Fitness & Weight Training Principles
10 Quick Tips To Help You Get Started:
1. Remember to warm up. Warming up gives the body a chance to deliver plenty of
nutrient rich blood to areas about to be exercised, to actually warm the muscles
and lubricate the joints.
2. Stretch - Increases or maintains muscle flexibility.
3. During the first week of starting an exercise program keep it light. Work on
technique-good body mechanics and slowly work up to heavier weights.
4. Quick tips to maintain good body mechanincs: go through the complete range of
motion, move slowly and with control, breathe, and maintain a neutral spine.
Never sacrifice form just to add more weight or repetitions.
5. The intensity of your workout depends on a number of factors, including the
number of sets and repetitions, the overall weight lifted, and the rest between sets.
You can vary the intensity of your workout to fit your activity level and goals.
6. Listen to your body. Heart rate is not a good way to determine your intensity
when lifting weights, it is important to listen to your body based on an overall
sense of feeling of exertion.
7. The MINIMUM amount of strength training recommended by the American
College of Sports Medicine is eight to twelve repetitions of eight to ten exercises,
at a moderate intensity, two days a week. You will get more overall gains with
more days per week, sets and resistance, but the progression is one in which you
must listen to your body.
8. Strength training session are recommended to last one hour or less.
9. As a general rule, each muscle that you train should be rested one to two days
before being exercised further in order for the fatigued muscles to rebuild.
10. "No pain, no gain." This statement is not only false, but can be dangerous. Your
body will adapt to strength training, and will reduce in body soreness each time
you workout.
Strength Training Principles:
1. Overload: To see gains in strength you must always stimulate the muscle more
than it is accustomed to.
2. Progression: The active muscle must continue to work against a gradually
increasing resistance in order to meet overload.
3. Specificity: Gains you receive are dependent on the muscle group used, and
movement pattern performed. (See Specific Strength Training Programs)
o Strength (maximal force): If you are interested in strength gains you want
to train with higher weights and closer to your 1 RM.
o Endurance (submaximal force that is repeated): If you are interested in
gains in endurance, you should concentrate on lifting lower weights and
higher repetitions.
4. Arrangement:
o Warm-up - the warm-up should be "sport specific". In other words, if you
are performing the bench press, begin your warm-up with a light intensity
and perform 8-10 reps.
o Stretch - it is important to stretch to promote increased blood flow to the
muscles, and to increase flexibility, range of motion and decrease the risk
of injury.
o Workout - work larger muscle groups first, then smaller muscle groups.
o Cool-down - keeps the body active and prevents pooling of blood in the
extremities. The cool-down is done at a lower intensity.
5. Breathing: When lifting weight or working muscles against resistance, exhale
through the mouth as you are performing the work. Caution: Failure to breathe
correctly during heavy weight lifting may cause drastic increases in blood
pressure that may be harmful.
Different strength types and how to train for them
Most sports will require some or all of the following strength types to be developed to
one degree or another and the weight training program should reflect this.
Strength Endurance
The aim is to develop muscles that are able to to produce repeated contractions under
conditions of fatigue. This requires high repetitions (15+) with light loading (30-50% of
1RM). Appropriate for field sports, rowing and martial arts.
Power
The aim is to develop fast powerful movements. This requires medium number of
repetitions (6-10) with medium to heavy loading (70-80% of 1RM). Appropriate for
power based events e.g. sprinting, jumping (long jump), throwing (Javelin).
Maximum strength
The aim is to enable maximum loads to be lifted. This requires low number of repetitions
(1-5) with heavy loads (80-100% of 1RM). Appropriate for Power Lifting, Olympic
Lifting, Shot Putt.
Size with strength
The aim is to increase muscle size. This requires medium to high number of repetitions
(8-12) with medium to heavy loading (70-80%+ of 1RM). Appropriate for Bodybuilding
or sports like USA football where increased size is a valuable asset.
How Much?
The amount of weight to be used should be based on a percentage of the maximum
amount of weight that can be lifted one time, generally referred to as one repetition
maximum (1RM). The maximum number of repetitions performed before fatigue
prohibits the completion of an additional repetition is a function of the weight used,
referred to as repetition maximum (RM), and reflects the intensity of the exercise. A
weight load that produces fatigue on the third repetition is termed a three repetition
maximum (3RM) and corresponds to approximately 95% of the weight that could be
lifted for 1RM.
For maximum results, athletes should train according to their genetic predisposition. An
athlete with a greater proportion of slow twitch muscles would adapt better to endurance
training and a muscular endurance program using more repetitions of a lighter weight. An
athlete with a greater proportion of fast twitch muscles would benefit from sprint training
and a muscular strength program using fewer repetitions of a heavier weight. Dr F.
Hatfield's Muscle Fibre Test may help you determine your predominate muscle type.
Load - Repetition Relationship
The strength training zone requires you to use loads in the range of 60% to 100% of
1RM. The relationship of percentage loads to number of repetitions (rounded up) to
failure is as follows:
% Load
Repetitions
60
17
65
14
70
12
75
10
80
8
85
6
90
5
95
3
100
1
How Many
The number of repetitions performed to fatigue is an important consideration in designing
a strength training program. The greatest strength gains appear to result from working
with 4-6RM. Increasing this to 12-20RM favours the increase in muscle endurance and
mass.
One set of 4-6RM performed 3 days a week is a typical strength training program. The
optimal number of sets of an exercise to develop muscle strength remains controversial.
In a number of studies comparing multiple set programs to produce greater strength gains
than a single set, the majority of studies indicate that there is not a significant difference.
Handling heavy weights in the pursuit of strength will require a recovery of 3-5 minutes
between sets, but only minimum recovery should be taken if strength endurance is the
aim. The majority of athletic events are fast and dynamic, and therefore this quality must
be reflected in the athlete's strength work.
Muscular strength is primarily developed when 8RM or less is used in a set. How much
load you use depends upon what it is you wish to develop:




1RM to 3RM - neuromuscular strength
4RM to 6RM - maximum strength by stimulating muscle hypertrophy
6RM to 12RM - muscle size (hypertrophy) with moderate gains in strength (Fleck
& Kraemer, 1996)
12RM to 20RM - muscle size and endurance
Rest Interval between sets
The aim of the recovery period between sets is to replenish the stores of Adenosine
Triphosphate (ATP) and Creatine Phosphate (CP) in the muscles. An inadequate recovery
means more reliance on the Lactic Acid (LA) energy pathway in the next set. Several
factors influence the recovery period, including:





Type of strength you are developing
The load used in the exercise
Number of muscle groups used in the exercise
Your condition
Your weight
A recovery of three to five minutes or longer will allow almost the complete restoration
of ATP/CP.
Rest Interval between sessions
The energy source being used during the training session is probably the most important
factor to consider. During the maximum strength phase, when you are primarily using the
ATP/CP energy pathway, daily training is possible because ATP/CP restoration is
completed within 24 hours. If you are training for muscular endurance (muscle
definition) then you require a 48 hour recovery as this is how long it takes to fully restore
your glycogen stores (Piehl, 1974; Fox et al, 1989).
As a 'rule of thumb' 48 hours should elapse between sessions. If training strenuously, any
athlete will find it extremely difficult to maintain the same level of lifting at each session,
and the total poundage lifted in each session would be better to be varied (e.g. a high, low
and medium volume session) each week.