The 5 Basic Strength Training Principles

SPECIFICITY

Gains an individual receives are dependent on the muscle group used, and movement pattern performed.  Specificity is an important principle in strength training, where the exercise must be specific to the type of strength required, and therefore related to the particular demands of the event.  One of the early indications that training was specific to the movement pattern was reported by Rasch & Morehouse (1957). Subjects trained the elbow flexors in the standing position and were subsequently assessed both standing and supine. The increase in muscle strength was much greater in the familiar than in the unfamiliar position (1).

OVERLOAD

                A muscle will only strengthen when forced to operate beyond its customary intensity.  The load must be progressively increased in order to further adaptive responses as training develops, and the training stimulus is gradually raised (1).  Overload can be progressed by:

·         Increasing the resistance e.g. adding 5lbs to the barbell.

·         Increasing the number of repetitions with a particular weight.

·         Increasing the number of sets of the exercise (work).

·         Increasing the intensity – more work in the same time, i.e. reducing the recovery periods.

ADAPTATION

                The body will react to the training loads imposed by increasing its ability to cope with those loads.  Adaptation occurs during the recovery period after the training session is completed.  If exercises lasting less than ten seconds (ATP-CP energy system) are repeated with a full recovery (approximately 3 to 5 minutes) then an adaptation in which stores of ATP and CP in the muscles are increased.  This means more energy is available more rapidly and increases the maximum peak power output.  If overloads are experienced for periods of up to 60 seconds, with full recovery, it is found that glycogen stores are enhanced (1).

REVERSIBILITY or DETRAINING

                Improved ranges of movement can be achieved and maintained by regular use of mobility exercises.  If an athlete ceases mobility training, his/her ranges of movement will decline over time to those maintained by his/her other physical activities.  When training ceases the training effect will also stop (1).

                The effects of a long period of inactivity on physical fitness comes from a UK case study of an Olympic rower, who took more than 20 weeks to fully recover his fitness after an eight-week lay-off.

Reference: 'The detraining and retraining of an elite rower: a case study', J Sci Med Sport 2005;8;3:314-320

Although the athlete in question took the time off in response to the need for a physical and mental break rather than because of illness and injury, this case study has clear implications for injured athletes.

The athlete, an elite heavyweight male rower and current Olympic champion, allowed himself the luxury of eight weeks of inactivity after competing in the Sydney Olympic Games in September 2000. His fitness was assessed by means of a lab-based incremental rowing test on four separate occasions: eight weeks before the Olympics; after eight weeks of inactivity; after eight weeks of retraining; and after a further 12 weeks of training.

The key findings were as follows: After eight weeks' detraining

• V02peak had decreased by 8%. After eight weeks of retraining it had increased by only 4%, returning to just below pre-Olympic values after a further 12 weeks;
• Power at peak oxygen consumption fell from a pre-Olympic value of 546W to 435W - a reduction of 20%. After eight weeks' retraining it had increased by 15%, resuming pre-Olympic values after a further 12 weeks;
• Power at reference blood lactate concentrations declined by 27%, but returned to just below or just above pre-Olympic levels after 20 weeks' retraining.

PROGRESSION

                The active muscle must continue to work against a gradually increasing resistance in order to meet overload.  To continue your progress the overload must be progressive. You must increase the number of repetitions from 8 to 12 and then start increasing the amount of weight used.  You may just stay with your current weight and number of repetitions but this will only maintain strength (1).

Getting Started

You will lose weight, become more fit and healthier if you stay “accountable” to yourself and start a new program with a plan.  I believe that your new plan should not be to lose X number of pounds. It should be something along the lines of “ I will make a conscious effort to change the way I look at food, It should be about fueling your body and putting the right things in it to make it run efficiently. “  If you follow that “plan” then the pounds will eventually come off and all the added benefits of diet and exercise will come along as well. 

You are the ONLY person that is going to be able to hold yourself “Accountable” for the choices you make in your diet and exercise programs.  I can’t be with a client all day to help him/her make choices outside of LIFT and no one else is going to keep him/her from making the decisions he/she has made in the past.  Case in point if a client walked in LIFT yesterday and jumped on the scale and had gained a pound from last week and they said they had a bad weekend and that their partner “made” them eat at China Buffett.  This client is 6’0’’ 300lbs nobody is making them do anything he doesn’t want to do. (with the exception of me the three hours I see them a week)  they have to be “accountable” for themself and realize that isn’t the best decision when they are trying to lose weight. It’s not a big deal to fall off the wagon just make sure you jump back on and remember how that fall made you feel.

Now when starting and exercise program make sure you see a doctor first to clear you for exercise.  In my opinion everyone needs to do cardio and resistance training at least 3 times a week.   They can be combined together or done on separate days.  Cardio is anything from running, walking, swimming, hiking, biking, jumping rope, rowing, ropes, etc...  Any activity you can do that gets your heart rate up.  For now without worrying about % Max Heart rates we will just say that you should be breathing hard enough that you can’t hold a conversation but not so high you can’t catch your breath.  Resistance training can be done ANYWHERE you don’t need a fancy gym or me to do resistance training.  You have the best tool you can use, your own body.  Push-ups, squats, pull-ups, dips, lunges, planks are just a few of the thousands of exercises you can do no matter where you are.  Work the big muscles with these moves and add sets or reps when they become too easy.   

YOU’RE  in charge of what you do to your body.  Your health is one of the only aspects in life that you have almost complete control.   Take care of yourself and get started NOW…

Consistency and Commitment

There are different types of commitment, job, family, and to yourself.  The obesity problem today is a direct result of a consistent commitment to putting everything but our personal health first.  I totally agree with Lamar’s last blog on life intervals.  It seems to me that society as a whole as put the interval of health on the backburner.  Just as I have made the commitment to my son and my new business I must keep a commitment to myself to maintain consistency in my personal health.  I understand that many people do not choose willingly to ignore their personal health but without it you are not going to be able to give your all to your other commitments. 

Only through a healthy mind and body can we be at our absolute best.   This means sticking to a well balanced diet and exercise program.  This doesn’t have to be a huge life changing event. Just committing yourself to walking after dinner or cutting down on portion size when you find yourself eating out.  Make a personal health commitment today and stick with it.  “Today’s preparation determines tomorrows achievements”

Longer Is Not Always Better

For some reason people believe that longer workouts will burn more calories and in turn speed up fat loss.  At LIFT I commonly run into this mindset with new clients.  People think the longer they run or workout the better off they are, the truth of the matter is the REAL calorie burn comes from the workout recovery not from the actual workout. 

Here is an example of what I’m talking about.  A client comes in and runs on the treadmill for 30 minutes at an 8 min mile pace.  During that time period they may burn 450 total calories (just an estimate).  During the next 24 hours the body will begin the recovery process and at the end of the 24 hours they will have burned a total 1800 calories.  The same client could perform 30 minutes of interval strength training and burn 350 calories during the 30 minutes but burns a total of 2200 calories at the end of a 24 hour recovery period.  I am just using estimates to get my point across but this is what recent research has shown.

The increased calorie burn occurs due to the elevated metabolism and other physiological factors that are occurring to repair the body. 

Many times people’s mindset is that they must run themselves to death or stay in the gym for so long that they are too sore to exercise the next day.  After about 45 minutes of strenuous exercise a person begins doing more damage to the body than it can handle and thus puts themselves in a state of injury rather than recovery.   What is the point of that?  Overtraining is just going to lead to more injuries and poor results.  The point of training is to get better and see results not kill yourself and have sit out for two days. 

Bottom line, you should mix it up, I’m not saying to not run but do it in intervals or only perform long distance interchangeably with strength training.  You do not need to injure yourself or spend all day in the gym to achieve your goals. 

More time does not equal more results!!!    Get out and be active!