05/12/2018
PRINCIPLES OF WEIGHT TRAINING
These principles can be applied to any weight training routine, but the most important principle is your attitude towards your workout.
Volume
This is the overall work you do during your workout referred to as reps and sets. Reps are manipulated depending on your goal, for example if you are wanting to build muscle (hypertrophy) you will want to have a rep range of 8-12. If your goal is to build strength you will want a rep range of 3-5.
Sets will also depend on your goal, if you want to build muscle, I would recommend keeping your sets to 3-4 sets per exercise and for strength training I recommend 5-6 sets per exercise.
Intensity
Intensity is the amount of weight that you are lifting on a giving exercise. If you are training to build muscle, you want to aim for 10 reps. If you can hit 10 reps keep going for 12 reps, then you might want to up the weight you are lifting so that you struggle to hit 12 reps. If you can only hit 8 reps you should probably make to the weight a bit lighter, so you can hit 10 reps.
The same goes if you are strength training. Aim to hit 5 reps, if you can comfortably hit 5 then up the weight so you struggle to hit 5. If you can only get 2 reps then make the weight slightly lighter so you can hit 3-5 reps.
In summary manipulate the weight so you can reach your desired rep and set range. Remember to keep good technique/form during each exercise (quality over quantity).
Tempo
What I mean by tempo is time under tension. This is the amount of time the muscle is under tension, the faster you do a rep the less time the muscle is under tension.
For muscle building I recommend counting to 2-3 seconds for the concentric phase (first part of the movement) and counting to 3-4 seconds for the eccentric phase (second part of the movement), 2-3 seconds up 3-4 seconds down.
For strength training I would recommend 2 seconds up (concentric) and 2 seconds down (eccentric). You want to build that explosive strength and power through the eccentric phase of the movement.
Rest Intervals
Rest between sets, this will depend on the intensity of your workout. Usually I would say have around 60-90 seconds rest between sets if you are training to build muscle and around 2-4 minutes rest if you are training for strength.
Rest will also depend on how you are feeling on the day but don’t take the p**s, you only get out what you put in. I would recommend using a stopwatch or your phone to time your rest intervals.
Frequency
How often to train a specific muscle group? For beginners once a week is probably enough to force a response from your body to adapt to the stress you are putting it through.
For more intermediate lifters 1-2 times a week will probably work better. There are lots of training splits to consider but everyone’s body reacts differently, you need to experiment and see which split works best for you.
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