I used to forego resistance training in favor of aerobics. It felt more productive if that makes sense. Becoming certified as a personal trainer and health coach I had to finally admit that resistance training was critical, especially as we age.
Our whole body ages with us, including our bones, heart, and muscular infrastructure. We must keep these healthy and strong.
MUSCULAR FITNESS- RESISTANCE TRAINING
Note: There is a glossary at the end of the post for words unique to muscle training.
Muscular fitness consists of 3 parameters; strength, endurance, and power.
Strength training is designed to increase the resistance that a muscle or group of muscles can generate. This is generally measured by the amount of weight a person can lift for a specific number of repetitions (rep(s)). An effective starting weight is one in which the first few reps are easy but upon completion of 10-15 reps you feel taxed and would struggle to do more (1).
Power Training emphasises the ability to generate force quickly. It involves a combination of strength and speed to produce explosive movements. Power is a product of both force and velocity, emphasizing the movement of weight at a faster pace with moderate to heavy loads, often incorporating explosive movements like jumps, throws, and Olympic lifts (1).
Muscular Endurance refers to a muscle's' ability to work over a period of time. The bottom line is that you want your muscles to perform well over a long period. They have to be trained to do this. An example of this would be climbing to a 4th floor apartment with a heavy bag of groceries (2).
Workout plans should incorporate all facets of resistance training. Adults should train each muscle group for 2-4 sets with 8-15 repetitions per set at least 2 times per week on non-consecutive days (but no more than 3). If you are completely deconditioned you can start with one set of 10-15 repetitions using light or moderate weights and build from there.
There are many tools to accomplish the goal. Most are inexpensive. Don't discount simple but effective body weight training where you use your body to work against the pull of gravity (e.g. planks and push-ups.
Free Weights, aka dumb bells, weighted bars and bar bells, medicine and stability balls
Elastic and cloth resistance bands
Resistance machines commonly seen in gyms
Ankle and hand weights and weighted vests
Kettlebells
Body weight
Changing the type of weight you use to work the same muscle group provides variation, which causes body confusion, a good thing.
Here are some general guidelines for performing muscular resistance exercises.
NOTE: If on a given day you will only be doing resistance training, be sure to warm up those muscles before lifting weights or performing other resistance exercises. 5 minutes of moderate cardio exercise should do the trick. Your heart rate should rise and you will start to feel warm. Try to incorporate dynamic stretches in your warmup, especially of those muscles you will be working during your exercise session. Examples would be squats, lunges, planks and shoulder rolls.
Guidelines for Using Weights
Do not grip any weight so hard that your knuckles turn white. This will cause your blood pressure to rise. Rest 2 minutes between sets. The good news is that you don't have to be idle during that time. Do an exercise for another muscle and alternate between the two. You will save lots of time. I like to alternate between upper and lower body. How you do it will depend on how you have structured your weekly routine.
Always lift weights that are sitting on the ground by bending at the hips and using the power in your legs to bend (hip hinge ALWAYS) and pick them up. Do not round your spine. When holding weights, keep your wrists in a neutral position, trying not to let them bend downward.
When lifting, keep your knees softly bent to avoid hyperextension.
Make sure your abdominals are braced, in essence, tightening your core by pulling your belly button in towards your spine.
Your movements should be slow and controlled on both the eccentric and concentric parts of the move. Avoid using momentum to help during the eccentric phase of a lift. If you must use momentum to complete a rep, the weight is too heavy. Don't forget to breathe - inhalation during an eccentric move and exhalation during the concentric phase. Generally speaking, if you are doing 10 reps, the 9th and 10th should be difficult but possible without losing form. By the 3rd set even the 5th-10th will feel heavy as your muscles are fatigued. Also, make sure your muscle is moving through its full rotation (Range of Motion or ROM). In the example below make sure that you lower the weight fully so that your arm is completely extended.
6.Give your body a day to rest without reworking a particular muscle group. Many people break up their workout week by sections of the body they will attack on any given day. I include abdominals and planks every day as no rest is required. Please note that this is just one type of schedule you can follow. There are many different formats that are popular.
For example:
Monday - quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, abs, plank variation - for a refresher on doing a proper plank click the "Plank Love" link.
Tuesday - chest and back, plank variation
Wednesday - biceps, triceps and shoulders, plank variation
Thursday - repeat Monday
Friday - repeat Tuesday.
Saturday - repeat Wednesday.
Sunday - rest
As your muscles adapt to the exercises you are doing, you should increase your load to continue to increase strength and mass.
Another important factor is periodization. Once you have reached a plateau with the benefits you are receiving from your workout and you are satisfied with the results, you should change your routine. Choose new exercises to work each muscle thus creating muscle confusion which results in hypertrophy.
Never bend at the waist. Bend at your hips. A Good Morning exercise was demoed in the previous post so practice this before beginning a weight workout.
GLOSSARY
ROM - range of motion that a given muscle should move in all planes of the body.
Eccentric Movement - During eccentric contraction, the muscle lengthens as the resistance becomes greater than the force the muscle is producing (negative contraction).
Concentric Movement- In a concentric contraction, the muscle tension rises to meet the resistance then remains stable as the muscle shortens (positive contraction)
Agonist and Antagonist muscle groups - the agonist is the "prime mover" and the antagonist opposes its action. For example, in the bicep curl illustrated in the text of the post, the bicep muscle is the agonist (contracts to flex the elbow), and the triceps is the antagonist (relaxes to allow flexion).
Periodization -Periodization deals with the division of the training process into specific phases. Manipulating the variables within these phases (sets, repetitions, load) needed to bring about the adaptations desired within that particular period.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcKgszFkomk
Hypertrophy- Hypertrophy refers to increasing the physical size of your muscles and their cells.
Adduction - moving a muscle towards the center of the body
Abduction- moving a muscle away from the center of the body
Rep - repetition
Set - the number of times you repeat an exercise. A typical expression would be - I will do 3 sets of 13 repetitions per set. This means you will do 13 reps of an exercise and repeat that 2 more times. The best way to accomplish this is to alternate between 2 exercises that work different muscles. For example, do 13 reps of a bicep curl followed by 13 reps of a squat. Then return to the bicep curl and do 13 more reps followed by repeating the squats. Repeat one more time before moving on.
Staggered Stance - Start with your feet hip width apart where your feet are level with each other. Take one large step back with one foot. This is a staggered stance. You can play with the distance. Many people feel more stable in a staggered stance.
Bicep Curl - Extend your arm straight in front of you with palm up. Your bicep is the muscle on the front of your arm above your elbow. When you see pictures of weight lifters showing off their body, they are very often flexing their biceps.
Plank Variations are noted below- Planks are hard and never get easier but what a powerful strength builder. It works every muscle in your body. If you have not done planks in the past, start with a short duration, eg., 10-15 seconds. Stay at this level for 1-2 weeks. Gradually increase your hold time by 5 - 10 seconds, aiming for at least 60 sec holds. Variations include:
In good plank position (wrists under shoulders, gaze at the top of your mat, butt level with your back ( don't let it hike up) contract your abdominals, BREATHE) lift one leg into the air and pause briefly. Lower the leg, keeping good plank form for the duration. Lift the other leg into the air and pause briefly. Release the leg.
Do a plank row first with no weight.
Proper plank row form Do your plank row variation with light weights. Place your weights where her hands are positioned in the video and instead of your hands being on the floor, place them on top of the weights. Do your plank rows with exactly the same form but by pulling up the weight. This is definitely more challenging.
Medicine, Stability Balls and Kettlebells-A medicine ball is usually smaller than a stability ball and is weighted. In order below from left to right: stability ball (large, usually 55cm) unweighted, kettlebells (come in various weights. You need one of each weight you might use, a woman working with a medicine or weighted ball.
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