5: The period of habituation or adaptation of the individual systems of our body is very different
The time required for our body systems to adapt to physical stress can vary significantly. This implies that training the same muscle groups on consecutive days would not be wise. There are two key reasons for this: Firstly, muscle growth occurs after training, not during it. Secondly, tendons, ligaments, and other components also need time to recover.
During a training session, several changes take place: muscle tissues break down, muscles' energy stores become depleted, and fluids are lost. Specifically, strength training leads to micro-tears in the muscles. These tiny tears necessitate healing and increased protein intake to aid in muscle recovery and growth. Moreover, when muscles experience these micro-tears, they release signals which prompt the arrival of specialized cells involved in muscle cell regeneration and growth.
Take inspiration from Steven, and commence your exercise routine with patience and consistency. By doing so, you will not only enhance your strength and physique, but you may also find greater contentment with the results.
Happy lifting!
Another helpful and motivating article. Thanks PhilWellBeing!