Download planningyourstrengthprogram

PLANNING YOUR PERSONAL STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
PROGRAM
Before planning your training program, you should be familiar with the basic principles that underlie
strength training and cardiovascular conditioning.
BASIC STRENGTH TRAINING PRINCIPLES
Three basic principles underlying all strength training progress are specificity, overload, and
progression.
Specificity
The specificity principle states that you must exercise the specific muscles that you want to
develop. You also must follow specific exercise guidelines to produce the specific type of change
you want – muscle strength, muscle size, or muscle endurance.
Overload
The overload principle is the basis of all training programs. In strength training, overload means
that a muscle must be forced to work harder than normal.
Progression
Once your muscles adjust to a given workload, they are no longer overloaded. The workload must
be increased gradually as the muscle adapts to each new demand. This is the principle of
progression.
CONSIDERATIONS IN PLANNING YOUR PROGRAM
Your Goals
Planning a strength training program must begin with what you wish to accomplish. You can train
for three basic aspects of muscle fitness.
1. Muscle strength
2. Muscle size
3. Muscle endurance
Any strength training program you choose will result in some increase in all three areas. Untrained
beginners gain on almost any type of program as long as it applies the principle of progressive
overload. There are general guidelines that have emerged from research that will help you focus
on developing the aspect of most interest to you.
Which Exercises
Research has shown that compound exercises require more than one joint and more than one
group of muscle to move the weight. This results in large amounts of muscle to be exercised at the
same time. In addition, exercises that require both arms and both legs to work together allow the
use of more weight and maintain a balance of development on both sides of the body. Overall,
balanced development should be the goal. The underlying principle is that for every exercise
action or movement you perform, another exercise should produce an opposite action or
movement.
Number of Exercises
For general wellness outcomes, one exercise per body part is enough for the beginner strength
trainer. This translates to about 8 to 12 basic exercises in your training program.
Order of Exercises
Generally, you should exercise the largest muscles first, then work your way down to increasingly
smaller muscles. Larger muscles require more energy and need the smaller muscle to support or
assist. Fatiguing smaller muscles first makes it difficult to handle enough weight to exercise the
larger muscles properly.
Secondly, the order may be based on the work-rest principle: if a muscle is worked during an
exercise, it is allowed to rest during the next exercise. Working in opposition.
Thirdly, you must consider whether to perform a circuit or to do the exercises in a traditional (noncircuit) manner. When performing a circuit you do each exercise in your program once in a specific
order. Then you repeat the entire circuit. The traditional way of lifting is to all of the sets of one
exercise before moving on to the next exercise.
Resistance, Repetitions, Sets, and Rest
These variables are all determined by the outcome you wish to receive. Your specific goal will be
your starting block that directs your program.
Resistance
Repetitions
Sets
Rest (between
sets)
Muscle Strength
Muscle Size
85% to 100% of
1-RM
1 to 6 reps
4 to 8 sets
2 to 4 minutes
70% to 85% of
1-RM
6 to 12 reps
3 to 6 sets
1 to 2 minutes
Muscle
Endurance
50% to 70% of
1-RM
12 to 20 reps
2 to 4 sets
30 to 90 seconds
Muscle Tone
60% to 80% of
1-RM
8 to 12 reps
1 to 3 sets
30 to 60 seconds
Frequency
A muscle usually requires 2 to 3 days of rest to recover and adapt before it should be exercised
again. Exercising a muscle 3 days a week with 48 to 72 hours of rest will usually work well for
most strength trainers.