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There is an endless array of strength training programs and theories out
there, much of it geared toward bodybuilders and advanced exercisers. If you’re
just getting started, it’s quite easy to become totally confused by all of the
anatomical terms and gym jargon. We’d like to fill in the gap by giving you the
foundation of any safe and effective strength training routine. You’ll learn the
names of the major muscle groups and the exercises that target them, the
difference between sets and reps, the elements of proper form, and the basics of
frequency and progression.
The Major Muscle Groups
When selecting exercises for your strength routine, it’s important to choose
at least one exercise for each major muscle group. This prevents muscle
imbalances that can lead to injury. Let’s take a look at the major muscle groups
and a few of the exercises that target them:
- Gluteals – This group of muscles (often referred to as ‘glutes’)
includes the gluteus maximus, which is the big muscle covering your butt.
Common exercises are the squat and the leg press machine. The glutes also come
into play during lunges, tall box step ups, and plyometric jumps.
- Quadriceps – This group of muscles makes up the front of the thigh.
Exercises include squats, lunges, leg extension machine, and leg press
machine.
- Hamstrings – These muscles make up the back of the thigh. Exercises
include squats, lunges, leg press machine, and leg curl machine
- Hip abductors and adductors – These are the muscles of the inner
and outer thigh. The abductors are on the outside and move the leg away
from the body. The adductors are on the inside and pull the leg across
the centerline of the body. These muscles can be worked with a variety of
side-lying leg lifts, standing cable pulls, and multi-hip machines.
- Calf – The calf muscles are on the back or the lower leg. They
include the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The gastrocnemius is what
gives the calf its strong rounded shape. The soleus is a flat muscle running
under the gastrocnemius. Standing calf raises give the gastrocnemius a good
workout, while seated or bent knee calf raises place special emphasis on the
soleus. These small muscles can handle a relatively large amount of weight.
- Low back – The erector spinae muscles extend the back and aid in
good posture. Exercises include the back extension machine and prone back
extension exercises. These muscles also come into play during the squat and
dead lift.
- Abdominals – These muscles include the rectus abdominus, a large
flat muscle running the length of the abdomen, and the external obliques,
which run down the sides and front of the abdomen. Exercises such as standard
crunches and curls target the rectus abdominus. Reverse curls and crunches
(where the hips are lifted instead of the head and shoulders) target the lower
portion of this muscle. Crunches involving a rotation or twist work the
external obliques.
- Pectoralis major – Large fan shaped muscle that covers the front of
the upper chest. Exercises include push-ups, pull-ups, regular and incline
bench press, and the pec deck machine.
- Rhomboids – Muscles in the middle of the upper back between the
shoulder blades. They’re worked during chin-ups, dumbbell bent rows, and other
moves that bring the shoulder blades together.
- Trapezius – Upper portion of the back, sometimes referred to as
‘traps.’ The upper trapezius is the muscle running from the back of the neck
to the shoulder. Exercises include upright rows, and shoulder shrugs with
resistance.
- Latisimus dorsi – Large muscles of the mid-back. When properly
trained they give the back a nice V shape, making the waist appear smaller.
Exercises include pull-ups, chin-ups, one arm bent rows, dips on parallel
bars, and the lat pull-down machine.
- Deltoids – The cap of the shoulder. This muscle has three parts,
anterior deltoid (the front), medial deltoid (the middle), and posterior
deltoid (the rear). Different movements target the different heads. The
anterior deltoid is worked with push-ups, bench press, and front dumbbell
raises. Standing lateral (side) dumbbell raises target the medial deltoid.
Rear dumbbell raises (done while seated and bent at the waist, or lying face
down on a flat bench) target the posterior deltoid.
- Biceps – The front of the upper arm. The best moves are biceps
curls. They can be done with a barbell, dumbbells, or a machine. Other pulling
movements like chin-ups and upright rows also involve the biceps.
- Triceps – The back of the upper arm. Exercises include
pushing movements like push-ups, dips, triceps extensions, triceps kick-backs,
and overhead (French) presses. The triceps also come into play during the
bench press and military press.
Sequence and Speed
When doing a series of exercises, you’ll generally want to start with the
larger muscle groups and compound movements and work toward the smaller muscle
groups and isolation movements. This allows you to do the most demanding moves
when you’re the least fatigued. For example, you’re less likely to lose your
balance during a lunge if you do the lunges before exhausting the muscles of
quads and hamstrings with machine exercises. You’ll use better form on your
push-ups if you do them before fatiguing the triceps with presses or kick-backs.
The speed of the movement is also an important element of each exercise. A
reasonable training pace is one to two seconds for the lifting (concentric)
portion of the exercise and three to four seconds for the lowering (eccentric)
portion of the move. Fast, jerky movements should be avoided. They place undue
stress on the muscle and connective tissue at the beginning of the movement,
substantially increasing the likelihood of an injury. Fast lifting also cheats
you out of some of the strength benefits. When lifting at a fast pace, momentum
(not the muscle) is doing a good deal of the work.
Sets and Reps
A set is a group of successive repetitions performed without resting. A rep
or repetition is the number of times you repeat the move in each set. Therefore,
if your instructions were to do 3 sets of 12 (3 x 12) biceps curls, you would
curl the weight 12 times in a row to complete the first set. Then you’d put the
weight down, rest a moment and do 12 more in a row to complete the second set,
and so on until you’ve finished the prescribed number of sets for that exercise.
There have been studies showing similar strength gains from one, two, or
three sets. Single set exercises are usually done to the point of failure,
meaning to the point where you can’t complete another full repetition. This is
commonly referred to as high-intensity training or HIT. Multiple set exercises
are usually done with one to three minutes of rest between each set. An
advantage of single set training is that it requires less time in the gym. An
advantage of multiple set training is that the longer training session can
result in higher calorie expenditure.
Resistance and Range
The number of repetitions chosen for each exercise depends on the amount of
resistance (weight) you’re using. Maximum resistance is the most weight you can
lift with proper form one time. In general, most people can complete 6
repetitions with 85% of their maximum resistance, 8 repetitions with 80% of
maximum resistance, 10 repetitions with 75% of maximum resistance, 12
repetitions with 70% of maximum resistance and 14 repetitions with 65% of
maximum resistance. Training with more than 85% of your maximum resistance
increases the risk of injury, and training with less than 65 percent of maximum
resistance decreases strength gains. So, a safe and productive training
recommendation would be 8-12 repetitions using 70% to 80% of maximum resistance.
Full range of motion is an important component of proper form. Each exercise
should be taken through the complete range of joint movement in a slow
controlled manner, with emphasis placed on the completely contracted position.
If a weight is so heavy that you have to jerk, bounce or swing to get it to the
top of the movement, it’s too heavy. Your form is compromised. Full-range of
motion movements contract and strengthen the muscle you’re working (the prime
mover) and stretch the opposing (antagonist) muscle. This contributes to both
muscle strength and joint flexibility.
Progression and Frequency
Progressive resistance is the key to any well designed strength program. This
means that as your muscles adapt to a given exercise, you need to gradually
increase the resistance or the repetitions to promote further gains. You should
start out with a weight that allows you to do at least 8 repetitions of a
particular exercise. Once you can complete 12 repetitions with that weight, you
increase the weight by about 5 percent. Now, you’re doing 8 repetitions with the
slightly heavier weight. Once you’ve worked up to 12 repetitions with the
heavier weight, you increase it by another 5 percent (or no more than 10%) and
go back to doing 8 repetitions. The idea is to keep alternately increasing
repetitions and resistance, so that you continue to see results.
Increases in muscle size and strength don’t occur while you’re training, they
occur during the rest period between workouts. This is when your muscles recover
and rebuild, gradually becoming bigger and stronger. The recovery process takes
at least 48 hours. For this reason, strength training sessions should be
scheduled no more frequently than every other day. If you prefer to train more
often, you should avoid hitting the same muscle group on consecutive days.
By Renee Cloe,
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