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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Feature Article- Strength Training Part 4
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1. ARTICLE:
Strength Training Principles and Guidelines: Part Four
By Chad Tackett
Online
Fitness Programs
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 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.
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