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Basics of Strength
Training
Copyright Andy Fairclough
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Strength training is weight training that maximizes muscular
strength. Beyond getting a larger muscle, this means increased
neuromuscular efficiency and greater tendon strength. In
fact, half of the increases in strength that you will have
will be from neuromuscular changes; meaning your muscle
is becoming more efficient rather than bigger.
Hypertrophy will occur, but it will primarily be sarcomere
hypertrophy rather than sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. Sarcoplasmic
hypertrophy, which is what bodybuilding causes your muscle
to do, will increase muscle size but not necessarily strength.
When you see a pumped up bodybuilder, you are seeing sarcoplasmic
hypertrophy taken to an extreme level. On the other hand,
sarcomere hypertrophy will result from strength training.
Your muscle will not necessarily get bigger (though it probably
will) but it will get stronger as more muscle tissue is
built.
Strength training will utilize many of the same exercises
found in general weight training and bodybuilding but the
principles of strength training are much different. Strength
training places more strain on certain parts of your body
than other types of training, and thus form and safety must
be emphasized from the very beginning. Before you even begin
a program, you must make sure that your body is able to
handle the demands you will place on it: talk to your physician.
If you are completely new to weight training, then try a
beginners program to learn the basics, and come back here
after you have gained some experience.
To start, let’s go over some general guidelines someone
engaged in strength training should follow. The first step
is to get in a good warm up. Be careful with stretching
though. Strength training subjects your tendons and muscles
to very large forces, and so a tendon or muscle that is
too loose could be dangerous. A proper warm up should be
a very light exercise for the muscle you are about to work
out with very little stretch involved.
For example, if you
were warming up for the bench press you would want to take
some light dumbbells, do a few reps, and let the weight
stretch your pecs lightly at the bottom of the lift. The
second step is to make sure your technique is flawless because
you are doing heavy lifts. Improper lifting technique will
result in problems down the road, or worse yet, a severe
injury while you are doing the lift (think hernia). Proper
technique includes breathing technique, which is an entirely
separate and much debated subject.
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- 34.3% increase in ten-rep max in full range of motion! (see above)
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As far as the general structure of the workout goes, the
demands placed on your body from strength training dictate
long periods of rest. This means 2-3 minutes between sets
and an entire week between successive workouts of the same
body part. Reps should be in the 8 and under range. At the
most basic level, adaptations from strength training are
an increase in neurological efficiency and sarcomere hypertrophy.
Sarcomere hypertrophy is simply the growth, or hypertrophy,
of the sarcomeres in the muscle. The sarcomeres are the
units in your muscle that contract to produce force. So
strength training works by making the muscle itself stronger
and also by making your brain able to use more of the muscle
at any given time.
Strength training doesn’t really make the muscle
that much bigger, this is why you see Olympic lifters half
the size of Arnold lifting twice the weight he ever could.
This might sound complex, but think of it this way: Bodybuilders
always strive to achieve the “pump.” You know
what this is…your muscle feels like it is burning
and filled with blood. This feeling is a precursor to sarcoplasmic
hypertrophy, which is basically when more protein rich fluid
is stored in your muscle. In other words, bodybuilding increases
the size of the muscle but not the actual part of the muscle
that produces strength. Practically speaking there is some
overlap and a bodybuilder will be much stronger than the
average person, but strength training techniques will definitely
lead to more gains in strength than any bodybuilding routine.
So what does all this mean in for the average strength trainer?
It means more rest and heavier weight.
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